Chapter Six: Space Cowboys and Girls

*Finally Sai managed to hack into the computer's system and figure out where this Jet Black's ship was located. The things she read about in the database if his ship was incredible. Gates that took people across space in no time at all, cryogenic freezing, space colonization, terra-formation projects, everything was so foreign to her.

The advances humanity had made brought back memories of home. All the things people had dreamed of for so long. Colonizing space, new technology, new medical advancements. She wondered where her world would go, what lay in its future without her there to create a Crystal Tokyo. The world would be different, but would they exceed this world? Or the Gundam world? Or the Dragon world? And what of those worlds? Would they eventually gain the same technology that this one already had? Or would this one gain technology that they already had? Suddenly her thoughts were jogged by someone yelling in her ear. A small child had popped up on her screen.

"Who are you? You not Jet Jet! Ed wants to know where Jet Jet is!"

"Jet is right here beside me. Is there a place I can dock?"

"Ed wants to speak to Jet Jet!"

"Well then let me speak to Ed."

"Ed is Ed!"

"You're Ed?" Sai was slightly confused. The child spoke in third person all the time? Such a confusing kid!

"Well, Jet is injured. Can I dock so you can help him?"

"Docking bay in the back! Ed will meet you there!" And then as quickly as the child had appeared, it was gone. Sai suddenly felt the ship she was in draw away from her controls. As much as she wanted to fight it, there was no way she could without hacking the system, and that would take time. She finally gave up, and allowed the ship to do what it would.

Somehow, the ship found it's way around the side of the Bebop and began moving towards the bay cargo doors, which were opening. Sai assumed that someone inside the ship had simple taken control so they could be sure she wasn't trying to kill them or something. As the smaller ship she was in entered the large ship, she was fascinated. Never before had she thought it was possible. Even after seeing ships like Peacemillion house the Gundams, she was still full of wonderment each time something like this happened. But wasn't this ship coming in too fast to be parking?

Slowly the ship began to stop, but it was too little, too late. It bounced off one of the walls, knocking them around the room slightly. The groan of metal was not something Sai was too happy to hear. And the scrapping noise couldn't have been good either. Finally they stopped and the doors behind them closed. Sai opened the main hatch, and picked up Jet.

"Jet Jet!" The kid she had seen over the screen in the smaller ship was running towards her, full speed.

"Ed! You could have ruined my ship!" Came the next cry. A woman wearing a very trashy and revealing yellow outfit stormed up towards them. She stopped when she saw the two new people. "Who are you?" She asked.

"The name's Sai."

"What happened to him?" Another voice joined them. This one belonged to a tall, lanky man with dark greenish hair and a cigarette shoved in-between his lips.

"Stab in a fight. I brought him in for you." The man looked at her with concern.

"Why?"

"Because I felt like it." She snuffed him. This was the thanks she got for saving the man's life? Not worth the trouble. Next time she would let the person rot instead of helping them.

"Thanks. Bring him in here, would you?" He turned around, not even bothering to see if she was following him.

"Jet Jet is injured? Then Ed will nurse Jet Jet back to health! Then Jet Jet will play with Ed and Ein!" Sai looked at the kid out of the corner of her eye.

"If you're a girl, why's you're name Ed?"

"Ed name Ed! Ed name Ed!" She seemed to find herself amusing, because the girl began to laugh and jump up and down. The dog, whom Sai had just notice, barked happily with the little girl.

"Ed! Shut that mutt up!" Yelled the woman behind them.

"Ed will do as Faye Faye asks! Ein, let's go! Ed will get a blanket for Jet Jet!" With that, the little girl and the dog left.

"I can't believe it!" The woman sighed. "He didn't even get the food! We're starving, and he couldn't even get any food for us! Men!"

"He was a bit pre-occupied." Sai told her.

"So?"

"Put him here." The man stopped, and Sai realized she was standing in a makeshift living room. She lay the giant man on the couch and watched as the other man opened his shirt and looked at the wound. "It's pretty deep." He muttered.

Twenty minutes later an awkward silence befell the group of four. Even Ed and Ein were silent for a change. Sai stared at them, wondering what to do. It had been determined that Jet's wound hadn't been serious, and now that his wounds were dressed, she had no reason to be here. But she had no other way to get back to Earth.

"What are you called?" Ed finally spoke, breaking the silence. Sai looked at the girl, who was wearing goggles over her eyes and hanging like a monkey from the bars above their heads.

"Sai."

"My name's Faye, and this here's Spike. Look, thanks for bringing Jet home and all, but it was useless. You should have just let him lay there. If he didn't turn in the guy and get the bounty, we don't have any use for him."

"Don't listen to her. He actually pulls his share of the weight around here. Faye doesn't do much except gamble away our earnings."

"Excuse me? I know I didn't just hear you say that, when you're so busy thinking about Julia that you can't even keep your head on straight!"

"Don't speak about her like that! She's the angel you'll never be!"

"Jerk! Go back to Earth with all the rest of the freaks and losers. It's where you belong! You and your stupid Julia!" As they fought, Sai leaned over towards Ed and spoke to her.

"Who is Julia?"

"Spike person's old girlfriend! Spike person loved loved loved her! But she died! And Faye Faye loves loves loves Spike person!" She answered in a singsong voice. But neither Spike nor Faye heard her, they were too busy fighting.

"Hnn." Sai half answered. She was deep in thought. Then she broke her train and decided to break theirs as well. "Jet did get the bounty money. He told me so. But I use a different currency, so I didn't know what it looked like."

"He got it?" Spike and Faye repeated together. Spike searched through Jet's pockets, and successfully came up with a chip.

"He got it!" Faye cried happily.

"Food!" Ed joined in. Even the dog Ein barked.

"Thanks." Spike acknowledged Sai. She nodded.

"Let me see it!" Faye yelled. Just as Faye tried to grab the chip of money from Spike's hand, Sai pushed her. She slipped and fell to the ground, taking Spike with her. They landed in a tangled mess on the floor.

"Sorry." They both breathed at the same time, neither really knowing what they were saying. And they just lay there, not moving. Tension grew heavy, and then they each began to move towards each other.

"What are Faye Faye and Spike person doing on the ground?" Ed asked.

"Nothing. Ed, did you hear that?" Sai asked. It was time to leave the lovebirds alone.

"No…"

"Let's go check it out! And bring Ein."

"Right! Ed will check it out with Sai Sai! Sai Sai and Faye Faye on the Bebop Sai Sai and Faye Faye and Ed Ed the cowgirls of space! Jet Jet and Spike person the cowboys of space!" She began chanting as they left the room. As they walked down the Bebop, they passed a window, and immediately stopped. Right outside the window was a very familiar multicolored patch of space.

"Ed! Is there a place I can get out of the ship?"

"Ed says you can leave through the door!"

"Which one?"

"In the hanger! Come, Ed will show! Is Sai Sai leaving?"

"Yes." As soon as they reached the door, Sai made Ed leave. Then she refitted her helmet to her space suit and left, heading towards the anomaly. What had she helped with in this place? She had saved one man's life and created a couple of his friends. Not much to her, but who knew? Maybe one day that group would end up doing something important, like taking out that Syndicate and Vicious. Oh well. Time was up here, so she was leaving. And she pushed off into the pretty, swirling colors. *