Edward fell asleep while they were still on the bus, and Jet had to carry her to the Bebop. The girl didn't wake as Jet laid her across the couch, nor did she wake in the next fifteen hours.
After settling Faye's bills and scheduling her for surgery, Jet and Spike slept for nearly as long as Edward did.
The following week was a long one. The two older men had spent most of their time gathering quick, cheep bounties to pay off the rest of Faye's invoice while Edward stayed at the hospital and upgraded the equipment keeping Faye alive. Edward didn't sleep for two days while she scoured over blueprints for Faye's cryogenic chamber. It took her so long because she was used to improving electronics simply for the sake of developing them. In the first day, she found a dozen ways to streamline the machine's design while making the cryogenic chamber more energy efficient, but she didn't do anything which would actually improve Faye's condition. Finally, though, finally, Edward understood the machine's purpose beyond simply being a machine, and she found a way to rewire the expotronits, redistribute the introfulaux fluids, and lower the use of HN components in a way which was sure to improve Faye's condition, if even a little bit.
The cryogenic chamber was altered while Faye was in surgery. Edward wasn't authorized to touch half of the chemicals within the equipment, so she was only allowed to wear a bio-suit while looking over the technician's shoulder as he made the required adjustments.
After Edward's improvements to the machine, Faye only had twelve hours to show some sort of improvement before the doctors determined her incapable of making improvement.
At the end of those twelve hours, Faye hadn't improved, exactly, but thisulatic fluid was flowing through her body at a faster rate, and she was even absorbing some of it. This little change alone didn't count as proof that Faye was improving, but it was something, and the hospital was still very thankful of the alterations Edward had developed for the cryogenic chamber. They declared that they would give Faye a real two months to show improvement before determining if they could continue her treatment.
With Faye's condition (somewhat) stable and her continued medical care insured, the crew felt it was safe to return to the Bebop and take a real rest.
And rest they did, until a hard thud sounded against the shell of the Bebop, the sound beginning in the hanger and echoing through the ship.
Spike, who had spent a rare night in his bed, sat up with a groggy moan and a long scowl. As the strange hollow thud sounded through the ship again, he pulled himself off of the bed. He put on some faded sweat pants before leaving the room, and he only bothered with that much so that when he passed through the common area, he could grab his Jericho and slip it into the back band of the material.
As he grabbed his gun and made sure it was loaded, another thud sounded through the ship. In the common area, Spike first glanced to Jet, who laid asleep sitting upright in a chair with his arms crossed and a leg propped up against the coffee table. Spike then looked to Edward, who was sleeping soundly on the floor next to the couch with her Tomato open on the floor next to her and her arms and legs spread akimbo.
Amazed that he had awoken before either of them and amused by their uncomfortable sleeping positions, Spike started towards the hanger, where the hollow thud was coming from.
Outside, the sky of Venus was a pale orange, and Spike scowled when he saw that one of the floating plant masses had settled over the Bebop, and more were beginning to clump in the area.
Spike easily strolled around the deck until he came to the source of the noise.
A man stood scowling at the large metal hanger doors. He wore a long trench coat with the collar pulled high despite Venus' warm, humid air. He held a large wrench in his hand, a tool the man had probably found lying around on the deck near Jet's Hammerhead, which was parked on the Bebop's deck, and Spike watched as he raised the tool and gave the hanger door a solid bang. The sound was hollow and it echoed outside the ship just as it had inside.
"What are you doing?" Spike asked.
The man turned to face Spike, his small dark eyes narrowed.
"You don't have a doorbell, and your communication systems seem to be down," the man answered as he carelessly dropped Jet's tool to the deck.
Spike grinned at the stranger, even though he didn't much like the man's posture. "We may have sold a few parts to come up with some quick cash. If you're a sky marshal then-"
"I'm not," the man told Spike. "I'm Detective Orison, and you must be Spike Spiegel."
"Ah, Detective," Spike greeted. "We've already spoken to the police about the Sun Casino, and we've given them our report. I'm sure they've got our statements on file or sitting under a coffee pot or something if you need it."
Detective Orison was unimpressed by Spike's clear disapproval of him. "I was wondering if Stevie was here. Maybe you could invite her outside to speak with me."
"Stevie?" Spike asked. "I can't say she's here."
"Fine," Orison said as he reached into his jacket.
Spike remained calm, not letting his anxiety show on his face and keeping his posture easy and relaxed. He was ready to pull his gun and fight at a moments notice, though. Spike was forming a plan to toss Orison over the side of the ship and into the greenish orangish water below if the man pulled a gun.
Instead, Orison retrieved a manila envelope from his jacket and held it towards Spike. Still suspicious of the man's black eyes and intent scowl, Spike reached for the envelope.
"What is this?" Spike asked.
"It's an order detailing the house arrest of Stevie Abendock. She isn't allowed to leave this ship, let alone this city or this planet, pending criminal investigation."
"Investigation of what?" Spike asked with a raised eyebrow as he opened the manila envelope. As he suspected, the papers were written in legal jargon, and he didn't have the patience to read past the first sentence.
"Investigation of identity theft and fraud."
Within the legal documents and restraining order which Orison had given Spike, there was a picture of Edward.
Oh, Spike thought.
Spike had to turn away before the man saw his smile.
Of all the things that girl could be arrested for…
"It's not like we could leave the planet anyway," Spike reminded Jet. "The Bebop can't fly until we replace the parts we sold off."
"That's not the point," a clearly irritated Jet snapped. "You don't know what these cops are like. Once they sink their teeth in…"
"I think we can handle Orison," Spike told Jet, still unconcerned.
Jet cursed, scowling at the papers spread over the coffee table. He glanced towards the kitchen, where Edward was scooping rice into Ein's bowl. The girl whispered softly, serenading the animal under her breath.
Edward had been notably distracted for the past day. She hardly reacted to the news of her house arrest, and she halfheartedly typed at her Tomato all afternoon.
It was strange, because Edward never did anything half way, especially when it involved her computer.
"We need to snap her out of it," Jet breathed.
Now this Spike agreed with, and he also glanced at Edward. "She needs a distraction," he said wisely. With a deep sigh, he stood. "What a drag. Let's get this over with and get out of here. This place is starting to get depressing. Edward!" he called, and the girl made her way into the common area.
"Edward," Jet said, "We need to figure out how to get out of this investigation."
"Oh, that?" Edward asked. "I've already sent for my Earth files."
"Your what?" Jet asked.
"My Earth files. There are fifty different identity agencies on Earth which have registered me under fifty different names. All of the identification I use is real," Edward told the men. "Once they have proof that the multiple identities I use are real, the house arrest will be null."
Jet shook his head. "I'm pretty sure it's illegal to have multiple identities, Edward."
"Sure it is. Bit if there's one thing all of those papers prove, it's that I'm a citizen of Earth. And while it's illegal to have multiple identities, Earth doesn't have any defined punishment for it."
"So they can't do anything to you?" Jet asked slowly.
Edward shrugged. "Earth's police could probably arrest me and throw me in jail for a while, but they could only do that after determining my real identity. And let's face it, they've got better things to do than chase after little girls who use a few different names."
Edward never thought that having multiple identities could really come in handy. She'd only gone through the process of creating paper proof of herself so many times while on Earth because she was bored, and if there was anything Edward liked, it was naming herself. Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV had hardly been created on the first try.
"We'll be out of here in a couple of days," Edward said confidently.
Sure enough, just three days latter, they received the call from the Venus police stating that the case was out of their jurisdiction, and they weren't legally allowed to hold Edward. Still, she was in trouble, and the Bebop crew didn't doubt that her name had been put on a few dangerous lists.
The crew found out why Edward wasn't escorted from the planet's atmosphere when Faye's hospital gave them a call.
Dr. Jakkala, the doctor in charge of Faye and the man who authorized Edward's alterations to the cryogenic chamber, appeared on Jet's personal communicator one morning after breakfast. The three crew members pressed close together so they could see the man and hear what he had to say.
"The board of directors met this evening, and they're moving to make an official model of the altered cryogenic chamber you provided for us. They're offering payment in the form of woolongs detracted from Faye Valentine's hospital bill as well as a small stipend dependent on the success of the alterations. They're also interested in any… other alterations you might develop for the hospital's equipment."
"Really?" Edward asked.
The man nodded with a frown. It was difficult for him to speak with the Bebop crew on such friendly terms. During Faye's initial hospitalization, Jet and Edward had given the man problems, and Spike was just the kind of person who rubbed Dr. Jakkala the wrong way, so the group was difficult to tolerate all around. Still, Edward's work on the cryogenic chamber meant something big for the hospital, and it would mean even more if they could convince her to do work on their other equipment, as well. Their hospital had some of the greatest medical practitioners on the planet, but with good technology, they stood to become one of the greatest medical centers in the solar system.
"I'll think about it," Edward finally told the man. After the call, she grinned at Jet and Spike. "I smell easy money," she told them. Spike's eyebrow rose, and Jet grinned back.
It took a couple days to gather the money to buy back parts for the Bebop and get it flying. Edward spent most of her time at the hospital, working out a tentative contract and hovering around Faye's room.
Faye hadn't made any improvement. Edwards sat and stared at the monitors, waiting for the woman's stats to improve, or for her vitals to change.
Edward only went near the chamber once, on the day the Bebop was leaving Venus. She stared into the frosted glass, recognizing the faint outline of Faye's narrow shoulders, her thin waist, and the bulky irons which had been placed over her legs during one of her surgeries.
When Faye's status still hadn't changed, Edward left the hospital downhearted. The lack of change was frustrating. Edward thought that as long as Faye made some improvement, any improvement at all, everything would be better. Edward thought the constant pressure in her chest would lift, and she'd be able to breathe a little easier. Maybe if Faye was better, the world wouldn't feel so strange.
"You think it's that easy?"
Edward blinked as her arm was grabbed and she was twisted around to meet Detective Orison's small, black, shark-like eyes.
Edward didn't like that he was touching her, and she scowled at his grip on her arm.
"Do you think this is a game?" Orison snarled, shaking her a little. "You've found a loophole, so you think you've escaped? Well I've got news for you – This little game of yours won't continue."
Orison froze when a dangerous click sounded next to his head.
"You'd better get your hands off of her," Spike informed the man. Edward stared at the unfamiliar frown on Spike's face. She couldn't remember a time when the cool tempered man seemed so angry. She was entranced by the man's expression, and she hardly noticed as Detective Orison stepped away from her.
"Oh, please," Orison was laughing at Spike. "You're another one, just like her. Your past will catch up – Your misdeeds aren't just forgotten and forgiven."
Spike's sharp gaze silenced the man. "If I ever see you touch her again, I'll put a bullet through your head," he promised.
Despite his threat, Spike clicked the safety on his gun and slipped the weapon into the waist of his slacks. "Come on, kid. We've got work to do."
Spike set his hand on Edward's shoulder and steered her away from Detective Orison. He moved easily, as if he had already forgotten the confrontation and didn't have a care in the world.
Edward knew better, though, and she wasn't surprised when Spike asked, "Has he been bothering you, Ed?"
"No," she told him truthfully. "I'd completely forgotten about him, actually.
Spike gave a gentle chuckle. "Yeah, he isn't the type you'd waste time on."