The Crystalline Bandit

Part I

Wrin

The heels of her black boots made a loud clacking sound against the floor of the ship in the stark quietness of the hallway as she followed Jett Black toward the common room. The large man hadn't looked back at her after his first cursory glance at her when she first boarded the ship, and she struggled just a bit to keep up with his long strides, though she'd never show it. Struggling was weakness, and Wrin Lokai didn't show weakness.

They reached a shield door and Black paused for just a moment to type in the passcode, before the doors slid open with a hiss and he walked into the room beyond without looking to see if she was following. Wrin entered the room on his heels, her hand hovering over the blaster that was strapped to her hip, even though she knew she wasn't technically in any danger. It was a habit from many years as a bounty hunter and she couldn't help herself anymore.

Black flung himself on one of the couches and motioned to where she was still standing in the doorway, grunting, "She's not my problem anymore. I brought her here, and that was my part of the job." He threw a large hand over his eyes and seemed to be asleep within seconds.

Wrin lowered her hand and tried to force herself to relax, when her eyes caught sight of who Black had been talking to. There was a tall man standing across the room, his back to her, one of his arms flung casually above his head, the other deep in his pocket, as he seemed to stare out of the ship's bay window. Wrin knew who he was, before he even turned, the mess of dark hair on his head and the smell of cigarette smoke giving him away.

"Spike Spiegel." She said as he finally faced her and their eyes met. "I never thought we'd be working together."

His eyes flashed at her words, and he moved to sit on one of the couches, reaching to light a cigarette as he did so. "We're not working together..." He lit the cigarette and blew a puff. "Wrin Lokai." His dark eyes met hers again. "The government is forcing us to collaborate for this mission. After we collect the bounty, you're off my ship."

She let out a quiet chuckle and moved toward him, shucking her dark coat onto the couch back as she did so. "Is that so?" She had reached him and, standing in front of him, fluidly reached down and plucked the cigarette from his fingers, putting it to her lips before he could move. She took a draw on the cigarette and then dropped it to the floor, crushing it beneath the heel of her boot. "From what I hear, we may be working together a lot more often if the government has their way." She flashed him a coy smile and turned to gather up her coat before moving to leave the room. She turned back at the doorway and raised her eyebrows. "Also, those things will kill you, you know." She tilted her head toward the pack of cigarettes on the couch beside him and then was gone without another word.

******

Wrin stood in her small cabin aboard the Bebop, looking at her reflection in the mirror that hung from the wall opposite her cot. How had she come to be here? She wasn't that same young, naive girl who had applied to be a bounty hunter so many years ago. She was a hardened, experienced hunter, whose name made criminals cringe in fear and whose reputation was known among other hunters near and far.

She uncinched the holster from around her waist and threw the blaster onto her cot. She then bent over and removed several knives from her boots, and a small explosive detonator from a hidden pocket in her jacket. Gathering up all of the weapons, she placed them behind the bed where they would be hidden and safe until the next day, when she and Spiegel would head out to capture their bounty.

She didn't like the thought of sharing the bounty and glory of the capture with Spiegel anymore than he did, but it had to be done. The government had specifically asked them to work together to capture one of the most notorious criminals the planets had seen thus far. He went simply by the name 'The Crystalline Bandit" and his main ploy as of now was stealing and transporting loads of Mars Crystals to Venus, where he was selling the rare crystals for large sums of money. His bounty was large, set at 10 million lookos, and many hunters had attempted to stop him, but he outsmarted every single one.