TITLE: "DOING THE MATH"

AUTHOR: Alison M. DOBELL

FANDOM: "FIREFLY"

PAIRING: No specific pairing.

RATING: PG-13.

STATUS: SEQUEL to "BEG, STEAL OR BORROW"

ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.

FEEDBACK: Welcomed.

EMAIL: AlisonMDobell@aol.com

WEBSITE: http://carlajane.50megs.com/Ali00.html

SUMMARY "Things go from bad to worse for the Captain.

Chung-li goes underground. River begins to hatch a plan."

The usual disclaimers apply. The characters and 'Firefly'

are the property and gift of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

No infringement of copyright is intended.

"DOING THE MATH"

"Firefly" story

Written by Alison M. DOBELL

* * * * *

The Chinaman made no murmur as he was put in chains, the manacles around his wrists slip chained to the cuffs on his ankles, the play just sufficient to allow him to walk but not run. At least, that was what the *tamade hundan* guards thought. They were not *jingcha* nor *junshi de* just lackeys for the festering son of a whore *liumang* Cyrus White. Chung-li planned a particularly gruesome end for him, one not confined by lack of imagination.

Quiet and biddable, his guards relaxed a mite but remained cautious and watchful. Their *loaban* had warned them not to be taken in by the Chinaman's habit, the simple coarse cloth no measure of the man's intent. Yet Chung-li did not do or say anything but go where he was led, meekly, like a lamb to the slaughter. But Chung-li was no lamb and the slaughter would not be at their behest though the *wangba dans* did not know it. For now the Chinaman needed them to do exactly what they were doing, taking him below ground, down among the disenfranchised, the beaten, imprisoned, the dispossessed. It was the one place on this once fair and free world where he could find what he was searching for. A brief stab of pain caught in his heart as he thought about Malcolm Reynolds, his friend, but there was no time for his heart or his mind to be