My Own Kind of Freedom, page 29 by Steven Brust
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to chase us out, it'll put the fear of God into them. They'll be running all the way back to Cheska by morning."
"Going to suggest that to the Colonel, Sergeant?"
"No need. He'll come up with it himself. Those poor bastards."
"Who? The enemy?"
"Yeah. They have no idea what they're going to run into."
"Lambs to the slaughter, Sergeant."
"That's the honest truth, Zoë," he said, and led the way back.
Three years previous
Kaylee heard her name called and pulled herself out from under the aft inertia interlock.
"Yes, Cap'n?"
The Captain and Zoë were standing there, flanking a tall, broad-shouldered man with a wide, sensuous mouth and bright eyes. Yum, said a little voice in her head.
She gave him her warmest smile.
"Kaylee, meet Jayne, our newest crew member. Jayne, Kaylee is our mechanic."
She stood up, wiped her hands on her coveralls, and stuck out her hand. He wrapped it in his massive paw and grinned.
"This deal keeps getting better and better," he said looking her up and down.
Kaylee frowned, glanced at the Captain, then at Zoë. "Huh," she said, and climbed back under the interlock unit.
"She always this friendly?" said the new guy.
"No, I think you're special," said Zoë.
"I'll introduce you to the pilot," said the Captain, and three sets of footsteps retreated.
I hate it when they open their mouths and ruin everything, thought Kaylee, and returned to her work.
Six months previous
I'm sending this with a twelve hour delay from a public terminal. By the time you receive it, we will be aboard a ship and well away from this world. Obviously, I'm not going to tell you our destination; the Alliance is, I am quite certain, carefully monitoring everything you receive, from every source, wherever you are. In fact, I have no way of knowing if you'll receive this; they may be interruptin