Session 11
DON'T FEAR THE REAPER
By jak981125
Author's note: This story is part of a series. It will make more sense if you read the earlier sessions.
Two weeks had passed since the events of "Call Me! Call Me!" Ed was extremely grateful to Sister Clara for giving her that hologram of her father. It was just about all she had left of him. She was readjusting fairly well to life on the Bebop.
At the moment, she and Faye were making preparations. Faye stepped out of a dressing room in a bridal shop on Tharsis. She had on about one of the most gorgeous dresses that you've ever seen. She spent a moment admiring herself in the mirror. "Ed, get out here and tell me what you think."
"Edward doesn't want to. Edward looks silly in this thing," came a voice from one of the other dressing rooms.
"Ed, this place is going to close in a few minutes, now get your butt out here," replied Faye.
Ed walked out of the dressing room in a pink bridesmaid dress. It looked good on her but apparently she didn't think so. She kept squirming and scratching herself all over. "If a boy sees Edward in this thing, he'll laugh," she whined.
"Ed, you look great in that....STOP SCRATCHING! If you damage that dress we'll have to buy it!" Ed immediately put her hands behind her back. "So, what do you think of this dress, Ed?"
Ed walked around Faye in a circle examining the dress from all sides. Finally she stopped, smiled, and gave a thumbs-up. "Faye Faye pretty!" she said. Faye smiled and gave Ed an affection pinch on the cheeks. "Where are Jet and Lau?" asked Ed.
"I told them to go try on tuxedos, so they're probably ignoring their instructions and hanging out at some sports bar," replied Faye.
That's exactly what they were doing. The two of them were having a game of darts. This game had a twist. You had to spin yourself around on a bar stool ten times and then had to get up and throw a dart within five seconds. The dizziness caused their darts to go all over the place. What can I say? They were a little drunk and behaving foolishly. On Jet's turn, one of the darts he threw missed and hit a rather large man in the butt. He got mad and came after Jet, who was too dizzy to get up. Lau saw him coming grabbed Jet, and dragged him out of there as fast as possible. Jet tried to wobble after him as best he could. "Hey, you didn't pay for your drinks!" yelled the bartender after them.
The bar they had been in was in a mall. The tuxedo shop was a few stores down. Just as they approached it, Lau suddenly turned around and faced the wall and signaled Jet to do so too. Three large men came out of the store, one carrying a box containing a white tux he had just bought. As soon as they were out of sight, Lau turned back around. "Sorry, but those guys were with the White Tigers," explained Lau. "If they had recognized me there would have been trouble."
"I would think that syndicate guys would be getting their clothes at someplace better than a mall tuxedo shop," replied Jet. The two walked in to get fitted. In the meantime the syndicate guys headed to a sedan parked outside. As soon as they started up the car, it exploded. Everyone in the mall heard the explosion. Jet jumped out of the dressing room only half-dressed. "What the hell was that?" he yelled. Nearby, a familiar looking young man in a black trench coat smiled at the sight of the burning car and walked away. He thought no one had seen him plant the bomb on the car. He was wrong. A mall security camera caught the whole thing. And when the police saw the security footage, they couldn't believe their eyes.
Back on the Bebop, the TV news had details about the explosion. "It is believed that the Red Dragons, a rival syndicate may be at the heart of this attack," said the TV anchor. "The attack was unprovoked and occurred during a time of treaty between the two syndicates. Many fear this act will mark the start of a war between the White Tigers and Red Dragons. ISSP confirms that they have security footage of the bombing, but oddly enough, they have not offered a bounty as of yet, nor have they released the bomber's identity."
Jet turned off the TV. "Come to think of it, that is a little odd," he said. "I would think they would want to get this guy pretty badly if they want any peace on Mars." Just then, the communicator started buzzing. Jet turned it on. It was Donnelly. "Hey, Donnelly. You got anything for me on this bombing?" asked Jet.
"Jet, can I meet with you and your new partner tomorrow on the East Bridge?" asked Donnelly.
"Sure thing, but why all the secrecy?" asked Jet.
"Just be there tomorrow at two and the two of you be sure to come alone," replied Donnelly who then hung up.
"OK Lau, I want a full report as soon as you get back," said Faye. "Something fishy is going on here and I want to know all about it."
"Hey, Edward knows why all the hush-hush! Maybe it was a ghost that put the bomb there and the police don't want people to know that there's a big spooky ghost in town."
"Sure, Ed," replied Lau. "I'll bet that's just what happened."
But the next morning... "A ghost? Donnelly, I'm in no mood for jokes," said Jet.
"I'm not kidding. That's why we didn't release any information. The guy who did this is someone who supposedly died in 2071. And yet, there's no question that this is the guy responsible. I asked you to bring your partner here to confirm what we've been dreading here." He pulled out a photo. "Lau, do you recognize this fella?"
Lau nearly fainted when he saw the picture. "It's Lin! Or maybe Shin. It's one of them anyway, no doubt about it. No wait, that's Lin. He had a different hairstyle. But he died on Callisto."
"Now you know why we didn't release any information," said Donnelly. "We have the guy's death certificate on file at the office. But here's the strange thing, the body was stolen before an autopsy could be performed. We figured the Dragons had done it to hide something."
Back on the Bebop... "See, Edward told you it was a ghost."
"There's no such thing as a ghost, Ed," replied Jet. "The only possible explanation for this is that the guy wasn't really dead. It wouldn't be the first time a person was mistakenly declared dead."
"But the stolen body?" asked Faye.
"Maybe he revived and walked out without being seen," replied Jet.
"With a bullet in him?" scoffed Lau.
"Or someone could have stolen him, realized he wasn't dead and took him to a doctor. I don't know. Why are you two interrogating me? I sure didn't do it!"
Edward jumped over and pointed a lamp straight into Jet's face. "OK, where were you on the night of September 22, 2012?"
"I wasn't born yet."
"A likely story," said Ed.
"Lau, you knew that guy, right?" asked Faye.
"I sure did. He was a true-blue syndicate man to the core. He gave his life for the whole stupid thing. At least I thought he did. It's a shame Spike's not here. He knew him better than I do."
"I don't suppose you would know where we could locate this fellow if he's not really dead, would you?" asked Jet.
At that very moment, Lin was on the west side of town at the graveyard. He was standing over Shin's grave. Suddenly he sensed he was not alone.
"I took a million to one guess as to where I'd find you," said Lau. "I never thought you'd actually be here, though."
Lin didn't respond. He kept looking at Shin's grave. Finally he spoke. "I heard Shin shot your hand off, Lau."
"I had it coming," replied Lau. "Now let me tell you what I heard. I heard Gren killed you. In fact, everyone heard that. What gives? What are you doing walking, talking, and breathing?"
"I'm not really alive," he replied. "This is just an illusion. I died on that rooftop. You can go back and tell that to the syndicate."
"I quit the syndicate," replied Lau.
"Smart move," said Lin.
"This coming from the most loyal of all the Red Dragons. What gives? You still going after enemies of the Clan even now? They had a treaty with the Tigers, you know. This is going to cause bloodshed."
"Not nearly enough," said Lin. "So you found out I left that bomb, eh? I say let them all kill each other. Vicious left me for dead on that roof. My life didn't matter to him any more than that of an insect. And as if that wasn't bad enough, my legacy was a joke among you guys afterwards. Shin told me all about it. I was betrayed, and now I'm getting my revenge. And the best part is that both those groups will go to their graves believing the other side started this. No one ever suspects the dead guy."
"How did you..."
"Shin came to identify me," interrupted Lin. "He saw I was breathing and sneaked me out of the morgue to a nearby clinic. He told me it would be better if the syndicate thought I had perished. Now he went out like a true hero. He and Spike gave you guys what you deserved. Now I have to finish the job. If you're out, then I have no quarrel with you. Just stay out of my way, that's all."
"Look, these guys probably do have it coming to them, but you don't have the right," replied Lau. "Besides, innocent people are bound to get hurt."
"Lau, I'm warning you, stay out of this," said Lin. He pulled a gun out of his pocket and aimed it at Lau.
Lau looked at the gun. "Tranquilizer?"
Lin nodded and pulled the trigger. He walked away leaving Lau lying on the ground. Hours later he woke up on the Bebop. Faye leaned over him.
"You gave me one hell of a scare," she said. "When you didn't come back, I went out looking for you. I saw you lying motionless in the middle of a cemetery. Thank goodness I saw your chest moving or I would have thought you were dead."
"Lin's alive," croaked Lau. "He's trying to start a gang war between the Dragons and the Tigers."
Faye kissed him. "Don't try to talk. We'll discuss it in the morning."
Lau couldn't help it. He just couldn't stay awake. He closed his eyes and slept through the night without dreaming.
The next morning, all of them were at a loss as to what to do. "I don't suppose you could send a telegram to Akira telling him what really happened and warning him not to go to war?" asked Faye.
"I may have to try that if we don't catch Lin," replied Lau. "In the meantime, I'm going nuts here trying to figure out his next move. In fact, I don't even know if he'll make another move. If he just left things the way they are right now, the two gangs would waste no time destroying one another."
"He'll make another move," said Jet. "He left you alive and he knows that you know the truth. He's not going to rely on that plan completely. He'll start targeting the Red Dragons because he hates them more. If we start following the syndicate members around, we're bound to run into Lin."
"Um, excuse me Jet, but I don't want to be a widow before I'm even married," replied Faye. "You want to go following the syndicate? You think they won't notice? The last time I got too close to the Dragons, I got snatched by Vicious. If they see Lau, they'll kill him for sure."
"You have a better idea?" asked Jet.
"If we could send someone to spy on them that they might not recognize..." Faye stopped all of the sudden and looked slyly at Edward.
"No!" growled Jet. "No way are you getting Ed involved in this."
"Don't worry, Edward has a plan," said Ed.
The next day Ed sent out some remote controlled toy helicopters with mounted cameras. They were supposed to keep an aerial watch over what went on around syndicate members no matter where they went. After several hours, Ed had seen neither hide nor hair of Lin. Just then some syndicate guys noticed one of the helicopters flying over their headquarters and shot it down. So much for that plan.
But where was Lin? He was on Ganymede. He was ready to set the next stage of his plan into motion. On the street down below, the leader of the Blue Snake syndicate of Mars was leaving a restaurant. You would think they would have been more cautious after recent events. Lin fired at him with a sniper rifle, killing him instantly.
On the Bebop, the entire crew watched the news that night with great dissatisfaction. "I could just kick myself," complained Lau. "I should have seen this coming. The Blue Snake is the biggest syndicate group in the solar system. All three groups won't know who's doing what and won't wait around to ask questions."
"Have you noticed something a little odd?" asked Faye. "He's targeted two competitors of the Dragons, but he hasn't gone after any of the Dragons themselves yet."
"Sure, because he wants the Red Dragons to take the blame," said Lau. "Jet made a good guess that he would target the Dragons next, but one man can't kill off an entire syndicate. But if he turns two other syndicates against that one syndicate, then he might get his wish. And if those two other groups lose lives, well that's no skin off of Lin's nose."
"So then you're saying that to find Lin, we ignore the Dragons, but keep an eye on the other two?" asked Jet.
"Precisely," replied Lau. "Akira will deny any involvement in what's going on. But when people continue to die, the other syndicates won't believe him. They'll go after him. Then he'll fight back which puts his people in more danger. Lin doesn't need to worry about the Dragons coming out on top because they would be hopelessly outnumbered. This is one of the most brilliant plans I've ever heard of. But two isolated assassinations won't be enough to set it off. There's going to be more coming."
"So even if you tell Akira what's going on, the trust will be broken so much that they won't believe him," replied Jet. "Damn that's sneaky. And if he does find out Lin's responsible, it's like you said, no one suspects the dead guy and no one ever will."
"I'm sure that it wouldn't be too hard to figure out which members of those groups would be his next targets" said Lau. "Prominent thugs always make better targets. Still, there's only four of us and at least two potential targets I can think of in the White Tigers and three in the Blue Snake. And Lin could strike at any time, in any place."
"Jet, could we call Donnelly?" asked Faye. "Maybe ISSP could follow the targets around and keep an eye out for Lin. They have more resources and besides, this is really their job. We're just aiding them out of the goodness of our hearts."
"These guys are professionals," replied Jet. "They can spot a tail from the police a mile away. I'm still willing to suggest it to Donnelly, but I doubt it will work."
The next day, everywhere a syndicate member went, a police officer followed. Whether or not the syndicate people noticed, I can't say. They all went about their affairs as usual. The police noticed some of the Blue Snake members were sent out to spy on the Red Dragons. It showed that they were starting to doubt Akira's disclaimers of responsibility, as everyone had feared. Bloodshed would not by far behind if more violence occurred. In the meantime, the Bebop crew had a target of their own in mind, Lobo Jenkins.
Lobo was a top ranking man in the Blue Snake. He had nothing to do with business operations. He was in charge of the muscle end of things. He was more infamous than the fallen leader of the group. Lobo was a big nasty dude who bore some resemblance to Vincent. To many people on Mars, Lobo WAS the Blue Snake. Lau couldn't possibly think of a more likely target.
Ed searched the computer relentlessly, trying to see if she could hack into the syndicate. The security for their computers was understandably tight. "What is Ed looking for when she gets in?" she asked.
"Anything that looks like a schedule," replied Lau. "Somehow, Lin knew ahead of time where those syndicate guys were going to be. Maybe they keep schedules of their activities on computer and Lin hacked in and found it. If that's not the case, I don't know just what we're going to do. Hey, aren't you in yet?" Ed took off her goggles and gave Lau a dirty look. "Sorry."
In the meantime, Jet kept an eye out on the Blue Snake headquarters from a nearby rooftop. He figured that as a former cop, if he got too close, they would recognize him. He was probably right. Faye stayed at street level, keeping an eye on all activity from down there. Hours went by, but nothing happened. Ed finally fainted out of frustration when she couldn't decipher any of the information she had finally pulled up. Where was Lin?
Lin had been there the whole time. He was on yet another rooftop nearby. He had noticed Jet and Faye. He had pretty much guessed as to why they were there and was hoping they would eventually pack up and leave so he could get to it.
"That was very clever Lin."
Lin turned around to see who was speaking. It was none other than Akira. "How did you find me?" he asked.
"A cop on the payroll saw your photo and called me," replied Akira with a smirk. "Are you trying to avenge the Van? Honestly, it was sickening to watch the way you used to suck up to those old farts."
"I've just had it, that's all," replied Lin. "You people sit all high and mighty, and you control people's lives and destinies, and you never give a single thought to what you're really doing. That's who I used to be. Not anymore. I won't be remembered as some ridiculous lap dog."
"You would rather be remembered as a traitor?"
"I'd rather be remembered as a man," replied Lin. Both he and Akira went for their guns at once. Lin missed, Akira shot Lin in the gut. Jet heard the noise and looked all around to pinpoint its source. All of the sudden, he saw a syndicate zip craft taking off from a roof down the street. He started to jump from rooftop to rooftop to see where it had taken off from.
As Akira flew away, he heard something behind him. Lin was still alive and was shooting at his ship. "What's the matter with you?" yelled Akira out loud. "Why won't you just DIE?" He flew back around to shoot Lin again with his ship's guns. Just then, several more gunshots were fired from several different directions. Jet fired at him from a nearby rooftop. Several Blue Snake people fired at him from their building. Faye fired at him from the street. With his ship badly damaged in the crossfire, Akira decided to take off. As he flew away, Lin took one last shot which hit his one remaining thruster. The ship went down. At the last minute, Akira bailed out by parachute. Lin lay back down. The bullet had hit some major arteries. Jet jumped over several more rooftops to finally reach him.
"Lin!" Lin looked over to see who was speaking.
"Do I know you?" he asked weakly.
"Not directly," replied Jet. "I've been partners with both Spike and Lau. And your brother saved my life once."
"Well then I guess you're not really a stranger," replied Lin. "Good. One shouldn't die alone or in the company of strangers."
"Don't say that, we'll get you a doctor."
"Doctors are for the living," replied Lin. "I died on a Callisto rooftop over a year ago. It just took a few more months for a bullet from Akira to finish the job. I had no life anymore. My life was the syndicate. But when Vicious turned his back on me and the coup happened, I knew my life had been no life at all. I had to fight...I had to...fight...."
A bunch of Blue Snake members started gathering on the street, wondering what all the fuss was about. Just then, they saw Jet coming out of a building with a dead Lin in his arms. He set him down in front of Lobo. "Here's your killer," he said to him. "He was trying to turn all of you against the Dragons by making you think they were behind the murders." He turned around and he and Faye left while the syndicate guys registered a double-take.
Back on the Bebop, Faye sat by herself deep in thought. Lau sat down next to her. "Penny for you thought, madam?"
"It just occurred to me how senseless it was. You know, I mean on Callisto."
"Sure, but what specifically do you mean?" asked Lau.
"Lin and Gren ended up trying to kill each other. But they weren't enemies. Not really. Vicious was really the enemy. Both of them were stabbed in the back by him. The two of them should have gone bowling together, considering what they had in common."
"Sometimes in life, it's not easy to see who your real friends and your real enemies are," he replied. "It took me a few years to come around, didn't it?"
SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY
(c) 2004 Joseph Kerner
jak981125@catholic.org
Disclaimer: I did not create Cowboy Bebop. I wish I had, but I didn't. This is just fanfiction
DON'T FEAR THE REAPER
By jak981125
Author's note: This story is part of a series. It will make more sense if you read the earlier sessions.
Two weeks had passed since the events of "Call Me! Call Me!" Ed was extremely grateful to Sister Clara for giving her that hologram of her father. It was just about all she had left of him. She was readjusting fairly well to life on the Bebop.
At the moment, she and Faye were making preparations. Faye stepped out of a dressing room in a bridal shop on Tharsis. She had on about one of the most gorgeous dresses that you've ever seen. She spent a moment admiring herself in the mirror. "Ed, get out here and tell me what you think."
"Edward doesn't want to. Edward looks silly in this thing," came a voice from one of the other dressing rooms.
"Ed, this place is going to close in a few minutes, now get your butt out here," replied Faye.
Ed walked out of the dressing room in a pink bridesmaid dress. It looked good on her but apparently she didn't think so. She kept squirming and scratching herself all over. "If a boy sees Edward in this thing, he'll laugh," she whined.
"Ed, you look great in that....STOP SCRATCHING! If you damage that dress we'll have to buy it!" Ed immediately put her hands behind her back. "So, what do you think of this dress, Ed?"
Ed walked around Faye in a circle examining the dress from all sides. Finally she stopped, smiled, and gave a thumbs-up. "Faye Faye pretty!" she said. Faye smiled and gave Ed an affection pinch on the cheeks. "Where are Jet and Lau?" asked Ed.
"I told them to go try on tuxedos, so they're probably ignoring their instructions and hanging out at some sports bar," replied Faye.
That's exactly what they were doing. The two of them were having a game of darts. This game had a twist. You had to spin yourself around on a bar stool ten times and then had to get up and throw a dart within five seconds. The dizziness caused their darts to go all over the place. What can I say? They were a little drunk and behaving foolishly. On Jet's turn, one of the darts he threw missed and hit a rather large man in the butt. He got mad and came after Jet, who was too dizzy to get up. Lau saw him coming grabbed Jet, and dragged him out of there as fast as possible. Jet tried to wobble after him as best he could. "Hey, you didn't pay for your drinks!" yelled the bartender after them.
The bar they had been in was in a mall. The tuxedo shop was a few stores down. Just as they approached it, Lau suddenly turned around and faced the wall and signaled Jet to do so too. Three large men came out of the store, one carrying a box containing a white tux he had just bought. As soon as they were out of sight, Lau turned back around. "Sorry, but those guys were with the White Tigers," explained Lau. "If they had recognized me there would have been trouble."
"I would think that syndicate guys would be getting their clothes at someplace better than a mall tuxedo shop," replied Jet. The two walked in to get fitted. In the meantime the syndicate guys headed to a sedan parked outside. As soon as they started up the car, it exploded. Everyone in the mall heard the explosion. Jet jumped out of the dressing room only half-dressed. "What the hell was that?" he yelled. Nearby, a familiar looking young man in a black trench coat smiled at the sight of the burning car and walked away. He thought no one had seen him plant the bomb on the car. He was wrong. A mall security camera caught the whole thing. And when the police saw the security footage, they couldn't believe their eyes.
Back on the Bebop, the TV news had details about the explosion. "It is believed that the Red Dragons, a rival syndicate may be at the heart of this attack," said the TV anchor. "The attack was unprovoked and occurred during a time of treaty between the two syndicates. Many fear this act will mark the start of a war between the White Tigers and Red Dragons. ISSP confirms that they have security footage of the bombing, but oddly enough, they have not offered a bounty as of yet, nor have they released the bomber's identity."
Jet turned off the TV. "Come to think of it, that is a little odd," he said. "I would think they would want to get this guy pretty badly if they want any peace on Mars." Just then, the communicator started buzzing. Jet turned it on. It was Donnelly. "Hey, Donnelly. You got anything for me on this bombing?" asked Jet.
"Jet, can I meet with you and your new partner tomorrow on the East Bridge?" asked Donnelly.
"Sure thing, but why all the secrecy?" asked Jet.
"Just be there tomorrow at two and the two of you be sure to come alone," replied Donnelly who then hung up.
"OK Lau, I want a full report as soon as you get back," said Faye. "Something fishy is going on here and I want to know all about it."
"Hey, Edward knows why all the hush-hush! Maybe it was a ghost that put the bomb there and the police don't want people to know that there's a big spooky ghost in town."
"Sure, Ed," replied Lau. "I'll bet that's just what happened."
But the next morning... "A ghost? Donnelly, I'm in no mood for jokes," said Jet.
"I'm not kidding. That's why we didn't release any information. The guy who did this is someone who supposedly died in 2071. And yet, there's no question that this is the guy responsible. I asked you to bring your partner here to confirm what we've been dreading here." He pulled out a photo. "Lau, do you recognize this fella?"
Lau nearly fainted when he saw the picture. "It's Lin! Or maybe Shin. It's one of them anyway, no doubt about it. No wait, that's Lin. He had a different hairstyle. But he died on Callisto."
"Now you know why we didn't release any information," said Donnelly. "We have the guy's death certificate on file at the office. But here's the strange thing, the body was stolen before an autopsy could be performed. We figured the Dragons had done it to hide something."
Back on the Bebop... "See, Edward told you it was a ghost."
"There's no such thing as a ghost, Ed," replied Jet. "The only possible explanation for this is that the guy wasn't really dead. It wouldn't be the first time a person was mistakenly declared dead."
"But the stolen body?" asked Faye.
"Maybe he revived and walked out without being seen," replied Jet.
"With a bullet in him?" scoffed Lau.
"Or someone could have stolen him, realized he wasn't dead and took him to a doctor. I don't know. Why are you two interrogating me? I sure didn't do it!"
Edward jumped over and pointed a lamp straight into Jet's face. "OK, where were you on the night of September 22, 2012?"
"I wasn't born yet."
"A likely story," said Ed.
"Lau, you knew that guy, right?" asked Faye.
"I sure did. He was a true-blue syndicate man to the core. He gave his life for the whole stupid thing. At least I thought he did. It's a shame Spike's not here. He knew him better than I do."
"I don't suppose you would know where we could locate this fellow if he's not really dead, would you?" asked Jet.
At that very moment, Lin was on the west side of town at the graveyard. He was standing over Shin's grave. Suddenly he sensed he was not alone.
"I took a million to one guess as to where I'd find you," said Lau. "I never thought you'd actually be here, though."
Lin didn't respond. He kept looking at Shin's grave. Finally he spoke. "I heard Shin shot your hand off, Lau."
"I had it coming," replied Lau. "Now let me tell you what I heard. I heard Gren killed you. In fact, everyone heard that. What gives? What are you doing walking, talking, and breathing?"
"I'm not really alive," he replied. "This is just an illusion. I died on that rooftop. You can go back and tell that to the syndicate."
"I quit the syndicate," replied Lau.
"Smart move," said Lin.
"This coming from the most loyal of all the Red Dragons. What gives? You still going after enemies of the Clan even now? They had a treaty with the Tigers, you know. This is going to cause bloodshed."
"Not nearly enough," said Lin. "So you found out I left that bomb, eh? I say let them all kill each other. Vicious left me for dead on that roof. My life didn't matter to him any more than that of an insect. And as if that wasn't bad enough, my legacy was a joke among you guys afterwards. Shin told me all about it. I was betrayed, and now I'm getting my revenge. And the best part is that both those groups will go to their graves believing the other side started this. No one ever suspects the dead guy."
"How did you..."
"Shin came to identify me," interrupted Lin. "He saw I was breathing and sneaked me out of the morgue to a nearby clinic. He told me it would be better if the syndicate thought I had perished. Now he went out like a true hero. He and Spike gave you guys what you deserved. Now I have to finish the job. If you're out, then I have no quarrel with you. Just stay out of my way, that's all."
"Look, these guys probably do have it coming to them, but you don't have the right," replied Lau. "Besides, innocent people are bound to get hurt."
"Lau, I'm warning you, stay out of this," said Lin. He pulled a gun out of his pocket and aimed it at Lau.
Lau looked at the gun. "Tranquilizer?"
Lin nodded and pulled the trigger. He walked away leaving Lau lying on the ground. Hours later he woke up on the Bebop. Faye leaned over him.
"You gave me one hell of a scare," she said. "When you didn't come back, I went out looking for you. I saw you lying motionless in the middle of a cemetery. Thank goodness I saw your chest moving or I would have thought you were dead."
"Lin's alive," croaked Lau. "He's trying to start a gang war between the Dragons and the Tigers."
Faye kissed him. "Don't try to talk. We'll discuss it in the morning."
Lau couldn't help it. He just couldn't stay awake. He closed his eyes and slept through the night without dreaming.
The next morning, all of them were at a loss as to what to do. "I don't suppose you could send a telegram to Akira telling him what really happened and warning him not to go to war?" asked Faye.
"I may have to try that if we don't catch Lin," replied Lau. "In the meantime, I'm going nuts here trying to figure out his next move. In fact, I don't even know if he'll make another move. If he just left things the way they are right now, the two gangs would waste no time destroying one another."
"He'll make another move," said Jet. "He left you alive and he knows that you know the truth. He's not going to rely on that plan completely. He'll start targeting the Red Dragons because he hates them more. If we start following the syndicate members around, we're bound to run into Lin."
"Um, excuse me Jet, but I don't want to be a widow before I'm even married," replied Faye. "You want to go following the syndicate? You think they won't notice? The last time I got too close to the Dragons, I got snatched by Vicious. If they see Lau, they'll kill him for sure."
"You have a better idea?" asked Jet.
"If we could send someone to spy on them that they might not recognize..." Faye stopped all of the sudden and looked slyly at Edward.
"No!" growled Jet. "No way are you getting Ed involved in this."
"Don't worry, Edward has a plan," said Ed.
The next day Ed sent out some remote controlled toy helicopters with mounted cameras. They were supposed to keep an aerial watch over what went on around syndicate members no matter where they went. After several hours, Ed had seen neither hide nor hair of Lin. Just then some syndicate guys noticed one of the helicopters flying over their headquarters and shot it down. So much for that plan.
But where was Lin? He was on Ganymede. He was ready to set the next stage of his plan into motion. On the street down below, the leader of the Blue Snake syndicate of Mars was leaving a restaurant. You would think they would have been more cautious after recent events. Lin fired at him with a sniper rifle, killing him instantly.
On the Bebop, the entire crew watched the news that night with great dissatisfaction. "I could just kick myself," complained Lau. "I should have seen this coming. The Blue Snake is the biggest syndicate group in the solar system. All three groups won't know who's doing what and won't wait around to ask questions."
"Have you noticed something a little odd?" asked Faye. "He's targeted two competitors of the Dragons, but he hasn't gone after any of the Dragons themselves yet."
"Sure, because he wants the Red Dragons to take the blame," said Lau. "Jet made a good guess that he would target the Dragons next, but one man can't kill off an entire syndicate. But if he turns two other syndicates against that one syndicate, then he might get his wish. And if those two other groups lose lives, well that's no skin off of Lin's nose."
"So then you're saying that to find Lin, we ignore the Dragons, but keep an eye on the other two?" asked Jet.
"Precisely," replied Lau. "Akira will deny any involvement in what's going on. But when people continue to die, the other syndicates won't believe him. They'll go after him. Then he'll fight back which puts his people in more danger. Lin doesn't need to worry about the Dragons coming out on top because they would be hopelessly outnumbered. This is one of the most brilliant plans I've ever heard of. But two isolated assassinations won't be enough to set it off. There's going to be more coming."
"So even if you tell Akira what's going on, the trust will be broken so much that they won't believe him," replied Jet. "Damn that's sneaky. And if he does find out Lin's responsible, it's like you said, no one suspects the dead guy and no one ever will."
"I'm sure that it wouldn't be too hard to figure out which members of those groups would be his next targets" said Lau. "Prominent thugs always make better targets. Still, there's only four of us and at least two potential targets I can think of in the White Tigers and three in the Blue Snake. And Lin could strike at any time, in any place."
"Jet, could we call Donnelly?" asked Faye. "Maybe ISSP could follow the targets around and keep an eye out for Lin. They have more resources and besides, this is really their job. We're just aiding them out of the goodness of our hearts."
"These guys are professionals," replied Jet. "They can spot a tail from the police a mile away. I'm still willing to suggest it to Donnelly, but I doubt it will work."
The next day, everywhere a syndicate member went, a police officer followed. Whether or not the syndicate people noticed, I can't say. They all went about their affairs as usual. The police noticed some of the Blue Snake members were sent out to spy on the Red Dragons. It showed that they were starting to doubt Akira's disclaimers of responsibility, as everyone had feared. Bloodshed would not by far behind if more violence occurred. In the meantime, the Bebop crew had a target of their own in mind, Lobo Jenkins.
Lobo was a top ranking man in the Blue Snake. He had nothing to do with business operations. He was in charge of the muscle end of things. He was more infamous than the fallen leader of the group. Lobo was a big nasty dude who bore some resemblance to Vincent. To many people on Mars, Lobo WAS the Blue Snake. Lau couldn't possibly think of a more likely target.
Ed searched the computer relentlessly, trying to see if she could hack into the syndicate. The security for their computers was understandably tight. "What is Ed looking for when she gets in?" she asked.
"Anything that looks like a schedule," replied Lau. "Somehow, Lin knew ahead of time where those syndicate guys were going to be. Maybe they keep schedules of their activities on computer and Lin hacked in and found it. If that's not the case, I don't know just what we're going to do. Hey, aren't you in yet?" Ed took off her goggles and gave Lau a dirty look. "Sorry."
In the meantime, Jet kept an eye out on the Blue Snake headquarters from a nearby rooftop. He figured that as a former cop, if he got too close, they would recognize him. He was probably right. Faye stayed at street level, keeping an eye on all activity from down there. Hours went by, but nothing happened. Ed finally fainted out of frustration when she couldn't decipher any of the information she had finally pulled up. Where was Lin?
Lin had been there the whole time. He was on yet another rooftop nearby. He had noticed Jet and Faye. He had pretty much guessed as to why they were there and was hoping they would eventually pack up and leave so he could get to it.
"That was very clever Lin."
Lin turned around to see who was speaking. It was none other than Akira. "How did you find me?" he asked.
"A cop on the payroll saw your photo and called me," replied Akira with a smirk. "Are you trying to avenge the Van? Honestly, it was sickening to watch the way you used to suck up to those old farts."
"I've just had it, that's all," replied Lin. "You people sit all high and mighty, and you control people's lives and destinies, and you never give a single thought to what you're really doing. That's who I used to be. Not anymore. I won't be remembered as some ridiculous lap dog."
"You would rather be remembered as a traitor?"
"I'd rather be remembered as a man," replied Lin. Both he and Akira went for their guns at once. Lin missed, Akira shot Lin in the gut. Jet heard the noise and looked all around to pinpoint its source. All of the sudden, he saw a syndicate zip craft taking off from a roof down the street. He started to jump from rooftop to rooftop to see where it had taken off from.
As Akira flew away, he heard something behind him. Lin was still alive and was shooting at his ship. "What's the matter with you?" yelled Akira out loud. "Why won't you just DIE?" He flew back around to shoot Lin again with his ship's guns. Just then, several more gunshots were fired from several different directions. Jet fired at him from a nearby rooftop. Several Blue Snake people fired at him from their building. Faye fired at him from the street. With his ship badly damaged in the crossfire, Akira decided to take off. As he flew away, Lin took one last shot which hit his one remaining thruster. The ship went down. At the last minute, Akira bailed out by parachute. Lin lay back down. The bullet had hit some major arteries. Jet jumped over several more rooftops to finally reach him.
"Lin!" Lin looked over to see who was speaking.
"Do I know you?" he asked weakly.
"Not directly," replied Jet. "I've been partners with both Spike and Lau. And your brother saved my life once."
"Well then I guess you're not really a stranger," replied Lin. "Good. One shouldn't die alone or in the company of strangers."
"Don't say that, we'll get you a doctor."
"Doctors are for the living," replied Lin. "I died on a Callisto rooftop over a year ago. It just took a few more months for a bullet from Akira to finish the job. I had no life anymore. My life was the syndicate. But when Vicious turned his back on me and the coup happened, I knew my life had been no life at all. I had to fight...I had to...fight...."
A bunch of Blue Snake members started gathering on the street, wondering what all the fuss was about. Just then, they saw Jet coming out of a building with a dead Lin in his arms. He set him down in front of Lobo. "Here's your killer," he said to him. "He was trying to turn all of you against the Dragons by making you think they were behind the murders." He turned around and he and Faye left while the syndicate guys registered a double-take.
Back on the Bebop, Faye sat by herself deep in thought. Lau sat down next to her. "Penny for you thought, madam?"
"It just occurred to me how senseless it was. You know, I mean on Callisto."
"Sure, but what specifically do you mean?" asked Lau.
"Lin and Gren ended up trying to kill each other. But they weren't enemies. Not really. Vicious was really the enemy. Both of them were stabbed in the back by him. The two of them should have gone bowling together, considering what they had in common."
"Sometimes in life, it's not easy to see who your real friends and your real enemies are," he replied. "It took me a few years to come around, didn't it?"
SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY
(c) 2004 Joseph Kerner
jak981125@catholic.org
Disclaimer: I did not create Cowboy Bebop. I wish I had, but I didn't. This is just fanfiction