Bebop Blues
Chapter 8
The Egg and You: Tank!
Neither Jet nor Faye could sleep.
Mai had retired some time ago, but both Faye and Jet were still planted firmly in the seats she had left them in.
Neither Jet nor Faye knew exactly what to say.
They sat in silence, sipping their tea and smoking their cigarettes.
Jet even took one of Faye's.
"Wow," Faye finally mustered after what felt like hours.
It had been 15 minutes.
"Yeah," Jet agreed. He inhaled deeply before coughing.
"Easy on that old man." She patted his back.
He attempted to shrug her off. "You seem to handle them fine."
"I have experience."
He blinked at her, inwardly thankful for the change in topic. "You do?"
She smiled knowingly. "After Spike, I took them up. Sparingly, but they were the most amazing things some nights."
He was eager to change the topic again.
"So..."
"Mai."
"Yeah."
Silence.
"What all did you know of that?"
"I knew she was Mao's daughter. I knew about her mother and how she grew up in the Syndicate." She took a long breath. "I didn't know about the "children of the Syndicate," and I didn't know who sliced her like that. She told me it was a bounty, one who she's been after for a while. I didn't even know she was married. I would never have thought it was that..." puff, "heavy..."
"Yeah."
"It makes me thankful, in a way." She inhaled sharply and coughed slightly. "I don't have a memory as strong as that. My past is bits and piece, fragments."
"Yeah."
"You're awfully talkative, old man."
"It just really makes you think."
"No wonder she was keeping it to herself."
"So she's Spike's sister, in a way."
The silence around them fell thicker.
"How crazy... What a small world."
Something seemed to overtake Jet, and he stood from the table promptly. "I have a phone call to make."
Faye watched him walk away, her eyes glazed in disbelief, the weight still crushing her.
Now was as good a time as any to try and get more sleep. She slowly walked out of the kitchen, flipping the switch as she crossed the frame. "It's always a damn Spiegel," she said aloud, finishing her cigarette.
As she passed the com station, she heard Jet's silent cursing.
"Damn signal is jammed. Are you kidding me? What the hell is that knucklehead-"
"What knucklehead?" Faye asked, her curiosity severely piqued.
"Huh?" He jumped in surprise, startled by her presence. "Uh, a connection of mine. I wanted to see what he could dig up. Figured that since we know what Mai's past is like, we could maybe find some leads and help, you know?"
He seemed uncertain.
Faye was unconvinced, but willing to comply. No sense in trying to get anything out of him; the man was far too set in his thoughts.
"You shouldn't talk to yourself," she finally commented, "people might start to think you're crazy." She left the room with a flip of her hand to the air as she faced away and strode down the hallway.
She finally reached her room, though she could hardly call it that. She hadn't slept in it once since boarding the ship. She opened the door and slumped to her bed, sitting on the edge with her head in her hands. Something rustled beneath her. Leaning forward, she pulled a note from under her thigh.
'The door is never locked. You just have to knock.
-M'
Faye smiled and ventured down the hall again.
"If it eases things to call me "the other woman" you can gladly do so."
"Shouldn't that be my line? You're the married one."
Mai softly smiled and sat up, lighting a cigarette. "I couldn't sleep; I just needed to think."
"I needed that, too."
"How's Jet?"
"Shocked, and he's a bit remorseful, but he doesn't hold it against you." Faye lit a cigarette from Mai's stash. "Neither of us can, really. That's some burden." She blew a ring. "You're gonna' carry that weight."
Mai grinned devilishly. "Something like that."
Faye scooted closer to her, pulling her legs to her chest.
Mai put her left hand forward, fingers opened widely. "It's a black diamond, you know, from Earth."
She was looking at her ring.
For the life of her, Faye could not figure out how she had never noticed it. They had slept in the same bed, held hands, talked extensively, and curled close together so many times, but it had always passed her thoughts.
"It doesn't look like a wedding band, I guess." Mai shrugged.
"I suppose it doesn't."
Mai slipped the ring off to glance at the inscription inside.
'My Muse.'
She smiled wistfully. "His says "My Zen." It suits us."
"Zen?"
"My inner-peace, my solitude, my completion."
"Oh."
They smoked and cuddled in silence, Mai leaning her head in Faye's shoulder.
Funny. Mai was usually the strong one.
"What was he like?"
"He was a man born in the wrong time. Old fashioned, but forward-thinking. He loved music and marijuana and martial arts. He saw the logic in the senseless, and he made sense of a world I couldn't understand. He taught me love without condition, happiness without necessity, and unbridled passion." She inhaled deeply. "I've always seen life as some big dream that we cycle through until we reach that door, but he opened my eyes to what life was truly like. He made me feel alive."
Faye was silent to that. Mai and Spike still had too much in common for her liking.
"He sounds wonderful."
"I never believed in soul mates until Roy came along."
Faye inhaled deeply this time. "You think everybody has one?"
"I know everybody does; the harsh reality is that sometimes we get lucky and sometimes we don't." Puff. "I think you're one of the lucky ones."
Faye snorted. "Yeah. Me. Sure."
"I mean it."
Faye took the initiative and stretched herself onto the bed. They had been sitting in the dark. "I think I'd like to try and get some sleep before we hit Earth."
Mai stretched to lie beside her. "So would I."
If Faye didn't know any better, she'd swear Mai was crying.
They reached Earth in 3 days, and both Jet and Faye gave Mai a pretty wide berth during the remainder of the trip. She didn't seem to mind, and she and Faye still spent most of their time together.
She was cooking dinner as they approached Earth's atmosphere.
"I have to ask you again," she heard Jet call from the doorway.
Faye was in the gym, practicing the katas that Mai had been teaching her. She had progressed fairly well as a fighter, and she was anxious to get better.
It also distracted her from her thoughts.
Jet used their brief moment of separation to his advantage.
"Ask me what?"
"What is up with you and Faye?"
Mai smiled. "Why are you so determined to find something wrong with this?"
Jet crossed his arms. "Because I'm not stupid." He closed the door. "After Spike died-"
"You and I both know that's not the case." She remained stoic despite the somberness of her voice.
"So, the truth comes out."
"You're not being entirely honest, either, in hiding it from her."
He paled. "But he-"
"Asked you to keep it a secret."
"He said he didn't know a Mai Spiegel, either."
"That's because he knows a Mai Yenrai."
"So you weren't even honest with him?"
"That's a more complicated answer."
Jet tapped his foot. "You dodged my initial question."
"I'm assuming your biggest concern is whether or not I'm going to hurt Faye because as a woman who's already gone through this once, you don't think she can handle it again."
He gave a moment of thought before responding. "Something like that."
Mai smiled and continued her stirring of the stew in front of her. "You'll just have to trust that I won't hurt her."
"I find it hard to trust you, all things considered."
"Then have a little faith. Like men do gods and women do men, have faith that I mean no harm."
He blinked. "You mean it, then, that you and Faye are just friends."
"We are friends who need each other more than two women should. She misses Spike. I miss Roy. We cling to that loneliness in each other because it reminds us that, despite our loneliness, we are not alone. Someone else knows our pain."
"You're one cool cat, huh?"
She laughed heartily. "I just have a very deep understanding for things most people don't."
Jet smiled. He guessed he liked her.
They dined as they entered the atmosphere, and Mai tidied the kitchen while they landed.
"So, what's the scoop again? Some flower?" Faye asked.
Her attitude was coming back. Jet and Mai appreciated it.
"The desert flower. It's worth 100 Million Woolong," Jet confirmed.
"A plant? It's not illegal or black market? Why is there a bounty on it?"
"Because most people who go looking for it wind up missing or dead. ISSP needs it investigated ASAP, hence the bounty."
"Interesting."
"I'll do some digging."
"As will we," Faye responded.
They separated, Jet much more comfortable with splitting up now that Faye had a partner.
They trekked down the street, Faye attempting to pause at various bars and corner stores. Mai kept shaking her head, her sunglasses glinting. "Not right."
"What do you mean by that?" This flower has no leads."
"Trust me." Mai led her further still.
They stopped at a garage near the edge of town. "We'll need this." She swiped a card through the reader, and the door opened.
There stood a motorcycle, and judging by the make and model, Faye was prepared to believe it to be vintage.
"Why?"
"Journey's too long to finish on foot." She hopped on and beckoned to Faye. "Hold tight."
"You'll pop a stitch."
Mai knocked on her rib cage, and a metallic clink resounded. "Got some protection for just this occasion. This shirt's got some pretty sweet armor."
Faye grinned and hopped on behind her, the blue bike revving beneath them. "I like you're style."
"You always have." And, with a grin, Mai took off.
Considering the length of the trip, Faye was a bit downhearted by the loudness of the engine. She had hoped to get more clarification behind this strange trek.
There was no road.
They seemed to be traveling to nowhere.
After a confusing hour, they came upon a cantina, no signs or roads or other paths to indicate its existence.
Mai parked her bike, and the two hopped off.
"Seems deserted."
"Seems that way." Mai walked in regardless, Faye following suit.
Three men were at a table near by, but the rest of the bar remained empty. It had gotten to be fairly late in the afternoon and judging by Faye's stomach, it was close to dinnertime.
"What'll it be ladies?" the bartender asked.
It was a woman, long brown wavy hair and mesmerizing green eyes, bust and hips in perfect roundness. Even Faye was a tad jealous of the figure; she was a classic mysterious beauty.
She was around Faye's height with a slight Spanish accent.
"We'll flip through the menu, if you don't mind."
The woman faltered a bit, but smiled. "Certainly."
Mai sat at the bar, dead center, and Faye sat to her right. As the bartender brought them menus and glasses of water, she smiled again. "House special is the chili. It will really knock your socks off."
"I'm certain it will," Mai said as she sipped her drink.
The bartender looked to the men; they had been eyeing the couple from the moment they entered. On some unspoken queue, the men arose and left.
"So what'll it be?"
"You tell me, Rose."
The bartender blinked. "But how did...?"
"You don't recognize me?" She removed her sunglasses. "Your eyes don't lie."
"Well, I'll be damned. If it isn't the dragon in the flesh."
"Likewise."
"Oh?"
"You know why I'm here."
Rose frowned. "I do?"
Faye was intrigued. "What's going on? Who are you?"
Rose smiled. "Didn't you hear her? My name is Rose, Rose Santiago."
"I heard that much."
"She's what we're looking for."
Faye blinked. "The desert flower?"
"Mai, you leading lambs?"
"This one's a tiger."
Rose smiled at Faye. "A tiger, are you?" She turned to face Mai. "Que te trae a mi esta vez?"
Mai frowned. "My need to stop this madness."
Rose frowned this time. "Que locura? Yo hago lo que necesitan para sobrevivar. Usted lo sabe. Tengo algo que protegar."
"What do you have to protect?" Faye asked. "Si, un tigre," she added for good measure. She had taken up a large number of hobbies in Spike's absence.
Mai grinned widely. "What did I say, Rose?"
Rose, a bit shocked, but impressed nonetheless, led them to the back storeroom. "This." She pulled a box from beneath a floorboard. Using a key from around her neck, she unlocked the contents to reveal the treasure she had been protecting.
Faye gasped, though Mai didn't flinch.
A round-cut ruby, 60 carats in size, sat in the box, pillowed by black velvet.
"It's beautiful."
"It's a curse," Mai replied.
Faye hadn't noticed she lit a cigarette.
As Mai exhaled the smoke, she looked at Rose. "It's time we put the charade to rest."
Rose's eyes narrowed. "You promised-"
"That I wouldn't turn you in so long as you stopped the senseless killing in protecting that damned thing." Mai exhaled again. "But someone is tarnishing your name trying to get it, and I need this solved."
"Why?"
Mai glowered. "Rose..."
"Your father-"
"Was more than gracious enough. You know why it's important that I return that to its rightful spot, and given my current circumstances, it's necessary that I do so."
"It's just a ruby... A huge ruby worth millions, I would think," Faye concluded.
"It's the elixir of life, frozen in time."
"What?"
Mai puffed. "When it was discovered forty years ago, scientists ran test after test; the findings were incredible. The stone is actually a frozen liquid, a compound that they deduced to be a protein capable of reversing the breakdown of mitochondria. In laymen's terms-" puff, "-it stops the aging process."
Faye's eyes grew wide. "But wouldn't that be a good thing?"
"Overpopulation? Stimulation of greed for immortality? We live, so we die. Defying nature is always the quickest way to extinction. Would you want to live forever? See the world die out before you? Watch men fight for this petty want? See your loved ones die before you? It stops aging, not death." She puffed. "They don't know how to synthesize it, as it seems partially synthesized already, and they don't know how to melt it. I'd prefer to keep it that way."
"That's not your job!"
"Nor is it yours to protect it, Rose."
"I have plenty to protect."
They went silent.
A quiet cough sounded from the doorway. "Mama? Is everything alright."?
The big green eyes from the little brunette said all they needed to; the desert flower had a seedling.
"Flora, mama and Auntie Mai were just talking."
The little girl coughed again.
And the truth finally dawned on Faye.
Rose's daughter was sick.
And all of the sudden, the situation changed from Rose being the selfish villain to Rose being the vigilante mother.
Mai leaned down to hug the girl. She reached into her pocket and handed her a candy rock lollipop. "Here, sweetie. We'll be done in a moment."
Flora smiled and bounded back to the bar.
"I'll make you a deal," Mai said finally. "We wipe all this off the books, and you two come with me. That damned ruby, too. Dad wanted that thing gone, but your love for your daughter forced his hand. At least refrain from doing him the injustice of tarnishing your selflessness with bloodshed."
Rose eyed them warily, her age showing. She was in her late thirties at least, though her skin and figure looked younger. "Even I know it won't save Flora, that damned rock, but maybe it will buy her enough time to fight what she's got, you know?"
Mai faltered. "You're grasping at straws."
But before the conversation could continue, an explosion sounded from the front.
"Rose! We're down!"
Faye and Mai assumed it to be one of the men from earlier yelling.
Rose hastily shoved the ruby into its hiding spot. "Go!" she yelled.
As they bolted to the front, Rose jumped over the bar to grab a machine gun. "Flora!"
"I'll hide, mama!" and the little girl ran to the storeroom.
The front of the bar was nearly destroyed. Bullets lined the desert ground, and only one of the three men was left alive.
They watched as a solitary shot zipped through his skull.
Five men, all clad in black, stood in front of a jeep; judging by the matching silver snakes on their sleeves, the trio deduced them to be a new upcoming Syndicate.
"Fuck," Faye professed
"Let's jam," Mai huffed. Spitting out her cigarette, she launched at the closest man, kicking him square in the chest; the other four turned immediately to chance shots, their pistols locked and loaded.
Rose was busy making work of the getaway car, her machine gun perforating the high-class vehicle. "Oi, vatos! Try and run now!"
Faye, reacting slower than the other two, pulled her Glock out and aimed for the nearest gunman. She shattered his knee.
Mai, having dodged the onslaught, engaged in fluid fighting; she was concerned with the man's skills. This was not normal of hotshot Syndicate groups.
These men were serious business.
Faye rolled behind a nearby barrel to avoid more shots.
Only the man Faye shot was down.
"Chinga tu madre!" Rose grabbed her arm in pain, blood flowing freely.
There were so many things happening at once, that Faye almost didn't notice it.
Mai was seeing red.
Soon, two more jeeps had pulled up with Syndicate goons, and they piled out with rifles and pistols.
But Mai stayed persistent.
A dagger in her first, she proceeded to punch and kick, flinging her attackers into each other, slicing throats and ripping flesh.
It was maddening.
She moved less like water and more like a hurricane, her open palm gripping a nearby shooter's face with such ferocity that Faye was sure his eyes would pop from their sockets.
"You wanna' fuck with me?" Mai snarled.
A bullet whizzed by Faye's hiding spot, snapping her out of her stupor. She had to act quickly. Mai had taken down five men in a flash, plus the one Faye brought to his knees.
Rose was on the porch of the bar, tossing a grenade towards a fourth jeep that was coming towards them.
It exploded on impact.
Faye stood up and took sniper shots to two of them. One down, the other pissed, and as he opened fire on her two amazing things happened.
One, the anxiety of Faye's life hanging by a thread brought Mai back to sanity.
Two, Faye was tackled to the ground.
All she saw was green.
The man had jumped from the roof to tackle her and roll her away from the incoming barrage.
"Spike!" Mai yelled.
He whispered in Faye's ear. "Always in trouble, aren't you?"
He stood up quickly and took a shot at Faye's attacker, though Mai did as well.
It was Rose's bullet that did the deed, though.
Three men remained, but a fifth jeep was hot on the trail.
"I'm out of grenades!" Rose yelled.
"Allow Edward!" a high-pitched squeal sounded from above. The redhead typed away on her Tomato. "Zoom, zoom, click, clack-" she hit the final key, "-BOOM!"
Two men rolled out of the jeep just before the vehicle exploded.
"Edward helped!" The girl was beaming, the dog on her head barking in happiness.
There were five left.
Mai and Spike looked to each other and nodded; turning back to back, they were pleased to find that the remainder of men had no remaining bullets. With smirks to rival each other's, a synchronized combat ensued.
They appeared to be of one mind.
Faye still sat on the ground in shock.
And as the last man was taken down with a punch to both cheeks, one by Spike and one by Mai, Faye remained frozen.
"Not bad, cowboy."
"Not too bad yourself, huntress. We make a good team."
"Always happy to oblige."
Ed jumped off the roof to run to the two. "Crazy lady with the fancy moves! Edward is Edward!" She took a deep bow.
The dog jumped from her head and made a bow of his own.
Mai patted Ed's head. "I'm Mai."
Spike leaned forward, his mouth close to Mai's cheek. "You mind telling me what you've been up to?"
But Mai was looking for Faye.
Spike spotted her first, in the same place he had left her minutes before.
He walked to her slowly, and extended his hand to help her up.
Still shocked, she took it and rose to her feet, her eyes never leaving his.
"You're... Alive."
He smiled.
"Yo."
