“Comet, you can’t work like that.”
“I have to get things done.” She turned to the sink and started washing her hands. “It’s been working fine for the past year.” She soaped up and scrubbed her face clean, then rinsed the dirt and bubbles away. “I’m going to have lunch with my mother and bring her home. Then I’m going to figure out who hired Raven and get him, too. Mess with my mother and see where it gets you…”
“You’re out for revenge now? Then you’re no better than Raven or his client.”
“Lucky! It’s my job. It’s not revenge. It’s justice! It’s serving the innocent citizens of the Empire. Why can’t you see that?”
“Why can’t you see that you’re heading down a slippery slope?”
“Because I’m not slipping. I’m working.” She finished drying her hands and went to the door. “Let me have lunch with my mom, will ya?” She left Lucky in the washroom.
Hailey sat down across the table from Karen and pulled her sandwich and salad in front of her. Karen had already eaten half of her meal. “Don’t eat too fast, Mama. You’ll get a stomach ache.”
“Is Lucky coming back to eat with us?” Karen asked.
“No, she has some work to do. She’s taking hers to go.”
Karen took a break from her lunch. “We were interrupted, and I feel like you still have something you want to talk about.”
“No. I’m good.”
“Hailey, can I have lunch with Hailey, please?”
Hailey sighed. She “turned off” Agent Ramirez and resumed her lunch with her mom. “Really, Mama. I’m OK. I think I’ve got it out of my system now.”
“What happened today?”
Karen wanted to help. Hailey wanted help. Despite what Comet told Lucky in the washroom, Hailey was not sure she was on the right path. She decided to trust her mother to tell her if she was wrong. “I’ve put lots of people away for terrorism and rebellion and everything else. Someone’s mad enough to put out a contract on me. The man who abducted you was a contract killer. He was also a retired Wraith. It was a game to him making me jump through hoops, figuring out his next move, and rescuing the people he put in danger.”
“I don’t understand. Why would he go after other people? What other people? People you know?”
“People who are important to me: Lucky, Carter, a couple of agents back at HQ, and you. But don’t worry about him anymore.”
“He’s dead,” Karen guessed.
“He forced me into a battle to the death. I had to win so he would tell me where you were.” Hailey looked down. “I did what I had to do.”
“Because he would never give up,” Karen said.
Hailey looked up. “Yes. He would never stop hunting me and using the people I love to force me into his traps.”
Karen nodded knowingly. “He was very polite to me. It was eerie: a polite kidnapper. He threatened me, you know, but didn’t raise his voice or tie me up or anything. Didn’t shove me around. He even apologized for locking me in that compartment on his ship.”
“He only put innocents in danger if he knew I could and would save them. They were all hurt, but not permanently, and not fatally.”
“Hailey, I am not a violent person—”
“I know, Mama.”
“In your heart, I don’t think you are either. You do what you have to do to keep people safe. The Empire and SWORD have forced that on you. But you remember this: I love you, and you love me, and you can feel it. You won’t turn into a psychopath like that guy. You won’t lose your humanity. You just hold on to the thought and the feeling of me loving you, and Jackson loving you, and Carter loving you. I’ll bet even Lucky loves you in her own way.”
Hailey smiled. “She’s very protective of me. Calls me her kid sister.”
Karen smiled. “I love you, Hailey.”
“I love you, Mama.”
The Client
Her mother safely home, Hailey returned to the craft in which she had found Karen. It was the only place she might find information or evidence about Sam’s murderous activities. She went through his flight logs. She didn’t know how the client had contacted the killer, but if it was in person, then it was on one of the planets he visited before Dacara. But which one?
She tried to access the comm log. Without the password, she only had three guesses before the comm erased itself. She tried one, then decided to take the whole thing back to the spooks in the Scabbard Basement and have them dig it out. A surprising message appeared on the comm screen: Sent. “What was sent?” she asked the electronic device. It didn’t recognize her voice, so it didn’t give her any more information.
Hailey tracked down Lucky and told her Raven’s ship needed to be transported to the Scabbard.
“Sure it’s not booby-trapped?” Laura asked, remembering the last time she was near Sam Minutio or any of his belongings.
“Karen said he threatened to blow the compartment she was in if she made noise, but I didn’t see anything. Nothing happened when I broke her out. But let’s have Sector Security scan it before we load it on the transport.”
“I’ve cleaned up your mess, by the way,” Laura said flatly. “Minutio is in the crematorium and I’ve smoothed things over with Sector Security.”
“Thanks,” Hailey said without a milligram of gratitude. “Shall we go then?”
Comet and her handler barely spoke on the trip back to the Scabbard. Hailey was exhausted and spent much of the time sleeping. Laura, meanwhile, dithered over what to report back to SWORD. She didn’t know if Comet needed R&R or something more regressive. Some reconditioning under the eye of the Scabbard training staff might be in order. She knew Comet would argue with her about it, so she pondered the one possibility that might destroy her relationship with her asset: going to her superiors behind Comet’s back.
Hailey had commed ahead to Agent Chan and Agent Chan, her two favorite Basement geeks, and informed them she needed Sam’s comm system to be hacked. She knew if anyone could do it, those two could. So, when they docked on the Scabbard’s hangar level, the geek agents were ready to board the vehicle and dig around its electronic guts. “I’m especially curious about a message that seemed to be automatically sent. It ‘sent’ after Minutio was dead.”
“Did you try to access the comm before it sent?” Chan asked.
“Yeah. Only once. Didn’t want it to erase—”
“Erase all the evidence,” the other Chan finished. “Good thinking.” Hailey raised an eyebrow at the insulting compliment. Her thinking was so far superior to theirs in speed and accuracy, complimenting her “good thinking” was akin to complimenting a shark for its good swimming.
“I do my best,” she said, sarcastically.
Chan looked hurt, not understanding what he had said wrong. “I’m sorry, uh, Agent Ramirez…”
“No,” Hailey repented, “I apologize. I’m anxious to get this finished. Someone out there still wants me dead and will probably try again. I have to know who it is. If you guys would please work your magic, I know you’ll find something in all this,” she said, waving her hand at the ship. “I’ll get out of your way.”
She went to her quarters and found workout clothes. Then she proceeded to the gym level of the space station. She was about to go into the weight room when she heard Crash working with his pair of students. She stood just inside the door and watched Pauper and Swat practice-fighting. Memories of her own days in the gym with her classmates came to the forefront of her mind. Little did she know then what debauchery existed in the galaxy. Back then, sparring in the fighting gym was fun. She always looked forward to gym time.
Crash spotted Hailey across the floor. “Comet, back for some more fun?”
She shook her head. Crash dismissed his students and went to Hailey. “Those are some nasty bruises you’ve got. What’ve you been doing?”
“Fighting a Wraith.”
Crash laughed. “No, really.”
“Really. A retired Wraith forced me into a bat
tle to the death.”
Crash was stunned. “A retired Wraith… what the hell for?”
Hailey explained the past several days to her coach. “Your training saved me again, Coach.”
“My training. I doubt it. None of my students could beat another Wraith.”
Hailey smiled at the humble agent. “Remember you told me that the only way to defeat a Wraith was to do something non-Wraithian?” Crash nodded. “Well,” Hailey continued, “that’s what I did.”
“What was it?”
“I emptied a mag into a crowd of innocents.”
“What?” Crash cried.
Hailey chuckled. “I was careful. He thought I was shooting blindly, but I knew what I was doing. Minutio was so distracted, I pinned him in one move.”
“Unbelievable. My compliments to your ingenuity! I wish I had access to your memories and could see it go down in living color.”
“Maybe someday,” Hailey agreed with a smile. “I’d better go work out. Been in compression; I need to move.”
“Mind if I join you? Maybe you can tell me more of your adventures in the field.”
“If you wish,” laughed Hailey. She really liked Agent Dent.
After an hour in the weight room, Hailey got a comm from Agent Chan. “We got the contents of his recent comms. You want to see ‘em?”
“On my way,” Hailey replied. “Gotta go, Coach. Thanks for the company.”
“It’s been a pleasure, Comet. Come see me again, sometime.”
“You bet.” Hailey went to the Scabbard’s insta-shower and got clean and refreshed in ten seconds. Dressed again in her black SWORD jumpsuit, she made her way to the hangar to find Agent Chan. “What’ve you got?” she asked.
“This last one, the one that was sent while you were investigating the comm, was sent to the same destination as this one three weeks ago. The latest one had only three words: Failed. Dead. Refund. It triggered a money transfer to a holding account which we traced, but it was empty. Apparently, the client already took possession of the refund.”
“So, this mysterious client knows I’m still alive. Can you tell who it is?”
“Not from this message. But like I said, it was sent to the same address as one three weeks ago. Tracing an outgoing comm is harder than an incoming comm, so we’re now focusing on finding a comm that was sent from the client to the Wraith.”
“What did he write three weeks ago?” Hailey asked.
“Here it is: ‘Agreed.’”
“That’s it?”
Chan guessed at the meaning. “We think that’s when they agreed on a time and place to meet. Not much help without the incoming comm. We’re still working on that.”
“That gives us a time frame, at least. Not that that’s very useful now. Anything I can do to help?”
Chan shook his head. “We’ll comm you when we have it.”
“Thanks,” Hailey replied.
With a little time on her hands, Hailey went to sick bay to check on her friends. Carter was in physical therapy, re-learning to walk. She stood leaning on the door jamb, watching his progress. A strapping young man helped and encouraged him, and Carter did his best to walk for the handsome fella. Hailey smiled. He’s a little young for you, Uncle Carter, don’t you think?
At the end of the walking mat, Carter turned around to go the other way. He spotted Hailey standing in the doorway, watching him. “What do you think, Comet? Pretty good, right?”
“Amazing what the right therapist can do to get a person on the road to recovery, huh?”
Carter scowled at her playfully. “Who asked you?” Carter gave her a dismissive wave and returned his attention to his task and his taskmaster. “Ricardo, that’s the Wraith who got me into this mess.”
Hailey’s brow went up and her chin dropped. “I’m the Wraith who got you back here,” she protested. “I didn’t run you over with that truck.”
“So defensive, aren’t they?” Carter asked Ricardo. “Those Wraiths have giant egos that can’t take the slightest criticism.”
Ricardo laughed his agreement.
“You’re a retired Wraith, Carter!” Hailey retorted.
“They can’t take a joke either,” Carter said to Ricardo. They laughed together at Hailey’s expense. She reviewed the conversation with her perfect recall and saw that Carter’s every comment was designed to draw him closer, socially, to Ricardo, and away from his Wraith background. As understanding dawned, she dropped the argument.
Hailey stepped forward to give him a brief hug. “Keep up the good work. I’ll be leaving soon. Just wanted to say hi – and bye.”
“When will I see you again?” Carter asked.
“I don’t know, but I think it’d be really nice if you visited Karen soon. She’s been through an ordeal of her own. I think she could really use a friend like you.”
“What happened to her?” Carter asked with concern.
“The guy that did this to you… he kidnapped Karen. Didn’t hurt her physically, but I worry that she might have some lasting issues about feeling unsafe. You know?”
“I’ll get in touch with her today,” Carter promised. “Where are you headed?”
“Not sure yet, but I’m confident the geeks will have a location for me any minute.”
“You be careful, kiddo,” Carter said, giving her another hug. “I’ve loved seeing you again. Maybe we can all three get together under happier circumstances, huh?”
“I’d like that,” Hailey replied. She said good-bye to Ricardo also, and left the PT room.
“You’re not going to believe it!” Chan predicted excitedly.
“Can you tell me anyway?” Hailey replied, trying not to sound impatient.
“Yes, yes. Of course. The client is… drumroll…”
Hailey sighed exasperatedly.
“Artemis Kinkade.”
“He’s dead.”
“His father isn’t,” Chan replied with glee. Hailey absorbed the unexpected news. Of course, Artemis Kinkade would want to avenge his son’s death. Of course, he would know a SWORD agent was on the asteroid with his son when he died. One of the crew members of the rescue ship must’ve told him. What he didn’t know was that his son, Artemis Kinkade III, orchestrated his own death with reckless programming of his security droids and selfish abandonment of the other people in the structurally unstable prefab habitat. Hailey was not responsible for his death, but in Artemis Kinkade’s mind, she was.
“Where is he?” Hailey asked menacingly. She was tired of the ordeal with Artie coming back repeatedly to haunt her: first on Sigmatál, and now this.
“I knew you’d ask that, so I already tracked him down to the Kinkade Manor and Resort on Larisse. It’s a hotel and playground for über-rich customers. He has a private home on the property. That’s where he is.”
“Send all the details to my comm,” Hailey instructed Chan. “I need to get to him before he moves. Thanks, Agent Chan.”
“Hello, Papa,” Hailey said as she entered Ram’s hospital room. “I’m leaving soon so I thought I’d stop by and see how you’re doing before I go.” When she got all the way inside, she saw Lucky was there, behind the privacy curtain. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you had company.”
“Lucky’s here on business, not to keep me company,” Ram stated.
“Oh? What business do you have with Ram, Lucky?” Hailey asked suspiciously.
“Just asking advice,” she responded.
“If you’re talking about me, I think I should be in on it.”
Ram barreled forth with the truth. “Lucky worries that your new modus operandi is inconsistent and hazardous, and that you won’t listen to her when she explains that to you.”
“And what do you think about my MO?” Hailey asked her dispassionate father.
“I see the logic in it.”
“You executed an unarmed man!” Laura contended. “That’s going to haunt you one day.”
“I don’t execute anyone! If someone is a current danger
to innocent citizens and will not disarm himself when ordered to by a Wraith, killing him is not an execution. It’s a precaution.”
Ram thought about that. He was not swayed by emotional arguments, having no emotions of his own, so he considered her argument in the context of logic and reasonableness. “I would agree, except that deadly force is not necessarily required. You could disarm the suspect and subdue him without hurting him fatally.”
“That’s what I’m saying,” Lucky contributed.
“Did you tell him about Raven?” Hailey asked Lucky.
“Yes,” Lucky replied, not sorry that she did so.
“Comet,” Ram said calmly, “I’m not saying you were wrong, but you did execute Minutio. He was not a current danger to innocent citizens, and he was unarmed. According to your criteria for fatal measures, he did not meet the requirements.”
“Jeez. Even Karen can understand why I did what I did.”
“What does Karen understand that I don’t?” Lucky asked.
“That Sam Minutio was never going give up. He would escape whatever prison you’d put him in and come after me again. He was completely loyal to his assassin’s code: do the job, no matter how long it takes, don’t hurt bystanders, and don’t reveal who the client is. And speaking of the client, I’ll give you one guess who it is,” Hailey challenged her handler. “Hint: the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
“Haven’t you had enough of riddles, Comet?” Laura sighed.
“Yes. Yes, I have. Riddles and games played by psychos… I’ve had more than enough. That’s why I’m going to Larisse to pick up Artemis Kinkade III’s father.”
Laura’s eyes widened at the revelation. Ram stared intently at Hailey. He knew what Artie Kinkade III had done to her.
“Lucky, would you please leave me alone with my daughter?” Ram said evenly.
“Of course, sir,” Laura replied, getting up to leave.
“Hailey, please come here,” he said, indicating a chair near him.
Hailey's Comet Anthology Page 24