Drabble: Uprising
Looking ahead had never been Mal's strong suit. He was more used to dealing with the present moment - and in their line of work, the present moment usually had more than enough in it to keep him occupied.
He never saw Zoe's attack coming. She had him surrounded and beaten before he knew what was happening. She had always been good at looking four moves ahead, and when she sensed weakness she had gone in for the kill. Of course, she regretted it later. Almost.
"Captain, you can't even beat me at checkers. You sure you want to learn chess?"