Hailey's Comet Anthology

by Selma J Lewis

  “I’m surprised it could bite through your CAA suit.”

  “The first bite didn’t, but those sharks on Tesla One are different than any shark I’ve ever heard of. Normal sharks’ll give up if the first bite isn’t tasty. That’s what I was counting on. I figured the suit could take the bite and then the shark would move on. This one,” Jackson shook his head, “it just slid its lower jaw sideways like a saw. I grabbed the kid with my other arm and kicked over to a small boat tie-up with a ladder going up to the pier. Once he got climbing, I got a knife and stabbed at the shark, but it didn’t make any difference. It just kept sawing at my arm.”

  “That sounds painful,” Hailey said quietly.

  “To say the least. Finally, I pulled out my gun but that’s when it got all the way through my arm. I knew the blood loss would be fatal if I didn’t get help, so I climbed up the ladder a few steps and put a cuff around my arm as a tourniquet. I climbed up the rest of the way…”

  “And the rest is history,” Hailey finished. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Jackson. I can’t even imagine your loss, but I want to be here for you.”

  “The worst part is that I can’t put both my arms around you anymore,” he said.

  “They’ll fix that,” Hailey said. “And getting the kid to safety while you’ve got a shark chewin’ on your arm: that’s just about the most heroic thing I’ve ever heard!”

  Jackson chuckled. “I believe you promised to help get me clean.”

  “Indeed, I did. Right this way, hero.”

  The couple lay resting on Hailey’s bed. They didn’t bother to dress; they just lay under the blanket, holding and caressing each other like they used to do when they were trainees. “Being like this,” Jackson said softly, “it makes me feel like I’d better sneak back to my own room before we’re caught!”

  “You were never caught, were you?”

  “Just once. Hacksaw was sneaking home after his own rule-breaking and found me in the stairwell way past curfew.”

  “That doesn’t count. It’s not like he could say anything about you when he was also out after curfew.”

  “True. Then I suppose I was never really caught by anyone who mattered.”

  “You know, you were telling me about the guy who used the kid as a shield and then a distraction.”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s how I popped my hip the last time. The guy grabbed a kid and when he saw that wasn’t stopping me, he threw him in a pit of quicksand and ran away.”

  “What is wrong with people?” Jackson asked.

  “I couldn’t reach the boy, so I slid into the sand while holding on to a little tree. Got him out and was about to climb out when a giant Worm-zilla grabbed my leg and pulled me down. That’s what popped the ball out of the joint. Had to let go of the handhold at the surface and bend over to cut the thing off. Then I climbed out, but I couldn’t put any weight on that leg. It was useless, but Derek re-located it.”

  “Who’s Derek?” Jackson asked.

  “A Scabbard graduate I was evaluating.”

  “Why wasn’t he doing the mission then?” Hailey smiled guiltily. Jackson understood. “You couldn’t sit on the sidelines, could you?”

  “We split up when two suspects went in opposite directions. It was a logical decision.”

  Jackson lay quietly for a while. Hailey pondered her own thoughts. Finally, she asked, “How have you been these last twenty-two years?”

  “Fine. Busy. Working.”

  “Ever get in a situation you thought would be… the end for you?”

  Jackson reviewed the thousand-or-so missions he had completed. “No, not really. Why? Have you?”

  “Yes. Once. I think that experience changed me permanently.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It haunted me subconsciously for a while, then it haunted me consciously, then it hunted me, literally.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Haunting? Hunting? What happened?” Jackson asked. Hailey related the episode in her life, many years before, when she was robbed of her technological enhancements and imprisoned on a lifeless world.

  “I remember thinking, ‘I’m sorry, Jackson. I don’t know how to get back to you.’ The idea that at the end of all the work I would get to be with you was always in the back of my mind.”

  “I know. Me too.”

  “But in T’skala, for the first time, I thought it wouldn’t be. I couldn’t figure out how to escape.”

  “How’d you escape, then?”

  “I trusted and relied on a normal human. I had conned the perp out of his pocket comm, and I managed to record all the words I needed to create a new command for the ACMEs.”

  “Smart.”

  “But I didn’t know how to splice the words together and I didn’t have my TDN. Mandy knew how to do it. But the battery had run down. She managed to get the thing charged a little and get it back to me with the new command, all under the perp’s nose. She paid a price for it, too. That perp was sick.”

  “Did he hurt you?” Jackson asked euphemistically.

  “I was still stronger than him, but he always had armed ACMEs nearby with orders like, ‘If the target calls me anything but Trip, shoot its arm. If the target doesn’t comply with my commands, shoot it.’ I was ‘the target’. I was always his target. It was his whole purpose: to put a Wraith notch on his bedpost.”

  “Did he ever command…”

  Hailey swallowed. “I couldn’t stand the idea of him even touching me, but I didn’t want an untreated gunshot wound in the middle of nowhere. When it finally came down to submitting to him or taking a chance, I took the chance and made a run for it. I think there were at least sixty shots fired at me. I managed to hide from the ACMEs. But that incident is what caused the whole shelter to fail in the end.”

  “You’re a brave woman, Comet.”

  “I’m a brave woman, Hailey. Comet was gone while I was in T’skala. I learned how to trust others to come through, even though they’re ‘inferior.’ I’ve since come to think that no one is inferior. Everyone functions to the best of their own ability. Wraiths are superior artificially, so we’re nothing special after all.”

  “I never thought about it that way,” Jackson admitted.

  “I know, right? I don’t think I would’ve either, if it hadn’t been for losing my Wraith identity.”

  “I’m glad he didn’t win, Comet. I’ve been hoping that…”

  “What?”

  “Nevermind. It’s stupid.”

  “You can tell me anything, Jackson.”

  “Well, I was hoping that you’d… save yourself for… me. I know it’s stupid. You’re so beautiful and wonderful; you could have anyone you want—”

  “No one.”

  “What?”

  “I haven’t been with anyone else. I don’t want anyone else. Doesn’t even cross my mind.”

  Jackson smiled. “Same here,” he confided.

  “Really? I was sure you’d have… opportunities all over the place. I admitted it to myself, but I wished it wasn’t true.”

  “Hailey, we didn’t make a promise about it or anything, but I only want to love you, to express love with you. I only love you.”

  Hailey’s heart overflowed with love for Jackson. They kissed in a deeply emotional way. “When my hip is better,” she whispered, “will you visit my quarters again?”

  “Absolutely,” he promised. “And I won’t worry about any curfew. I’ll love you all night long.”

  The pair fell asleep together, forgetting that their doctors and nurses would be missing them over night. In the morning, a knock on Hailey’s door woke her. “Comet, it’s Lucky,” Laura called through the door.

  “Come in,” Hailey replied, not bothering to hide their relationship from Laura. Jackson awoke and rubbed his eyes while Laura came in and sat in the lone chair in the room. “When they couldn’t find you, they came to me. I commed Chan and he told me you were both here.”


  “Here we both are,” Hailey replied, yawning.

  “You’re not really trying to hide this anymore, are you?”

  “Hide what? We’re helping each other through recovery, trading stories, catching up.”

  “Sleeping together,” Laura added.

  “Not that’s it’s anyone’s business. We were talking; we fell asleep. Big deal.”

  “I’m concerned about the higher-ups getting wind of this and forcing a split again.”

  “They got some kind of new implant that’ll make us hate each other?” Hailey asked sardonically.

  “Comet, I’m on your side. I don’t understand it, but I know you two are very close. I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

  “Then don’t turn us in,” Hailey said simply.

  “Anyone can go to Chan and find out where you both are. I’m just glad they asked me to look for you. I want you to be more careful in the future.”

  “Thank you, Lucky,” Hailey said sincerely.

  “Thank you,” Jackson added.

  “How’s your arm?” Lucky asked him.

  “Not too much pain, but difficult to get used to.”

  “I’m very sorry for your loss, Jax. I wish I could do something to help.”

  “Thank you, Lucky. I think I’ll be OK. Comet is a therapeutic godsend.”

  “Oh, here’s your comm. When they cleaned out the transport, the crew found it.”

  “How’d you get it?” Hailey asked.

  “My ways are a mystery to mere mortal Wraiths,” Laura said, standing. “Do yourselves a favor and get to medical for morning checks. And think up a plausible story for being gone all night.”

  “Copy,” Hailey replied. “See you later.” Laura left the room and Hailey immediately focused on Jax. “Today we should take your comm to Agent Chan so he can program it like he did to mine.”

  “I got that message from you after they put me on the transport to come here. I held onto that message like it was you.”

  “No one could figure out why you were so obsessed with having your comm,” Hailey reported with a smile. “Apparently, that’s all you said between unconsiousnesses.”

  “How’d you get a SWORD agent to do you such a huge under-the-table favor?”

  “I befriended Agent Chan. Those geeks are scared of Wraiths, but I needed his help with the assassin that was after me, so I was friendly. He likes having a Wraith friend. I think it gives him clout in the basement.”

  “Back up. The assassin that was after you?”

  “Oh, that’s a good story. I’ll tell you over breakfast.”

  The Road Less Traveled by Wraiths

  Derek Cochella saw Comet eating breakfast with a one-handed man. They both wore casuals and chatted constantly like they were old friends. He supposed that a Wraith who had been in the field as long as she had would never run out of stories. Perhaps he was a Wraith, too, for he had as much to say as she did. Derek thought about going to their table and inquiring after her health and recovery, but he didn’t have the nerve to interrupt a pair of veteran Wraiths.

  Derek had been intensely retrained the past several days by Agent Silverton. Fox constantly barraged Derek with scenarios and questions about what he would do in this situation or at that decision point. Whenever Derek hesitated – to think the question through thoroughly – Fox hit him with an escrima stick to remind him that Wraiths were quick decision-makers and delays led to unwanted consequences. It was barbaric, but that was Fox’s style.

  Fox also sparred with Derek in the gym, keeping him on his toes there, too. Fox was less critical of Agent Cochella in the gym. Apparently, Derek’s only weakness was the faulty guidance instilled in him by Agent Ramirez.

  Derek finally got up the nerve to greet Comet and her friend. He wanted to let Comet know that he didn’t appreciate her confusing him in the field on his first mission, and he intended to be an exemplary agent for SWORD.

  He went to where they sat and stood a pace away until the one-handed man finished his sentence. Comet looked up at Derek and greeted him with a smile.

  “Jax, this is Falcon. Falcon, this is Agent Quint.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Agent Quint,” Derek said, shaking his left hand.

  “Jax,” Jackson replied. “Comet tells me good things about you.”

  “Have a seat, Falcon. Join us for breakfast,” Comet invited.

  “No,” he purposely skipped the “thank you” part of “No, thank you.” Instead he said, “I have a training appointment with Fox.”

  Hailey’s face cringed slightly. “I’m sorry for getting you in trouble, Falcon. That’s what SWORD gets for putting impressionable young Wraiths within my sphere of influence,” she said with a chuckle. Falcon’s facial temperature rose a degree. Hailey furrowed her brow. “You’re angry with me.”

  “I am a Wraith. Anger has no place in my mind.”

  “What about your heart?” Hailey asked.

  Derek was momentarily flustered. “My heart is a muscle. Poetic notions are irrelevant. Excuse me.” He quickly withdrew from the conversation and left the mess hall in a hurry. In the hall, he paused and leaned against the wall. Damn that Wraith! How does she manage to throw me off kilter with every word she speaks?

  “So, that was Falcon. You do reduce him to jelly, Comet,” Jackson chuckled.

  “I don’t mean to. I’m just myself. I suppose he’s not mature enough to handle the contrary ideas I have about human relations.”

  “You always were a rebel,” Jackson replied with amusement. “But it’s probably best to let him be so he can satisfy Fox and get back out into the field. Clearly, he’s humiliated to be back here and he’s trying his hardest to get out.”

  “Yeah. I know. Oh! There’s my father. Would you like to meet him?”

  “Do I have to?” Jax replied.

  “He knows about us. I mean, not the thing but he knows I love you,” she whispered.

  “Whatever you want, Comet. He’s your father.”

  “LMs on,” she mouthed.

  “Check.”

  “Director Méndez,” Hailey called as Ram came near. Ram stopped at their table.

  “I’d like you to meet Agent Quint. Jax, this is Director Ronald Méndez, Ram.” The two men shook left hands.

  “I heard about your case. Are you recovering?” Ram asked Jax.

  “Yes, sir,” Jax replied, glancing momentarily at Comet.

  “And you, Comet? How is your recovery going?”

  “Well. I think this time I’ll make it back to full health. Would you like to join us?”

  “If you wish it,” Ram said.

  “I do,” Hailey replied. Ram sat down with his plate of eggs. “I was just talking to Falcon,” Hailey initiated a new line of conversation.

  “Fox reports he’s making progress.”

  “Do you really think I damaged him?” Hailey asked her father.

  “I think you confused him. I told him that your style works for you, but he should stick to his training. What is your opinion, Jax?”

  “My opinion is irrelevant, sir. I am not in a leadership position at the Scabbard. I have not spent any time contemplating the situation.”

  “There, Hailey,” Ram said. “There is an agent who knows his place in the organization.”

  “I’m sorry, Papa,” Hailey said quietly. “The way I work, my style, as you call it, is the way I work.”

  “I’m aware. As I said before, it works for you somehow. You’re an exemplary agent. But I don’t think we’ll be sending any more graduates your way for evals.”

  “That’s probably best,” Hailey replied. “So, how is SWORD’s image in the Empire these days?”

  “Eighty-seven-point-four percent positive.”

  “Is that good?”

  “For a government agency, that’s an extraordinarily high percentage of support and good-will.”

  “You must be doing a good job, then,” Hailey flattered.

  “Thank you,” Ram replied, following th
e social script.

  “Oh, I meant to tell you an anecdote, Papa. In Trenton, I was interviewing a homeless man for information on the child abductions, and when he heard that SWORD was on the case, he said, ‘SWORD? Good. Now something will get done.’ I thought it was a good sign that a societal drop-out had a good opinion of SWORD.”

  “Thank you for the feedback. Anecdotes are not statistics, but it is gratifying to know the man’s opinion.”

  “Gratifying? Are you gratified?”

  “Not in the emotional sense of the word, of course, but in the sense that it is the goal of my department to have citizens see SWORD as a positive force in the Empire.”

  “Interesting. Falcon’s so-called failure was that he transformed that family’s feeling from terrified to positive about SWORD.”

  Ram set his fork down. “Falcon’s failure was to transform that family’s terror of a pirate attack to something – anything – about SWORD. He should not have identified himself as an agent of SWORD. The story that spread in the community was not a positive one.”

  “OK, but what if that family later figured out that only Wraiths wear the CAA suit he was wearing? They could stumble upon that information, or even go looking for it. Then they would really spread bad news. I’m not saying that Derek calculated the odds of all the various outcomes, but I don’t think he made a mistake.”

  “He didn’t have enough experience to calculate the odds,” Jackson threw into the conversation.

  “I agree. But all Wraiths must start somewhere. The current training regimen produces the current corp of Wraiths we have in the field. Logic dictates we maintain the high standard our Wraith corp adheres to.”

  “That sounds logical, Papa,” Hailey conceded.

  “Is Agent Quint the one you told me about twenty-two years ago when we spoke about retirement?” Ram changed the subject with whiplash force.

  “Yes, Papa,” Hailey replied immediately.

  Ram looked at Jackson. “Is it your intention to spend your retirement with Comet?”

  “Yes, sir,” Jax replied.

  “Why?”

  “I love her,” Jax answered matter-of-factly. “We’ve loved each other since the academy.”