Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ In a Sentimental Mood ❯ Chapter 8

Galen had a coughing fit. One that only came from years of unfiltered smoking. Spike waited patiently, although his own cigarette didn't look quite as appealing anymore. Finally, his father was able to catch his breath enough to take another drag.

 

“I quit after you were born,” Galen said, inspecting his cigarette while he blew smoke from the corner of his mouth. “Lily said the smoke wasn't good for your lungs.” He looked over at Spike's pack and chuckled. “Guess it didn't really make a difference in the long run.”

 

“Guess not,” Spike said, he rested his ankle across his knee and tapped the ash against the bottom of his heel. Questions buzzed inside his brain like bees in a hive, yet he merely sat staring at the man he'd wished dead since he was a child.

 

“I used to work for a research company. Do you remember that?” Galen asked. Spike shook his head. “I don't blame you. Not a very exciting job for a rambunctious young boy. Used to give your mother nervous fits every time you went off with your friends, wondering what kind of trouble you'd get into next. Anyway, our department got into some financial trouble and the company heads threatened to shut us down. I never found out which one of our team got the bright idea to contact the Syndicate for help, but suddenly we were working on side projects and had all the money we needed.”

 

Spike nodded. He understood how it would've worked. Had helped set up similar situations himself. A little silent partnering from the Syndicate gave businesses the emergency money they needed. The problem was, the Syndicate never stayed silent for long.

 

“Instead of finding cures, we were working on poisons. Instead of finishing equations for affordable resources for the masses, we were creating weapons capable of destroying them. We became the Syndicate's private scientists and we didn't even know it. At least not until my breakthrough with laser technology.”

 

“You mean like your cannon out there?” Spike asked. “The one that can turn meteorites the size of spaceships into dust? I can see why that would attract the attention of the Syndicate.”

 

“It didn't just attract them. They became obsessed with it.” Galen said. He dropped his cigarette butt into a half-empty bottle. It made a sharp hiss and then floated on the clear liquid like a dead body. Galen reached for the pack again, but merely held it, turning it over and over in his hands as he spoke.

 

“I wasn't allowed to leave the lab unless one of the Syndicate members went with me. Just to keep my tongue nice and quiet. I told Lily they were from the research team, but I doubt it fooled her. She hated having them in the house, so I didn't come home very often. We weren't able to speak privately to each other, so I couldn't warn her about how deep I realized the trouble we were in.

 

“One night, I was adjusting the coordinate program when the laser accidentally fired. It blew a hole in the side of the building large enough to fly a jet through and killed my guard. I only had a few minutes until the place was overrun with fire trucks and police, so I had to act fast. I destroyed all the research and evidence of the laser project and made it look like I'd been killed in the blast as well. Then I snuck home and told Lily everything.”

 

“That's the night you left.” Spike stated. “I remember you running around the house, throwing things in a box. And mom crying.”

 

Galen dropped his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Lily wanted the two of you to come with me. Wherever I ended up running to. But I convinced her it would be safer to stay. The Syndicate made sure I kept her in the dark, so there was no reason you'd be in any danger. If they didn't believe I was dead, I knew they'd come after me either for revenge or the knowledge in my head. There was no reason to involve you or your mother.”

 

“But that's not how it worked out.” Spike couldn't sit still any longer. He stood in one fluid motion, tucked his cigarette pack in his pocket and walked to the control panels. The screen showed small meteorites appearing and disappearing as they neared the grid and were destroyed by the laser cannon.

 

“No,” Galen agreed. “They must have decided to search the house for the notes I took with me. And when they realized Lily was going to the police…”

 

“They eliminated her,” Spike finished without emotion. It was the part of the job he'd hated the most while active in the Syndicate. “Just in case she knew more than they suspected. And they were right. She knew everything and you left her alone and defenseless. You signed her death sentence the moment you opened your mouth.”