New Beginnings
This first chapter is all Andy but there will be plenty of Spike, Faye, Ed, Jet, and Ein in the next chapters. Bear with me.
Chapter 1: A New Life
The alley was grimy, cold, and wet. Andy landed hard on her hands and knees, tears streaming down her face. Damp cloth clung to her body, clearly showing the outline of her round stomach. Blindly, she clambered to her feet and leaned against the dirty brick wall. 'Breathe.' Her chest heaved with the effort, heart pounding wildly. Hands moved of their own volition to her swollen belly. She squatted carefully to retrieve her gun. The metal was heavy in her hand and her eyes caught the faint glint of streetlight on the barrel.
"Stop!" Andy's head snapped in the direction the voice had come from. A man in a black suit was racing toward her from the building she'd just left. He slowed and raised his weapon, sighting along the barrel.
Andy pushed off the wall and sprinted to the opposite side, crouching behind a dumpster. Growling under her breath she reached her arm around the side of the metal trash bin and squeezed off several shots. Strands of red hair flipped into her eyes and she blew at them in aggravation.
The suit dove behind a packing crate and returned fire. Andy cautiously fired two more blind shots and waited for the distinctive click indicating her adversary had emptied his clip. The moment she heard it, she flew from her hiding place and raced to the mouth of the alley, skidding around the corner. The sound of hurried footsteps behind her urged her on.
Ahead of her, the lights of the Las Vegas strip burned brightly into the early morning. Andy continued to run until she reached the outskirts of a crowd of off-world tourists. Here she slowed and pressed into the midst of the group, hiding in plain view. She tucked the gun into the waistband of the floral print skirt she wore, covering the handle with the bottom of her sweater.
She was hungry, tired, wet, and very pregnant. Despite her strong resemblance to a drowned rat, no one paid her a second glance. Andy glanced around her, looking for options. Her eyes finally rested on a dimly lit parking lot containing several space-going vessels. A sly smile stole across her face as she slipped away from the group of sightseers.
When she reached the parking lot she quickly selected a small ship resembling Faye's Redtail. She bypassed the locking mechanism with little effort and climbed aboard. As she started a pre-flight systems check, she caught a glimpse of movement at the edge of the parking lot. The gunman was staring straight at her. Andy's eyes grew wide in astonishment. At that moment, the man caught her eye and began to advance on her position with steady purpose.
"Screw the pre-flight." Andy muttered, hitting the ignition and jerking the vehicle into clumsy motion. Bullets bounced off the hull as Andy lifted off and skimmed the ground barely over the tops of the other ships. She quickly gained altitude and at the first possible moment, careened out of the atmosphere at high speed.
Breathing a sigh of relief, the young woman directed her stolen vessel into Earth's gate and set a course for Venus. She'd figure out what to do next after she arrived in Venus airspace. As she closed her weary eyes to rest, Andy remembered the events that had led up to her exodus from Mars and her most recent pursuit on Earth.
Lucas had only been the leader of the Red Dragon Syndicate for a couple of months when Andy had discovered she was pregnant. She clearly remembered thinking, 'Humanity is capable of interstellar space travel but they still haven't invented a completely effective contraceptive.' The irony did not escape her. But Lucas had been so excited. Their relationship had developed quickly during those first months and she had worried that once Lucas really had time to process the situation he would break ties with her. He hadn't. He'd been there every step of the way. Until three days ago.
Three days ago, her life had gone mad. Andy had a lot of free time since she'd found out that she was pregnant. Lucas had insisted that she take leave of her job as his bodyguard. She cheerfully acquiesced with his request and treated the early part of her pregnancy as a vacation. She had made a habit of having lunch with Lucas in his office everyday. After lunch she would go back to her room for a nap. The day Andy had been forced to run, she had taken a detour before returning to her room.
Andy stood outside the door to Anthony Hawthorn's office. His door stood open a bare inch. Her morning sickness had decided to make a sudden reappearance even though it wasn't morning and she'd stopped in the restroom across the hall. Then, as she dug through her purse for her lipstick she heard raised voices coming from the open doorway. "She can't be permitted to bring that child to term." Andy moved closer, unashamed of her eavesdropping. The voice she heard was that of Hawthorn, Lucas' first assistant. "If she does, Lucas will marry the bitch and he'll have a legitimate heir. It'll be hard enough getting rid of just him. If he has a kid, I'll never be able to get rid of all of them without suspicion."
Another voice responded. "But it's just a kid. A kid can't run an organization."
Hawthorn's voice returned with strained patience. "Of course not. But its mother can run the organization until its old enough."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"And the elders will want his heir in place as soon as the kid is old enough." Through the crack in the door she could just make out Hawthorn as he paced across the lush carpet. "I want her taken care of now, before she gives birth." He glanced back at the man Andy couldn't see. "Make it look like an accident."
"Sure, boss. Andy likes me. Getting close enough to do the job shouldn't be a problem." Andy's eyes widened as she recognized the second voice. It was Mark Turner, her bodyguard. She backed away in shock, only stopping when she bumped the opposite wall.
The door was flung open. Hawthorn and Turner stared at the pregnant woman they had just been discussing. Hawthorn recovered first. "Get her! She heard our plans!" He and Turner sprung toward Andy, each grabbing an arm.
Angry eyes narrowed to slits. "You were in deep shit before but now you're really going to get it." Andy allowed her knees to buckle, the sudden weight throwing both men off balance, and brought her arms together in front of her, slamming their heads into one another. All three fell to the floor. Andy was on her feet and running in seconds with Turner and Hawthorn close behind.
She managed to get far enough ahead of them to escape into the elevator, the doors sliding shut just as the two men rounded the corner. Andy jabbed a finger at a random button and leaned back against the wall, trying to calm her breathing. Her stomach wobbled and she grimaced at the sudden nausea. 'Upsetting the pregnant woman is not cool.' Andy groaned quietly and tried to force her body to relax. It wasn't working.
The door chimed and opened. Andy stepped out into an unfamiliar hallway. Glancing at a sign over the elevator she realized she had ended up in the basement. The parking garage was on this level. 'Now what?' Andy's thoughts tumbled, one into the next, as she tried to decide what to do.
The elevator chimed behind her and the doors began to open again. Andy whirled to face the car she'd just emerged from. Hawthorn and Turner appeared. 'How?' Both men were absorbed in the preparation of their guns and didn't see her immediately. Andy wasted no time. She grabbed the nearest object, a heavy metal chair, and lobbed it at her pursuers. The piece of projectile furniture struck the two men before they had even realized Andy was before them. As they tried to scramble back to their feet, the doors cut them off from their prey.
Andy turned and fled, stretching each long leg as far as it would reach. When she reached the area containing the vehicles of the various Syndicate employees, she quickly sought her own ship and made a hasty retreat. Her hastily conceived plan had been to gate somewhere far away and send word to Lucas via the inter-net. She'd gone to earth with the intention of getting lost in the growing crowds of tourists.
As the young woman reexamined her actions she realized that Hawthorn had been planning her demise for longer then she'd initially thought. She already knew that he'd had time to put Turner in place as her bodyguard and to think about the best method to carry out her murder. What Andy failed to consider was that he might have also had time to place a tracking device in her ship.
Warmth rose to her cheeks as she contemplated the magnitude of her miscalculation. They had been able to follow her effortlessly, thus, her current predicament. Andy soared away from the crowded Las Vegas area and sighed her relief when no pursuit was evident.
Luck was with the soon-to-be-mother. As she soon as she exited the gate in Venus' orbit, she caught sight of a familiar vessel. A wide grin lit her face and she keyed the com unit. "Bebop, can you hear me?"
tbc(please review) I know that was a whole lot of Andy but I promise the next chapters will have lots and lots of the original Bebop crew.
This first chapter is all Andy but there will be plenty of Spike, Faye, Ed, Jet, and Ein in the next chapters. Bear with me.
Chapter 1: A New Life
The alley was grimy, cold, and wet. Andy landed hard on her hands and knees, tears streaming down her face. Damp cloth clung to her body, clearly showing the outline of her round stomach. Blindly, she clambered to her feet and leaned against the dirty brick wall. 'Breathe.' Her chest heaved with the effort, heart pounding wildly. Hands moved of their own volition to her swollen belly. She squatted carefully to retrieve her gun. The metal was heavy in her hand and her eyes caught the faint glint of streetlight on the barrel.
"Stop!" Andy's head snapped in the direction the voice had come from. A man in a black suit was racing toward her from the building she'd just left. He slowed and raised his weapon, sighting along the barrel.
Andy pushed off the wall and sprinted to the opposite side, crouching behind a dumpster. Growling under her breath she reached her arm around the side of the metal trash bin and squeezed off several shots. Strands of red hair flipped into her eyes and she blew at them in aggravation.
The suit dove behind a packing crate and returned fire. Andy cautiously fired two more blind shots and waited for the distinctive click indicating her adversary had emptied his clip. The moment she heard it, she flew from her hiding place and raced to the mouth of the alley, skidding around the corner. The sound of hurried footsteps behind her urged her on.
Ahead of her, the lights of the Las Vegas strip burned brightly into the early morning. Andy continued to run until she reached the outskirts of a crowd of off-world tourists. Here she slowed and pressed into the midst of the group, hiding in plain view. She tucked the gun into the waistband of the floral print skirt she wore, covering the handle with the bottom of her sweater.
She was hungry, tired, wet, and very pregnant. Despite her strong resemblance to a drowned rat, no one paid her a second glance. Andy glanced around her, looking for options. Her eyes finally rested on a dimly lit parking lot containing several space-going vessels. A sly smile stole across her face as she slipped away from the group of sightseers.
When she reached the parking lot she quickly selected a small ship resembling Faye's Redtail. She bypassed the locking mechanism with little effort and climbed aboard. As she started a pre-flight systems check, she caught a glimpse of movement at the edge of the parking lot. The gunman was staring straight at her. Andy's eyes grew wide in astonishment. At that moment, the man caught her eye and began to advance on her position with steady purpose.
"Screw the pre-flight." Andy muttered, hitting the ignition and jerking the vehicle into clumsy motion. Bullets bounced off the hull as Andy lifted off and skimmed the ground barely over the tops of the other ships. She quickly gained altitude and at the first possible moment, careened out of the atmosphere at high speed.
Breathing a sigh of relief, the young woman directed her stolen vessel into Earth's gate and set a course for Venus. She'd figure out what to do next after she arrived in Venus airspace. As she closed her weary eyes to rest, Andy remembered the events that had led up to her exodus from Mars and her most recent pursuit on Earth.
Lucas had only been the leader of the Red Dragon Syndicate for a couple of months when Andy had discovered she was pregnant. She clearly remembered thinking, 'Humanity is capable of interstellar space travel but they still haven't invented a completely effective contraceptive.' The irony did not escape her. But Lucas had been so excited. Their relationship had developed quickly during those first months and she had worried that once Lucas really had time to process the situation he would break ties with her. He hadn't. He'd been there every step of the way. Until three days ago.
Three days ago, her life had gone mad. Andy had a lot of free time since she'd found out that she was pregnant. Lucas had insisted that she take leave of her job as his bodyguard. She cheerfully acquiesced with his request and treated the early part of her pregnancy as a vacation. She had made a habit of having lunch with Lucas in his office everyday. After lunch she would go back to her room for a nap. The day Andy had been forced to run, she had taken a detour before returning to her room.
Andy stood outside the door to Anthony Hawthorn's office. His door stood open a bare inch. Her morning sickness had decided to make a sudden reappearance even though it wasn't morning and she'd stopped in the restroom across the hall. Then, as she dug through her purse for her lipstick she heard raised voices coming from the open doorway. "She can't be permitted to bring that child to term." Andy moved closer, unashamed of her eavesdropping. The voice she heard was that of Hawthorn, Lucas' first assistant. "If she does, Lucas will marry the bitch and he'll have a legitimate heir. It'll be hard enough getting rid of just him. If he has a kid, I'll never be able to get rid of all of them without suspicion."
Another voice responded. "But it's just a kid. A kid can't run an organization."
Hawthorn's voice returned with strained patience. "Of course not. But its mother can run the organization until its old enough."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"And the elders will want his heir in place as soon as the kid is old enough." Through the crack in the door she could just make out Hawthorn as he paced across the lush carpet. "I want her taken care of now, before she gives birth." He glanced back at the man Andy couldn't see. "Make it look like an accident."
"Sure, boss. Andy likes me. Getting close enough to do the job shouldn't be a problem." Andy's eyes widened as she recognized the second voice. It was Mark Turner, her bodyguard. She backed away in shock, only stopping when she bumped the opposite wall.
The door was flung open. Hawthorn and Turner stared at the pregnant woman they had just been discussing. Hawthorn recovered first. "Get her! She heard our plans!" He and Turner sprung toward Andy, each grabbing an arm.
Angry eyes narrowed to slits. "You were in deep shit before but now you're really going to get it." Andy allowed her knees to buckle, the sudden weight throwing both men off balance, and brought her arms together in front of her, slamming their heads into one another. All three fell to the floor. Andy was on her feet and running in seconds with Turner and Hawthorn close behind.
She managed to get far enough ahead of them to escape into the elevator, the doors sliding shut just as the two men rounded the corner. Andy jabbed a finger at a random button and leaned back against the wall, trying to calm her breathing. Her stomach wobbled and she grimaced at the sudden nausea. 'Upsetting the pregnant woman is not cool.' Andy groaned quietly and tried to force her body to relax. It wasn't working.
The door chimed and opened. Andy stepped out into an unfamiliar hallway. Glancing at a sign over the elevator she realized she had ended up in the basement. The parking garage was on this level. 'Now what?' Andy's thoughts tumbled, one into the next, as she tried to decide what to do.
The elevator chimed behind her and the doors began to open again. Andy whirled to face the car she'd just emerged from. Hawthorn and Turner appeared. 'How?' Both men were absorbed in the preparation of their guns and didn't see her immediately. Andy wasted no time. She grabbed the nearest object, a heavy metal chair, and lobbed it at her pursuers. The piece of projectile furniture struck the two men before they had even realized Andy was before them. As they tried to scramble back to their feet, the doors cut them off from their prey.
Andy turned and fled, stretching each long leg as far as it would reach. When she reached the area containing the vehicles of the various Syndicate employees, she quickly sought her own ship and made a hasty retreat. Her hastily conceived plan had been to gate somewhere far away and send word to Lucas via the inter-net. She'd gone to earth with the intention of getting lost in the growing crowds of tourists.
As the young woman reexamined her actions she realized that Hawthorn had been planning her demise for longer then she'd initially thought. She already knew that he'd had time to put Turner in place as her bodyguard and to think about the best method to carry out her murder. What Andy failed to consider was that he might have also had time to place a tracking device in her ship.
Warmth rose to her cheeks as she contemplated the magnitude of her miscalculation. They had been able to follow her effortlessly, thus, her current predicament. Andy soared away from the crowded Las Vegas area and sighed her relief when no pursuit was evident.
Luck was with the soon-to-be-mother. As she soon as she exited the gate in Venus' orbit, she caught sight of a familiar vessel. A wide grin lit her face and she keyed the com unit. "Bebop, can you hear me?"
tbc(please review) I know that was a whole lot of Andy but I promise the next chapters will have lots and lots of the original Bebop crew.