Cursed Chapter 3: The Ship of Gold
Thirty years ago, a ship was created that was faster than any that had come before. A ship of dreams and wonders the likes of which has never been seen again. There were many stories that went along with its creation, but it was the ship's disappearance that became the legend. These rumors were the ones that over the years became the bed-time stories for every child, and the fuel in the minds of practically every crew of a ship in the entire galaxy. That ship was the ECHO.
Jet remembered fondly the first time he had ever been told the tale. Hell, he even remembered watching the fabled ship's maiden voyage-it's only voyage. But like everything that ever became a legend, the mundane reality of the situation soon gave way to the fantastical language of myth. And with a legend like The Ship of Gold, reality takes an early backseat.
Jet was eleven when Harrison Industries announced the creation of the ECHO. The ECHO was a luxury liner to beat all luxury liners, built from a gold alloy. It was said that the entire body of the ship was probably worth more money than Ganymede itself. The press had dubbed her The Ship of Gold the day of the launch, and now that was all anyone remembered. Jet had been hanging near the docks with a couple of friends (the names of which old age has erased forever), watching the skies above and the television screen behind as the ship left its lunar dock.
"Everything had gone as planned," Tommy, the elder brother of one of Jet's friends had said a year later at that same dock. Jet always felt it strange the way he could remember the brother's name and forget one of his closest friend's; but that was the way legends went. When it came down to it, all you could really remember were the important details, and the key players. And in the story of the ECHO, Tommy What's-His-Name, was a key player. Well, at least for Jet.
"Everything had gone as planned. The ride was smooth sailing out of the dock and into the atmosphere. There were no bumps, no shocks as it departed, just a bunch of very happy crew members." Tommy said as he sat back in his padded chair on the deck. Jet sat on the wet wood at his feet with two of his friends, listening intently as Tommy told the tale. "But then something went wrong. No one knows exactly what it was, and no one ever will. The Ship of Gold vanished as it entered the Southern Gate. Some people believe it was sabotage. While other's think that the engine that was specially created; the engine that was by far the fastest in the galaxy, self destructed upon entering the Gate. But no debris was ever found." At this all of the boys would lean in closer, hands placed under their chins, as Tommy relished in his story telling fame. "All anyone knows is the ECHO vanished completely. No trace of her has been found yet. No communication has been transmitted or received, and no sign of her has been seen anywhere in the known galaxy. The greatest treasure in the world, hell the entire system, is lost boys. And it's lost for good."
Now, when Jet was eleven that statement had made his eyes go wide, and his mind yearned for space exploration. Over the years Jet had heard that story again and again, from different sources with different explanations and rumors. The stories usually gained momentum during the anniversary of its disappearance, and at that time ISSP was really on their toes. It was at that time when most men and women with any kind of ship capable of space travel would hit the road so-to-speak, on a search for The Ship of Gold. Of course, no one ever found anything, but new stories would come to light. Stories of the ECHO as a ghost ship, sighted but never boarded for fear of the restless souls of the ship's crew wreaking havoc.
At forty-one, Jet no longer yearned for space exploration when he heard the stories of the ECHO. Instead he longed for a bat so that he could smack some sense into the idiots who looked for it.
Sitting at the small table of the Port 9 Bar and Grill on Ganymede, a bar close to the dock that Jet first heard that story, Jet wondered if he cold find someone to hit him and his crew with a bat a couple of times. Just a few quick whacks to get them back to reality.
He sat back in his small chair at an outside table now, and folded his hands over his chest as he waited. He called Vic Healy as soon as they settled down at port, and he told the "children" to stay put until he called. Jet stared at the white cowboy hat on the table. As soon as Vic got there all this mystery and adventure would be done.
But as he stared at that hat he couldn't help but feel a bit of excitement. A search for The Ship of Gold would make for one hell of a last ride.
Spike stood at the window in the Bebop common room blowing smoke on to the already dirty surface before him. It was a shitty day on Ganymede, something he had grown accustomed to on their many stops there. The sky always seemed to be dark, and rain always seemed to threaten but never fall. Strangely, it reminded him a lot of Mars.
Thirty years ago The Ship of Gold disappeared, and on that same day all those years ago Spike Spiegel was born. It was an odd coincidence, at least everyone at the orphanage used to think so. The first time he ever heard the story was at his fifth birthday celebration. The tale had been filled with explosions and pirates, and the best part the gold and riches that were supposedly hidden on the ship. It was a story that made every kid an adventure seeker, and Spike was not immune to its charms. The very next day Spike and his best friend Charlie Wallace began the greatest and longest treasure hunt of their lives. The hunt for The Ship of Gold, the greatest treasure in the galaxy would consume them for their entire friendship, and it would seem far beyond that as well.
"So what do you think about all of this?" Faye's voice broke Spike's thoughts as she entered the room. He turned quickly, startled a bit by her presence. Over the past year and a half he had grown used to his quiet- time, and now that Faye was back it looked like that wonderful quiet-time was gone for good. "Hello? Earth to lunkhead. Did you hear me?"
"I heard you," Spike said back as he eyed her. Faye plopped herself down onto the well-worn yellow sofa and lifted her feet up onto the table. Spike raised a brow at her as she began to study her nails. Her movements were obviously rehearsed, and she was obviously still scared of something. "Why are you here, Faye?"
"Do the words 'Ship of Gold' ring any bells," Faye said simply as she lifted her arms into the air for emphasis. She let them lazily fall over the back of the sofa as she smiled over at Spike. She then rested her head on the cushions and stared up at the ceiling fan, as she let herself try to get used to being back. Maybe she should have just stayed in her room.
"Don't give me that. You know better than anyone that the worst kinds of troubles are money-troubles. You really want to go seek out some treasure that may be more trouble than it's worth?" Spike asked calmly as he took a long drag of his cigarette. He took a couple of steps forward but stopped when he saw a smile snake its way onto Faye's face.
"Everything in life is more trouble than it's worth, Spike. That's half the fun of being alive." Faye locked gazes with him as she smirked. It was so natural to bicker with Spike that it instantly settled her nerves. She smiled a bit wider. There was something strange and sadistic about their relationship, but it if worked why worry about it. "Why are you going after it?"
"I'm not," Spike said simply, taking another drag and smiling at the ceiling. "I'm just here for the ride."
Don't try to pull that shit with me, Spike." Faye said chuckling. "I saw the way your eyes lit up, there was definitely some kind of interest built inside that pea-brain of yours. I may have been gone for a while, but reading you is still pretty easy." She locked gazes with Spike for what seemed like hours until finally she broke the look and laid her head back on the sofa. "You don't want to tell me?" She peered over at Spike, who said nothing and merely raised a brow at her. "Fine then don't expect me to give away my reasons."
"Your reasons are pretty out there, Faye. A person who has spent two minutes with you knows what you want out of life." Spike smirked at Faye's infuriated expression.
"You really are a lunkhead, you know that?" Faye sat up in the seat and stared at Spike. "You don't believe that for a second, or you wouldn't have asked in the first place. Look, we all have something going in this, and we all have different reasons, even Jet. Which is pretty impressive considering he's usually yelling at us for stuff like this. So let's just drop it."
"Fine," Spike said turning his back on the annoying wench on the sofa. He turned his attention back to the window, where much to his dismay he found he could still see Faye reflected. He rolled his eyes and took a slow drag from his cigarette before butting it out next to her reflection. He finally came to the realization that now that Faye was back, he would never get rid of her. He smirked at the window and watched as the reflected Faye fiddled with something in her pocket.
"You're going after what?" Vic Healy said as he adjusted his bifocals and stared at the grim face of Jet Black across the table from him. Vic put a hand to his head, and tried to tame the two puffs of white hair that spurted from either side. The cigar hanging from his mouth sent a wave of smoke steadily into the air above his head, and watching that smoke Jet longed for a cigarette.
"You heard me." Jet said patting down his pockets for his smokes. "And I didn't say we were going after it, I just said that had come across some interesting things and were looking into it." Jet barked as he finally found his cigarettes and lit one up.
"You're going after it," Vic said nodding his head and sitting back in his seat. "You don't just look into things, Black. It's not the ISSP way."
"I'm not ISSP anymore." Jet said smiling at his old friend.
"You, my friend, will be a cop until the day you die. Look at what profession you chose as retirement." Vic grabbed his beer and let out a loud bark of a laugh before taking a large swig. "What do you need from me Black Dog that you can't do by yourself?"
Jet slid the white cowboy hat across the table to Vic. "In the loose lining you'll find two components to some kind of computer equipment. I need to know what they are."
"In the lining of the hat?" Vic put a hand to the brim of the hat and lifted it onto his lap. "What is this Jet, some kind of a joke? This isn't some kind of set up right? I've been too good to the ISSP for them to come down on me like this."
"It's no joke, Vic. Just look at the pieces and tell me what you think." Jet leaned forward. "Just pull back the lining, don't remove them from it. Not until we get to your shop."
Vic pulled back the lining slowly and narrowed his eyes at the two small pieces of metal. "They're computer chips," he said instantly. "Is this for real?"
"Let's go to your shop." Jet said putting some cash down on the table and getting up. "I don't want to attract too much attention to this."
"No, certainly not," Vic said. He pushed a small button on the side of his glasses and zoomed in on the small chips held in the lining. "But I've got to warn you Jet, if you got these where I think you did, you've already got some attention that you really don't want."
"What are you talking about?" Jet said leaning over the table and giving the surrounding patrons a quick glance.
"Frankie Tang." Vic said in a hushed voice. "I heard about the robbery from his place on Haley Nine. Everyone knows he's a big believer in the ECHO legend, and he's put a lot of money into finding it. You got these from him right?"
"Look Vic---"
"You're right, I probably don't want to know." Vic said waving his hands in the air. He looked down at the chips again. "I can tell you this right off the bat; these things are made of something I've never seen before. I think the Black Dog may have finally sunk his teeth into something worth while. I just hope you haven't bit off more than you can chew with Frankie Tang."
"Let me deal with that." Jet said firmly. Jet clenched his fists together a bit. When he got back to the Bebop he was chaining Ed to the ship, and never letting her leave again.
"So, do I get a cut?" Vic asked as he stood up, cowboy hat in hand.
"If we find anything, you get the usual." Jet said smirking.
"Wow, 100 Woolongs and another two years ISSP free. Gee, you sure are generous, Black." Vic said chuckling as he moved into step with Jet as they left the dock.
"I get that a lot." Jet said putting a hand on the old man's shoulder.
Faye had only heard the mysterious tale of the ECHO once before Ed told it just a few hours ago. It had been almost a year ago exactly, and she had been visiting Jimmy Calloway at the Romani. It was one of those memories that would haunt you; that was the last time she had seen him alive.
Jimmy sat in a large chair by the fire place, a cigarette in his mouth and lighter in his hand, as his family sat about him. Faye stood in a corner of the room, staring out the large window of the penthouse apartment that was his home, watching as the rain fell in buckets from the Martian sky.
He told the story beautifully, and Faye couldn't help but smile as his young grandchildren gasped at all the right parts. Jimmy was a great story teller, had been since they were children, and the story of The Ship of Gold seemed to be one of his favorites to tell. He'd been alive for it, so of course his telling of it was taken as fact by the children. Faye had been asleep for it, so of course her hearing it left her with nothing but doubt as to the validity of her old friend's facts. But being the Faye that she was she couldn't help but listen a bit harder to the details surrounding all the money that was said to be still on board.
Back in the common room of the Bebop, Faye fiddled with the telegram she still had in her pocket as she thought about this strange turn of events. She pulled the small worn piece of paper from her pocket and turned it around in her fingers.
"A real treasure ship? Could that story really be true?" Faye mumbled to herself.
"You say something?" Spike's voice broke into her head.
Faye's eyes went wide and she snapped her gaze to where Spike stood at the window. Had she really said that out loud? Over a year and a half on her own, she had gotten used to talking to herself. She closed her eyes tight and mentally slapped herself for forgetting that the lunkhead was still in the room; for forgetting that she was back on the Bebop.
Spike watched as Faye's hands clenched around the small piece of paper she had been fiddling with earlier. With Jet gone to do whatever the hell he had gone to do, Spike had no other choice than to talk with Faye. He moved forward and plopped himself down in the chair across the table from her. Maybe he could get to the bottom of what was freaking her out, and most likely he could have a little bit of fun when he did.
"What's that?" Spike pointed to her hand and watched her gaze flick down to the paper.
She remained silent for a while before finally looking back up at Spike. He deserved to know. He'd known Jimmy, not well, but he met him.
"It's a telegram." Faye said slowly holding the paper up for him to see. Spike read the name Calloway on the bottom but nothing else, and he sat back in his chair smiling.
"This I can see, Faye. I can also see that it's from Calloway. So how is the old man?" Spike said slowly. He watched as her eyes fell to the table in front of her, and her hand clenched around the telegram. "Faye?"
"Jimmy's dead." She said slowly, as she fought to stay in control. "He died about a month ago now."
Spike sat up in his chair, staring at Faye's lowered head. He sat forward and let his arms rest on his knees as he too stared at the floor. He didn't know what to say. All he knew was that nothing would help.
"He was a good man. If you don't mind, how did he---?"
"Pneumonia," Faye said simply and looked up at him smiling. "A good simple death."
"We could only be so lucky." Spike said nodding his head in understanding. He remembered hearing Faye once tell him that she always worried about her tainting the people from her past with the way she was now. That was long before she regained her memory, but Spike was sure that the sentiment was still there. For her, knowing that Calloway died a peaceful death, untouched by the harsh life that she now led, was probably the most comforting thing in the world. "I'm sorry, Faye."
"Yeah, I am too." Faye said slowly. "It's strange, Spike. There are so many people in the world that deserve the second chance that I was given so much more; the chance at a longer life. Jimmy deserved too live a longer life, much longer than me. But here I am."
"Calloway lived a complete and happy life. Don't pity him for his death; it lessens the value of his life." Spike said simply. "And never be sorry that you're alive, Faye. I learned that the hard way."
"I remember." Faye said looking up at Spike. She smiled at him and as they locked gazes she also remembered why it had been so awkward when they would run into each other. He kept her gaze for a while longer, and she felt like he was trying to read her mind. When she realized that he probably could, she broke the eye contact and turned her attention back to the telegram in her hand.
"You know Jimmy offered me part of the Hotel." Faye said off-handedly as she placed the telegram back into the pocket of her black pants.
"Oh, yeah?" Spike said leaning back in his chair smiling. That's right, Faye, change the subject and move on from the awkward moments, he thought. "What did you say?"
"I told him I wasn't the Hotel-running kind of girl." She said smiling. "You know me. If it doesn't have a casino in it, it really isn't worth my time."
"I'm surprised you haven't renovated the Blue Port into a casino yet," Spike said chuckling.
"What are you talking about?" Faye said, just as an incoming transmission beeped on the computer.
Spike quickly moved to answer the call, realizing that he had made a bit of a mistake in his conversation. Apparently Faye didn't know that Jet kept the Blue Port for her. Oops. Spike pressed the accept transmission button and was greeted with Jet's stern face. He smiled widely and watched as Faye moved to stand behind him to see the screen.
"So having fun on your little outing?" Spike said grimacing as Faye pushed his head out of the way a little so she could see Jet.
"Did you find anything out?" Faye asked quickly. "Are those really pieces to the ECHO?"
"Don't get to excited, there's no way to tell that for sure." Jet said gruffly. Faye let out a disgruntled sigh and Spike followed with one of a lesser magnitude. "However, my guy here tells me that the chips are made of a gold alloy, and that the technology matches the specks that were used for the creation of the ECHO."
"So that means that---"Faye began excitedly.
"That means that it's a possibility, nothing more." Jet said firmly. "Vic says that these two are main computer chips to some kind of locking mechanism, or perhaps an unlocking mechanism."
"You mean those are parts to a key or something?" Spike asked raising a brow at Jet.
"Maybe, not really sure." Jet responded. "The fact that one piece came from Frankie Tang is a good sign that it actually has something to do with the ECHO. Tang is known for his mad quest for the ship, so the fact that this was so heavily guarded is something to keep in mind."
"Especially considering that Tang probably isn't too pleased that it's gone." Spike said.
"Exactly," Jet said nodding. "I'm going to finish up here, and then I'll be back. You three stay put and we'll figure out what to do next when I get back."
"Right," Spike said nodding.
"Hey, Jet," Faye leaned over Spike's shoulder so her face was fully visible in Jet's comm. Unit. "You're guy said those things were made of gold right?"
"A gold alloy, just like the body of the ECHO," Jet said raising a brow. When he saw the smirk snake its way onto her face, and the twinkle in her emerald eyes, he knew what the next comment would be.
"So even if they aren't part of the ship, we could sell them." Faye smiled as she moved back away from the screen a bit. "I'll be we could rake in the dough. Especially if we could convince people they were from the ECHO. Why I'll be we could even ransom Frankie Tang's piece back---"
"Enough," Jet barked. "You three just stay put until I get back. Then we'll go over what to do with these things."
"Yes, sir," Spike said chuckling as he pushed Faye away from his shoulder and leaned forward to turn off the transmission. He smiled as he looked over his shoulder at Faye, who was now straight-faced, and looking a bit worried. "What's wrong?"
"Spike," Faye began, letting her eyes travel the length of the common room before meeting his gaze. "Where's Ed?"
OKAY people, that's all she wrote. At least for now. Sorry about the long, long time between updates. My computer crashed a while ago, and then I had to move. But I'm up and running now, and I'll try desperately to keep the updates coming. I forgot how much fun it is to write these things. Read and review, and have fun!
