THIRTEEN: confidence booster

Ed leaned over Tomato, occasionally giggling at the flood of information that poured out over the screen. Jet was off working on the hull, trying to salvage whatever he could of his broken ship. Meanwhile, Faye and Spike lounged about in the living room, bitching about everything that had gone wrong. For once, they weren't arguing. Ed was grateful; those two typically made more noise that the Bebop's engines.

"Woah… Woah!" She giggled again, rocking from side to side. "Woah!"

"What the hell are you going on about?!"

"Action at seed!" Edward announced. "Bot-bot woke up and attacked intruders!"

Spike sat up; Faye gave her a look. "Say what?" the two said simultaneously.

"Just what Edward said!" She started typing furiously, her heart pounding. The two others peered over her shoulder, watching information they couldn't decipher. Edward continued to ogle at the screen, giggling every couple of seconds. The information suddenly stopped, leaving a single line at the top of the screen.

FATAL ERROR.

"Woah!"

Faye touched the girl's shoulder. "Ed, is that your computer?"

"No, Faye-Faye. That was bot-bot! Tomato's fine." She leaned forward and started typing in new commands. "Hackity-hack-hack! Don't fall back, Jack!"

Spike rolled his eyes. "Ed, would you please tell us what the hell is going on?"

"There are people are going into the seed," she replied.

"Into the seed?" Faye started. "You mean people can get inside?"

"Ed thinks so." The girl continued to type at a rapid pace. After a moment, she lifted herself up with her hand, her legs crossed and hanging inches off the floor as she twirled around a full three hundred sixty degrees. "Oh…Oh…Oh! Ed can see inside seed!"

"I don't see anything," Spike muttered.

"Me either."

Ed stared off into her goggles for a moment, considering. "Okay! Ed will show everyone!" She slipped between Spike's legs with a chord from Tomato and plugged it into the television. The others turned to see what she was doing. Flipping on the TV, she returned to the laptop and punched a few button. "Okie dokie! Lights, camera, action!"

Suddenly, a murky darkness filled the television screen.

"Huh? What the hell?"

"That's inside the seed?" Faye asked.

Spike ran his fingers through his hair. "Hey…do I see people?"

"Affirmative, Spike-person!"

"What, do they live there?"

The bounty hunter shook his head. "Damn. That could really slow us down. We need those spare parts."

A moment later, the people slipped out of their view. "No! Edward can't see them anymore!" She shook her head, slipping her goggles from her face and peering up to the others. "They went where the cameras can't find them! Oh!"

"Can you monitor them in case they come back?" Faye asked. "I mean, if that's their ship, we sure as hell don't wanna go sneaking around in there."

"Ed can do!" Almost instantly she jumped up. "Oh! More cameras!" She typed in a new command, and the television switched angles. Three people appeared. "Edward found them again!"

Spike frowned, snapping off a piece of jerky. He was actually enjoying it, even if it was a bit tough. "Damn, that place is a mess. They don't look like they live in a shithole like that." He glanced down to the girl. "Whaddaya think, Ed?"

"Seed hasn't been in operation for over a hundred years," she replied. "There are dozens of other seeds all over the planet, but Edward can't find any closer. And this one has power; seed records show it's the only one. Plus, Ed thinks they're from Earth."

"So they are human," Faye said. She pushed Spike aside to look at the TV. "I wonder what kind of idiot would be hanging around a broken starship in the middle of nowhere." She frowned, catching sight of a tall man accompanied by two women. "Hey, wait a minute…that's him!"

"Huh?" Spike glanced at her.

"That's the guy from town!" she insisted. "The one with the sixty fucking billion on his head!" She flicked the screen, right where the tall blond-hair individual stood. "Vash the Stampede, or whatever the hell he's called. I wonder what he's doing all the way out there. And who are those girls he's with?"

Spike smirked. "You sound a little jealous."

"Like hell! I just don't remember them, that's all."

A moment later, Jet slunk into the room, wiping grease from his fingers with a rag. He looked over them with a frown, considering. What the hell were they doing now, other than nothing? "Hey, what's going on in here?" he asked, tossing the rag aside.

----------

Morgante slipped his head into the bounty hunter's tent. As he anticipated, Jon was there, bare-chested and silent, his eyes closed and a sly little smirk on his face as he lay back and pondered whatever over whatever might be on his mind. The girl was with him, lying on her belly with a blanket up to her waist, with her back and shoulders exposed. Long red curls spilled down around her neck and onto the pillow.

"Quinn wants to know when you can leave."

Jon squinted over at the big man and shrugged. "Whenever. Just give me the word and I can be gone."

Morgante nodded. "Good. Get your gear. You leave right away."

When he was gone, the girl swore under her breath and turned to her face away from the bounty hunter. Jon watched her for a moment, and reached out to massage the small of her back. For a time, neither said a word, though he could feel the tension radiating from her warm flesh. He felt bad, leaving her now, after so many promises. There was a ton of money at stake right now, and he didn't want to turn his back so quickly on the prospect of lining his pockets.

He wondered what he could tell her. What could he possibly say to assure her that he would be back? From what he'd heard, nobody ever survived a date with Vash the Stampede. The idea of facing the Humanoid Typhoon was exhilarating, but at the same time it sent shivers of apprehension up his spine. For the past few days, he had been able to brush those fears aside with the help of the beautiful redhead next to him, but duty didn't allow for sex and relaxation alone.

Slowly, he drew his fingers along the soft, pale flesh along her spine. "Kelly?"

"You said it would be a week at least," she muttered.

"I guess we got lucky," he said gently.

She turned to him, honey-brown eyes gazing sorrowfully at him. "Lucky? Jon, that man's going to kill you. Can't you see that?"

"Somebody has to stand up to him, Kelly," he whispered, stroking his finger through her curls, pushing it over her shoulder to reveal the smooth, pale flesh of her breasts. "What right does anyone have to talk if they don't step up and take action against a man like that? Someone must risk everything if he's ever going to be taken down."

"Why you, Jon?"

"Why not me?"

Kelly shook her head, falling over onto her back with a grunt. His eyes trailed down to her bare chest. He pulled himself toward her, kissing her cheek, laying an arm across her belly. His kisses slowly wove a path down to her neck. His palm rolled slowly against her belly in large, smooth arcs, progressing down, low along her abdomen, below her midriff, inching to the place beyond her bikini line.

Kelly smiled that secret smile of desire, the one he relished, and draped an arm over his shoulders. "Mmmm…Jon," she mumbled, squirming toward his touch, arching her back and lifting her chin so he could more easily reach the flesh between her neck and shoulder with his lips. She moaned gently at his touch, longed for it more than anything.

In the minutes before he left her behind, the two shared a moment of tender passion, realizing that it might be for the last time.

For Kelly, all that mattered was his touch.

----------

Stryker rolled into the town of Black Rock from the south and went slowly through town. His eyes followed the buildings around him as he searched for the jail. Soon, he came to a limestone building with a familiar poster hanging in the window. With a grunt, he lit a cigarette, slipped down from his bike, and moved on through the doorway.

The sheriff was nowhere to be seen, but that didn't to Stryker. He could wait all day if he had to. He sat down in the chair behind the sheriff's desk, putting his heels up on the edge of the clean finish, and leaned back against the wall. Heaving a puff of smoke into the stale air, he pulled his sidearm free and began to clean it.

Soon, a man appeared in the doorway, wobbling a little as he gazed to the man behind the desk. Stryker could see the silver star pinned to his chest. "Sheriff."

The sheriff gave him a dirty look. "Name's Cale McBride, and what the hell're you doin' in my chair?"

Stryker took a drag of his cigarette, studying the other with emerald eyes. A drunk, clutching an empty bottle. Shaking his head, the young man shoved a thumb to the poster in the window. "That man. He was supposed to be out here somewhere. Have you seen him?"

The sheriff grunted. "Had a man fitting his description come through yesterday."

"Where is he?"

"Didn't stick around long. Didn't wear red, either." He slammed his empty bottle on the table next to him. "So, what's it to ya?"

"I'm hunting him."

Cale lifted his eyebrows and fought off a snicker. "You? Hunting a guy like Vash the Stampede? You're off your rocker!"

Stryker gave the man his coldest stare. "Maybe."

"Well, crazy or not, you're still in my chair."

"Where'd the man go?"

"North, I suspect. The barkeep said he thought they might be headin' that way."

Barkeep? So, he'd been spotted in a saloon. Stryker scratched his chin, letting his thoughts roll over in his mind. He let his eyes slowly investigate the drunken sheriff. How much of his word was reliable, if any? Maybe he should talk to the barkeep. "North, eh? Nothin' much up north. The closest town is a hundred iles to the west by northwest."

Cale shrugged. "Due north. That's the story I heard."

"I'll got check with the barkeep. What's his name?"

"Thaddeus Harvey. Runs the tavern, north along the main road. Can't miss it."

"Thanks, then, sheriff."

"Now, would ya please get the hell up out of my chair?"

Stryker grinned. He scratched his stubbled chin again and leaned back for a few more moments, gazing up to the ceiling as he considered all the possibilities that lay before him. Time seemed to be on his side, and if Vash was off wandering the desert to the north, where there was simply nowhere to hide, it would be much easier to hunt the bastard.

He sucked thoughtfully at the butt of his cigarette and breathed a cloud of smoke into the stale, jailhouse air. "Alright, I'm going. Point me to your general store so I can gather supplies."

Finally he lifted his feet from the desk and stood from the sheriff's chair.

Hmmm… Looks like a long road ahead of us, Stryker thought. Might as well turn yourself over now and maybe you won't get hurt. Otherwise, keep on running. Might be best for everyone if you just let me gun you down. And I will gun you down one day.

Vash the Stampede.

----------

Jet tossed Spike a pair of goggles, giving his young friend a nod. The smell of diesel fuel and grease filled the air, reminding the old man of the explosives onboard. He prayed that it would never get so hot onboard that it might somehow set them off, but you could never tell. Everything seemed okay at the moment, and Jet had managed to restore emergency power to most of the ship, enough to allow Faye hot water for a quick shower, before she and Spike set out on their journey across the desert.

Speaking of Faye, where the hell is she? Jet thought as he unhooked the land-rover from the fuel line. Though it was too bad the Redtail couldn't use diesel, at least they were lucky enough to have something like the land-rover and enough fuel to take them just about wherever they wanted. Jet had picked the thing up in a salvage yard several years ago, before hooking up with Spike, though he hadn't gotten around to the repairs until just a few months ago, when he thought it might be useful to help search for a bounty on Earth. "It's not as fast as the Swordfish," he said, flashing his partner a sly grin, "but at least it's not bashed to bits."

Spike gave him a look and rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Done-done!" Edward announced as she rolled down off of the top of the rover.

The bounty hunters gave the little genius a look. "Done? Ed, what've you done now?" Jet asked, not sure if he really cared to know.

"Mini-satellite," she announced. "Edward hooked up a system to bounce signals from rover-rover off of seed satellite and back to Bebop."

"Well I'll be damned," Jet said with a grin. "A communication system. Thanks, Ed. That's actually a good idea."

She gave him a look. "Aren't all of Ed's ideas good, Jet-person?"

He laughed. "Well, it depends. But thanks anyway."

Ed gave him a look. Ein barked.

Finally, Faye slipped through the door, twirling her sunglasses loosely in her left hand. She wore the same scant, yellow outfit she wore everyday. Jet wondered why sometimes. It could be so cold here on his ship. At least on this barren world, the heat matched her wardrobe.

He only hoped she didn't return as red as a freshly-cooked lobster.

Well, a little melted butter and that might be quite the entrée, he thought with a grin. Jet shook his head and signaled for her to join them. "Come on, Faye. You're driving." He tossed her the key, which she aptly caught in one hand. She strolled over to them, slipping on her shades. "Spike's got better eyes, so he can watch out for anything suspicious. We don't know the terrain precisely, but we have a good idea."

"Ed and Ein can monitor your progress from Tomato!" the girl announced, in the middle of a pitiful excuse for a pirouette. "And Edward will call Spike-person and Faye-Faye with updates!"

"Gee, you guys have this all worked out, don't you?"

Spike shrugged, dropping the remnants of his cigarette to the ground and putting it out with the heel of his shoe. "Guess we do. Can we go now?"

"Get out of here," Jet said. "And you better damn well be careful in there! That's a sixty billion double-dollar bounty in there. He's probably incredibly dangerous."

"Well, so is Spike," Faye retorted with a smirk. "So they should even out, right?"

Ed laughed. "Don't be silly, Faye-Faye! Two dangerous persons just mean the boom will be bigger." The girl grinned hopping around, alternating between the tiptoes of her feet.

Faye moaned, cradling her face in her hands as she moaned loudly. "Thanks a bunch for the confidence booster, Ed."

Spike grinned and headed for the rover. He lifted the tarp on the back of the rover to reveal a crate of artillery. They had weapons running out their ears, including enough explosives hold a small moon hostage.

"Oh my God," Faye groaned.

Edward giggled.

"Bye-bye, Faye-Faye!"

This was going to be a hell of a long day.