Verdict- Chapter Three

***

“Captain, we’ve landed.”

For the second time that day, Mal met a grim-faced Zoe outside his bunk. What in the hell is it now….

“Zoe—”

“You know what you’re doing, Sir?”

“Sure,” Mal said easily, trying to duck past her. “Always know what I’m doing, don’t I?”

“I doubt that.”

Mal stopped. “Zoe, we’ve been together a long time, shared a few laughs—a few bullets—but I’m not certain I like this new attitude you’ve been parading about. This is my ship— my ship . Any of this jogging your memory?”

Zoe crossed her arms behind her back and raised her chin. “I’m sorry to hear that, Captain. It’s just that—when a woman loses her husband, it makes her a might twitchy about those she does have left in her life.”

Mal studied her for a moment. “I got a plan.”

“Do you?”

“Well, not a plan —plan… exactly. But it’s a damn good chance.”

“And that is?”

“It sort of hinges on my overwhelming desire to live. And Jayne’s greed.” Mal paused. “Mostly Jayne’s greed.”

“That’s bound to go well.”

“We’ve been in worse situations than this,” Mal said.

“I told you, Sir, I’m not up for losing another one of my crew.”

“Will you stop referring to it as your crew? My ship!”

“Yes, Sir.”

Zoe followed him to the shuttle. Jayne sat in the pilot’s seat, rifling through his pile of guns, strapping some onto his belt, and throwing others into the corner.

“Jun ta ma yao ming. Joo-ee. Be careful,” Zoe said. “Don’t do anything too stupid.”

Jayne rolled his eyes and flipped the switches on the dash. The shuttle shuddered to life. “You two gonna stand around yacking all day?”

Mal ignored him. “Look, Zoe… this ain’t the way…” he sighed and folded his arms over his chest. “It’s Inara.”

“I know. Were I you, I’d do the same.”

They regarded each other for a moment. Finally, Zoe backed out of the shuttle. Mal sighed and dropped into the seat next to Jayne.

“Can’t believe you’re giving away all our gorram money, Mal,” Jayne muttered.