Hailey's Comet Anthology

by Selma J Lewis

  “Let’s start at the beginning. Why are you in Tercero City?”

  “I’m seeing a specialist for a prosthetic hand.”

  “When’d you lose that hand?”

  “About two weeks ago.”

  “In the line of duty?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You were not in a neighborhood known for cutting-edge medical specialists.”

  “I was attempting to help a woman I met in the Civic Center who had an abusive husband.”

  “Is the man you beat up her husband?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Tell me what happened when you confronted the husband.”

  “He came to the woman’s apartment. Her kids hid. I hid behind the door, and she answered it. They exchanged words. He grabbed her arms; he hit her face; he threatened to kill her. That’s when I stepped in. There were enough explicit dangers to the woman for the man to be arrested. I told her to call one-one-one and I took the man outside with one arm held behind his back. I couldn’t hold the second arm.”

  “Did you identify yourself as an agent of SWORD to the man?”

  “He asked who I was. I said I was security, which was accurate enough.”

  “What happened outside?”

  “He resisted. He managed to hit me right here.” Jackson pointed to the healing end of his arm. “It sent such a pain through my arm that…I guess I lost control. I shoved him to the ground, and after that I don’t really remember… well, I can remember now, but it seemed like my brain turned off for a little while. I was out of control. I can’t explain it.”

  “Has this happened before?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Is it because of the arm?”

  “I don’t know, sir.”

  “We’ve dealt with Wraiths before. They don’t say things like ‘I don’t know.’ They’re very sure of themselves. Quite pushy, in fact.”

  “I’ve always been very sure of myself, but I guess I’ve… not been myself since the incident with the shark.”

  “A shark? Is that what took your hand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Why in the Empire were you tangling with a shark?”

  “I was saving a child who was thrown into the water by a suspect I was chasing.”

  “Crikey,” the interrogator breathed. “Well, it’s not kosher for us to arrest a SWORD agent. I wouldn’t know what to do with you anyway. You’re not exactly a regular citizen with a number and everything. Why don’t you write your, uh, arrest report on the man you ‘subdued’ and we’ll let you get on with your business here.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jackson said submissively. “Sir, is the man, Rolf, all right?”

  “He will be.” They handed him a recorder which could transcribe his testimony. He reported the details of the incident in the apartment, swearing as an agent of SWORD that his account was true. Then SS let him go.

  Jackson took a very long time to get to Carter’s house. He walked the thirteen-point-five-five klicks instead of taking a taxi. When he arrived, he heard Hailey and Karen and Carter laughing together about something he didn’t catch. He stood on the doorstep for several minutes before Hailey opened the door. “Jackson, I thought I heard something out here.”

  “I need to talk to you,” he said very quietly.

  Hailey saw that all his bio signs showed stress and discomfort. “Mom, Carter, I’ll be back in a little while, OK?”

  “OK,” they called back, continuing to talk about whatever they were talking about.

  Hailey grabbed her cane. She and Jackson walked away from the house so Carter would not be able to hear them even with his aural implants. “What happened?” Hailey asked. “I thought you’d be here much earlier. Did the guy not show up?”

  “He showed up. He threatened to kill her. He hit her. I took him outside.” Jackson ran a hand under his nose. “I could only hold one arm behind his back and with his other arm he hit me right here. Hailey, I’ve never felt anything like that before. The pain was excruciating.” Hailey rubbed his right arm above the elbow and nodded her understanding. She had felt something similar when a worm-zilla pulled her dislocated leg.

  “Without adrenaline, I guess it was full force,” she said sympathetically.

  Jackson nodded. “I don’t know what happened to me. I kicked him to the ground and when he tried to get up, I kicked him again. I know I broke two ribs with that kick, but I kicked him again and again. Seven times, total. But while I did it, I didn’t know I was doing it. You know?”

  “Rage.”

  “Yeah. That’s right. It was blind rage. I’ve never, ever experienced that before. I couldn’t stop. Sector Security had to drag me off the guy.” Jackson looked at the ground until Hailey put a hand on his cheek and lifted his face to meet hers.

  “For twenty-seven years, you’ve dealt with stress and injustice and sorrow and suffering without getting angry. Now, after all that dedicated, even-tempered service, your hand is stolen from you. It’s physically painful and emotionally painful. You put on a brave face in front of everyone, but maybe you needed more time to mourn than you gave yourself. Maybe you needed to vent your rage but you held it in until someone provoked you in such a painful way, you couldn’t control it anymore.”

  “I pummeled that guy. I mean, he was an asshole, but still, I shouldn’t’ve done that.”

  “How do you feel now?”

  “I’m hella disappointed in myself.”

  “Then maybe you excised all the rage you had pent up. I think it was a breakthrough for you.”

  “Have you been reading psychology books?”

  “Over the years, yeah. I’ve had my own demons to expunge.” Hailey placed a soft kiss on his lips. “You should talk to Carter. He had lots of blow-ups when he retired. He may have some insight into that whole psychological thing.”

  “Hailey, there’s something…” Jackson reconsidered discussing his other recently-discovered insecurity with her.

  “You can tell me anything,” she reminded him.

  “When I was in Kelly’s apartment, waiting for her husband to show up, I was watching her kids playing on the floor.” Jackson paused, still unsure about sharing.

  Hailey broke eye contact. She knew what it was. He was thinking about the fact that they would never have a family of their own. She was not capable of having children. “I’m sorry, Jackson. I wish I could change the past, but I can’t.”

  “What?” he asked.

  “You want children…”

  “What? No. No, that’s not it.” He led her to a public bench. “You should sit.”

  “Oh, shit. What’s happening here?”

  “What? What’s happening here?”

  “You don’t want to get married after all, do you?” Hailey questioned directly.

  He looked at her, utterly confused. He sat down next to her on the bench. “Hailey, of course I want to marry you. But I got to thinking about the reality of it all. We’ll have to get jobs – mundane, unimportant jobs where we’ll have to answer to small-minded superiors and collect stupid little paychecks so we can go down to the grocery store and buy ingredients for stupid little dinners we’ll have to cook for ourselves. All that exciting stuff we talked about – the surfing, the skiing, the travelling together – it’s not gonna be like that. It’s gonna be boring as hell. And frustrating as hell! Hawking! Answering to small people with big egos when we’re a thousand times their betters intellectually, physically, and…”

  Hailey looked at Jackson compassionately. She had battled this beast a long time ago. She no longer felt superior to regular humans, but she did see his point about living a boring-as-hell life. “Jackson, my love, it doesn’t have to be that way for us. We don’t have to live in a small place doing small jobs. We have skills to share. Valuable skills. Really, come talk to Carter. He’s been through this exact thing.”

  “I don’t know. I’m not very good company tonight.”

  “Carter will cheer you up. He’s fantastic.
” Hailey stood, putting an end to his objections. She held out her hand and he took it. With her cane sharing the load on her other side, they walked hand-in-hand back to Carter’s house.

  “Welcome back!” Carter greeted the couple cheerfully. “You must be Jackson. I’m Carter Flynn.”

  “My honor to meet you, sir,” Jackson said formally.

  “Come now, we’re practically family. Call me Carter!”

  Karen stood and approached Jackson and gave him a hug. “Long day? Are you hungry? We’ve got plenty of food.”

  Jackson’s unease melted when Karen acted so motherly to him. “Thank you. I’d love some food.”

  “You get acquainted with Carter. I’ll get you a plate.” Karen disappeared into the kitchen.

  “So, Jackson, what are your intentions with my niece?” Carter said seriously.

  “Carter, stop it,” Hailey scolded. “You know he intends to marry me all legal-like.”

  Jackson looked up at Hailey, who sat on the armrest of the chair he was offered. She had an arm draped around his shoulders and gave him a squeeze. He looked back at Carter. “Indeed. I’m completely hooked on your niece.”

  “Did Hailey tell you how we met?” Carter asked.

  “No details. The mission was classified,” Jackson answered.

  “Forget the mission. I first saw her in a casino on a luxury yacht. Some asshole gave her a little pat on the bum and she punished him good.”

  Jackson smiled, looking up at Hailey. “What’d she do?” he asked Carter.

  “It was a beautiful thing. The bastard was playing craps. He told her to blow on his dice,” Carter paused to put a finger in his mouth and gag exaggeratedly. Jackson laughed. “Hailey, she hooks him in with ‘How about I throw for you, baby?’ He takes the bait and she reels him in. Throws the dice to get the feel, then throws the losing number on purpose!”

  Hailey laughed. “The guy lost five thousand points.”

  “At least!” Carter added. “He’s watching the chips slide away and Hailey disappears before he can turn around to curse her.”

  “Then Carter sent me a drink and says, ‘Enjoy, Wraith.’ Well, I had to know how he knew I was a Wraith, so I went to his table and the rest is history.”

  “Oh, yeah. No one saw how she did it but me. It was pure elegance.”

  “Here you go, honey,” Karen said, handing Jackson a plate of hot food and a fork.

  “Do you all mind if I eat in front of you?” Jackson asked.

  “That’s what we get for eating without you,” Carter said. “Please, enjoy.”

  “This smells very good. Thank you.”

  “Made it myself!” Carter beamed. “I’ve learned a lot from Karen. She’s a great cook.”

  Jackson looked at Hailey, discomfort showing on his face again.

  “It’s safe,” Carter assured him. “We all ate it.”

  “No. I’m sorry, Carter. I, uh, it looks great. I…” Jackson gave up trying to speak and put a forkful in his mouth.

  “Uncle Carter, Jackson’s curious how you learned to find a happy way to live in the regular world. I am, too, in fact. What a drastic change from dashing here and there, doing this and that constantly.”

  “Oh, yes. We’ve talked about this before, Hailey, when Sam was after you.”

  Karen stirred.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Karen. I know that was a bad experience for you. Please forgive me.”

  “Of course, Carter,” Karen replied. “Water under the bridge.”

  “Jackson, when I first retired, it was hard to slow down. It was hard not to take charge of things. It was hard to let other people have their say. It was very hard to let Sector Security uphold the law and stand back and just observe. You can’t try to save everybody. You don’t have the mandate or the authority.”

  “I can’t fathom how to make that transition,” Jackson admitted.

  “Well, by the time you retire, you’ll be a little more tired than you are at this age. But it’s still difficult. It wasn’t until I met Hailey that my life turned around. Being with a Wraith was comfortable. We could talk. We could relate. Then I met Karen and she understood me like no other regular citizen ever did. You, Jackson, have a head start: you already have Hailey. She is a ray of sunshine in the darkness.”

  “Oh, right! Who would ever look at me and think: sunny,” Hailey criticized herself.

  “I would,” Carter said.

  “I would,” Karen added.

  “I would,” Jackson topped it off.

  “You guys have got to be kidding. I’m a Wraith! A black force of nature that barrels through the evil lairs of the bad guys. I’m not sunshine; I’m a tornado!”

  Her friends laughed. Jackson set down his plate and turned in his chair. “Hailey, you are the only positive thing in my life. You make me laugh. You make me smile. You make me feel better about myself and the universe. You tell it to me straight, but you tell it to me kindly. You have been the love of my life since I was seventeen. You are my ray of sunshine.”

  She gazed down at his earnest face. She put both hands on his head and leaned down to kiss him. He pulled her off the armrest and onto his lap, holding her with his full arm, kissing her adoringly. Karen looked on with tears in her eyes. Carter sat back in his chair with a contented smile. Then he interrupted the moment. “Hey, that could be your wedding vow, right there.”

  The couple managed to tear themselves apart. They still stared at each other. “That wasn’t a vow,” Hailey said. “That was just a bunch of mushy drivel. No promises in there at all.”

  Jackson smiled at her. “Well, if you don’t like the mushy drivel…”

  “I didn’t say that!” Hailey objected. “You can mushy-drivel me any time you want.”

  By the time Hailey and Jackson got back to the hotel, Dr. Ruut was already asleep in his bed. “I hope he’s having a good time,” Hailey said.

  “I’m sure he is.” Jackson checked his comm for the first time in hours. “Oops, he commed me four hours ago.”

  “What’s up?”

  “Another appointment with Dr. Tisdale tomorrow afternoon.” Jackson stretched his arm out, trying to shake the pain that plagued him since Rolf hit his stump with such force. Jackson looked at the bed and at Hailey. Tension started to creep into his mind and muscles again. “I’m going to take a hot shower before bed,” Jackson declared. “Maybe you should go sleep in your own room so I don’t disturb you.”

  “If that’s what you want,” Hailey replied. “Can I do anything for you?”

  “No. I just need some peace and quiet and a hot shower.” He kissed her head and went to the wash room. Hailey respected his wishes and slept in her room. When Jackson finally went to bed, he tossed and turned for hours, at last falling asleep just before 04:00.

  Surgery

  Dr. Tisdale had good news. He did not have a way for hands to be pulled out to plug in a new one, but he did have a new way of attaching the hand to the metallic, electronically controlled radius and ulna so that Dr. Ruut would be able to detach and attach a replacement hand with a one-hour procedure.

  “In that case,” Dr. Ruut said, “we’ll take one for here and three to go!”

  “You’re in luck: we’re having a special this week. Buy three, get the fourth free!”

  The doctors shared a chuckle over the fast-food ordering of half-million-point body parts. Hailey looked to the ceiling; Jackson sighed. “When can we do this?” he asked impatiently.

  Dr. Tisdale focused on Jackson. “I’d like to do some tests to identify the source of your phantom limb sensations. Then I’d like to discuss reasonable expectations with you, and then we’ll schedule the surgery.”

  “Is it a knock-out surgery?” Jackson asked.

  “No. We need your real-time feedback to make sure we’re making the best connections possible for you. The attachment area will be anesthetized, but you’ll be awake.”

  “OK, so let’s discuss.”

  “Of course. Dr. Ruut, Agent Ra
mirez, will you excuse us please?”

  They left the room and Dr. Tisdale looked at Jackson with concern. “What?” Jackson asked.

  “Your demeanor has changed. Are you nervous about the surgery?”

  “I want this damn tension to stop. It’s making me uptight.”

  “Is it worse than when I first saw you?”

  “Much worse.”

  “That’s strange,” muttered Dr. Tisdale. “I’ve never heard of a sudden upturn in phantom pain.”

  “It’s no damn phantom pain. It’s real pain! I feel my hand in the shark’s mouth. I feel those teeth sawing through my arm. I feel the drop in blood pressure as I’m bleeding out into the ocean, attracting other sharks. I feel my heart trying to compensate. I feel the whole damn attack every second of the day!”

  “Agent Quint, I hear your complaint. I’m going to help you. But I feel part of your problem is psychological.”

  “I’m crazy. Is that what you’re saying?”

  “No, not crazy. Traumatized. I suspect you’ve been telling everyone you’re doing fine, you’re ready for the prosthetic, you’re eager to get back to work. But in reality, you’re…”

  “Angry.”

  “Yes, perhaps more than angry...”

  “Enraged!” Jackson amended.

  “Very descriptive. I understand what you’re saying. What do you think will alleviate your feelings of rage?”

  “I have no frittin’ idea!” Jackson stood up and paced around the office. “I want my real hand back. I want to be the agent I was three weeks ago. I’m a Wraith, dammit! How the hell am I going to be a Wraith now?”

  Dr. Tisdale stared at Jackson, pondering his outburst. “A Wraith…”

  “I thought Dr. Ruut told you,” Jackson snapped.

  “No, no. He didn’t say that. That changes things a bit.”

  “How?”

  “I’ve read about Wraiths, well, what SWORD publishes anyway. You have brain implants, spinal reinforcement, aural and visual enhancements beyond the scope of what modern medicine can achieve.”

  “And a crap-load of intensive training,” Jackson put in.