Enter the Bebop Crew

”What the-what d’ya suppose that was?” Jet leaned forward, trying to get a better view of what had just landed on his ship; his cigarette dangled on the edge of his lip.

“Huh?” Spike looked up, barely awake from his recent nap.

“Something just landed on the Bebop. Christ! I think it’s a person!” Jet’s face was pressed against the glass.

“What?! Let me see.” Spike walked over to where Jet was standing. “Damn. You’re right. D’ya think they’re all right? Hey, I think the just fainted.” They both watched as the figure slumped sideways on the deck.

“What are you two staring at?” Faye walked up the stairs and then watched silently as Jet and Spike ran outside. “What’s gotten in to those two?”

“Ed knows.” Faye turned to stare at Ed, who was busy at her computer. “A person landed on the ship.”

“Really?” Faye moved to the window and stared out.

Jessica swam through blackness for an indeterminable length of time that was punctuated infrequently by the sound of muted voices, which brought random images up from the depths of her subconscious. The images made no sense to her, disjointed as they were. The first was deep and sonorous and brought images of mountains, waterfalls, and canyons. The second was a rough low tenor accompanied by deserts and wildfire. The third was female, light and airy, but with an acerbic edge to its undertones as if it were used to sarcasm; it ushered in images of predators, lions, tigers, wolves. The fourth and final voice was a child’s, high, with a laugh hiding inside waiting to break out and bringing burbling mountain streams and rivers. She resurfaced momentarily from the viscous blackness to a coolness on her forehead, but the mountain voice lulled her back under.

“What d’ya suppose happened to her?” Jet sat on the coffee table and stared at the twenty-something spiky-haired young woman that lay unconscious on the sofa.

“The real question is what do we do with her?” Spike sat on the chair opposite, arms crossed and a cigarette clamped firmly between his teeth. Jet glared at him over his shoulder.

“She fell out of the sky. Where d’you suppose she came from?”

“We could leave her here on Earth.” Faye leaned against the wall, her head tipped back as she contemplated.

“Where? We don’t have the money to leave her anywhere.” Spike retorted.

“You don’t need money to leave someone in an alley.”

“That’s inhuman! This is a person we’re talking about, not a stray dog.” Jet objected, his face red.

“Ed thinks her clothes look funny.” All three of them turned to look at Ed, who was busy rummaging through the contents of the woman’s backpack. “Ed thinks it all looks funny.” Ed held up a black t-shirt that read “I didn’t forget I just don’t care.”

“Ed!” Jet said, “you don’t just go through a person’s things.”

“Hey Ed, let me see that.” Faye had a strange look on her face, a mixture of shock and disbelief. She walked over to the pile of clothes and stuff that Ed had unceremoniously dumped out of the backpack. She looked hard at the shirt, Jet and Spike peering over her shoulders, then she rummaged through the pile, pulling out random objects for inspection.

“Not weird, old.” She said finally. “All of this stuff is old.” Her eyes were wide as she stared at the shirt again.

“What do you care if her fashion sense is a few years out of date?” Spike prodded the pile with his foot.

“I don’t mean old as in a few years old. I mean old as in a few decades. Close to six.” Faye picked up a small electronic device. “This was developed in 2012, when they first started using fuel cells in technology. This thing looks brand-new.”

“What is it?” Ed looked at it open-mouthed and wide-eyed.

“It’s a music player. And look,” Faye held up something else. “She has books from the 2000 years that are in good condition.” Faye waved the paperback. “This thing should have disintegrated years and years ago.”

Spike looked at the contents of the backpack with new interest. “So, how much do you think this stuff would be worth?”

“No!” The voice made them all jump guiltily.

They all turned to stare at the wild-eyed formerly unconscious woman who stood glaring at them furiously.