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A world of white streaked and swirled around him, wind roaring in his ears, his eyes squinted and flogged with snow. He saw a whole lot more of nothing than he ever hoped to see, but glimpses of depth and shadow gave him the familiar feeling in his gut that he was on the right track.

There was a shoulder-high opening in the wall of snow to his left. This had to be it. He flung himself forward into it, landing on his stomach, and the blizzard dropped away behind him.

Jayne threw the jacket hood away from his hat and pulled off his goggles. The cave that opened up ahead looked to be a natural one, mottled blue and white ice undulating into a small tunnel that twisted out of sight. There were voices around the bend. His hand slid into a jacket pocket and activated a signal.

He rose to a crouch and quietly moved forward through the tunnel. There was no way to know how long it would take Mal and Zoe to get here, and he couldn’t chance waiting.

Jayne inched forward, careful steps crunching toward the bend. The voices grew louder.

Reaching the corner, he flattened his back against the ice and heaved a few fogging breaths before chancing a glimpse. Two men, both with slung rifles, and River lying unconscious at their feet. They were facing away, looking out into the storm through an opening at the other end of the cave.

Jayne’s head darted out of sight as he pressed his back to the wall of ice again and listened to the men talk. They were waiting for a break in the storm before going to their rendezvous point.

Just two men. He couldn’t just stand there and wait, couldn’t chance them taking the girl or hurting her. His train of thought hurriedly switched tracks. Besides, might be there’s some fun to be had.

A large pistol emerged from Jayne’s coat, and he strode around the corner into view of the two men, grinning widely. They were still peering out into the snow. He couldn’t resist. "If you boys are lookin’ for some pain, all ya gotta do is-"

It was over before it happened