FORTY-TWO: edward isn't edward

Jet turned to Ed and frowned. "You're sure he's in here somewhere?"

The girl didn't answer at first. She seemed intent on the odd computer they had discovered. It was connected to the ship's power supply, meaning that this ship, if it was a ship, still had capabilities. He trusted Ed's judgement, but she'd said very little since Henry Starks and his men had left them to explore. She acted as if something were bothering her, but there was no telling what that was. Sometimes her eyes would widen at the flood of information and on a coupld of occasions she had even made noises to indicate how amazing she found everything to be.

After a long moment, she slammed her hand on the panel.

"No doubt about it! Bounty-person isn't here!"

"I thought you said he was."

Ed shook her head. "Nope! Bounty-person here is not the real bounty-person. Vash the Stampede was cloned and now duplicate-person is here!"

"You mean Stryker."

She nodded. "Yep! And Edward knows where Faye-Faye is."

He rose his brow.

"Faye-Faye is with bounty-person!"

"What!"

The girl giggled. "You heard Ed!" she teased.

The whole world seemed to be crumbling down around him, and Jet didn't have the first clue what to do.

"Well, what should we do then?"

"Edward wants to see duplicate-person."

"You think that'll help us out at all?"

Ed giggled. "Duh!" She slapped up onto her head and began to spin around with her arms outstretched, laughing her head off. "Edward wants to know why Jet-person and Edward aren't here."

Jet blinked. "What?"

"Well, Edward isn't Edward!"

Jet blinked again.

"Ed, what the hell are you babbling about?"

She gave him a solemn look and pointed to herself. "Edward isn't Edward and Jet-person–" She reached out and pressed a finger against his chest, looking up at him hopefully. "–isn't Jet-person. See?"

He watched her a moment and shook his head. "Not even a little bit."

Edward flopped down and crossed her legs beneath her, leaning on her head on one hand, a deep frown set on her frustrated face. Then she blinked, as if lightning had struck. She grinned. "You see, duplicate-person looks like Vash-person, but he isn't Vash-person. His chemistry is identical in every way, but he isn't Vash-person."

Jet set a hand on his forehead as the ominous explanation sunk in and he realized exactly what the girl was trying to say. His heart pounded intensely in his chest as the whole scenario played out in his mind, his imagination filling in the details.

If Radical Edward was right, Jet Black wasn't standing in a giant alien ship on a desert planet in the far reaches of space. Jet Black was safe and sound back home in his own world, probably laying back, relaxing on Venus and sipping on a Venusian ale as he searched for another big-time bounty. A million questions swirled in his mind, such as how the Bebop had gotten here. The practical explanation was that it wasn't really the Bebop.

"Oh shit," Jet muttered. "You've got to be kidding me! Ed, tell me aren't serious!"

"Edward is dead serious, Jet-person. And the real Spike-person and Faye-Faye aren't here either." Ed set Tomato on top of the Millennium Arc computer. Immediately she started wiring the laptop to the mainframe. "Splice and dice, the network! Snip, snap, open, shut, meet Edward-duplicate!"

"You've got to be kidding me," Jet murmured, and collapsed into the nearest chair. "Please God, tell me your kidding me."

Before another word could be said, a light flashed in the middle of the room. Jet spun at the movement and froze when he saw a woman in white, long flowing black hair cascading in delicate waves over her shoulders, all the way to her midriff. He blinked, trying to figure out where the woman had come from. She spoke then, her voice as clear and confident as any voice he had ever heard. "I'm afraid I'm not God, but I can assure you, what your friend has just discovered is true." Jet rose to his feet and peered at the woman as she slowly approached him. "In a sense."

Bewildered, Jet's mouth hung open. "In a sense?" he asked, livid. "Who the hell are you? What the hell is going on here?"

The woman eyed him, a small smile playing on full, red lips. "The plants launched this ship two thousand years ago." She watched her feet as Ein approached her, cautiously sniffing the heel of her shoe. Jet wanted to reach out and stop the dog, but he didn't. The young woman watched as the dog's nose touched her. Her skin flickered, the color fading briefly, and rippling about. The realization made Jet's skin run cold: she was a hologram! The girl gave him a long look and continued. "In the sense of time, the ship is two thousand years old, yet it left the dock two hundred years into your future."

Jet didn't think he had the strength to demand what was going on and then have her fill in all the blanks, so he decided to play along. "So we're looking at a two thousand year-old artifact that hasn't even been built yet?" he asked. The woman nodded. He rubbed the bald patch on the top of his head. "Jeez. That's a mind-bender."

The young woman gave him a pleasant smile. Jet took a moment to notice just how strikingly beautiful the girl was, a delicate yet simple beauty. She stood about five and a half feet tall, slender woman with long, raven hair and a peaceful smile. Her dark eyes held a spark of intelligence, ignited in her patient smile. She seemed to be very pale all around, though he couldn't get the best of looks at her with the dim light of the chamber. Being she was a hologram, he doubted there was much more beyond the looks and possibly a computer-based memory.

She took a step forward. "The men that arrived here ahead of you are seeking conquest, Jet Black. It has been a headlong race between my people and the scientist known to this world as Doctor Jebidiah Quinn to board this ship. Unfortunately, it is a race we are not winning. We have been searching for Paradise since we came here on Project SEEDS 131 years ago, though the safety of this compound has never been threatened until within the last week."

Jet frowned. "You're trying to keep Quinn's people off this ship, right?"

She nodded. "It must be done. There is a man here who can accomplish that, though he is in one of our stasis chambers."

"Vash duplicate-person!" Ed shouted, jumping up to her feet. Jet flinched himself, having forgotten she was so near. The woman looked to Edward and gave her a little nod. "Edward knows where he is. We can find him."

"Then let's do it," Jet said.

The woman nodded. "You must."

"All right," he said quietly, eyeing her. "But when we get back, you have a hell of a lot of questions to answer for me."

"Very well, Jet Black." She smiled, turning to his companion. "And Radical Edward?"

"Ed is Edward but holo-person can call Edward Ed." She gave her a big, toothy grin.

The woman smiled, giving Jet a sidelong glance, but he didn't say anything. She shook her head with a small, amused smile. "Ed then. A pleasure to meet you, child," she said softly. "My name is Rem. Thank you for bringing life back to me."

Edward offered her a toothy grin. "It's good to meet you, Rem."

From behind, there was a clamor of metal. The woman turned her head instantly to searched for the intruder, but she didn't seem to see anyone. After a moment she turned back to Jet. "You must hurry. I don't think you have much time, but there is definitely much to do." With that, the woman stiffened, the color draining from her features. In that moment, she shimmered and vanished before his eyes as the hologram deactivated. Edward quickly unhooked Tomato from the gateship mainframe and darted out the door with Ein at her heels.

Jet scratched his head, cursing to himself, and rushed off after them.

"Mr. Stryker?"

"Yeah, Milly?"

"I'm sorry."

The plant-spawn turned his eyes toward her voice, but she was just beyond his view. Slowly he wet his lips; he was so damn dry. Water was a delicacy their captors apparently couldn't spare. He could understand the pain his friend must be going through. If he was human he'd probably be having his own problems right now. He was sore enough as it was. In this position, he hadn't been able to move more than a fraction of an inch since he'd regained consciousness.

He was grateful to hear her voice. The poor girl hadn't said a word for hours. She'd probably been asleep, but if so, she cried a lot in her sleep.

He actually smiled, despite their disposition. "Don't be. It's not your fault."

There was another long silence.

"But I am sorry," she mumbled.

"We wouldn't be in this situation if I hadn't gotten a crazy idea," Stryker said. "If anyone is to blame, it's me."

Milly's voice cracked as she broke out into fresh tears. "It's my fault. I only held you back. We wouldn't be here–"

"Stop it, Milly. Please. There's nothing you could've done. Besides, before we fell into Dodge's trap, I was actually having fun."

"Fun? You mean, you enjoyed acting like Vash?"

He smiled again at the curiosity in Milly's voice. "Well, the truth is, I enjoyed having your company."

"Oh, but Mr. Stryker, we were just doing–"

"It was more than a job. We were doing our friend a favor. Vash needs us."

Milly was silent before she swallowed gently. "I don't think we can do him much good in here. We have to find a way out."

The smile faded from Stryker's face, replaced by a look of contemplation. "I don't think we're going to get out of here that easily, Milly."

"Well, we have to try, for Vash and Meryl."

"Yeah. You're right."

"Of course I'm right, Mr. Stryker."

"Sean."

There was another brief hesitation in her voice. "What was that, Mr. Stryker?"

"My name's Sean," he replied. He wiggled his fingers inside the casket, looking about the room for some sign that would inspire him to escape against impossible odds. Hell, Vash the Stampede apparently did this kind of thing all the time. Why not Stryker? "Please, call me Sean. Hearing my best friend call me Mr. Stryker just drives me nuts."

"Okay Mr. Stry…uh…" The girl actually giggled. "Sean."

He smiled and found he could actually move his left hand a little further than he could only a moment ago. His fingers skimmed the cold hull of the titanium casket. It was smooth, but he couldn't find any way to put a use to his latest discovery.

No sense in telling Milly bad news. He tried his right arm, found he could do the same motion, but once again there was no use for it.

Damnit.

"Sean?"

"Yeah Milly?"

She giggled again. "I've had fun, too."

He smiled. The girl really could make him smile at the most unlikely times. He wondered what his smile must look like. He hadn't seen himself smile in so long. But then again, maybe he had. He shared Vash's face, and Vash smiled often. It was just something he was unaccustomed to. Before he'd met Vash and the girls, he simply hadn't smiled a great deal. After all, what use did a gun-slinging crime fighter really have for smiling?

"Sometimes you have to find out that you're not really human to actually become more human," Stryker said. "I mean, Vash is the most human person I have ever met."

"Yeah, I know."

He drew a deep breath. "Milly?"

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to tell you, if–"

He stopped in mid-sentence as the heavy blast door of the cell slid open. He blinked as the brighter light of the hallway beyond spilled into the room and bathed him in its comforting glow. Standing in the doorway, he saw the silhouettes of three.

A man, a child, and a small dog.

The latter came forward and instantly started sniffing at the large casket where Stryker was being held. In that moment, he barked once and backed up, jumping about, almost as if he was panicked.

"Sean Ryker?"

He responded to the man with a slow nod.

"The name's Jet Black."

He drew a slow breath and approached, disappearing beyond his field of vision to the left side, toward Milly. In a quick instant he heard the sound of twine snapping. After a moment of rustling, he heard his friend speak: "Oh, thank you so much! But why are you helping us?"

"Because you need help," the man replied.

Stryker saw her face for only a moment as she approached his titanium casket. Milly's arm came up and he heard her tapping in the keycode to the device.

The door latches groaned in protest as they were released, and the door swung open. Stryker felt his arms being released, and put them up to pushed the cover wide so that he could slip out into the cell. He blinked in surprise that she'd figured out the combination to the casket so quickly. How in the hell–? The five of them stood there, Stryker watching Meryl for several moments before shifting his gaze to the man and teenage girl had come to rescue them. Apparently.

"Hello, Vash-duplicate!" the girl said, holding out her hand. "It is an honor to meet you, Duplicate-person! I am Edward-duplicate!"

Stryker scratched the back of his head, uncertain of what to say. He decided to say nothing at the moment, shaking her hand quickly before he turned to the show on the road. After all, they didn't want to be standing around out here when Starks returned from whatever the hell he was doing.

The man offered Milly a shoulder to lean on, which she gladly accepted. Meantime, Stryker headed over to the table that held his weapons.

Luckily, Vash's silver magnum was still there.

He grabbed the weapon, checked to see that it was still loaded, and slipped it into his holster. "Let's get out of here," he said, and led the group toward the door.