“That was mighty . . . generous of you,” Zoe said, a little skeptically after she had gingerly taken her seat.
“Generous, hell,” Mal muttered back as he sipped his drink. “Didn’t want the trouble.”
“Trouble?” Zoe asked, her eyebrows raised.
“That sword,” explained Mal. When Zoe didn’t understand, he went further. “Look, we just had an adventure involving the Alliance, the Empire, rebels, crime lords, bounty hunters, secret messages, ancient mystical religions, wise old sages, evil dark lords with a bunch of fanatical shock troops, huge, giant planet-destroying spaceships, beat-up freighters, robots, lasers, more reward than I can imagine, a princess, giant smelly animals, swampy worlds, dry worlds, destroyed worlds, lost legacies, and all manner of other dangerous, exciting fei hua.”
-- The Treasure of Lei Fong Wu -- Author's Backwards, no epilogue by ScrewtheAlliance