“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to step away from the desk.” The clerk signaled a security guard. Hailey got up and intercepted the guard.
“She’s my friend; I’ll get her out of here.” The guard backed off. “Kelly, c’mon. We’re not getting anywhere in this department. Let’s go to Sector Security.”
The woman looked at Hailey, confused and angry. Hailey took her by the arm and forcefully led her away from the clerk’s desk, limping along with her cane. “What do you think you’re doing? Who the hell are you? Let go of me!” Kelly argued. Hailey said nothing but took her back to where Jackson was sitting.
“Ma’am, you asked what kind of special people we are. We are agents of SWORD. I’d like to offer help in dealing with your abusive husband.”
“S- SWORD? You want to help me? You don’t even know me,” Kelly said, calming down.
“We don’t know any of the people we serve, but it is our honor to serve the citizens of the Empire,” Jackson said.
Kelly nearly broke down and cried. “I’ve been trying to get someone to help me for weeks – ever since I left Rolf and hid the children in an apartment I rented. He’s going to kill me. I know he’s going to. He found out where we’re living. Sector Security won’t do anything because he hasn’t committed a crime, and these license people won’t let me get a gun to scare him away. I just want to scare him away. I don’t want to kill him.”
“We can help. What has he done so far?” Hailey asked.
“He gets drunk after work, then comes banging on my door. I don’t open it, of course. But yesterday, he intercepted me on my way home. The kids were with me. I had a bunch of groceries in my hands. He threw it all to the ground and slapped me.” Hailey could see the bruise. “I told the kids to run home and Rolf came after me again, but I outran him. One day, he’ll get the jump on me and I won’t be able to get away.”
“Are your kids in a safe place right now?”
“They’re with a friend. I have to pick them up by seventeen-hundred.”
Hailey and Jackson checked the time. It was 15:32. Hailey looked at Jackson. Jackson spoke softly. “You go meet Karen and Carter. I’ll escort Kelly home and wait for Rolf to make an appearance.”
Hailey nodded. “You don’t want back-up?”
Jackson pursed his lips. “I may only have one hand, but I’m still capable of subduing a drunk bastard.”
Hailey smiled. “I know,” she said quietly. “I just didn’t intend to be away from you even for one minute on this trip. I’ll miss you,” she said, batting her eyelashes.
Jackson rolled his eyes, then chuckled at his fiancée. “You’re pretty cute, Comet.”
“You haven’t said that since I was sixteen.” Wiping the grin off her face, Hailey turned back to Kelly. “We have unfinished business here, but if you can wait, then Agent Quint will escort you home and wait for Rolf to show up. When Rolf breaks a law, then Agent Quint can haul him off to Sector Security HQ.”
Kelly looked at Jackson’s missing hand and Hailey’s cane. “You sure you’re up to it?” Kelly asked, not snottily but sincerely concerned.
“Yes, ma’am. No worries.”
Kelly had tears in her eyes. “I treated you so rudely and now you’re willing to help me. You are truly special people. If I could do anything about it, I’d put you in the front of the queue.”
Hailey shook her head. “We’re not more important than anyone else. We’re just here to get a license, just like everyone here.”
The trio waited another twenty minutes before Hailey and Jackson were called to a clerk’s desk. “I see you listed local addresses, but I can’t find any history of you living in this city or in the colony, ever.”
“Sir,” Jackson said, “we have no history because we do not reside anywhere in the Empire. We are SWORD agents.”
“Yeah, right. You’re a couple of Wraiths, huh?” the clerk said sarcastically.
“Yes, sir,” the couple said together.
The clerk froze. “Seriously?” he whispered. “You got some kind of ID?” Hailey and Jackson presented their SWORD IDs. “Hawking…” he breathed. “I’m not sure what to do with this.”
Hailey nudged Jackson and gave him a look. “We should just tell him.”
Jackson nodded. “This is too important a mission…”
“You’re on a mission right now?” the clerk whispered excitedly.
Hailey nodded solemnly. “Under cover. Sir, if you could just make it look official… It’s vitally important for our cover story.”
The clerk checked over his shoulder covertly, then stamped approvals on their application and took their fingerprints and signatures. Lastly, he took cheek swabs from both agents and inserted them into a DNA test kit. He copied the results of the test onto the license, all the while trying to maintain his cool assisting the impossibly rare citizens he had in front of him. But participating in a SWORD mission was the highlight of his many years behind a government desk, and his giddiness bled through. “Can you tell me about one of your missions?” he asked. “I’d sure like to know what a Wraith does in real life.”
“Unfortunately, our missions are classified,” Jackson answered, “but I can tell you that we’ve faced nexacors. How many do you estimate there were?” he asked Hailey.
“At least four thousand,” Hailey answered.
“Yeah. Four thousand against the two of us. Guess who won.”
The clerk nearly giggled at the story. Everyone in the Empire knew how deadly nexacors were. A human had no chance against a single nexacor, much less four thousand. For the first time since they sat down, the clerk noticed Jackson’s stump. “The nexacors did that?” he asked, pointing at the severed arm.
“This? Oh, no. That was a red fin shark.”
The man’s jaw dropped. “You killed that one, too?”
“No. I didn’t have time. There was a little boy in the water…”
“Jackson, classified,” Hailey reminded him with a smirk.
“Right. Sorry. That’s all I can say,” Jackson told the clerk, holding in the laugh that was trying to bust out.
“This is so awesome!” he said with a quiet slap on his desk.
“Have we finished everything here?” Hailey asked.
“Oh, yes. Yes. Here you go. When you’re finished with,” he looked around conspiratorially, “the mission,” he whispered, “you can just delete it; it’s not official until it’s signed by an officiant and filed with the city.”
“Could we have that list of authorized officiants? We need to make this look good,” Hailey added.
“Of course!” the clerk replied, forwarding the list.
“Thank you for your service to the Empire,” Hailey added.
The clerk smiled widely. “Good luck!”
As they walked away, Hailey said, “Don’t you just love bringing happiness to the citizens of the Empire?”
“I wish all my missions were this easy.”
“Speaking of missions,” Hailey said, indicating Kelly standing up to join them.
“OK, I’ll catch up with you at Carter’s house tonight.”
Unofficial Mission
Jackson played bodyguard as the woman picked up some groceries and her children, then headed home to a run-down apartment building inhabited by run-down people. “Kelly, do you feel safe here? In general, I mean.”
“We used to live in a pretty nice neighborhood. But this is all I could afford on my own. No one hassles me except Rolf. My kids play with the other kids in the halls. The people seem safe enough, just poor.”
“Many times I’ve wished I could do something about big problems like poverty and homeless kids. The work I do tackles one small problem at a time.”
“Probably not so small,” Kelly said. “I mean, if SWORD is called in, then it’s something big, isn’t it?”
“Yes, ma’am. But it’s like stomping out local fires when the whole forest is ablaze.”
“Please relax. I’ll make some din
ner,” Kelly said.
“Please, ma’am, feed your kids. Don’t worry about me.”
“It’s the least I can do,” Kelly answered. “I hope I’m not taking you away from something more important.”
“I’m on medical leave,” Jackson answered.
“Ah. The hand, right?”
“The right hand,” Jackson joked.
It took Kelly a moment to get it. “That’s funny,” she said with a chuckle. “I never thought about secret agents being funny.”
“Agent Ramirez brings it out in me,” he said. “She’s got the best sense of humor…”
“The female agent who was with you?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of license were you waiting for? I imagine SWORD gives you license to do just about anything.” Jackson didn’t answer at first. Kelly chastised herself. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business what you were doing there.”
“What the other agent and I are doing is… under the radar.”
“You’re hiding from SWORD? Is that possible?”
Jackson half-smiled. “It’s working so far.”
“You’re getting married,” Kelly guessed.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Kelly smiled. “I’m sure you two will be very happy together. How long have you known her?”
“Almost thirty years,” Jackson answered.
Kelly’s mouth hung agape. “You’ve worked together for thirty years and only getting married now?”
“No. We’ve hardly worked together at all. We were reunited about two weeks ago after twenty-two years apart.”
Kelly stood stunned at the statement. “But you’ll be working together from now on?”
“No, ma’am. SWORD does not pair agents on assignments. We work solo.”
“So, you’re getting married, then going back to work, but not together.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“What kind of marriage is that?”
Jackson was taken aback by the question. He thought about it. “An emotional one, ma’am.”
“When will you see each other again?” Kelly asked, getting very involved in the couple’s business.
“We’ll retire in fifteen years, give or take. Then we’ll be together.”
“Well, when you’re finally together, you be sure to treat her well. Don’t get violent and hurt the woman you love.”
“I couldn’t hurt her even if I wanted to. She’s my equal in every way.”
“You could still hurt her emotionally. That’s how it started with Rolf and me.”
Jackson thought about his love for Hailey. He couldn’t fathom a scenario in which he would try to hurt her emotionally, physically, mentally, or any possible way. Then he thought back to their teenage years when he was implanted – without his knowledge – with a limbic monitor that reduced the heat of his passion for her from high to simmer. He didn’t understand at the time, but she was hurting. She tried to tell him, but he couldn’t see her point of view. Though he didn’t mean to hurt her, the cold things he said to her were like knives in her heart.
The guilt began to weigh on him. None of it was his fault, but he hated the thought of hurting Hailey. Could he do it again – unintentionally?
Kelly cooked while Jackson watched her children play on the floor with pattern blocks. The game was to look at a shape on the tablet and figure out which pieces were required to duplicate it. The kids tried various combinations of triangles, parallelograms, pentagons and squares with little success. Jackson, of course, saw the pattern immediately.
When they couldn’t figure it out, Jackson told them which pieces were required. They tried again and finally got the desired shape. “You do one,” the oldest boy said.
“OK,” Jackson agreed. “Pick a shape.”
The boy, Peter, chose the most complex shape in the collection and showed it to Jackson. Jackson immediately saw the pattern and knew which blocks he needed. His mind solved the problem in an instant, but the act of physically placing the blocks took a few seconds.
“Whoa!” Peter said. “How’d you do that?”
“I’m just good at this game,” Jackson replied, realizing he should have slowed down for the sake of appearing normal. “I got lucky. Try another one.” Peter showed another shape and Jackson instantly solved it mentally, but he took more time to place the blocks on the floor.
“You can do any of these, I’ll bet,” Peter admired.
“Probably,” Jackson agreed.
“Can you teach me how?”
Jackson thought about saying, “Give your life to SWORD and in exchange they’ll give you brain implants so you can impress kids with simple games.” Instead, he said, “I think you just need to practice visualizing different blocks fitting in the shape before you start placing the actual blocks.”
Jackson went back to watching the game and inhaling the cooking smells coming from the kitchen. He wondered what home life would be like for him and Hailey. They’d have to cook their own food and do errands, like grocery shopping and buying clothes. They’d have to get jobs to support themselves, working for simple-minded humans while their superior brains worked lightyears ahead of their employers.
Day in and day out they’d have to live among the ordinary, slow, short-sighted and dim-witted citizens of the Empire. The thought began to suffocate him. He stood and paced around the small living room. Hailey had talked about surfing and skiing, but they wouldn’t have the means to travel around the galaxy on their own. SWORD sent their retired agents into the galaxy with a head full of implants and a hearty handshake, wishing them luck and kicking them off the Scabbard.
“Dinner’s ready,” Kelly interrupted his thoughts. The kids ran to the small table, then turned back to the washroom when their mom reminded them to wash up first. Jackson refused to join them, explaining that he had to be on alert for the harasser’s arrival. The truth was, Jackson had lost his appetite. He also lost track of time – a near impossibility for a Wraith.
When someone pounded on the door, Jackson realized that almost half-an-hour had passed. He instantly snapped out of his depressing thoughts and returned his attention to the problem at hand. He signaled Kelly to open the door. Jackson hid behind the door while the kids hid in the kitchen.
“Rolf, what are you doing here?” Kelly stated after opening the door.
“I knew it! I knew you were here. I’m taking you home; that’s what I’m doing here.”
“We’re not going home with you. I won’t let you hurt the kids, or me anymore!”
Rolf grabbed Kelly by both arms. “You’re coming home and cookin’ for me like you used to.”
“Let go of me,” Kelly raised her voice.
“This is my family and you all belong in my house.”
“That’s your problem, Rolf. You think everything is yours. We’ll I’m not your property and I’m not your servant. You’ll never see the kids again. I’ll make sure of that.”
Rolf hit her across the face with his fist, “I’ll kill you first, bitch.” Jackson had enough to get the man arrested. He reached out from behind the door and dislodged Rolf’s hand from Kelly’s arm. The surprised husband stumbled back, wondering where the strong man had come from. “Who are you?” he demanded.
“Security,” Jackson answered. He pulled the man’s arm behind his back and forced him out of the apartment. “Comm one-one-one,” he instructed Kelly. “Tell ‘em we’ll be in front of the building.”
“Thank you,” Kelly replied gratefully.
“Do you need medical for that hit?” Jackson asked.
“Just need ice. I’ll be fine. Thank you!”
Jackson shoved the man outside. He could only hold one of Rolf’s hands, so Rolf swatted his free hand behind him, trying to shake Jackson off him. When Rolf’s elbow hit Jackson’s stump, it sent a jolt of pain up his arm unlike anything he experienced before. He shoved Rolf forward and kicked him to the ground. Rolf landed on his face, but quickly started to get up. Jackson ste
pped up next to him and kicked him in the ribs. He heard ribs cracking and Rolf moaning, yet he kicked him again. He kicked Rolf repeatedly; the man became less and less responsive to the attack.
Jackson didn’t notice the sirens until Sector Security arrived. SS officers pulled him away from the bruised and bleeding man. Jackson suddenly saw what he had done. He couldn’t believe it. He had been blinded by rage, a rage that was now gone as rational thought took over again.
One of the officers held Jackson’s arms behind him. Jackson could’ve escaped easily, but he submitted to the representative of the law. The other officer called for an ambulance and tended to the beaten man.
Jackson listened for Rolf’s heartbeat and respiration. He was alive, but badly hurt. “Sergeant,” Jackson said. “You can cuff me to that post over there and help your partner.”
“What do you care?” the sergeant asked. “You’re the one that beat the crap outta him.”
“Please, help him.”
Jackson spoke so calmly that the sergeant considered it. He cuffed Jackson to a post of his own choosing. Jackson sat on the ground, leaning against the post he had been cuffed to. What happened to me? he asked himself.
At the Sector Security station, Jackson was brought in like a criminal. They sat him down in a chair in an interrogation room. Then they went through his pockets looking for ID or drugs or anything else that might be relevant. They found his SWORD ID and looked at him, confused.
“Why didn’t you tell us you’re from SWORD?”
Jackson felt so guilty, he couldn’t think of a good answer for that. He shrugged.
“What do you mean, you don’t know? You’re a frittin’ Wraith, aren’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What were you doing wailing on that guy? Is he a target of yours?”
“I’m not on a mission.”
“Then what happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does SWORD let you get away with answers like that?”
“No, sir.”
“Then I expect a better answer than, ‘I don’t know.’”
“I wish I had one,” Jackson said quietly.
Hailey's Comet Anthology Page 44