Hailey's Comet Anthology

by Selma J Lewis

  “But you have a limbic monitor,” Ram replied equally matter-of-factly.

  “Mine doesn’t function the way yours does, sir. I have feelings. They’re out of the way of my conscious thinking most of the time, but they’re still there.”

  Ram returned to his breakfast. Hailey and Jackson shared a look. “You met Comet’s mother,” Ram stated.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “What is your opinion of her?”

  “She was a strong, self-sufficient, loving person when I met her twenty-two-point-seven years ago.”

  Ram nodded.

  “Papa, do you think about Mama often?”

  “Not often.”

  “Then why’d you ask Jackson’s opinion of her?”

  “My only reports about her are from you. You are emotionally entangled. Jax is an outside observer.”

  “Lucky’s met her. She must have told you about her.”

  “Lucky’s report showed that Karen had influence over you, but, as you recall, we talked about that at the time.”

  “Is that your only thought about Karen? That she has influence over me? That her influence might steer me off the rails?”

  “That is a hyperbolic colloquialism. I did not intend to upset you or disparage your mother. Again, my motivation is to preserve the positive image SWORD has in the Empire.”

  Hailey gave up trying to find the slightest iota of feeling Ram might still have for his wife. She stopped talking. Jackson noticed her change in mood, and picked up the conversation with Ram, steering it in another direction. At length, Ram finished his breakfast and determined he had socialized long enough to meet societal expectations. He excused himself and went to work.

  Jackson looked at Hailey. “Want to go talk in private?”

  She nodded and together they went back to her quarters.

  With limbic monitors pushed to the side, Hailey hugged Jackson. “There’s nothing there, and there never will be.”

  “I saw,” Jackson said, rubbing her back with his one hand. “But I can tell you love him anyway.”

  “It’s true.” She backed away to look at Jackson’s face. “He makes an effort to visit me when I’m in medical. He gives small impressions that he cares about me, but he doesn’t, does he?”

  “I think your biological bond means something to him.”

  “Maybe. I’m still not as important as the job.”

  “I’m sorry, Hailey.”

  “I love you, Jackson. It means everything to me that you love me, too.”

  “You’re the only person who loves me,” Jackson said. He paused. “There’s only one person in the whole galaxy who loves me.” He looked sad for a moment. “I wish I had a parent.”

  “Jax, your parents loved you, too. It wasn’t their choice to leave you. They didn’t die on purpose. I think you should consider them as still out there, loving you. They’re part of the universe, so they’re always with you.”

  Jax laughed quietly. “You are the only Wraith who could come up with something like that.”

  “They’re gonna change my codename from Comet to Oddity,” Hailey laughed. “Besides, once you have a chance to get to know Karen, she’ll love you like a parent does. I’m sure of it.”

  “You’re willing to share your mom with me?” Jackson asked with a smile.

  “Hey, we should get married and then she’ll be your mother, too.”

  “Mother-in-law.”

  “In-law, schmin-law. If you marry her daughter, she’ll treat you like her son.”

  “Then we must get married,” Jackson stated. Then he laughed. “I’m sure Mango would be happy to officiate.”

  “No, no. We have to get to a planet. Ganymede or Mars, even.”

  “How?”

  “Meteor.”

  “Hop on a meteor?” Jackson asked, confused.

  “Meteor is my ship.”

  “Oh! Is it compression-capable?”

  “No. That’s a problem. We have to find some reason to get on a transport.”

  “Hailey, I’d love to marry you, but it’s not really necessary, is it?”

  “My parents were married. Your parents were married. It must mean something if they did it.”

  “What does it mean?”

  Hailey scoured through her database of sociological information. “Well, there are tax implications which don’t apply to us as non-entities in the Empire. There are societal norms, which don’t apply to us since we’re not really part of society. There’s the commitment issue and matter of rearing children in a committed home, but since we can’t have children, that doesn’t apply to us.”

  “The commitment issue applies. I’ve already committed to you that I want to spend my retired life with you,” Jackson stated.

  “As have I. So maybe we’re already married.”

  “Nothing’s official until you get a government official to say it’s official.”

  “That’s pretty official,” Hailey joked.

  “My information says that a captain of a ship or the highest-ranking officer of a base can officiate, or certain government officers, like mayors, governors, and imperators.”

  “I still don’t see how we’re going to get off the Scabbard and over to a Navy base or civic center.”

  “Well, it was a nice idea.” Jackson hugged her again. “I am committed to you, Hailey.”

  “Me too, Jackson. No matter where you are, you can be sure I’m loving you and counting the days ‘til we’re together permanently.”

  With a final squeeze, Jackson suggested they report to medical before their doctors got irritated.

  Derek reported to Fox for training and only received two swats with the escrima stick. Fox complimented him. “You are making good progress, Falcon.”

  Derek nodded.

  Fox looked at him carefully. “You appear to be going to great lengths not to be socially integrated.”

  “Please explain your criticism.”

  Fox sat back in his chair. “It is acceptable to use the etiquette used throughout the Empire. It often ‘greases wheels’, as the saying goes.”

  “I’ve been taught that the feelings of others are not my concern.”

  “No, they are not. However, fitting in will often be required on a mission. You must act like a typical citizen.”

  “I must act like them to gain whatever is necessary for my mission. But I should not take into account the emotional ramifications my actions may have.”

  “What is your concern?” Fox asked.

  “You want me to use people.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Is that not unethical?”

  “It is for the greater good. To use another human for self-promotion or wealth would be unethical. When you use them, they are helping you serve the citizens of the Empire.”

  “But they are citizens of the Empire,” Derek pointed out. “A basic tenant of citizenship is the right to free agency. To use another person in any way takes away their right to choose whom they serve.”

  “You have spent too much time pondering the technicalities of philosophical ethics.”

  “On the contrary, I have spent little time pondering such things. These thoughts occur to me as we are discussing them. I only wish to understand my responsibilities as a Wraith in the field.”

  Fox was stumped. He couldn’t seem to answer Falcon’s questions in a way that settled the matter for him. “I think we’re finished for today. I want you to read the history and current events of the Belt worlds and spend one-point-five to two hours in the sparring gym.”

  “Yes, sir,” Derek replied.

  “Dismissed.”

  “Heard you were playing hooky last night. Tsk, tsk, Agent Ramirez,” her therapist teased.

  “I slept in my own bed instead of the hospital bed. It’s more comfortable,” Hailey defended herself.

  “Comes with special features, huh?” Ricardo hinted.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hailey climbed onto the first ma
chine for her exercise session.

  “Of course not,” Ricardo replied. “Where’s Agent Quint? I worked out a rig for his injured arm to do bicep curls.”

  “His doctor wants to discuss prosthetics with him. Apparently, there are different models of hands on the market.”

  “He seems to be taking it all in stride,” Ricardo noted.

  “He has ups and downs,” Hailey contradicted him. “Losing a part of your body must be awful. I’ve broken plenty of body parts, but I’ve never lost one permanently.” Hailey was suddenly hit over the head by the realization that she had lost something permanently: SWORD had stolen her children. Without asking or explaining, the academy doctors destroyed the oocytes in her ovaries when she was fourteen.

  The recent talk with Jackson about committed relationships for the stability of the family unit and the good of the children came back to her mind. We can’t have children, ever. It was a strange thing that the thought sucker-punched her like that since she had known since she was a teenager that she could not have children. But Jackson had noticed that even Ram seemed to value the biological bond Ram and Hailey had as parent and child. That was a bond she would never have with the next generation.

  She sat, motionless, on the equipment. “Agent Ramirez? Want to get started?”

  Hailey didn’t hear Ricardo. She was immobilized by the thought that SWORD had not only stolen her childhood, her father, her life, and her love, they had stolen her progeny. There would be nothing left of the Ramirez and Quint genes in the next generation. She stared at the readout on the exercise machine but didn’t see it. She only saw eons of time going on, with no one to remember or relate to her.

  It was a truth in the universe that everyone eventually faded into obscurity, some more quickly than others. But Hailey had never applied the truth to herself. As a ghost in the Empire, she was already living in anonymity. When she died, there would be no one to mourn her or remember her.

  “Agent Ramirez,” Ricardo said loudly.

  “Huh?” she replied, snapping out of her uncomfortable revelations.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Uh, no, Ricardo. I’m sorry. I’m not up to this today. Would you excuse me?”

  “Of course, if you’re not feeling well…”

  “I’ll see you next time. Thanks for your understanding.” Hailey hobbled out of the PT room as quickly as she could. She hurried to Jax’s hospital room where she knew he was having a conference with his doctor. She knocked lightly on the doorframe, as the door itself was open.

  “Hi, Comet. Want to come in and help me pick out a hand?” Jackson said.

  Hailey smiled at her intrepid love. “Sure. They got any red ones?” she asked.

  “Red? Why?”

  “To spite the red fin shark,” she answered, hopping to her bed and climbing aboard.

  Jackson considered it. “I think I’ll go for something a little more mainstream,” he said, smiling at Hailey.

  “Well, Agent Quint, I’ll leave you with the catalog,” Dr. Ruut said. “We can get anything to the Scabbard in a matter of days.”

  “Thanks,” Jackson replied. The doctor left. “So, I’m leaning toward this one,” he said, showing the latest, greatest prosthetic design on the market.

  “That’s great,” Hailey said unenthusiastically.

  “What’s with you?” Jackson asked. “Bad PT?”

  “Jackson, can you close the door?” Hailey requested. Jackson hopped off his bed and closed the door before setting down the tablet and going back to Hailey on the bed. “I think we should get married,” she stated.

  “I’m for it, but…why? And how?”

  “I want a record in the Empire that Hailey Ramirez and Jackson Quint lived here and loved each other and mattered.”

  Jackson creased his eyebrows. “What’s bothering you?”

  Hailey broke eye contact.

  “I’m gonna quote you: you can tell me anything,” Jackson said kindly. She looked back at his face and smiled. He smiled lovingly at her. “Whatever it is, we can handle it.”

  “I was thinking about how calm you are, facing a life with a fake hand, and I was thinking that I never lost a body part… then the truth of my sterilization hit me. SWORD killed my potential offspring. Our potential offspring. We have no legacy to pass on. When we’re gone, we disappear. We’re already invisible to most of the Empire.”

  “I’ve never thought about having children. That’s something young people do. By the time we retire, we’ll be… well, not young anymore.”

  “I haven’t thought about it either, until I realized that we don’t even get to choose. I want there to be some kind of evidence that we were even here. At least we can have a record in the ‘Imperial file room’ that we were not ghosts. We existed. We had real feelings. We lived and we loved.”

  “Then let’s get married,” Jackson replied.

  Hailey broke into a big smile. “Now we have to figure out how to get off the Scabbard for a few days.”

  “I may have an idea. These prosthetics,” he said, pointing to the tablet, “are custom made for the recipients. Dr. Ruut is planning to send a 3D rendering of my arm to the makers, but what if I insist on having it done properly? In person. They’ll never let a non-SWORD doctor or technician on the Scabbard, so I’d have to go to them.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Hailey said, thinking through the scenarios. “How do I go with you? They’re never gonna believe you need a hand-holder.”

  “You’re not doing missions anyway. Why couldn’t you go with me for moral support? They’ve never had a case like mine. I’ll bet they had a how-to book on hand during the prep surgery. They don’t know the psychological effect this has on me.”

  “Interesting. That might work. Maybe you should broach the subject with Dr. Ruut.”

  “I will.”

  “I’m going back to PT. I feel much better! I love you, Jax. You’re the greatest.” Hailey hobbled back to the weight room and sat down on the first machine. She commed Ricardo: I'm back. Are you free to supervise? Within a minute, Ricardo walked in.

  “For you, any time,” he said with a smile.

  Hierarchy

  “He wants to go to a prosthetic facility in person,” Dr. Ruut explained to his superior, Dr. Lisa Hamlin, Director of Medical Services.

  “I don’t blame him. Mail-order prosthetics might not fit comfortably. No offense intended, Dr. Ruut.”

  “None taken. I would like to accompany him, though. I always value a chance to learn more about a subject I’m not very experienced with.”

  “A sensible course of action. Please make arrangements for Agent Quint to see the preeminent physician in the field.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be happy to do so.”

  Dr. Ruut nearly broke his face with the smile that spread across it once he was out of Dr. Hamlin’s office. He had not been off the Scabbard since he was recruited, twenty-nine years before. He had been drawn to the offer to work for SWORD by the promise of cutting-edge medical technology and patriotism. What was not made perfectly clear to him at the time was that he would be living and working on a secret space station without windows. Of course, windows wouldn’t do him any good as there was nothing to see outside but distant stars. The space station was not near any planet, sun, or asteroid even. It was well hidden from the normal citizens of the Empire.

  Instead of living a normal life, Dr. Ruut had been implanting and repairing Wraiths. He felt envious when they left his medical bay and went on a transport to some other planet in the Empire. Then he remembered, as they came back with horrific wounds, that they were not playing around out there and he was probably better off working on the Scabbard.

  Land, air, sea, sunshine, moonlight, trees, animals, people! Dr. Ruut mentally listed the things he hadn’t seen in almost three decades. He went to his small office and started his search for the best facility to visit.

  “Agent Quint,” Dr. Ruut said as he walked into Jackson’s room where
Jackson and Hailey were relaxing after a hard workout in the weight room. They watched a comedy vid neither of them had ever seen before. “Time Travelers Don’t Have Birthdays,” he said, glancing at the screen. “I’ve seen that several times. Very funny.”

  Jackson paused the vid and replied to his doctor, “It’s new for us. Haven’t seen most of the things that’ve come out in the past few years.”

  “Well, sick bay’s a good place to catch up,” Ruut said with a smile. “I’ve got good news for you – and for me!”

  “I like good news,” Jackson replied.

  “I’ve made arrangements for you to see a Dr. Tisdale, renowned physician in the prosthetics community, on the colony planet, Light One.”

  Jackson and Hailey looked at each other, then back at Dr. Ruut. “That’s wonderful. Thank you,” Jackson replied. He was about to ask if Hailey could accompany him when the doctor spoke again.

  “And even better, I will be going with you.” Jackson’s face fell slightly. Dr. Ruut was not trained like a Wraith, but even he could see the disappointment in Jackson’s expression. “What’s wrong? I thought you’d appreciate the company.”

  “Yes, Doctor. Of course, I would. It’s just that… I was hoping my good friend could accompany me on this journey. Comet’s a comfort to me. I can’t explain why.”

  “There’s nothing to explain. That’s what friends are for: to help us through the bad times as well as the good.”

  “Do you think you could, I don’t know, make a medical judgement that Comet is beneficial to my recovery?”

  Dr. Ruut was in such a good mood, he instantly agreed to make the argument to his superiors. He was also so blinded by his good mood that he couldn’t see the truth that sat right in front of him: Jax and Comet were more than good friends. They were lovers with a secret plan. The fact that he had chosen a facility on Light One was a stroke of luck for the couple beyond their wildest dreams. When he excused himself from the room, they asked him to close the door on his way out.

  As soon as he was gone, they looked at each other and laughed with joy. “My mother can attend!” Hailey exulted. “She’ll be so happy! Oh, and Uncle Carter, too …if he’s there.”