River's head snaps up, and she shoots a betrayed look at the shuttlecraft. Closing him out in the shuttle bay?

(Not that the smugglers have any cause to know that the small airlock is broken. As far as they know, he can escape into the welcoming arms of the arresting authorities, and incriminate his own boss instead of them. But it's the principle of the thing.)

Also: this means that they have no chance to take over the shuttle, either.