Hailey's Comet Anthology

by Selma J Lewis

  “Agent Ramirez from SWORD.” Hailey flashed her ID. “Can you tell me about Jane?”

  “What about her? She ran away again.”

  “How many times has she run away?”

  “I’ve been through all this with SS.”

  “Yes, ma’am. How many times has she run away?”

  “Three, four times.”

  “She always returns on her own?”

  “Nah. Those green-shirts bring her back.”

  “Social Services.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Aren’t you worried about her? She’s been gone for five weeks.”

  “She’s sixteen. When I was sixteen, I could take care of myself. I reckon she can, too.”

  “Thank you for your time,” Hailey said tersely and walked away. The cycle of abandonment in that family disturbed her. Without intervention, Jane would grow up to make the same dismal decisions her mother did – statistically. It was a mercy Hailey’s limbic monitor functioned so well or she would have been furious about callous parents hitting or neglecting their children when her own parents were deprived of raising their beloved daughter past the age of four.

  Hailey reported her interview results concisely to Derek, then caught up to him to monitor his progress. She found him assimilating the personnel records of Social Services workers who rescued homeless and runaway kids from the streets. “Any progress?” Hailey asked.

  “It seems your hunch may be right. Video surveillance records from around the city show the green-vested workers doing their jobs. But there are two on those records who are not employed by Social Services.” He brought up their captured images on his tablet and showed them to Hailey.

  If Hailey had been alone on this mission, she would already be out the door with the information, but she was only there to observe Derek as he completed the mission. Already, she had done more than she probably should have. She looked at the images and nodded, committing them to permanent memory. She looked at Derek. “Well?” she asked.

  “Well, what?” he asked.

  “Aren’t you going to do something about this?”

  After a short pause, Derek left Hailey. She followed him, half a block behind. He moved quickly, setting a pace Hailey couldn’t match. She commed him with a brief message. Turn on GPS tracking of your suit. I’ll follow you remotely. Within seconds, his location appeared on her comm. Audio and video from helmet, too, she wrote, thinking he should have known she needed that, too, to monitor his performance.

  Once she had a bead on him, she returned to the park where her suitcase was stashed. Again, in a secluded spot, she changed out of her CAA suit and re-dressed in her SWORD jumpsuit. She felt a need for a shower, so caught a taxi back to the hotel. Once clean and refreshed, Hailey lay on the bed and monitored all the various bugs and trackers she had placed. Her mind not fully required for the current task, she began to think about her mom, Karen Ramirez. Karen was such a strong and loving person. The two mothers she met earlier that day were weak or beaten down by life or just insecure. She felt pride in her mother who endured the loss of her child, then her husband, and managed to live on and take care of herself.

  Hailey was glad that Karen now had back a little of what was taken from her. Hailey visited every few years, and a retired Wraith by the name of Carter Flynn now lived on her planet and was Karen’s best friend. They both knew Hailey and Andre, Hailey’s father, who now went by the name of Director Ronald A. Mendez, or Ram. Through all the years that Carter and Hailey had been visiting with Karen, neither of them told her that Ram was still alive. Karen believed him to be dead, and in a philosophical sense, Andre was dead. Ronald barely resembled the man Karen loved. The implantation of his experimental limbic monitor years before had destroyed the emotional center of his brain. He no longer viewed Karen as a high enough priority to spend any time communicating with her.

  Of course, if Karen met Ronald Mendez, she would be devastated all over again by the loss of her husband. She would blame SWORD and never forgive them. She may even question the motives of Carter and Hailey, being SWORD agents, themselves. No, Hailey thought, it’s better she not know about Ram. She’s happy now. Hailey would do anything to prevent her mother being hurt again.

  Hailey got out her comm and sent a message to her mother: Hi, Mama. Just thinking about you. Recovering from a broken leg, so I’m resting. I’m evaluating a new W in the field. Was I that young when I started? Anyway, he’s doing the work. I’m monitoring from the comfort of a hotel room. Everything’s good with me. Hope you’re feeling well, too. Love, Hailey

  Truthfully, Hailey was getting bored. Derek was closing in on the fake social workers. Once he had them, he’d have access to the whole organization, and he would find the traffickers who would lead him to the children. Hailey got up and went to the window. She looked down three floors to the courtyard where several pairs and trios of people sat at café tables, enjoying midday meals. She opened her window and let a cool breeze blow in. She sat on the sill and focused her hearing on the courtyard below.

  Banal conversations among ordinary people in a commonplace setting. She had seen it a thousand times before. What was not ordinary was the arrival of a tense man who sat down unceremoniously at a couple’s table, taking them by surprise.

  “Morrissey?” the man asked.

  “Winston?” the male of the couple asked in return. Winston nodded. “You’re late.”

  “This is not a precise business, Mr. Morrissey. I get here when I can get here.”

  “Do you have our order ready?”

  “Yes. Twelve units, ready to ship out.”

  Hailey wondered why the couple came to collect whatever units they ordered if Winston was ready to ship them out. Something was suspicious about these three. The female spoke very softly. “They’re healthy, right? Strong, I mean. We don’t need sick ones who can’t do the work.”

  “Of course,” Winston replied. “Sturdy stock. No question.”

  “Because our last supplier wasn’t so reliable. I’d like to see the merchandise before we make a payment. I want to make sure they’re worth the ninety-six thousand we’re paying you.”

  Winston got out his comm and sent an address to Ms. Morrissey’s comm. “Come and see. 22:00.” Hailey quickly put on her helmet to get a better look at the address on the comm. The magnifier function of her visor made the small text on the comm easy to read. Winston left the courtyard and the Morrisseys fell silent. They glanced around making sure they had not drawn any attention. They neglected to look up three floors.

  At 21:00 Hailey was back in her Wraith suit and waiting at the address she had spied in the courtyard. She was in the industrial district of the city where the buildings were all made out of metal and every building looked identical to the one next door. Hailey hung back, out of sight, keeping an eye on the entrance to the warehouse Winston had identified. She knew from her surveillance of Derek’s movements that he had acquired the same address from a couple of perpetrators he had picked up. He didn’t know the timetable for the exchange, but she knew he was heading in the right direction.

  Twenty minutes later, Derek showed up in the shadows; Hailey watched him. He stood near the building, listening. Then he went to the door and tried to get in. The lock was easy for the young Wraith to pick, despite the “sturdy stock” inside being worth ninety-six thousand points. Derek disappeared inside. Through Derek’s helmet comm, which she was still monitoring, she heard voices.

  “I heard someone come in,” whispered one young voice.

  “Maybe they brought food this time.”

  “Just don’t make them mad.”

  “What’s that?” a frightened voice asked.

  “Children,” Derek said through his helmet, “don’t be afraid. I’m here to take you home. Follow me.”

  Hailey hurried to the warehouse and went inside.

  “There’s another one!”

  Derek turned around to see Hailey approaching, taking off her helmet. “May I s
peak with you?” she inquired.

  “Yes,” Derek replied, waiting to hear what she had to say. Hailey looked at the children.

  “I’m Agent Ramirez and this is Agent Cochella. We will definitely take you home, but first I need to talk to the oldest one here.” All the young teens looked at an older girl. “What’s your name?” Hailey asked.

  “Jane.”

  “Ah, so you’re Jane. I spoke with your mother today.”

  “Let me guess: she couldn’t care less where I was.”

  “Come on over here. Let’s talk.” Hailey led her away from the rest of the kids and Derek followed. “Jane, you may not want to go home to your parents, but I can guarantee you don’t want to stay here. All these kids are being shipped somewhere tonight or tomorrow. Agent Cochella and I are here to stop the creeps who are doing this. Understand?”

  “Yeah,” Jane answered. Derek removed his helmet and looked at Hailey.

  “How do you know that?” he asked.

  “I overheard the buyers and the seller making plans for 22:00 tonight. These kids are being sold to work for the new ‘owners’. If you take them away now, we’ll lose this chance to get deeper into the network.”

  “We need to let it play out,” Derek realized.

  “Jane, we need your help. We have to let them take you on whatever transport they’ve got. I promise you we’ll be on it, too, but we need to stay hidden. So it’ll be up to you to keep the other kids calm and not let them say anything to the bad guys about us. You understand?”

  “Yeah, but I can’t make ‘em do what I say.”

  “I’ll go talk to them. Come with me, Jane.” Hailey and Jane returned to the group of kids and Derek went to the warehouse entrance to keep an eye out for the traffickers.

  “Hey, guys,” Hailey addressed the youth. “Anyone remember my name?”

  “Agent Ramirez,” a boy answered. “My name is Ramirez, too!”

  “Ah, we must be long, lost cousins,” Hailey said, smiling at the boy. “What’s your name?”

  “Ben.”

  “I want to know everyone’s names and ages. I’ll bet I can remember them the first time I hear ‘em.”

  Every child provided his or her name and age and Hailey went around the circle pointing. “Ben 12, Sasha 13, Trish 13, Frankie 12, Melanie 12, Quon 15, Sara 14, Deepa 12, Camille 13, Stanley 13, Conner 15, Jane 16. Did I get any wrong?”

  All the kids shook their heads, smiling. Hailey continued, “See, I never forget anything. And I won’t forget about you. But Agent Cochella and I have to hide when the other people get here. While we’re hiding, you can’t tell anyone about us being here. We’ll watch what happens, we’ll follow you and stick real close, but you won’t see us. Everyone understand?” All the kids nodded. “Just go along with whatever they say. They’re going to take you somewhere else, but we’re going, too, so you don’t have to be scared. And Jane is going to be your leader for this trip. If you get scared or worried, go to her.”

  The kids nodded and whispered to each other. “Now go back to doing whatever you were doing before Agent Cochella came in.” Hailey laid a hand on Jane’s shoulder. “You ready for this?”

  “I think so.”

  “I gave that answer to my training coach once. You know what he said? ‘If you’re ready, then know that you’re ready. Have confidence in yourself.’”

  Jane smiled half-heartedly. “Agent Ramirez, I want to get away from these kidnappers, but I don’t want to go home. If you talked to my mom, then you know what my house is like.”

  Hailey nodded. “I understand. But living on the streets is not safe and it leads nowhere. You have to finish school. You’re sixteen. Can you tolerate your house for two years, knowing that when you graduate you can leave and you’ll have options?”

  “What options? All that math and chemistry and history… what good is that?”

  “General knowledge will help you throughout your life, but finishing high school gives you the option to go to community college or get a job. Employers like people who finish things; it shows you’re not a flakey drop-out.”

  Jane humphed. “I’m already a flakey drop-out.”

  “Then drop back in. Listen, I lived on the streets until I was fourteen. SWORD found me and educated me and now they employ me. Promise you’ll think about it.”

  “OK, I will. Hey, I could work for SWORD.”

  Hailey smiled sadly. “There are lots better jobs in the Empire. My job is kinda lonely.”

  “What about your partner?”

  “I usually work alone. Him, too. We don’t have partners.”

  “Oh.”

  “But I travel around a lot and meet great people like you, so that’s a perk.” Jane smiled in spite of herself. Hailey reciprocated. “You ready for this?”

  “Yeah,” Jane replied. “I’m ready.”

  Derek re-locked the door and went to a dark corner of the building to hide. Hailey went with him. With their helmets on, they communicated through comms – not a whisper escaping their headwear.

  “Comet, I’ve never talked to kids like that. How do you know what to say to them?”

  “I ascertain their mental states based on physiological markers and past experience, then I tell them what I would’ve wanted to hear when I was a kid.”

  “Is that necessary? Why not just tell them what to do? They should follow orders.”

  “They’re not SWORD, Falcon. These are kids in crisis who mostly come from homes that are not stable. They don’t trust adults. Why should they? Look who’s selling them into slavery.”

  Derek fell silent. After a few minutes, Hailey spoke again. “You delivered two counterfeit social workers to SS. Good work.”

  “Thank you,” Derek replied emotionlessly.

  “Is that all of them?” Hailey asked.

  Derek didn’t answer.

  “You did interrogate them…”

  “I acquired the information about where the victims were being held, then I came here to release them.”

  “What is your mission?”

  “To stop the trafficking of children in Trenton.”

  “What was your plan after you released the children? Where would you take them?”

  “I didn’t plan to take them anywhere. I planned to debrief them to gain more intel on the kidnappers, then let them go home. Once I had more intel, I would plan my next move.”

  “Assuming you stayed here to nab the jailors when they came to feed or check on the kids, then what?”

  “I would interrogate them about their contacts, then go after them.”

  “That’s a plan. But what if they won’t tell you anything, or they lie to you?”

  “I can spot lies.”

  “Of course. But getting names and dates and places… guess-and-check doesn’t work if you don’t have any guesses to work with.”

  “I got the location of this warehouse from the imposters,” Derek stated.

  “How?”

  “I threatened them.”

  Hailey thought about all the missions she had completed over the past twenty-six years. Minions were typically more afraid of their overlords than they were of lawmen. They were usually sure that the authorities would not actually shoot them. Hailey had inflicted many painful incentives on uncooperative suspects. But she always got more information from listening to them talk to each other. She had learned that following them was more productive than grabbing them and demanding information, especially when she didn’t have leading questions to ask.

  She told Derek about her experience.

  “I see your point,” he replied. “How far are we going to follow the people coming here tonight?”

  “What do you think?”

  “If we follow the buyers, they may lead us to previously purchased children. If we follow the seller, he may lead us to whomever is over him or other buyers.”

  “They’re not going to the same place.”

  “Then you follow the buyers and I’ll follow the se
ller,” Derek decided.

  Hailey nodded. “Make sure he doesn’t find out that his ‘social workers’ were caught. That might make him bolt.”

  “Someone’s outside,” Derek interrupted the conversation.

  “Those are the same voices I heard this afternoon.”

  The seller unlocked the door, flipped on a meager light, and led the buyers into the warehouse. The seller, Winston, dragged a large cooler behind him. “Dinner’s here!” he called into the dark warehouse. The children rushed the cooler, opening it and grabbing apples and boiled eggs and rolls, then retreating to the dark to eat. “Eat in the light,” Winston demanded. “No hiding. I have a new mom and dad for all of you: Mr. and Ms. Morrissey.”

  The children came forward but did not speak to the couple. They did not stop putting precious bites of food into their mouths. Only Jane stood up straight and looked the buyers in the eye. She dared to speak up to the adults. “You’re adopting all of us?” she asked.

  “Yes, my dear,” the woman answered. “We’re taking you to a much nicer place than this. Lots of sunshine and food and room to run around.”

  “And go to school?” Jane asked.

  “We do school at home. Why, there’s almost a full class right here. I’ll be your teacher. We already have seven kids in our home school. It’s lots of fun.”

  “You must have a very big house,” Jane surmised.

  “Well, it’s more than a house. It’s more like a ranch. We have lots of buildings with lots of bedrooms, plus the classroom. And there’s a barn for the animals. Do you like animals?”

  Jane shrugged.

  “I like animals,” twelve-year-old Melanie said.

  “Oh, good!” the woman replied. “We can make you the girl in charge of rabbits. Would you like that?”

  “Oh, yes!” Melanie said. The other kids elbowed her and told her to be quiet.

  “When are we leaving?” Jane asked.

  “Just as soon as you’re all finished eating. We’ve got a van outside,” the woman replied, smiling falsely.

  Winston interrupted the lie-filled conversation saying, “Well, first we have to make it official.”