Session 10
CALL ME! CALL ME!
By jak981125
Author's note: This story is part of a series. It will make more sense if you read the earlier sessions.
Laughing Bull sat under the Martian sky gazing at the stars. As the sand ran through his fingers, he saw a star disappear nearby the part of the sky where Spike's star had been leaving a small, solitary star all alone. It made him sad to see it, even though he did not completely understand what he had just witnessed.
A few days later a taxi pulled up to a police station in lower Manhattan. Out of the cab stepped Jet. He handed the driver his fee. "Don't bother waiting for me," he said. He walked up to the doors and went inside. A female desk sergeant greeted him right away. "I got a message telling me to come here but they wouldn't give me any details. Is this about a bounty head I brought in?" asked Jet.
"No, Mr. Black, this has nothing to do with that," replied the sergeant. "Are you familiar with a young girl named Edina Healy?"
"No, the name doesn't ring a bell."
The sergeant looked through some sheets on a clipboard. "Well that's the child's legal name," she said. "Apparently she also uses the alias of Edward Wong."
Jet's eyes went wide. "What happened? What's wrong? Is Ed in some sort of trouble?"
"Oh, so you do know her."
"Yes I know her very well. Is she OK?"
"She's fine," replied the sergeant. "In fact she's in back. Mr. Black, the unfortunate news is that the girl's father passed away last week on Venus, leaving no indication in his will as to who would take the child."
Jet's heart sank when he heard these words. Poor kid! And after all that loser had put her through.
"We couldn't find any relatives, so the authorities were about to place her in a foster home," the sergeant continued. "The girl objected stating that she had friends of the family living in New York. But they were unable to contact you there, so a social worker brought the girl to Manhattan and asked her to show where she had last seen you. They were unable to locate you, so the child was brought here and we managed to find you. Mr. Black, are you by any chance willing and able to take legal guardianship of this child?"
"Yes, of course," replied Jet. "But what happened to her father?"
"Apparently he suffered an allergic reaction to an antibiotic that a doctor on Venus prescribed for him."
"Cowboy Jet!"
It was Edward. She had heard Jet's voice and came out to see if it was really him. She ran up and hugged him so hard that she nearly suffocated him. He didn't mind. Never before had Jet felt such mixed emotions. He was thrilled at the prospect of getting Ed back, but he felt terrible for what she must have suffered. Ed certainly looked different from the last time he saw her eight months ago. Her hair was now longer, the same style Faye had in her beta tape. Her outfit was different too. She had on a green hooded sweatshirt, khaki shorts, and sandals (apparently she still hated shoes).
"Jet, they put Ein in doggie jail," wailed Ed.
"You put her dog in the pound?" asked Jet.
The desk sergeant rolled her eyes and sighed. "Young lady, for the third time, we did not take your dog to a pound. We took him to a kennel. It's more like a hotel for dogs, not a prison. A police station is no place to keep a dog even for a short amount of time."
Just then, a K-9 officer walked by with a German Shepherd on a leash. Ed saw that and gave the sergeant a dirty look. "This is doggie discrimination! Edward demands justice!"
Ignoring her, the sergeant handed Jet a couple of forms. "You give that to the kennel and they'll release the dog. The address is on the form. And this form must be taken to the local courthouse and signed by a judge for you to take temporary legal custody of the girl. That must be done right away. Now young lady, please go in back and get your things."
Ed ran back and within moments, came back with a small traveling bag in her arm, and her customized computer on top of her head, as always. It made Jet feel so nostalgic to see that again. The two of them left the police station and hailed a cab. The cabby opened the trunk and put Ed's bag inside. But when he tried to reach for her computer, she snarled at him like an angry dog and he backed off in a hurry.
The cab pulled away. Jet still couldn't believe that he had Edward back again. She was now fourteen years old and an inch taller. What Jet didn't realize is that being a little older, Ed's hormones had kicked in a lot more. As soon as the cab stopped at a red light, she saw a couple of boys about her age that she found attractive. She leaned out the window. "Hey cute pretty boys! Want to come away with Edward?" Jet grabbed her and pulled her back in while the boys nearly died laughing. "Why are the cute pretty boys laughing? Edward wasn't making a joke."
Jet noticed that the cabby was snickering as well. "Laugh and you don't get a tip," whispered Jet angrily. He looked over at Ed who was humming to herself and looking out the window. "Ed, I'm really sorry to hear about your father. What happened to him?"
"A ducktor doctor happened to him," replied Ed in her melodramatic voice.
"A what?"
"A ducktor. A doctor who is a quack-quack," replied Ed. Jet managed to ascertain from Edward that the doctor the Applederry had gone to was a fraud. He had flunked out of medical school at the beginning of his third year and had no license. He would run around practicing medicine illegally until someone would get wise to him. Then he would move to a new location and use a new name. The authorities hadn't figured this out until Applederry died. Thank goodness Ed hadn't been home to see it happen. He had died while she was taking Ein for a long walk. A neighbor found him. Jet was furious and wondered aloud if the doctor had a bounty on him. He wanted to catch this guy personally. He was no fan of Applederry but he wanted to nail the guy who had caused pain for Ed.
After a quick stop at the doggie jail...er, kennel, and a very long stop at the courthouse, Jet, Ed, and Ein finally arrived at JFK Airport. Somehow, I don't know how, but somehow Jet managed to cram himself, Ed, Ein, and Ed's things into the Hammerhead. They took off for Ganymede, which was where the Bebop was docked. Jet figured he would have a pleasant surprise for Faye and Lau when he showed up. Unfortunately, most people don't consider it a pleasant surprise when some jumps on them with no warning yelling "Hi Faye-Faye" right while they're on a couch, making out with their fiancé. Of course, Faye couldn't stay mad for more than a moment, and was all too happy to give Ed a hug. Lau, not knowing Ed quite as well, extended a hand for her to shake. She ignored the hand and practically knocked the wind out of him with a hug.
Ein got himself re-familiarized with the Bebop by going around smelling everything. Edward followed him on all fours. Jet took this opportunity to explain the situation to Faye and Lau. He was just about to explain that he wanted to go after the doctor when Faye, who had already been looking pretty upset when she found out about Applederry's death, got up suddenly. She immediately tracked down Edward, and as soon as she found her, she wrapped her arms around her and wouldn't let go. "It's OK sweetie, I know what you're going through," she said. Ed looked puzzled. At her age, she hadn't put two and two together yet and realized how much family meant to Faye after losing her own.
That night Jet was woken up by a tug on his arm. In a groggy state, he reached down and touched something warm and furry. "Hi there, Ein. It's great to have you back, but right now I'm trying to sleep and..." Jet stopped dead. He heard what sounded like crying coming from the living room. Was Faye getting all emotional over that tape again? Plenty of times, Jet had seen her get all weepy after watching it. He advised her not to watch it anymore so as not to make herself suffer, but she couldn't help it.
He walked out to the living room and found Ed sobbing on the couch. He had never seen her cry before and it was a terrible shock to him. The fact was that Faye had gotten Ed thinking about her father a lot more. Then Ed had a nightmare in which she could see Applederry and tried to call out to him, but she found she couldn't speak or move. Applederry was walking away from her getting farther away each moment and she couldn't reach him. She had woken up emotionally overwhelmed. Jet walked over and actually picked her up in his arms. He just rocked her gently back and forth in his arms like you would with an infant until she finally calmed down a little. He put her back down on the couch, wrapped her up in blanket and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He was just about to walk away when he heard a soft voice behind him say: "Please stay with Edward." So Jet ended up spending the night in the living room. He never once left, not even after Ed had fallen back asleep. He just slept on the floor below her. Unfortunately, the next morning Ed forgot he was down there and stepped on his face.
That morning it was Lau's turn to cook. Even though the food budget was remarkably improved, it mattered very little since no one on Bebop could cook very well. Lau stepped out of the kitchen. "OK folks, here's breakfast." Ed took one look and stuck out her tongue. "What, is everyone a critic on this ship?" asked Lau.
"You made eggs," replied Jet. "Her father was an obsessive egg-eater. I can only imagine how many eggs Ed's had lately."
"Enough to fill a chicken coup," replied Ed.
"Ed, I hate to ask this now, but what was the name of your father's doctor?" asked Lau.
"Um, Edward thinks it was Dr. Martinez," she replied.
"Do you have a first name for us?" asked Lau.
"Of course, it's Edward," she replied.
"No, what I mean is...never mind. Do you know the doctor's first name?"
"No but never fear, Edward is on the case. She will find the imposter!" replied Ed in that same melodramatic voice of hers. While she and Lau looked over the computer, Jet noticed Faye stepping outside for a smoke. He followed her.
"What are you doing out here?" asked Faye. "I thought you kicked the habit."
"I did," replied Jet. "I just came out here to tell you not to go getting Ed all upset anymore like you did last night."
"Upset?" asked Faye angrily. "What did I do to upset her?"
"She was doing fine until you started getting all emotional over that jerk Applederry," replied Jet. "She had nightmares and woke up crying. It took me nearly fifteen minutes to get her to calm down."
"And you think that's my fault?" asked Faye. "Jet, the girl's just plain grieving for the man. You're sitting here calling the man a jerk and can't understand what Ed saw in him, can you?"
Jet had to think about that for a moment. "Come to think of it, I can't. I mean, why did she abandon us and run off with some guy who didn't care enough about her to stay put for five seconds? The girl's mom died when she was a baby and her dad ditched her at a daycare center when she was just a little tyke. And then after seeing her for the first time in years, he runs off again. And after all that she missed him enough to go after him and leave us when we like family to her."
Faye came over and put her hand on Jet's shoulder. "Like family and family are two very different things. He was her dad. Good guy or not, there will always be a very intense place in Ed's heart for him. She wanted to give him a second chance. She wanted to see if the two of them had a chance to be together again. That doesn't mean she didn't care about us. If I were you, I wouldn't ever go bad-mouthing Applederry in front of Ed."
"He couldn't even remember her real name." growled Jet. "I didn't even know she was really named Edina until yesterday. That's why she called herself Edward. She had very vague memories of her mother calling her Ed. Applederry just called her by some French boy's name because he couldn't even remember that he had a daughter instead of a son."
"And yet you want to avenge the guy," said Faye. "Deep down, you know that he meant the world to Ed and she wouldn't be in this kind of pain if he didn't. It's better that she loves him rather than spending her life resenting him."
Jet nodded. He knew she was right, but he was still so angry. Just then Lau called them back down to the ship. Edward had located their guy.
"Martinez was just one of five aliases," explained Lau. "His real name is Miguel Ramos and he has practiced exclusively on Venus for more than ten years. Every time he gets close to being caught, he just changes his facial hair a little bit and moves on."
The picture on the screen showed a Latino man in his late thirties with a mustache. He had a full beard when Ed had seen him last but she recognized the picture right away. The bounty was low, only twenty-five thousand wulongs.
"Who cares?" replied Jet. "This isn't about money. This is personal. We're gonna nail this guy, right Ed?"
Ed nodded enthusiastically. Faye smiled and gave an approving nod to Jet. The Bebop headed towards Venus right away. Ed was less than happy when they told her she would have to be vaccinated for Venus sickness. Applederry, not knowing any better, had never gotten himself or Ed vaccinated when they were on Venus. Neither one of them wound up getting that particular disease, but Applederry eventually wound up getting bronchitis. The pills he was given killed him. Had Ramos even bothered checking his medical chart, he would have known that.
"What are you doing now Ed?" asked Lau.
"Edward is hacking into the quack-quack's e-mail server," she replied. "Come out, come out wherever you are, Dr. Quack. Edward knows you're out there. Edward will find you! Ah...bingo! He's been logging into his e-mail account at this address." Edward typed out the address on the screen.
"Gosh, it's scary that she can do that," remarked Lau. "I would hate the thought of someone being able to find me that easily."
The Bebop slowly descended towards Venus. Due to a high volume of air and space travel, it's hard to land there. Not only that, but as soon as you get outside, you end up sounding like a chipmunk due to the high volume of helium. Fortunately, they sell throat drops at the airport that will help with that.
About five miles from the airport, a doctor was opening his clinic for the day. A woman approached who appeared to be pregnant and in labor, supported by two guys. Faye had bought a white maternity dress and stuffed a beach ball down the front of it. "Hey, you gotta help us, man," said Jet. "My sister here is about to drop this kid any second now."
"Oh my," replied the doctor. "How far along are you, madam?"
"Thirty six weeks!" replied Faye who was doing the acting job of a lifetime. She huffed and puffed like a woman who was really in labor. Her performance was a little too good. All that huffing and puffing jiggled the ball loose and it fell out the bottom of her dress.
"What the hell is this?" replied the doctor.
Lau picked up the beach ball and pretended to study it for a moment. "Hm, I think it's a boy. And look honey, he has your eyes."
"OK, enough jokes. You won't be killing anymore patients, Ramos," growled Jet angrily. He yanked out a net launcher and easily caught the guy.
"What are you doing?" yelled the doctor. "Is this some kind of sick joke? Who's Ramos?"
"Don't play dumb with us," replied Faye. "Save the act for court. We know that an unlicensed doctor named Ramos has been working here."
Just then, another man came walking towards the clinic. He stopped short when he saw the doctor in a net surrounded by three people who were obviously bounty hunters. The doctor in the net saw the man and called out to him. "Dr. Ramirez, tell these insane people who I am. They think I'm some guy named Ramos." Lau turned to see who the doctor had been talking to. It was the real Ramos, looking exactly like he had in his picture. Ramos turned and ran for it. Jet, Lau, and Faye took off after him. "Wait!" yelled the doctor. "Get me out of this net!"
About that time, Ed was downtown, taking Ein for a walk. Ein picked up a scent he didn't like and started to snarl. "What is it, Ein?" she asked. Just then Ramos ran by, followed by the Bebop crew. "Hey, that was the quack-quack!" yelled Ed. She and Ein ran after them.
Dogs are faster than humans and it didn't take Ein long to get pretty close to Ramos. He ran up and grabbed Ramos's pant leg in his jaws. Ramos, without losing much speed, grabbed Ein and threw him back towards Lau. Ein's flying body hit Lau square in the face which knocked him down. Up ahead was a cross street. Ramos ran blindly across the street without even looking to see if any cars were coming. He nearly caused three accidents. He hurdled over one car that stopped short just in front of him. He looked back and saw he had a pretty good lead over Jet and Lau. Faye made the mistake of wearing high heels and broke the heel off of one of them so she couldn't keep up.
Just then, a foot came out of nowhere and tripped Ramos. It was Ed. He tried to jump to his feet. "Hey quack man, Father taught Ed how to fight. Wanna see?" Without waiting for a reply, she swept Ramos's legs out from underneath him. Just then Lau and Jet caught up and grabbed him.
"Ed, how did you get up here so fast?" asked Lau.
"That was because of me," called out a cab driver who was parked at the curb. "This crazy kid just jumped in the back of my cab and told me 'After that Quack'. By the way, someone owes me ten wulongs."
"Hey, way to go Ed," said Lau. "You just caught your first bounty."
"You also just caught your last bounty," said Jet. "Don't do something like this again. You're not a bounty hunter. This guy could have grabbed you and taken you hostage or something." He was trying to act all stern, but deep down he was secretly so pleased that he couldn't keep up the angry appearance and burst out laughing.
Since Ed had caught Ramos, Jet gave her the entire bounty. That evening the entire Bebop crew celebrated by having dinner at a restaurant. No one would have to worry about Jet or Lau botching up diner tonight. Everyone stuffed themselves pretty good. Faye looked ticked off though.
"What's the matter, Faye Faye?" asked Ed.
"Those creeps at the store wouldn't let me return the maternity dress," she replied angrily.
"Then you should have a baby so you can use it," replied Ed.
As night came, Jet noticed Ed wasn't on the ship. He went outside and saw her sitting by herself on the ground, looking at the stars. She couldn't really get up because Ein was sitting on her lap. For one terrible moment, Jet wondered if she was going to run away again. He came and sat down next to her. He reached over and gently stroked her hair. Ed made sort of a gentle sigh and snuggled up next to him.
"Jet, did father-person not like Edward?" she asked.
Jet stopped stroking her hair and put his arm around her. "Ed, a person would have to be crazy not to like you. I'm sure he loved you very much."
"Then why was he always leaving me behind?"
Jet knew Ed always referred to herself in the third person unless she was serious about something. "Ed, I'm telling you, the man loved you. It's just...well...some people are a little scatter-brained. I'm not excusing the things he did, but he didn't leave you because of anything you did. It wasn't your fault."
Neither one of them said anything for a moment. "So, did you two get along while you were living together?" asked Jet.
"All we ever did was work," said Ed. "We never really talked about anything important. Edward wanted to say so much but she couldn't."
"Well you can talk about anything with me," replied Jet.
"OK, where do babies come from?" asked Ed.
Jet looked like he was about to swallow his tongue.
"Oh, Edward's just pulling Jet's leg!" she said.
"Oh you are, are you? Well we'll just see about that." Jet picked up Ein and put him on the ground. Then he grabbed Ed by the ankles and started playfully twirling her around in midair just like Applederry used to. Lau and Faye watched the two of them from the deck. Neither one of them ever remembered seeing Jet this happy before.
"I can't watch something like this, and not believe there's a God," said Faye. "When we get married, I hope our first child is a girl."
Over on Mars, Laughing Bull was sitting under the stars again. He had seen several stars die and several stars born that night. But he noticed something that night that he'd never seen before. Two stars that had been fairly isolated in the night sky suddenly moved towards each other. They came to rest right next to one another. Laughing Bull wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but he couldn't help but think that it signified something positive.
I close my eyes and I keep seeing things
Rainbow waterfalls
Sunny liquid dreams
Confusion creeps inside me raining doubt
Gotta get to you
But I don't know how
Call me call me
Let me know it's alright
Call me call me
Don't you think it's 'bout time
Please won't you call and
Ease my mind
Reasons for me to find you
Peace of mind
What can I do
To get me to you
I had your number quite some time ago
Back when we were young
But I had to grow
Ten thousand years I've searched it seems and now
Gotta get to you
Won't you tell me how
Call me call me
Let me know you are there
Call me call me
I wanna know you still care
Come on now won't you
Ease my mind
Reasons for me to find you
Peace of mind
What can I do
To get me to you
Come on now won't you
Ease my mind
Reasons for me to find you
Peace of mind
Reasons for livin my life
Ease my mind
Reasons for me to know you
Peace of mind
What can I do
To get me to you
This story is dedicated in loving memory to Patricia Hughes.
WELCOME BACK, SPACE COWGIRL
Author's note: I don't wish to express any belief in astrology through this or any work. I don't personally believe in it. Second of all, I know I'm not the first author to use this title. I assure you, I came up with the title before I knew that and was not trying to copy anyone.
(c) 2004 Joseph Kerner
[email protected]
Disclaimer: I did not create Cowboy Bebop. I wish I had, but I didn't. This is just fanfiction
CALL ME! CALL ME!
By jak981125
Author's note: This story is part of a series. It will make more sense if you read the earlier sessions.
Laughing Bull sat under the Martian sky gazing at the stars. As the sand ran through his fingers, he saw a star disappear nearby the part of the sky where Spike's star had been leaving a small, solitary star all alone. It made him sad to see it, even though he did not completely understand what he had just witnessed.
A few days later a taxi pulled up to a police station in lower Manhattan. Out of the cab stepped Jet. He handed the driver his fee. "Don't bother waiting for me," he said. He walked up to the doors and went inside. A female desk sergeant greeted him right away. "I got a message telling me to come here but they wouldn't give me any details. Is this about a bounty head I brought in?" asked Jet.
"No, Mr. Black, this has nothing to do with that," replied the sergeant. "Are you familiar with a young girl named Edina Healy?"
"No, the name doesn't ring a bell."
The sergeant looked through some sheets on a clipboard. "Well that's the child's legal name," she said. "Apparently she also uses the alias of Edward Wong."
Jet's eyes went wide. "What happened? What's wrong? Is Ed in some sort of trouble?"
"Oh, so you do know her."
"Yes I know her very well. Is she OK?"
"She's fine," replied the sergeant. "In fact she's in back. Mr. Black, the unfortunate news is that the girl's father passed away last week on Venus, leaving no indication in his will as to who would take the child."
Jet's heart sank when he heard these words. Poor kid! And after all that loser had put her through.
"We couldn't find any relatives, so the authorities were about to place her in a foster home," the sergeant continued. "The girl objected stating that she had friends of the family living in New York. But they were unable to contact you there, so a social worker brought the girl to Manhattan and asked her to show where she had last seen you. They were unable to locate you, so the child was brought here and we managed to find you. Mr. Black, are you by any chance willing and able to take legal guardianship of this child?"
"Yes, of course," replied Jet. "But what happened to her father?"
"Apparently he suffered an allergic reaction to an antibiotic that a doctor on Venus prescribed for him."
"Cowboy Jet!"
It was Edward. She had heard Jet's voice and came out to see if it was really him. She ran up and hugged him so hard that she nearly suffocated him. He didn't mind. Never before had Jet felt such mixed emotions. He was thrilled at the prospect of getting Ed back, but he felt terrible for what she must have suffered. Ed certainly looked different from the last time he saw her eight months ago. Her hair was now longer, the same style Faye had in her beta tape. Her outfit was different too. She had on a green hooded sweatshirt, khaki shorts, and sandals (apparently she still hated shoes).
"Jet, they put Ein in doggie jail," wailed Ed.
"You put her dog in the pound?" asked Jet.
The desk sergeant rolled her eyes and sighed. "Young lady, for the third time, we did not take your dog to a pound. We took him to a kennel. It's more like a hotel for dogs, not a prison. A police station is no place to keep a dog even for a short amount of time."
Just then, a K-9 officer walked by with a German Shepherd on a leash. Ed saw that and gave the sergeant a dirty look. "This is doggie discrimination! Edward demands justice!"
Ignoring her, the sergeant handed Jet a couple of forms. "You give that to the kennel and they'll release the dog. The address is on the form. And this form must be taken to the local courthouse and signed by a judge for you to take temporary legal custody of the girl. That must be done right away. Now young lady, please go in back and get your things."
Ed ran back and within moments, came back with a small traveling bag in her arm, and her customized computer on top of her head, as always. It made Jet feel so nostalgic to see that again. The two of them left the police station and hailed a cab. The cabby opened the trunk and put Ed's bag inside. But when he tried to reach for her computer, she snarled at him like an angry dog and he backed off in a hurry.
The cab pulled away. Jet still couldn't believe that he had Edward back again. She was now fourteen years old and an inch taller. What Jet didn't realize is that being a little older, Ed's hormones had kicked in a lot more. As soon as the cab stopped at a red light, she saw a couple of boys about her age that she found attractive. She leaned out the window. "Hey cute pretty boys! Want to come away with Edward?" Jet grabbed her and pulled her back in while the boys nearly died laughing. "Why are the cute pretty boys laughing? Edward wasn't making a joke."
Jet noticed that the cabby was snickering as well. "Laugh and you don't get a tip," whispered Jet angrily. He looked over at Ed who was humming to herself and looking out the window. "Ed, I'm really sorry to hear about your father. What happened to him?"
"A ducktor doctor happened to him," replied Ed in her melodramatic voice.
"A what?"
"A ducktor. A doctor who is a quack-quack," replied Ed. Jet managed to ascertain from Edward that the doctor the Applederry had gone to was a fraud. He had flunked out of medical school at the beginning of his third year and had no license. He would run around practicing medicine illegally until someone would get wise to him. Then he would move to a new location and use a new name. The authorities hadn't figured this out until Applederry died. Thank goodness Ed hadn't been home to see it happen. He had died while she was taking Ein for a long walk. A neighbor found him. Jet was furious and wondered aloud if the doctor had a bounty on him. He wanted to catch this guy personally. He was no fan of Applederry but he wanted to nail the guy who had caused pain for Ed.
After a quick stop at the doggie jail...er, kennel, and a very long stop at the courthouse, Jet, Ed, and Ein finally arrived at JFK Airport. Somehow, I don't know how, but somehow Jet managed to cram himself, Ed, Ein, and Ed's things into the Hammerhead. They took off for Ganymede, which was where the Bebop was docked. Jet figured he would have a pleasant surprise for Faye and Lau when he showed up. Unfortunately, most people don't consider it a pleasant surprise when some jumps on them with no warning yelling "Hi Faye-Faye" right while they're on a couch, making out with their fiancé. Of course, Faye couldn't stay mad for more than a moment, and was all too happy to give Ed a hug. Lau, not knowing Ed quite as well, extended a hand for her to shake. She ignored the hand and practically knocked the wind out of him with a hug.
Ein got himself re-familiarized with the Bebop by going around smelling everything. Edward followed him on all fours. Jet took this opportunity to explain the situation to Faye and Lau. He was just about to explain that he wanted to go after the doctor when Faye, who had already been looking pretty upset when she found out about Applederry's death, got up suddenly. She immediately tracked down Edward, and as soon as she found her, she wrapped her arms around her and wouldn't let go. "It's OK sweetie, I know what you're going through," she said. Ed looked puzzled. At her age, she hadn't put two and two together yet and realized how much family meant to Faye after losing her own.
That night Jet was woken up by a tug on his arm. In a groggy state, he reached down and touched something warm and furry. "Hi there, Ein. It's great to have you back, but right now I'm trying to sleep and..." Jet stopped dead. He heard what sounded like crying coming from the living room. Was Faye getting all emotional over that tape again? Plenty of times, Jet had seen her get all weepy after watching it. He advised her not to watch it anymore so as not to make herself suffer, but she couldn't help it.
He walked out to the living room and found Ed sobbing on the couch. He had never seen her cry before and it was a terrible shock to him. The fact was that Faye had gotten Ed thinking about her father a lot more. Then Ed had a nightmare in which she could see Applederry and tried to call out to him, but she found she couldn't speak or move. Applederry was walking away from her getting farther away each moment and she couldn't reach him. She had woken up emotionally overwhelmed. Jet walked over and actually picked her up in his arms. He just rocked her gently back and forth in his arms like you would with an infant until she finally calmed down a little. He put her back down on the couch, wrapped her up in blanket and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He was just about to walk away when he heard a soft voice behind him say: "Please stay with Edward." So Jet ended up spending the night in the living room. He never once left, not even after Ed had fallen back asleep. He just slept on the floor below her. Unfortunately, the next morning Ed forgot he was down there and stepped on his face.
That morning it was Lau's turn to cook. Even though the food budget was remarkably improved, it mattered very little since no one on Bebop could cook very well. Lau stepped out of the kitchen. "OK folks, here's breakfast." Ed took one look and stuck out her tongue. "What, is everyone a critic on this ship?" asked Lau.
"You made eggs," replied Jet. "Her father was an obsessive egg-eater. I can only imagine how many eggs Ed's had lately."
"Enough to fill a chicken coup," replied Ed.
"Ed, I hate to ask this now, but what was the name of your father's doctor?" asked Lau.
"Um, Edward thinks it was Dr. Martinez," she replied.
"Do you have a first name for us?" asked Lau.
"Of course, it's Edward," she replied.
"No, what I mean is...never mind. Do you know the doctor's first name?"
"No but never fear, Edward is on the case. She will find the imposter!" replied Ed in that same melodramatic voice of hers. While she and Lau looked over the computer, Jet noticed Faye stepping outside for a smoke. He followed her.
"What are you doing out here?" asked Faye. "I thought you kicked the habit."
"I did," replied Jet. "I just came out here to tell you not to go getting Ed all upset anymore like you did last night."
"Upset?" asked Faye angrily. "What did I do to upset her?"
"She was doing fine until you started getting all emotional over that jerk Applederry," replied Jet. "She had nightmares and woke up crying. It took me nearly fifteen minutes to get her to calm down."
"And you think that's my fault?" asked Faye. "Jet, the girl's just plain grieving for the man. You're sitting here calling the man a jerk and can't understand what Ed saw in him, can you?"
Jet had to think about that for a moment. "Come to think of it, I can't. I mean, why did she abandon us and run off with some guy who didn't care enough about her to stay put for five seconds? The girl's mom died when she was a baby and her dad ditched her at a daycare center when she was just a little tyke. And then after seeing her for the first time in years, he runs off again. And after all that she missed him enough to go after him and leave us when we like family to her."
Faye came over and put her hand on Jet's shoulder. "Like family and family are two very different things. He was her dad. Good guy or not, there will always be a very intense place in Ed's heart for him. She wanted to give him a second chance. She wanted to see if the two of them had a chance to be together again. That doesn't mean she didn't care about us. If I were you, I wouldn't ever go bad-mouthing Applederry in front of Ed."
"He couldn't even remember her real name." growled Jet. "I didn't even know she was really named Edina until yesterday. That's why she called herself Edward. She had very vague memories of her mother calling her Ed. Applederry just called her by some French boy's name because he couldn't even remember that he had a daughter instead of a son."
"And yet you want to avenge the guy," said Faye. "Deep down, you know that he meant the world to Ed and she wouldn't be in this kind of pain if he didn't. It's better that she loves him rather than spending her life resenting him."
Jet nodded. He knew she was right, but he was still so angry. Just then Lau called them back down to the ship. Edward had located their guy.
"Martinez was just one of five aliases," explained Lau. "His real name is Miguel Ramos and he has practiced exclusively on Venus for more than ten years. Every time he gets close to being caught, he just changes his facial hair a little bit and moves on."
The picture on the screen showed a Latino man in his late thirties with a mustache. He had a full beard when Ed had seen him last but she recognized the picture right away. The bounty was low, only twenty-five thousand wulongs.
"Who cares?" replied Jet. "This isn't about money. This is personal. We're gonna nail this guy, right Ed?"
Ed nodded enthusiastically. Faye smiled and gave an approving nod to Jet. The Bebop headed towards Venus right away. Ed was less than happy when they told her she would have to be vaccinated for Venus sickness. Applederry, not knowing any better, had never gotten himself or Ed vaccinated when they were on Venus. Neither one of them wound up getting that particular disease, but Applederry eventually wound up getting bronchitis. The pills he was given killed him. Had Ramos even bothered checking his medical chart, he would have known that.
"What are you doing now Ed?" asked Lau.
"Edward is hacking into the quack-quack's e-mail server," she replied. "Come out, come out wherever you are, Dr. Quack. Edward knows you're out there. Edward will find you! Ah...bingo! He's been logging into his e-mail account at this address." Edward typed out the address on the screen.
"Gosh, it's scary that she can do that," remarked Lau. "I would hate the thought of someone being able to find me that easily."
The Bebop slowly descended towards Venus. Due to a high volume of air and space travel, it's hard to land there. Not only that, but as soon as you get outside, you end up sounding like a chipmunk due to the high volume of helium. Fortunately, they sell throat drops at the airport that will help with that.
About five miles from the airport, a doctor was opening his clinic for the day. A woman approached who appeared to be pregnant and in labor, supported by two guys. Faye had bought a white maternity dress and stuffed a beach ball down the front of it. "Hey, you gotta help us, man," said Jet. "My sister here is about to drop this kid any second now."
"Oh my," replied the doctor. "How far along are you, madam?"
"Thirty six weeks!" replied Faye who was doing the acting job of a lifetime. She huffed and puffed like a woman who was really in labor. Her performance was a little too good. All that huffing and puffing jiggled the ball loose and it fell out the bottom of her dress.
"What the hell is this?" replied the doctor.
Lau picked up the beach ball and pretended to study it for a moment. "Hm, I think it's a boy. And look honey, he has your eyes."
"OK, enough jokes. You won't be killing anymore patients, Ramos," growled Jet angrily. He yanked out a net launcher and easily caught the guy.
"What are you doing?" yelled the doctor. "Is this some kind of sick joke? Who's Ramos?"
"Don't play dumb with us," replied Faye. "Save the act for court. We know that an unlicensed doctor named Ramos has been working here."
Just then, another man came walking towards the clinic. He stopped short when he saw the doctor in a net surrounded by three people who were obviously bounty hunters. The doctor in the net saw the man and called out to him. "Dr. Ramirez, tell these insane people who I am. They think I'm some guy named Ramos." Lau turned to see who the doctor had been talking to. It was the real Ramos, looking exactly like he had in his picture. Ramos turned and ran for it. Jet, Lau, and Faye took off after him. "Wait!" yelled the doctor. "Get me out of this net!"
About that time, Ed was downtown, taking Ein for a walk. Ein picked up a scent he didn't like and started to snarl. "What is it, Ein?" she asked. Just then Ramos ran by, followed by the Bebop crew. "Hey, that was the quack-quack!" yelled Ed. She and Ein ran after them.
Dogs are faster than humans and it didn't take Ein long to get pretty close to Ramos. He ran up and grabbed Ramos's pant leg in his jaws. Ramos, without losing much speed, grabbed Ein and threw him back towards Lau. Ein's flying body hit Lau square in the face which knocked him down. Up ahead was a cross street. Ramos ran blindly across the street without even looking to see if any cars were coming. He nearly caused three accidents. He hurdled over one car that stopped short just in front of him. He looked back and saw he had a pretty good lead over Jet and Lau. Faye made the mistake of wearing high heels and broke the heel off of one of them so she couldn't keep up.
Just then, a foot came out of nowhere and tripped Ramos. It was Ed. He tried to jump to his feet. "Hey quack man, Father taught Ed how to fight. Wanna see?" Without waiting for a reply, she swept Ramos's legs out from underneath him. Just then Lau and Jet caught up and grabbed him.
"Ed, how did you get up here so fast?" asked Lau.
"That was because of me," called out a cab driver who was parked at the curb. "This crazy kid just jumped in the back of my cab and told me 'After that Quack'. By the way, someone owes me ten wulongs."
"Hey, way to go Ed," said Lau. "You just caught your first bounty."
"You also just caught your last bounty," said Jet. "Don't do something like this again. You're not a bounty hunter. This guy could have grabbed you and taken you hostage or something." He was trying to act all stern, but deep down he was secretly so pleased that he couldn't keep up the angry appearance and burst out laughing.
Since Ed had caught Ramos, Jet gave her the entire bounty. That evening the entire Bebop crew celebrated by having dinner at a restaurant. No one would have to worry about Jet or Lau botching up diner tonight. Everyone stuffed themselves pretty good. Faye looked ticked off though.
"What's the matter, Faye Faye?" asked Ed.
"Those creeps at the store wouldn't let me return the maternity dress," she replied angrily.
"Then you should have a baby so you can use it," replied Ed.
As night came, Jet noticed Ed wasn't on the ship. He went outside and saw her sitting by herself on the ground, looking at the stars. She couldn't really get up because Ein was sitting on her lap. For one terrible moment, Jet wondered if she was going to run away again. He came and sat down next to her. He reached over and gently stroked her hair. Ed made sort of a gentle sigh and snuggled up next to him.
"Jet, did father-person not like Edward?" she asked.
Jet stopped stroking her hair and put his arm around her. "Ed, a person would have to be crazy not to like you. I'm sure he loved you very much."
"Then why was he always leaving me behind?"
Jet knew Ed always referred to herself in the third person unless she was serious about something. "Ed, I'm telling you, the man loved you. It's just...well...some people are a little scatter-brained. I'm not excusing the things he did, but he didn't leave you because of anything you did. It wasn't your fault."
Neither one of them said anything for a moment. "So, did you two get along while you were living together?" asked Jet.
"All we ever did was work," said Ed. "We never really talked about anything important. Edward wanted to say so much but she couldn't."
"Well you can talk about anything with me," replied Jet.
"OK, where do babies come from?" asked Ed.
Jet looked like he was about to swallow his tongue.
"Oh, Edward's just pulling Jet's leg!" she said.
"Oh you are, are you? Well we'll just see about that." Jet picked up Ein and put him on the ground. Then he grabbed Ed by the ankles and started playfully twirling her around in midair just like Applederry used to. Lau and Faye watched the two of them from the deck. Neither one of them ever remembered seeing Jet this happy before.
"I can't watch something like this, and not believe there's a God," said Faye. "When we get married, I hope our first child is a girl."
Over on Mars, Laughing Bull was sitting under the stars again. He had seen several stars die and several stars born that night. But he noticed something that night that he'd never seen before. Two stars that had been fairly isolated in the night sky suddenly moved towards each other. They came to rest right next to one another. Laughing Bull wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but he couldn't help but think that it signified something positive.
I close my eyes and I keep seeing things
Rainbow waterfalls
Sunny liquid dreams
Confusion creeps inside me raining doubt
Gotta get to you
But I don't know how
Call me call me
Let me know it's alright
Call me call me
Don't you think it's 'bout time
Please won't you call and
Ease my mind
Reasons for me to find you
Peace of mind
What can I do
To get me to you
I had your number quite some time ago
Back when we were young
But I had to grow
Ten thousand years I've searched it seems and now
Gotta get to you
Won't you tell me how
Call me call me
Let me know you are there
Call me call me
I wanna know you still care
Come on now won't you
Ease my mind
Reasons for me to find you
Peace of mind
What can I do
To get me to you
Come on now won't you
Ease my mind
Reasons for me to find you
Peace of mind
Reasons for livin my life
Ease my mind
Reasons for me to know you
Peace of mind
What can I do
To get me to you
This story is dedicated in loving memory to Patricia Hughes.
WELCOME BACK, SPACE COWGIRL
Author's note: I don't wish to express any belief in astrology through this or any work. I don't personally believe in it. Second of all, I know I'm not the first author to use this title. I assure you, I came up with the title before I knew that and was not trying to copy anyone.
(c) 2004 Joseph Kerner
[email protected]
Disclaimer: I did not create Cowboy Bebop. I wish I had, but I didn't. This is just fanfiction