Snipped from The Four Winds
Here's a bit of the scene I'm working on. It's in chapter three right now, but it may get bumped back.
"Looks like a nice place for an ambush," Jayne observed, and Mal nodded agreement.
"Coulda used Zoe with us," Jayne added, and Mal started to get a mite irritated. He knew perfectly well how this job had been supposed to go. It wasn't going to go that way, and nothing to be done about it now. They needed to work with what they had, not stand around wishing for what they weren't going to get.
"I'm going up to that balcony to reconnoiter," Mal said, thinking to get away from Jayne as much as to get a better look at things. He could see that a set of metal stairs went up to the balcony at the far end of the gym. Jayne nodded, hefting his gun in a silent 'I'll cover you' gesture. Mal set off through the maze of garbage, careful at the blind corners, but he encountered no one, and made it up the stairs without incident.
What he saw there didn't encourage him. There were a lot of doors giving access, and many of them were locked from the other side. Nice place for an ambush, indeed. The longer he was here, the less he liked the deal.
He made his way back down to Jayne. "We're setting up under the balcony here," he ordered, leading Jayne back a few steps toward where they had come in. "I want our backs to this door."
"Suppose somebody comes in behind us?" Jayne asked.
Mal scrounged among the junk until he found a piece of metal pipe, which he laid near the door. "Close it off and stuff this in it if we have to. Backup plan is to go that way," he pointed down a narrow path through the piles, off to their right. "There's another door down there we can get to."
"Or they can get to us through," Jayne said unhappily. "Mal, I got a really bad feeling about this. Worse'n usual."
"Me too," Mal admitted. "Nothing to do for it now except get out of this room fast as we can, back to the ship. Can't go back to the client empty, not with this cargo. And I won't feel a whole lot better until that thing is off my ship and gone."
Jayne nodded a warning, and Mal followed his gaze. Their buyer, recognizable by a shock of dyed red hair Mal had seen when they had spoken on a broadwave, was approaching through the maze, accompanied by another man and a woman. Above them on the balcony, half a dozen men and three women appeared, spreading themselves along the rail and looking alert.
"Where's the cargo?" Redhead said, with a pleasant smile.
"It's safe," Mal said. "I'd like to see the color of your money."
"I'd like to see the cargo," the redhead replied, still pleasant.
Mal was beginning to think maybe leaving the cargo with the ship had been a lucky break, from the looks of things. He and Jayne were outgunned and possibly completely surrounded here; at the ship, they couldn't be surrounded and they could definitely get away. And he might even be able to demand that only a few of redhead's hands come along.
"You got all the advantage here," Mal said, glancing significantly at the personnel on the balcony. "I think you could give a little."
Redhead pondered this for a few seconds, then motioned to the woman who stood at his left shoulder. She walked forward, slipping a shiny black backpack off her shoulders as she came.
She dropped the pack on the floor in front of Mal. It clanked.
Mal knelt and opened the flap on the bag.
Jayne was supposed to be watching the other people with guns, but when Mal opened the bag, Jayne glanced down, and instead of looking back up right away he stared, wide-eyed.
Lot of money in that bag.
Mal made sure, running fingers through the coins to make sure the bottom of the bag wasn't weighted with base metal. Those coins were the same shiny platinum as the ones on top. He stood back up, suppressing a grimace as his knees popped -- What am I going to do when I get too old for this business? -- and nodded to the buyer. The woman hefted the backpack.
"Bring three hands with you, and follow me," he said.
Redhead considered again. "Ain't what we arranged," he said.
"It's what I got to offer you right now," Mal replied. "You want your cargo, you bring the manpower to haul it off."
Redhead's eyes narrowed, and Mal's heart skipped. He knew exactly what the fellow was thinking. If Mal had the manpower to promise to bring the cargo along when the deal was made, why didn't he have it now? And was his weakness an opportunity?
Well, don't give him time to think such thoughts. "Come now, or don't come at all," Mal said brusquely, and turned to go.
Before he could take one step toward the door, though, Mal was shoved roughly sideways, behind the towering pile of junk that had been his right flank. Jayne.
As he rolled, the gunfire began.
"Looks like a nice place for an ambush," Jayne observed, and Mal nodded agreement.
"Coulda used Zoe with us," Jayne added, and Mal started to get a mite irritated. He knew perfectly well how this job had been supposed to go. It wasn't going to go that way, and nothing to be done about it now. They needed to work with what they had, not stand around wishing for what they weren't going to get.
"I'm going up to that balcony to reconnoiter," Mal said, thinking to get away from Jayne as much as to get a better look at things. He could see that a set of metal stairs went up to the balcony at the far end of the gym. Jayne nodded, hefting his gun in a silent 'I'll cover you' gesture. Mal set off through the maze of garbage, careful at the blind corners, but he encountered no one, and made it up the stairs without incident.
What he saw there didn't encourage him. There were a lot of doors giving access, and many of them were locked from the other side. Nice place for an ambush, indeed. The longer he was here, the less he liked the deal.
He made his way back down to Jayne. "We're setting up under the balcony here," he ordered, leading Jayne back a few steps toward where they had come in. "I want our backs to this door."
"Suppose somebody comes in behind us?" Jayne asked.
Mal scrounged among the junk until he found a piece of metal pipe, which he laid near the door. "Close it off and stuff this in it if we have to. Backup plan is to go that way," he pointed down a narrow path through the piles, off to their right. "There's another door down there we can get to."
"Or they can get to us through," Jayne said unhappily. "Mal, I got a really bad feeling about this. Worse'n usual."
"Me too," Mal admitted. "Nothing to do for it now except get out of this room fast as we can, back to the ship. Can't go back to the client empty, not with this cargo. And I won't feel a whole lot better until that thing is off my ship and gone."
Jayne nodded a warning, and Mal followed his gaze. Their buyer, recognizable by a shock of dyed red hair Mal had seen when they had spoken on a broadwave, was approaching through the maze, accompanied by another man and a woman. Above them on the balcony, half a dozen men and three women appeared, spreading themselves along the rail and looking alert.
"Where's the cargo?" Redhead said, with a pleasant smile.
"It's safe," Mal said. "I'd like to see the color of your money."
"I'd like to see the cargo," the redhead replied, still pleasant.
Mal was beginning to think maybe leaving the cargo with the ship had been a lucky break, from the looks of things. He and Jayne were outgunned and possibly completely surrounded here; at the ship, they couldn't be surrounded and they could definitely get away. And he might even be able to demand that only a few of redhead's hands come along.
"You got all the advantage here," Mal said, glancing significantly at the personnel on the balcony. "I think you could give a little."
Redhead pondered this for a few seconds, then motioned to the woman who stood at his left shoulder. She walked forward, slipping a shiny black backpack off her shoulders as she came.
She dropped the pack on the floor in front of Mal. It clanked.
Mal knelt and opened the flap on the bag.
Jayne was supposed to be watching the other people with guns, but when Mal opened the bag, Jayne glanced down, and instead of looking back up right away he stared, wide-eyed.
Lot of money in that bag.
Mal made sure, running fingers through the coins to make sure the bottom of the bag wasn't weighted with base metal. Those coins were the same shiny platinum as the ones on top. He stood back up, suppressing a grimace as his knees popped -- What am I going to do when I get too old for this business? -- and nodded to the buyer. The woman hefted the backpack.
"Bring three hands with you, and follow me," he said.
Redhead considered again. "Ain't what we arranged," he said.
"It's what I got to offer you right now," Mal replied. "You want your cargo, you bring the manpower to haul it off."
Redhead's eyes narrowed, and Mal's heart skipped. He knew exactly what the fellow was thinking. If Mal had the manpower to promise to bring the cargo along when the deal was made, why didn't he have it now? And was his weakness an opportunity?
Well, don't give him time to think such thoughts. "Come now, or don't come at all," Mal said brusquely, and turned to go.
Before he could take one step toward the door, though, Mal was shoved roughly sideways, behind the towering pile of junk that had been his right flank. Jayne.
As he rolled, the gunfire began.