“I suppose we can make that work,” Karen said, returning to her chair. “It’s been a long time, but as I recall, you have to get a marriage license, then go to an authorized officiant who will certify the marriage and stamp the marriage license, making it a marriage certificate… You need witnesses. Two of them, I think.”
“Is Carter in town?”
“I think he is,” Karen replied. “Carter and I make two witnesses, so you’re set there.”
“We’d sure appreciate some help here. We can’t disappear for too long, or Dr. Ruut will know something’s up.”
“The doctor came with you?” Karen asked. “So, we probably can’t have a reception for you.”
“A reception?” Jackson asked.
“You know, a party where friends and neighbors stop by to wish you well.”
“We don’t have any friends and neighbors,” Hailey said.
“But I do. My only child is getting married. That’s a big deal in a mother’s life! I’d like my friends to meet you both.”
Jackson and Hailey looked at each other. “I don’t know, Mama,” Hailey said. “We don’t really want to attract attention to ourselves. We thought that you and Carter and the two of us could have dinner afterwards, or something like that.”
Karen looked a little disappointed.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Jackson said. “The life of a SWORD agent is not a public one. Most agents don’t have families at all.”
Karen swallowed her disappointment. “Well, then we’ll just have to have a big celebration with a party of four,” she said.
“Mom, this is incredible luck that we were sent to Light One. At least you get to see us get married, be with us for the occasion.”
Karen smiled genuinely. “I know, baby. I am happy. I don’t know what I was thinking… a reception. What a stupid idea. This is something I never even thought about. I never thought you’d get married, Hailey. I’m just so thrilled for you. After all the giving you’ve done, you get to have something you want. And Jackson, I couldn’t think of a more wonderful partner for my daughter.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“Oh, that has to stop. Call me Karen, or call me—” Karen looked down, embarrassed.
“I don’t have a mother anymore,” Jackson said gently. “Would you do me the honor of being my mother from now on?”
Karen looked up at Jackson. “You don’t have a family?”
“My parents were killed in an accident when I was fourteen,” Jackson explained.
“I would love to stand in for your mother, not to take anything away from her, of course.” Karen’s eyes watered. “All you Wraiths, you do so much without getting any reward. You don’t deserve the lonely life they give you. And you two, you’ll be separated again, won’t you?”
“Yes,” Jackson answered as Hailey nodded agreement.
“It’s not fair.”
“Mom, don’t be sad. We’ll go back to work, but in fifteen years or so, we’ll retire and then we’ll be together again. We’ll come and see you more often, and we’ll build a life together, and learn to surf—”
“Surf?” Jackson interrupted. “You never said anything about surfing.”
“Doesn’t it sound like fun?” Hailey asked with a smile.
Jackson smiled. “Yes, it does,” he agreed. “Maybe skiing, too.”
“I didn’t even think about that one. Great idea!”
Karen smiled as the Wraiths’ excitement about the future grew. She didn’t need an elaborate reception for her daughter’s wedding day. She would be happy knowing they had a future together. “You’ll have to try water skiing. Not so cold!” she put in.
The couple held hands across the arms of the chairs and chatted with Karen excitedly about the future. After a long while, Jackson spotted Dr. Ruut coming back into the hotel. He let go of Hailey’s hand and checked his internal chronometer. “Do you want Dr. Ruut knowing Karen is your mother?” he asked Hailey quietly – below the level of the ambient noise in the lounge. Hailey looked toward the lobby.
“Not if we can avoid it,” she said so quietly that only Jackson, with his aural implants, could hear.
Jackson spoke at regular volume again. “Karen – excuse me – Mom, the doctor’s back. We were having such a nice time, we didn’t realize how late it’s gotten.”
“I thought you had head-clocks,” Karen said with a wry smile.
“Yes, but… it’s a figure of speech,” Jackson tried to explain.
“Have no fear, Jackson. I understand.” Karen stood. “I should get home.”
The couple stood when Karen did. “Can you help us get the appointments we need for a wedding?” Hailey asked.
“It would be my great pleasure, dearest.” Karen kissed Hailey on the cheek and hugged her. She did the same to Jackson. “I’ll contact you tomorrow.”
“Would you also contact Carter? My comms get recorded and saved. I can hardly make plans with it.”
“Of course, of course. So, I’ll comm you with some generic ‘hello’ and we’ll get together to plan in person, yes?”
“That’s perfect, Mama. I love you!” Hailey hugged her again.
“Love you, too, Hailey.” Karen hugged Jackson one last time. “I love you too, Jackson.”
Jackson was speechless for a few seconds. Hailey watched him as he struggled to find the words to go with his feelings. “I’m so happy to have a mother,” he said softly.
Karen smiled at him and started out of the lounge. Hailey and Jackson walked her to the taxi line and made sure she got on her way. They waved until she was out of sight, then went upstairs to their rooms.
Hailey sat on the foot of her bed, then fell backwards and spread out her arms. “This is a comfortable bed,” she stated.
“You don’t look comfortable,” Jackson noted.
“Well, I am,” she countered.
“How can you be with all those clothes on?”
Hailey laughed. “I guess you’re right. I could be more comfortable. Care to be comfortable with me?”
“Don’t be silly! That was my plan all along.” Jackson removed most of his clothes and pulled down the covers. Hailey took a little longer to get her left leg out of her pants, but soon enough, she met Jackson in the middle of the bed. They pulled the covers back up and snuggled together the whole night through.
The Specialist
“Dr. Ruut, I’m Dr. Tisdale. Pleased to meet you,” Dr. Tisdale said, shaking hands with Dr. Ruut.
“I’m honored to make your acquaintance. May I introduce Agent Ramirez and our patient, Agent Quint.”
“Will you all join me in my office?” Tisdale said, leading the way. Once they sat down, the doctors exchanged a few compliments in doctor-speak, then finally addressed Jackson’s procedure. “May I see the work your team of doctors did so far?”
“Yes, sir,” Jackson replied, unwrapping his arm and holding it out for the doctor to examine.
“I have internal and external scans from the day of surgery and the day we left which was, let’s see, six days after surgery,” Dr. Ruut informed him.
“This is excellent work, Dr. Ruut. I’m surprised you felt the need to bring him to me. You seem to know what you’re doing.”
“On the contrary, we did that work with an instructional manual handy.” Jackson threw Hailey an I told you so look. “The SWORD doctors are highly skilled, but inexperienced with this type of injury. We only have book-knowledge on the subject of prosthetics. Agent Quint requested a professional fitting.”
“Agent Quint, do you have any residual pain?” Tisdale asked Jackson.
“No, sir.”
“Really?” Tisdale asked, surprised. “I’m told you lost this hand in a horrifying way.”
“I was not horrified. I was working.”
Tisdale looked at Ruut. Ruut explained. “Dr. Tisdale, SWORD agents like Quint and Ramirez are extremely focused when they’re working. Their training and a little help from SWORD R-and-D help them dea
l with adversity without panic or trauma.”
“But, Agent Quint, when you were back at your home base, you must have had some kind of reaction to the loss.”
“Yes, sir. A small reaction. I was surprised when I saw the bandaged arm, then I remembered what happened. I guess I was…” He looked at Hailey.
“He experienced brief sorrow, then rebounded,” Hailey supplied.
Dr. Ruut looked at her. “You were…”
“He woke up in the middle of the night. I was there. We talked briefly, then he went back to sleep.” Hailey left out the facts that Jackson cried on her shoulder and questioned his future.
Dr. Tisdale spoke to Jackson again. “Any phantom limb experiences?”
Jackson retrieved the term phantom limb from his vast memory. He looked at Hailey again. She had also recovered the information with her temporal data node and found it to be a malady in thirty-three percent of patients like Jackson. She gave him a slight nod, encouraging him to share the experience he originally thought would make SWORD think he was crazy. “Yes, sir.”
Again, Dr. Ruut was surprised. He hid it well from Dr. Tisdale, but Hailey picked up on it, of course. Tisdale asked Jackson to explain his experience.
“I feel like my hand is in a tight fist. I feel the tension all the way up my arm. When I concentrate on my arm muscles, I know they are relaxed, but it feels like they are tense.”
Tisdale nodded. “We can help you with that,” he said. He inspected the scans and photographs Dr. Ruut had brought in. “Yes, indeed, I think we can do a lot for you, Agent Quint. I’d like to show you the various options you have.” He activated a 3D image on the desk. A skeletal hand appeared in the imaging box and rotated slowly. Tisdale maneuvered it with a control on his tablet. “This is probably the best match for the kind of work Dr. Ruut told me you do. The parts are made of a durnium composite, almost impossible to break. All the joints move just like a human hand, plus a little extra leeway. The finger pads have identical nerve configurations to real fingers, but the rest of the prosthetic only has basic pressure sensors.”
“Is there some kind of synthetic skin you put over that?” Jackson asked.
“Normally we don’t. Most people – unless they are in vids or politics – don’t bother with synthskin. It makes maintenance more cumbersome, and for all the advances in cosmetic prosthetics, I don’t think it looks completely real. Strangers react better to seeing this kind of hand than an almost perfect one. It’s that whole ‘uncanny valley’ reaction.”
Tisdale changed the 3D image. “Now, this model is intended to give the user much better sensitivity to touch. Musicians like this kind of prosthetic…”
Dr. Tisdale took all the time Jackson needed to show options and explain pros and cons. “May I discuss this with my fellow agent? She does the same kind of work I do. I value her opinion.”
“Of course.” Dr. Ruut and Dr. Tisdale began to get up.
“No need to leave,” Jackson said. He turned to face Hailey straight on. They talked in such hushed voices that neither doctor could hear what they were saying. “Well, Comet, what do you think is most important? Sensitivity or strength?”
“You still have sensitivity in your left hand. I think strength is more important to have in both hands.”
“Yeah, you’re right, but what about when we’re together? Then sensitivity is more important,” he said with a sly smile.
“You do play dangerously, right in front of the doctors,” she replied.
“We’re in a dangerous business,” he said.
She fought to suppress a smile. “I think the first one he showed you is a good start. Then you go to R-and-D on the Scabbard and have them tweak it to move farther in the joints and grip tighter in the fingers and you’ll have a super-hand.”
“I wonder if I can switch ‘em out. You know, bring an extra one home for the geeks to play with and then they can swap it with the one these guys put on.”
“Ask him.”
“Excuse me, Dr. Tisdale. I have a question about the durnium composite hand. Strong as it is, my work is extremely physical and hazardous. I’m wondering how replaceable the parts are, or if it’s possible to get a replacement of the whole hand, from the wrist down, say.”
“Sort of a plug-in situation,” Tisdale pondered. “Interesting. Perhaps with some modifications… that’s an interesting project.” Dr. Tisdale seemed to retreat into his research head, leaving Dr. Ruut with no one to talk to. Jackson turned to him.
“Dr. Ruut, I’m thinking we can take one or two extras back to the Scabbard and see what the geeks can do to enhance its abilities.”
“What kind of enhancements are you talking about? The hand is almost one hundred percent like a human hand.”
“Well, having the wrist spin all the way around, making the grip vise-like, things like that.”
“Ah, enhancements. I see,” Dr. Ruut muttered. “I think that’s an excellent idea, Agent Quint.”
The foursome ended the meeting with more questions than when they started. They made plans to talk to their own sources and meet back together the next day. Dr. Ruut sent out messages to his colleagues at the Scabbard, then went sightseeing for the rest of the day. Hailey and Jackson made their way to Karen’s house to find out what she found out.
It was early afternoon and Karen was still at work. They went to the office where she worked and asked to see her. She took a break and met them in the lobby. “OK, here’s what you need to do. Go to Tercero Civic Center. You know where that is?”
Hailey nodded. She had a map of the whole colony in her head.
“Good. There’s a license office in the license-slash-permits department. You both have to be there because you have to be fingerprinted and DNA-tested. They don’t want closely-related people getting married, like siblings or cousins. Anyway, after that, they’ll give you a license to get married and a list of authorized people who can perform the rite. There are several people right there in the civic center who are authorized. Andre and I just made an appointment with one of them, I remember.”
“Can we choose a day and time?” Hailey asked.
“As long as it’s open on the officiator’s schedule,” Karen answered.
“What day works for you?” Jackson asked Karen.
“Any day. Any time. I’ll take the day off, whatever day it is!”
“What about Carter?” Hailey asked.
“He said the same. Any day, any time. He was thrilled for you both,” Karen reported happily.
“I think we’ll go take care of all the official stuff right now, then go visit Carter. When will you be off work?”
“Seventeen-fifteen,” Karen answered. “I can meet you at Carter’s place by seventeen-thirty.”
“Perfect. See you there,” Hailey said, holding Karen’s hand for a little longer than a standard handshake, but keeping up the appearance of being a business associate of hers.
“Thanks for your help,” Jackson said, also shaking her hand warmly. “This is beginning to feel real.”
“Isn’t it exciting?” Karen said with a big smile. “I’ll see you at Carter’s.”
The Wraiths had to show extreme patience dealing with administrative red tape and lines. In their normal line of work, they always bypassed the rank-and-file bureaucrats and went straight to the high-and-mighty bureaucrats. As they waited in lines and waiting rooms, they overheard other people getting their various licenses for marriage, business, trades, and wilderness sports.
“I had no idea regular people had to jump through so many hoops to do simple things,” Hailey mentioned to Jackson.
“Regular people?” a stranger butted in. “You some kind of special people?” she said snottily.
Hailey turned around to see the person sitting in the row behind them waiting for her turn.
“I’m having a private conversation, if you don’t mind,” Hailey said simply.
“Then don’t talk so loud,” the woman said.
Hailey sp
oke obviously, but inaudibly, to Jackson. He responded in kind.
“Now what are you doing?” the buttinski asked.
“Talking not so loud,” Hailey replied.
“You’re not talking at all. You’re mocking me with your stupid game.”
“On the contrary, my friend and I have excellent hearing.” Hailey turned forward again intending to ignore the woman behind her. But the woman had other ideas.
“You think you can go around thinking you’re better than everyone else – us regular people – and talk to me like that? Who are you, so special and rare?”
Hailey turned around. “I have been perfectly polite to you. You are the one eavesdropping and arguing with strangers. What is your problem?”
The woman’s face contorted. She was working up an angry reply when her name was called. With a “humph” she got up and left the waiting area to speak to the civic worker who called her.
Hailey was not angry, but she was curious what was wrong with the rude woman. She focused on the woman’s conversation with the clerk and heard every word from across the large room. “But I need the gun permit! Rolf is mad. He’s going to kill me.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. Gun permits are only given for wilderness hunting. They are not allowed in the cities or suburbs. You can get a restraining order against your husband.”
“What good will that do? When he comes to beat me to death, I hold up my tablet and show him the court order?”
“No, ma’am. If you have a restraining order, when you call one-one-one your call goes to top priority for Sector Security. They’ll be at your house within minutes.”
“I could be dead in minutes. You don’t know Rolf. He threatened me if I took the kids away, but I had to! I couldn’t let him hurt them, too. He threatened to kill me!”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, there’s nothing this department can do for you. You’ll have to go through Sector Security to get the restraining order.”
“Please! I won’t harm anyone with the gun. It’s just to scare Rolf away from the apartment. I won’t even have bullets in it. Please!”
Hailey's Comet Anthology Page 43