Ch 7

Early to sleep, early to rise. It was a lesson that Book has learned from both of his Fathers. He blinked groggily, pushing the crust out of the corner of his eyes. Serenity didn’t sound right. She was relatively silent when he woke on most days, though he had been known to here the echoes of the captain’s footfalls now and again. Book sat up, trying to distinguish all the voices floating into the room. There was Simon, Zoe, Mal. He could hear the gruff drawl that was Jayne, the sing-song timbre that was Kaylee.

Book consulted a clock. Sighing, he rose to his feet, quickly pulling his hair back as her opened the cabin door. All six members of Serenity’s crew were gathered in the cargo bay, all wearing thick boots and thick jackets, save Simon, who stood before them with his arms crossed over his chest. River was there too, also dressed to face the cold, sitting on a crate several feet away.

“May I ask what you’re doing up at this hour?” he said, making his presence known. “It’s only three hours into the day.”

“See? It’s three,” Mal echoed, taking an aggressive step towards Simon. “You delay us any longer with your yòu zhì mán bù ‘bout River getting caught, then she surely will be.”

Raising her eyebrow, Zoe turned to Mal. “We’re ‘bout to leave for a job, Shepard. Should be back by ‘bout sunrise.”

“’Cept me,” Jayne threw in quickly. A smug grim spread across his face. “I’m stayin’ in town an gettin’ me some whores.”

Wash let out an exasperated sigh. “You really think that there are whores here?”

Jayne reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out his orange and yellow knitted hat. “Where there’s dirt,” he said, putting on his head with pride, “there’s whores.”

Book stood quietly, watching as they resumed their quarrel. Mal and Simon spat words at each other. Kaylee tried her best by interjecting small chides at each of them, but she couldn’t make them stop. Wash made a snide remark about Jayne, tossing it right over the taller man’s head. Zoe stepped in, chastising Wash for