Session 2
Pressure dug into his wrists. Drifting in the darkness behind closed eyes, Jet tried to orient himself. He sat upright, leaning back against something hard and cool. His hands behind his back. And the world swam, even if he didn't move. It swam. Taking a breath, he gagged at the odor. This wasn't the rust and oil of the Bebop nor the salty tang of fish-gone-by that sometimes wafted up from her old cargo holds. But it was close to that, only fouler. Much much fouler.
The loud clang of metal colliding with metal cracked his eye open. He winced at the light, dim as it was. His head ached miserably. Stomach felt like someone had stuffed an angry cat inside him and beat it with a stick from the outside. He huffed a few breaths fighting back the acidic bile burning his throat. Hold it in. Whatever happened, it'll pass.
The clack of shoes on the floor coaxed his eyes up. Slow to focus he discovered a wall of bars. On the other side a guard in an ISSP uniform stood beside two figures. One looked vaguely like that cute waitress, only she was in a leather jacket and pants now. Beside her … he blinked in disbelief, attempted to rub his eyes only to discover his hands were cuffed to a railing bolted into the wall.
A holding cell? The number spray painted on the wall told him they were still on Ganymede. They? Where were the others? Off to his left he found Spike, keeling forward, the cuffs on his wrists holding him on the bench rather than allowing him to face plant on the floor. Out cold, his complexion was as green as his hair. On his left, Faye sat limp against the wall, eyes shut and breathing deep. Ed lay wedged on the bench corner, drool coming from her open mouth. On the floor, a pair of cuffs tethered a snoring Ein by his collar to the bench leg. All of them still in their attire, however any pocket had been emptied and turned out.
Jet blinked up at the second figure. The man with bright blonde hair tipped his cowboy hat and flashed a toothy grinned. An all too familiar grin! Jet leaned as far forward as he could in the restraints. "Andy?"
"Well, howdy there!"
"What are you doing?"
He flashed a grin. "Performing a round-up. Received a special invitation and I just had to come out of retirement. My gal, Sweet Sue here, thought it might be an evening of fun. And boy it sure was."
Jet's head throbbed even more. Had he heard him right? The waitress? Andy's gal? But sure enough, she turned and winked at Jet before planting a huge kiss on Andy's lips.
The next moment, the ISSP officer held out the woolong transfer card. "Here you fine folks go. Rewards are transferred. We'll take it from here."
Andy waved a hand at Jet. "Nice crossing paths with you again, cowpoke... or should I say ex-cowpokes. Thanks for the adventure!"
Sweet Sue hung off his arm. "And you were worried that fuzzyhead would wake up. I told you, Son of a Gun, I put twice the amount of sedative in his wine as the others, just to be sure. And see? He's still sleeping like a baby."
"Always thinkin' ahead. That's why I love you, Sweet-chaps!" The door buzzed open and shut as they left the holding block.
Sleeping like a baby? Spike hardly appeared to be infant like as he looked. Jet jerked at the end of the restraining cuffs. "Wait a minute … what the heck … did Andy really just bring us in?"
The officer leaned on the bars, chewing on a toothpick. "You a little slow on the draw, gramps. Yup. That was one big score, too. Heh heh. Record time. The bounty'd only been posted four hours ago. And here you all are," he eyed Ein, "plus one. Not sure what we'll do with that mutt. This is a new one."
"Whoa, back up a bit. We've been arrested? For what? This has to be a mistake. We're the good guys."
Throwing back his head laughing, the officer moved off. "Tell that to the judge, see how far it gets ya."
Jet struggled in the cuffs. "Hold on a second. At least un-cuff us."
The door buzzed open and shut leaving them essentially alone. Jet hung his head in frustration.
Faye groaned and flopped away from the wall, staring at the floor for a long moment before she looked around, wide-eyed. "What the—?"
"We're in jail."
"Where?"
"Ganymede, just a holding cell for now."
"Why?"
"No idea."
"Gah, this place is disgusting! Is that blood on the floor? Don't they ever clean it?"
His head throbbed with every word reverberating off the walls.
"My wrists hurt in these cuffs."
He couldn't even blame her for whining about that. After all, his wrist, the one he could feel, pinched too.
A low moan caught his attention, followed by a rather juicy rumble. Spike's eyes cracked open, his head hung like a rag dolls for one brief moment. Then the silence broke as a torrent projected out onto the floor with what Jet likened to a fire hose.
Faye retreated pulling her heeled shoes from the foul mixture, largely discolored by red wine, but that wasn't all that came back up. Had Spike really had that much to eat and drink, or did it just look unbelievable spreading out onto the floor?
Once the spasms finished, Spike's half closed eyes stared sightlessly at the floor. His skin a pasty shade of green. Every breath a slow deep gasp, clearly just barely holding it together.
Timidly, Faye touched her shoulder to his. "You ok?"
Spike first attempt to speak faltered as he visibly fought another wave. Once he could open his eyes, he rasped out, "I am never drinking red wine again." Two breaths later, the next round splattered on the floor.
Jet cringed, wishing they could do something. But cuffed on the bench, all he could do was watch.
Shaking, Spike blinked slowly. "Feel like shit … like after lights out … after surgery or something … what the fuck's going on?"
Weighing the facts, Jet chose them carefully. If his head hurt from this, he couldn't imagine how bad Spike felt. "Someone got the drop on us, pard. Slipped sedative in our drinks to collect on our bounties."
Faye sat up a little straighter. "Sedative? How do you know?"
"Heard some talk. They nailed Spike with twice the dose to make sure he wasn't any trouble."
Spike swallowed down a belch and closed his eyes. "That explains a lot. Shit this sucks."
"We're in jail at the moment." Jet cocked his head. "I would've put money on a stronger reaction from you."
He rolled bloodshot eyes up at Jet and delivered a weary glare. "My guts are turning inside out. How much more do you really want to see?" Lowering his head he gulped down air.
Faye gave Jet a worried glance. He shook his head. No one else within sight, they were forced to wait.
Without a clock, Jet had no idea how much time had passed. By now Spike had leaned back against the wall in a rather uneasy sleep. The occasional retching fit proof he hadn't gotten it all out of his system. When the door buzzed open to the corridor. Jet glanced up to see a familiar face. "Donnelly!"
With a start, Donnelly came to the bars, tugging his hat back. "Damn, should I believe my eyes? I thought it was just a rumor. Jet Black on the other side of the bars?"
Tugging at the cuffs, Jet beseeched him, "Buddy, I'm a bit confused as to what the hell is going on. Can you clue me in here?"
He glanced back at the corridor and his shoulders sagged. "Don't know the whole story. But I can see what I can find out. So far I just know that the bounty was legit. It cleared, which means you guys are in trouble. That was quite a payout."
"By who?"
"You know that kind of info is rarely available. Nobody in the system cares, so long as the woolongs clear. Then its up to the courts as to what happens."
Glancing at Spike as he shifted, his breathing hitching in that strange warning, Jet threw a pitiful look at Donnelly. "Buddy, at least uncuff us."
Donnelly winced. "You know the rules, not til after processing."
Jet heaved a sigh. "Come on. At least let my partner lie down. They seriously drugged him."
Staring at the mess on the floor, he rubbed the back of his neck. "You gotta swear to me that none of you will cause any trouble."
Faye gave a sympathetic glance at Spike. "Well, that would have been from him, and I don't think he'll be up too much til his color returns to human."
Donnelly opened the barred door and with the key on his belt unlocked the cuffs, pocketing each set. Ed didn't even wake up. She just curled into a ball, and rested her head in her arms. No one ran for the door. The moment Spike could, he crawled onto his side and laid down, clutching his stomach in misery. To Jet's shock, Faye reached down and rubbed his back, concern in her eyes.
With a sigh, Donnelly headed back out and secured the barred door behind him. He stared through, locking eyes with Jet. "Give me a few, I'll see what I can find out. In the meantime, I mean it. Don't get me in trouble."
Jet offered a sad smile as the corridor door buzzed open and shut.
Faye whispered, "Take it easy, Spike. This should pass soon."
His eyes closed. "If I ever find out who did this … I'm gonna kick their ass!"
Jet rested his head in the palm of his hand, debating whether or not to tease fate as he imagined what Spike would do to Andy.
See You Space Cowboy
