Session Nine

"Find anything interesting in town?" Jet asked. He was restocking the fridge in the Bebop's living room. Leon gave up chasing Ed when she slipped into the storage room. He'd never find her there unless she let him.

"Maybe," Leon shrugged. He flopped on the couch.

"My, someone's out of breath," Faye commented. She emerged from below decks, her hair up in a towel. She was wearing a new shirt and skirt that was skittishly close to revealing something it shouldn't. She carried a bag full of nail polish over to the coffee table and dumped it out with a clatter. Leon winced, but miraculously none of the bottles broke. Faye plopped herself in a nearby chair and started sorting colors.

"Yeah, well, I was chasing Ed," Leon said.

"You were chasing Ed?" Jet asked. "I thought you guys were working together."

"We were," Leon smirked. "But then I called her Edwina and she made me escort her all the way back here, so our partnership kind of crumbled." He shrugged.

Jet laughed. "Edwina?"

"It's a long story."

"Glad to see the two of you working together so well," Jet said, half sarcastic and half serious.

Leon grinned.

Faye rolled her eyes and selected a cherry red polish from the jumble on the table. "So, did you learn anything useful?" she asked.

Leon pulled the piece of crumpled paper from the pharmacy out of his pocket. "Yeah, maybe," he said again. Jet finished stocking the fridge and sat down beside Leon on the couch.

"Whatcha got?" he asked.

Leon spread the paper on the table. "Well, Ed and I decided to check the pharmacies in town and see if we could find one that was selling a crap ton of Grey Ash."

"And the pharmacies just answered your questions?" Jet asked.

"Pretty much," Leon shrugged. "Ed was masquerading as my blind, Venus-sick cousin so they were mostly cooperative."

"Ed, blind? Whose idea was that?" Faye asked.

"Ed's, actually," Leon said.

Faye laughed. "Genius."

"Yeah, except for the part where she decided she'd be blind all the way back to the Bebop and trip every five seconds if I didn't hold her hand," Leon raised his voice in case Ed was listening. He could swear he heard a snicker. "Anyway," he continued, "we found that most of the pharmacies had a full stock and nobody seemed to be sending it off-planet. Except this one little place in a back alley that looks like an Earth shop. He didn't have any Grey Ash left, said he'd been cleaned out on Tuesday. But he told me I could get some here." Leon tapped the piece of paper.

"This is just a bunch of coordinates," Jet muttered.

Faye glanced at the paper. "Leroy?" she arched an eyebrow at the false name, her brush poised on the edge of the bottle.

"I had to come up with it in a hurry, ok?" Leon felt the heat rush to his cheeks.

"So, what're the coordinates for?" Faye asked.

"That's just it. I don't know. I got this funny feeling the guy here knew we were lying to him, so I don't know if this actually leads to Grey Ash or maybe to Dragon's Eye."

"Or maybe to the end of a gun," Jet said.

Leon nodded. "That too."

"We can trace the coordinates, right?" Faye asked, neatly applying paint to her pinky toe. "Then we might know which of those lovely options we're facing."

"Sure," Jet agreed. "We can just get Ed to track it down on Tomato." Jet looked over at Ein who was lounging beside the couch. "Ein, c'mon boy." Ein looked up and wriggled his butt, tongue lolling. "C'mon," Jet motioned with his hand and Ein jumped to his feet. "Go find Ed, Ein. Bring Ed, boy." Jet said.

Ein wiggled his butt harder and barked twice. Then he put his nose to the ground and trotted out of the living room.

"Does that actually work?" Leon asked, incredulous.

"Most of the time," Faye shrugged and painted another toe nail.

She was just finishing her last toe when Ein ran back in the room barking happily. Ed followed the little Corgi proudly displaying her shirt for all to see. Leon found himself the only one surprised that Ed was running around in her bra.

"What did you do to your shirt, Ed?" Jet asked.

Ed had drawn a grid on her shirt with marker, dividing the surface into even squares. Blotches of various colors filled the center of each square. Above each blotch, Ed had written a few numbers, like she was cataloguing each stain on the shirt.

"Research!" Ed declared proudly. It was her default answer to most questions about what she'd been doing.

"Research?" Jet raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, on the Grey Ash we picked up."

"But we didn't get any Grey Ash," Leon said.

"You mean, you didn't get any Grey Ash," she said. "Ed was taking samples the whooole time."

And suddenly Leon remembered that Ed had been running her hands over shelves, counters, and cases in every pharmacy they'd been in. She'd wipe her hand on her t-shirt afterward, but he hadn't paid it much attention. Apparently she'd wiped her hand on her shirt in a different place each time and that was now what they were seeing in the grid. Traces of whatever she'd found in each pharmacy.

"You devil! So that's why you pretended to be blind!" he exclaimed.

Ed nodded.

"I don't get it," Faye said. She was painting her left hand now.

"Ed was pretending to use the counters and shelves in all the pharmacies for balance. But she was really picking up traces of dust and residue, and wiping them on her shirt," Leon elaborated.

"Brilliant," Jet laughed. "So, what's with the different colors, Ed?"

"That's just dye," Ed waved a hand dismissively. "That way the microscope can take a look-see." She peered closely at the shirt like she was the microscope.

"And what did you find?" Leon asked.

"Well," Ed declared. "This, she pointed at a grey smudge at the bottom right of her shirt, is that last shop we went into. The one who said his Ash was all blown away." She made a motion with her hand to indicate wind. "And it's an exact match for the evil purple head-grabbing monster Leon found on Ganymede!"

"Evil purple head-grabbing monster…" Jet muttered, shaking his head. "I take it you mean the Dragon's Eye?"

"Yup!"

"Ed said that the Dragon's Eye will destroy your brain," Leon explained. "The mix of Red-Eye and Gray Ash produces a warped antibody that goes directly to your head. You take enough of this stuff and you pretty much go brain dead."

Ed nodded again.

"That's nasty stuff," Jet said.

"It looks like we've found our provider though," Faye said.

"Yeah," Leon agreed. "Now we just need to find our backer."

"She's here somewhere," Jet said. "Or at least, she frequents the area. We just need to find her base of operations."

"Well, I doubt it's that pharmacy directly," Leon said.

Jet shook his head. "Too obvious. And I doubt it's this place either." He picked up the piece of paper on the coffee table. "Hey, Ed, if you're done researching, you want to look something up for us?"

"Sure!" Ed dropped her shirt on the floor. "Let me just grab Tomato." She skipped off down the hallway.

Ein curiously sniffed at Ed's shirt. He sneezed violently and decided it wasn't worth his effort. He sat down beside the fridge instead.

A few moments later Ed returned, balancing Tomato precariously on her head. She had a fresh white t-shirt on. She sat down cross-legged in the floor, and put her computer in front of her. "OK, hit me," she said, cracking her knuckles.

Jet read her the coordinates.

Ed typed them into her computer. She scrolled the results for a few seconds. "It's one of the floating islands out in the desert," she finally said. "Doesn't look like there's anything important on it."

"Well, that's not sketchy at all," Faye sighed, working on her right hand now.

"I'm leaning toward the gun," Leon admitted.

Jet scratched his chin. "It's all we have to go on though. I think we should check it out."

"Naturally," Faye agreed.

"You think we can try the addict thing again?" Leon asked.

Jet shook his head. "Too risky. We've run that scheme already. And if Andross mentioned anything to Villanova about it, she might get suspicious. Besides, we don't know that this actually has anything to do with Dragon's Eye."

"Aw, that's a shame," Faye winked at Leon as she painted her last fingernail. "I was looking forward to playing stylist again."

"I was thinking the more experienced, world weary one of us could play the part instead of - what was it? - the untried colt."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Faye demanded. "Are you calling me old?"

"Well, you are older than me," he said.

Faye looked like she was about to retort, but Jet interrupted. "That's enough, you two. We're not sending anybody in based on their age," Jet rolled his eyes. He was the oldest one here (not counting Faye's little expedition with cryogenics) and you didn't hear him complaining. "I say we just go in tonight with a little back-up, do some reconnaissance, and get out."

"Sure," Faye agreed. She held her freshly painted nails up to the light, turning them this way and that to admire them. "Only who's going in and who's playing backup?"

"Well, we wouldn't want you to spoil those fresh nails, Ms. Valentine," Jet smiled.

"And why am I playing backup?" Faye fumed as she took a seat in the Redtail. She'd tuned her com to a private channel with Jet only. She started her flight sequence. Ed had figured the Swordfish at her fastest could reach the island in about forty-five minutes. Since Jet and Faye were flying the Hammerhead and the Redtail, it would take about an hour. "I'm good in a fight too, you know."

"I know you are," Jet's voice crackled back from his Hammerhead as his engines thrummed to life. "But I also know that you're good as backup."

"Oh, and you don't trust the kid to do it?" she asked.

"No, I trust Leon, but he's inexperienced."

"So you're taking him into a potential firefight."

Jet sighed. "Faye, he's a Cowboy. I know he knows how to use his gun. But he's been working solo this whole time. Which means no rescue missions. Besides, this is the first time he's flown the Swordfish. I want him to have a little more practice before he's got to make an emergency extraction with her."

Faye rolled her eyes even though she knew Jet couldn't see her. It was just like Jet to jump the gun one minute then turn into the paragon of caution the next. "So you hand him the ship, but you don't think he can use it. What did I tell you? He's going to crash it."

She could almost hear Jet grinding his teeth. "Just play your part, Faye, and keep your engines running."

"Roger, Captain," she purred. "Over and out."

She heard the slight click as the com line shut off and she sat back in the pilot's seat. She had to admit, she'd seen the same light in Leon's eyes as Spike always had when the boy jumped into the cockpit of the Swordfish. But instead of the confidence it instilled in Jet, it just made her stomach do flip-flops. Why did Spike have to go and have a son who looked so damn like him?

Faye took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She'd shot her gun that night. At first, she'd aimed it at his back. Maybe she could make him stay. But in the end she'd pointed it at the ceiling before she'd pulled the trigger. He hadn't even turned around. But she thought Spike probably knew. And he'd gone to fight the Dragon anyway.

"Damn you, Spike. Why'd you have to be so bull-headed?" She opened her eyes and slammed her hands on either side of the Redtail's control panel. Something on the panel made a disdainful beep. "You thought you had it under control, didn't you? You didn't stop to think about what it might do to the rest of us when you left, did you?"

Faye was surprised when the hot tears fell down her nose, splashing her controls.

"Damn you, Spike Spiegel," she swore again.

Leon revved the engine of the Swordfish and felt the ship shudder to life beneath him. She was an old-fashioned beauty with a rugged sort of charm and Leon took to her controls instinctively. He'd flown a few ships in his lifetime, but nothing that responded this smoothly. And this was just in the hangar. He engaged the engine and a trail of brilliant blue flared to life at her tail. Leon opened the throttle and slewed out of the hangar, wheels lifting lightly from the Bebop's deck.

The Hammerhead and the Redtail didn't immediately follow. Leon was about to radio in, but then he realized Jet and Faye were in radio silence on his end. Leon shrugged. Might as well stall and find out what this baby could do. He pointed the Swordfish's nose toward the stars then took her into a stomach-dropping dive toward the sand below. He'd give himself a ten mile radius to explore and wait for the others to catch up.

As he put the Swordfish through her motions, he frowned. Something was causing tension between Jet and Faye, and he was pretty sure it was him. He'd seen the absent frowns Faye gave him when she thought he wasn't looking. Despite Jet's willingness to let him use anything and everything on the Bebop, including stuff that belonged to Spike, Faye didn't seem so enamored. The other night Jet had suggested they clean out Spike's old room so that Leon didn't have to sleep on the couch. Faye subtly resisted the idea, but Jet didn't pick up on her hint. She finally agree only if she was the one allowed to clean out Spike's room before Leon moved in.

Leon had suggested he just stay on the couch and keep the status quo, but that had been met with some stony glares. He'd slipped away after that to sit in the bridge, but he knew Jet and Faye stayed in the living room for close to an hour afterward talking heatedly.

An urgent blip from his dashboard suddenly brought Leon into the present and he looked up to find a rapidly approaching wall of rock and sand. He must've slipped into a desert canyon without realizing it. Just then his radio burst with static and Jet's voice broke his concentration.

"Hey, watch where you're going, kid!"

"I know, I know," Leon shouted back, pulling the Swordfish into a steep climb. The ship responded instantly, taking the climb easily. He whipped past the canyon wall with inches to spare. He let out an elated whoop as he cleared the canyon, then let the Swordfish fall into a tight spiral back to the desert floor. He swooped upward just before striking the sand and leveled off. He noticed the Hammerhead and the Redtail on the horizon, following him.

"What are you doing?" Jet demanded.

"Having fun while I waited on you two! What else? You ever flown this baby?" Leon could feel the grin splitting his face.

"Once or twice," Jet said. "Now focus, kid. We're on a mission here. You can try out your trick flying later."

"Yeah, and how about slowing down and letting us catch up," Faye said. "We still don't know what we're flying into here."

Leon frowned, but he slowed the Swordfish. "C'mon, Faye, are you scared?"

"Scared? Of course not. Don't forget, I've been riding this horse way longer than you cowboy."

"I'm not a kid, you know." Leon felt his defenses go up.

"Enough," Jet said. "You're both just tense. Now concentrate."

They flew in silence for a while. Leon admired the sands by night, his headlights picking up the glitter and flash of the sand and turning it into a mirror of the starry sky above. He'd never thought of Venus as a pretty planet, but right now, it wasn't half bad. The island came into view about forty minutes later. The radio crackled to life again. "We're at the point of no return," Jet said. "After this, anybody on the island can see us. We'll set down on the east side as planned unless we run into fire. Remember, this isn't a life or death thing. If you get shot at, run."

"Roger," Leon and Faye both responded.

The three ships flew low over the desert until they reached the island. It was a small piece of land floating on artificial gravity in the sky. Most of it was covered in trees and other vegetation, but there were a few buildings on the west side of the island. They looked like they were abandoned and mostly reclaimed by the trees. A clearing on the east side of the island offered a good landing area for the ships, and would keep them obscured from anyone in the buildings.

Leon slid the Swordfish under the island, then nosed her into a graceful climb on the other side. He tensed as her nose cleared land, almost expecting gunfire to sweep the fuselage. But he was met only with darkness and silence. The clearing came into view and he took a lazy dive toward it, slowing and pulling the Swordfish into a perfect landing. He shut the engines as the Hammerhead and Redtail landed on either side of him.

"Show off," Faye grumbled.

"You know you love it though," he teased.

"Don't try me, kid," she said.

"Touchy," he mumbled, but he made sure he cut his radio before he said it. He grabbed his pistol and popped the cockpit on the Swordfish. Everything on the island was quiet. From here he could only catch a few glimpses of the buildings through the trees, and he only saw those because he knew the buildings were already there. Why would the man at the pharmacy give him the coordinates for a terraform island? Nobody lived on these things anyway and this one was too far out in the desert to be anything practical. He stepped out of the Swordfish and jumped to the ground as Jet emerged from the Hammerhead. The older cowboy looked grim and held his gun at the ready.

Faye watched the two from her spot in the Redtail's cockpit, where she would keep watch for trouble and bail them out if they ran into something bigger than they could handle.

Leon took a deep breath. He felt his stomach twist with the typical adrenaline rush he got when he was about to catch a bountyhead. He looked over at Jet. Jet gave him a nod and the two silently walked into the surrounding trees, shoulder to shoulder.