Chapter 3
February 7, 2071
Mars
Spike stared down at the unidentifiable mess in front of him. He poked at it with his chopsticks and made a disgusted face. He sneered up at Jet, who was standing there looking pissed off.
"What is it?"
"It's food! Now eat it and quit complaining." Jet growled glaring at Spike.
"It looks like something the dog puked up."
"Well it's all we have! Faye took off with our last 5,000 wulongs and all the food."
"Then how did you make this slop?"
Spike attempted to eat the food with his usual utensils but he couldn't seem to grip anything. It simply slid out between the two sticks. He groaned and made another disgusted face while Jet tried to calm himself.
"She missed a box of cornmeal. That wench keeps robbing us blind! Why do we even let her come back here?!" Jet could not seem to get a grip on his anger. "Use a spoon!"
"So? Stop letting her back. It's your ship, you keep saying so. Good riddance I say, who needs her."
"Spike, she took the last carton of cigarettes."
"I'LL KILL THE BITCH!" Spike jumped to his feet. "Which way did she go?"
"It doesn't matter! The food is gone, the money is gone, and the smokes are gone. What are we going to do?"
"Cowboy time! Bounty, bounty, bounty!" Ed piped up from behind the couch, bowl in hand and porridge smeared across her face.
Both Jet and Spike turned to stare at Ed with the usual blank looks that they gave the raving child. Ed bounced happily, dancing with her computer. Just as suddenly as she had started, she twirled and sat down abruptly and set to typing away rapidly on the net.
"Found it, found it. Easy thief!"
The two men looked over the girl's shoulder at the screen. A grainy security cam picture was all that was available on the pitifully small bounty. There was no name to put to the picture, and it unfortunately was shot from behind. All they could tell was that it was shot of a woman, they hoped. The police had termed the woman the Dodger, due to the fact that the thief had apparently dodged all of the security cams except the one that was sound action sensitive. Those cameras, unfortunately, had a ten second delay between frames. She had managed to stay out of sight of it after the first shot.
"Only a million? For something this tough, it ought to be ten! We don't even have a name, or at the very least a face shot!"
"Yes Spike," Jet growled. "But we also don't have any food or smokes."
Spike dropped his head down into his hands. "I'll take the north end of town, you take the south."
**
A couple hours and not too many leads later Jet was becoming frustrated. He was cold from the winter winds, apparently someone in control of the weather on this crater town liked winter to feel like winter. Jet shivered again as the wind whipped down the street. He had talked to perhaps half a dozen people and no one had any information at all. It was if the woman had never existed. Finally Jet's communication device beeped.
"Yeah?" He growled.
"Jet, one of my contacts came back with some info. Seems the area and mode of operation fits with someone named Sid."
"Oh really?" Jet was now interested and the day looked a little brighter.
"Yeah, see what you can come up with. Not sure if it's a man or a woman though."
"Hey thanks Spike-o." Jet grinned as he clicked off the communicator and walked into the corner coffee shop.
Jet slid onto a stool at the counter and signaled the waitress. His already large frame only seemed bigger and more imposing when compared to the tiny seat he had taken. The brunette waitress walked down the to where he sat, at first looking bored, then getting a bit more interested when she saw him sitting there. He wasn't the usual brand of sleazy jerk that she normally got on her shift. Marisa had been a waitress for 4 years now, and she'd seen them all, this one was different.
"What can I get for yah love?" she drawled out.
"Coffee, black, and some information if you have it." Jet smiled politely at her.
"Sure thing," She practically purred, "What'cha want to know?"
"I'm looking for someone named Sid. Long dark hair, you know anyone that goes by that?" He watched her face and eyes as he spoke, waiting for the telltale sign of recognition.
Marisa almost dropped the coffeepot when he said that. She knew the kid; Obsidian had started coming in there about 3 years ago. At first, she had just stared longingly at the tray of sweets that they left out for the customers. Marisa had given her one, and like a stray dog, Obsidian had shown up once a week every week for a freebie. The kid didn't look like she ate much and most of the time was covered in bruises. She never complained or talked about what happened, she was always polite and not troublesome.
"What do you want with Sid? She isn't in trouble is she?"
Jet's eyes widened, he hadn't expected something to hit with the first person he tried. The waitress was obviously a good friend of this Sid woman. Jet reached out and touched Marisa's hand as it shook slightly on the counter top. His hand was huge compared to her slight and perfectly manicured hands.
"Yes she is. I just need to talk to her though. Can you arrange that, or do you know where I could find her?"
Marisa looked carefully at him, he had the look of cop about him, perhaps he was from child services. "Yeah, she hangs out about 4 blocks down, by the underpass."
"Thanks, I really appreciate this." Jet smiled and dropped ten wulongs onto the counter. "Keep the change."
Marisa smiled and nodded, feeling as if she had done her good deed for the week. Perhaps now that kid could be safe. She watched him walk out the door, and sighed. She pocketed the money and went back to work.
Jet walked down four blocks and looked around. There was a black haired girl in a green canvas duster sitting on the corner, smoking a cigarette and looking like she was pondering the mysteries of the universe. He slowly approached her as not to startle her. When he got up to her he looked her over closely. Her jeans were torn and faded, and her mismatched shoes looked like she had pulled them out of a dumpster somewhere. She wore an old gray men's sweater that seemed to be about six sizes too big, around her neck hung a very long red and white striped scarf; a black skullcap finished off the rag-tag ensemble. She looked up at him and Jet's breath caught in his throat. Her eyes were the most startling and vivid blue, inside them hung a hollowness that only happened to those who had seen too much. The remnants of an old bruise marred the perfect skin on her cheek.
"What? Did I grow a third eye?" She bit off sarcastically.
Her voice sounded rough, and she coughed a couple times as if she was coming down with a cold. Jet shook himself out of the spell that her eyes had held him in and really looked at her. She was dirty, tired, and looked hungry. He felt a great swell of pity for the poor child.
"I'm looking for Sid. You know where I can find her?"
After years of lying to Vicious about where and how she gained her bruises, Obsidian had learned to school her features to a blank expression and keep it there. She stared back at him dully, taking in his appearance and judging him. His posture and body movements screamed cop, or some other legal officer. She shrugged.
"Maybe I do and maybe I don't. How much is it worth to you?"
Jet sighed and handed her twenty wulongs, his last twenty wulongs. Spike was going to be pissed. That money was supposed to go for more cigarettes. She pocketed the money then looked at him.
"Sid used to come around here all the time. A couple days ago she said that things were getting too hot in this area and said that she was heading to greener pastures. I think she was planning to go to TJ."
"This Sid got a full name?"
"Yeah," Sid stomped out the cigarette butt and stood up to stretch. "Don't know it though."
"Don't know it? Or not enough wulongs to say?" Jet knew he had been had, this girl knew a lot more than she was letting on.
"What ever you say pops." She looked around, "Now, if yah don't mind, I got shit to do."
Jet turned and started walking down the street. TJ, he rolled his eyes, he didn't want to go there, but at least the weather was nicer than this place. A small red haired child, younger than Ed, raced down the street past Jet. The young boy, another street urchin by the looks of him, was out of breath and heading directly to the girl with the startling blue eyes.
"Sid! Sid! Joseph is looking for you and he's flaming pissed!" The boy yelled as he passed Jet.
Jet froze, eyes wide, realizing that he had been duped by the child. He whipped around, and the girl, Sid, was already running. She rounded the corner with Jet hot on her heels.
February 7, 2071
Mars
Spike stared down at the unidentifiable mess in front of him. He poked at it with his chopsticks and made a disgusted face. He sneered up at Jet, who was standing there looking pissed off.
"What is it?"
"It's food! Now eat it and quit complaining." Jet growled glaring at Spike.
"It looks like something the dog puked up."
"Well it's all we have! Faye took off with our last 5,000 wulongs and all the food."
"Then how did you make this slop?"
Spike attempted to eat the food with his usual utensils but he couldn't seem to grip anything. It simply slid out between the two sticks. He groaned and made another disgusted face while Jet tried to calm himself.
"She missed a box of cornmeal. That wench keeps robbing us blind! Why do we even let her come back here?!" Jet could not seem to get a grip on his anger. "Use a spoon!"
"So? Stop letting her back. It's your ship, you keep saying so. Good riddance I say, who needs her."
"Spike, she took the last carton of cigarettes."
"I'LL KILL THE BITCH!" Spike jumped to his feet. "Which way did she go?"
"It doesn't matter! The food is gone, the money is gone, and the smokes are gone. What are we going to do?"
"Cowboy time! Bounty, bounty, bounty!" Ed piped up from behind the couch, bowl in hand and porridge smeared across her face.
Both Jet and Spike turned to stare at Ed with the usual blank looks that they gave the raving child. Ed bounced happily, dancing with her computer. Just as suddenly as she had started, she twirled and sat down abruptly and set to typing away rapidly on the net.
"Found it, found it. Easy thief!"
The two men looked over the girl's shoulder at the screen. A grainy security cam picture was all that was available on the pitifully small bounty. There was no name to put to the picture, and it unfortunately was shot from behind. All they could tell was that it was shot of a woman, they hoped. The police had termed the woman the Dodger, due to the fact that the thief had apparently dodged all of the security cams except the one that was sound action sensitive. Those cameras, unfortunately, had a ten second delay between frames. She had managed to stay out of sight of it after the first shot.
"Only a million? For something this tough, it ought to be ten! We don't even have a name, or at the very least a face shot!"
"Yes Spike," Jet growled. "But we also don't have any food or smokes."
Spike dropped his head down into his hands. "I'll take the north end of town, you take the south."
**
A couple hours and not too many leads later Jet was becoming frustrated. He was cold from the winter winds, apparently someone in control of the weather on this crater town liked winter to feel like winter. Jet shivered again as the wind whipped down the street. He had talked to perhaps half a dozen people and no one had any information at all. It was if the woman had never existed. Finally Jet's communication device beeped.
"Yeah?" He growled.
"Jet, one of my contacts came back with some info. Seems the area and mode of operation fits with someone named Sid."
"Oh really?" Jet was now interested and the day looked a little brighter.
"Yeah, see what you can come up with. Not sure if it's a man or a woman though."
"Hey thanks Spike-o." Jet grinned as he clicked off the communicator and walked into the corner coffee shop.
Jet slid onto a stool at the counter and signaled the waitress. His already large frame only seemed bigger and more imposing when compared to the tiny seat he had taken. The brunette waitress walked down the to where he sat, at first looking bored, then getting a bit more interested when she saw him sitting there. He wasn't the usual brand of sleazy jerk that she normally got on her shift. Marisa had been a waitress for 4 years now, and she'd seen them all, this one was different.
"What can I get for yah love?" she drawled out.
"Coffee, black, and some information if you have it." Jet smiled politely at her.
"Sure thing," She practically purred, "What'cha want to know?"
"I'm looking for someone named Sid. Long dark hair, you know anyone that goes by that?" He watched her face and eyes as he spoke, waiting for the telltale sign of recognition.
Marisa almost dropped the coffeepot when he said that. She knew the kid; Obsidian had started coming in there about 3 years ago. At first, she had just stared longingly at the tray of sweets that they left out for the customers. Marisa had given her one, and like a stray dog, Obsidian had shown up once a week every week for a freebie. The kid didn't look like she ate much and most of the time was covered in bruises. She never complained or talked about what happened, she was always polite and not troublesome.
"What do you want with Sid? She isn't in trouble is she?"
Jet's eyes widened, he hadn't expected something to hit with the first person he tried. The waitress was obviously a good friend of this Sid woman. Jet reached out and touched Marisa's hand as it shook slightly on the counter top. His hand was huge compared to her slight and perfectly manicured hands.
"Yes she is. I just need to talk to her though. Can you arrange that, or do you know where I could find her?"
Marisa looked carefully at him, he had the look of cop about him, perhaps he was from child services. "Yeah, she hangs out about 4 blocks down, by the underpass."
"Thanks, I really appreciate this." Jet smiled and dropped ten wulongs onto the counter. "Keep the change."
Marisa smiled and nodded, feeling as if she had done her good deed for the week. Perhaps now that kid could be safe. She watched him walk out the door, and sighed. She pocketed the money and went back to work.
Jet walked down four blocks and looked around. There was a black haired girl in a green canvas duster sitting on the corner, smoking a cigarette and looking like she was pondering the mysteries of the universe. He slowly approached her as not to startle her. When he got up to her he looked her over closely. Her jeans were torn and faded, and her mismatched shoes looked like she had pulled them out of a dumpster somewhere. She wore an old gray men's sweater that seemed to be about six sizes too big, around her neck hung a very long red and white striped scarf; a black skullcap finished off the rag-tag ensemble. She looked up at him and Jet's breath caught in his throat. Her eyes were the most startling and vivid blue, inside them hung a hollowness that only happened to those who had seen too much. The remnants of an old bruise marred the perfect skin on her cheek.
"What? Did I grow a third eye?" She bit off sarcastically.
Her voice sounded rough, and she coughed a couple times as if she was coming down with a cold. Jet shook himself out of the spell that her eyes had held him in and really looked at her. She was dirty, tired, and looked hungry. He felt a great swell of pity for the poor child.
"I'm looking for Sid. You know where I can find her?"
After years of lying to Vicious about where and how she gained her bruises, Obsidian had learned to school her features to a blank expression and keep it there. She stared back at him dully, taking in his appearance and judging him. His posture and body movements screamed cop, or some other legal officer. She shrugged.
"Maybe I do and maybe I don't. How much is it worth to you?"
Jet sighed and handed her twenty wulongs, his last twenty wulongs. Spike was going to be pissed. That money was supposed to go for more cigarettes. She pocketed the money then looked at him.
"Sid used to come around here all the time. A couple days ago she said that things were getting too hot in this area and said that she was heading to greener pastures. I think she was planning to go to TJ."
"This Sid got a full name?"
"Yeah," Sid stomped out the cigarette butt and stood up to stretch. "Don't know it though."
"Don't know it? Or not enough wulongs to say?" Jet knew he had been had, this girl knew a lot more than she was letting on.
"What ever you say pops." She looked around, "Now, if yah don't mind, I got shit to do."
Jet turned and started walking down the street. TJ, he rolled his eyes, he didn't want to go there, but at least the weather was nicer than this place. A small red haired child, younger than Ed, raced down the street past Jet. The young boy, another street urchin by the looks of him, was out of breath and heading directly to the girl with the startling blue eyes.
"Sid! Sid! Joseph is looking for you and he's flaming pissed!" The boy yelled as he passed Jet.
Jet froze, eyes wide, realizing that he had been duped by the child. He whipped around, and the girl, Sid, was already running. She rounded the corner with Jet hot on her heels.
