Inara tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Mal and Jayne to shed their sewage-covered bio suits. "I'm guessing Dusty's man on the inside failed to mention the heavy security around the Star," she smirked.

"Reckon you're right on that," Mal agreed. "What are we up against?"

"Keycard locks, a very burly security guard, and a tri-combination safe," Inara informed him. "But since I have this," she smiled pulling a keycard from her cleavage, "your first hurdle will be pie."

"Security guard oughta be just as easy," Jayne put in. "Don't care how big he is, Mindy'll take him down the same as she would anyone else." He patted the gun concealed under his arm.

"So we're left with the combination locks," Mal frowned. "Jayne an' me ain't neither one of us got a head for numbers. We're humped."

"Not so," Inara said, smiling wider. "I had Wash hack into the power grid. On my signal, he's going to cause a surge, which will short out the locks and cause an outage. While Philips and his guests are distracted, you two make a clean getaway. Well, not very clean," she said, wrinkling her nose.

"Ain't Philips gonna notice yer gone?" Jayne asked.

"He thinks I'm in the powder room, though I imagine he'll be concerned for my welfare fairly soon. I'll head back now. You've got fifteen minutes to get to the safe before I buzz Wash, and then probably five to ten minutes before power is restored. And Mal?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

~*~

"You were rather a long time in the ladies'," Philips commented between dances. "I was beginning to fear you'd fallen in."

How charming. "I'm afraid I'm not feeling terribly well," Inara lied, placing a hand on her stomach and willing herself to look pale, or at least green around the gills. "I may have to excuse myself and return to my shuttle. Alone," she added. "Your credits will of course be refunded in full, with my sincerest apologies."

"Certainly not," he said, looking quite disappointed. "I wouldn't hear of it. Perhaps another time?" he asked, hopefully.

"