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"Jayne," Kaylee said. "Jayne, look at me ."

His wide, unfocused eyes darted around the dimly lit entrance hall, sweat shining on his temple. Kaylee’s hands cupped his cheeks and turned him to face her.

"Breathe," she said. "Just breathe."

Jayne blinked, focused on her, then puffed out his cheeks with two rapid exhales.

"This is lan-dan jiang next to some o’ the places Inara goes," Kaylee said. "And Mal’s right outside. Ain’t nothin’ to fret over." His expression was unfocused again, but at least his breathing had steadied.

"You shiny?" she asked.

He stared ahead blankly for a few seconds, then pumped out another two quick breaths. "I’m goin’ in," Jayne blurted out. He bolted toward the entrance to the D.A.I. club, then stopped suddenly and looked over his shoulder. "You got my back?"

"We ain’t stormin’ enemy lines," she said. "Just get in there."

Jayne grimaced, swallowed and entered the club with Kaylee taking his arm. Double doors opened.

They found themselves in a large square room with no light except for the walls themselves, which were all backlit a clean, uniform, fluorescent white from ceiling to floor. This turned the talking and dancing forms in the club into featureless, tangled silhouettes and hid the identities of anyone more than a few feet away - no doubt by design.

Glass shelves filled with crystal sculptures lined one of the illuminated walls, shattering the light from that side into sparkling shards.

On the other side of the room, a spotlight shone on three Chinese musicians. A man plucked at the silk strings of a zither, while another punctuated the music with the hollow percussion of a zhu. Beside them, a girl played a haunting melody on a globular flute.

Kaylee looked up at the man on her arm. He was staring at her, and he no longer seemed frightened.

"Ya look..." Jayne started, then stopped and seemed to have something catch in his throat.

She self-consciously examined the dress Inara had given her. Deep green silk hugged her body