by Claire Buss
'I don't mind hon, what do you want?' Jed knew his wife had been thinking about this moment for a long time and he wanted her to be happy. She fidgeted on the bench next to him. Kira had been hoping for the girl/boy choice – not everyone had it. She had been so desperate for a girl she had even prepped the nursery cube for one, despite being told she was silly to have such hope.
'I'd like girl, blue and heart.'
'As you wish.'
He pressed the screen. It blanked then read …….. Processing……..Please Wait.
Jed's ear comm pinged. It was Force Control.
'Jenkins. You're wanted in a security level six briefing, a hover is on its way to pick you up. Be ready in sixty seconds.'
'I've got to go in.' He stood slowly, not wanting to leave.
Kira looked at him in dismay, how could he leave when they were so close to Collection. She was about to protest when there was a hum from the screen in front of them. It slid upwards and a small hatch opened. Inside was their collection. A baby girl, freshly grown in the lab womb and ready to be taken home.
Chapter Two
ANTIC: Why is baby allocation so tightly controlled? Join the discussion in social hub gamma – are you still waiting for your child? Post your Collection experiences now.
CORPCHAT: Collection Q&A session today at 4pm, join us in social hub beta.
Martha Hamble lay still, her head facing the door. She felt nothing. Numb. Oblivious to the young nurse bustling around, checking her vitals and updating the med log. Unaware of her clothes tagged in an evidence bag on the floor. Not seeing her father through the slim window in the door gesturing angrily outside. Her eyes were unfocused and a tear rolled down her cheek.
The door banged open making her flinch. A tall, broad shouldered man stepped through the doorway, his bald head narrowly missing the top of the door frame.
'Out,' barked Martha's father at the frightened nurse, who immediately put down the med log and swiftly left the room. Roger Hamble breathed heavily through his bulbous nose as he placed a bag of clothes on the floor, by the end of the hospital bed. Unable to look at his daughter he addressed the wall above her head.
'I've made sure your file is redacted. This doesn't go any further. As soon as you're fit to leave you'll come home and we'll forget this ugly mess.'
When Martha didn't respond he nodded. 'Good. I have a meeting at Force HQ.'
He moved forward half a step, hesitated and nodded again before leaving. Martha watched the door close before touching her ear comm.
'Kira,' she whispered.
'You can't just leave. How am I supposed to get back by myself?'
Anger had flushed Kira's cheeks as she stared at Jed who shrugged helplessly.
'It's not my call. I've no choice. You know I'd rather...' he trailed off looking at the sleeping baby in Kira's arms.
'It's not fair,' Kira said softly, gazing down at the perfect bundle. 'You haven't even held her yet.'
'I will, we're a family now.'
Jed kissed them both and with a last look back he was gone. Kira took a moment to compose her thoughts.
'Right,' she said. 'We can do this Grace.'
Bending slightly she picked up the user manual care pack and her bag. Luckily everything else was being delivered, all she had to do was get back to the apartment. But she didn't have the stroller and couldn't use a public skimmer. She had no way of getting home with the baby. They had planned to all walk back together but Kira was feeling too nervous to walk by herself. What if Grace was too hot or too cold or started crying or wanted feeding or she fell out of Kira's arms or …. her ear comm pinged.
'Kira?'
'Martha? Is that you?'
There was a long pause.
'Yes, I ..'
'Hon, I can't talk right now.'
'NO, wait! May I come over? Please? It's …. I ...something happened.' Her voice broke and she was unable to continue.
'What happened?' Kira asked, brow furrowed in concerned.
'I....I just...'
'Yes. Yes. Come over. Use your fob if I'm not there. I won't be far behind you.'
Kira cancelled the call and gently stroked the cheek of the peaceful, sleeping baby in her arms.
'I wonder what that's all about,' she pondered aloud before making her outgoing call.
'I need a hover lift from Corp Medical to Apartment Forty-Seven, Upper North please. Mother and child. No luggage.'
As she began to walk towards the door, thinking about the long corridor and elevator journey down to the large foyer below, Kira felt suddenly small and extremely isolated. She paused before pressing the elevator's call button not knowing if she could do this alone.
'Let's just get home,' she thought. 'And then we can figure this out.'
Kira pressed the button and made sure she had a tight hold of her new baby.
ANON45: Images of Detective Jed Jenkins leaving wife alone at Collection
JMBISH: Congratulations to KJ42 & JENKS. Can't wait to meet my granddaughter.
INJEN: In honour of my new niece, here are Corp Tech's latest baby-tech deals.
The starter pack was waiting when they got in. Kira gently placed the still sleeping Grace in her cube then stood by her for a moment, unwilling to leave the baby alone. Eventually she began looking through the pack with high hopes. They were soon dashed - despite their request for the least invasive option, there seemed to be a lot of gadgets.
The WBW strip (What Baby Wants) which told you whether the baby was hungry, tired or needed a nappy change. The self feeding hover bottle that could be programmed for regular feeds and didn't require holding. Mother scent stickers for Kira to rub on her body and then place around the baby and, worst of all, the baby neural jack. Filled with nursery rhymes and early years education.
'As if I'm going to shove that into a newborn,' thought Kira. She closed the box and pushed it to one side. Her Academy dissertation had been on how much childcare had changed since The Event. She wished it had been taken more seriously when she presented her findings. Using technology to program a baby just didn't feel right. Kira was sure that the touch of one person to another was a far more fulfilling experience. She stroked Grace's soft and wispy fair hair and smiled. If this was motherhood it was very easy so far. Kira started checking her sweeps on her handheld while she waited for Martha.
MSCHILD: We are submitting our 27th request for Collection.
Support our cause and sweep it out across the city.
Martha ignored the nurse flapping round her as she dressed in the spare clothes her father had left. If she could just get out of here she'd feel so much better. But not home, not yet. She needed the one person who understood her completely. She needed to talk about what had happened. She scrubbed her eyes angrily, tears threatening to spill down her face as she turned to face the nurse.
'I'm leaving. My personal locater will inform Force where to find me. You can't keep me here against my will.'
She pushed past the young women trying to keep her in her room.
MED4AC: Hamble seen at Med Centre – No Comment status issued.
Pete glanced across the hover car at his partner.
'I'm sorry Jenks, if it were up to me...'
'It's alright, it's not your fault.' Jed looked out the window as they passed the gleaming blue Collection Towers. 'I don't like leaving Kira on her own and I didn't even get to hold the baby. I mean, it's Collection Day!' Jed hit the front of the hover car in anger. 'Do you even know what we're being pulled in for?'
Pete shook his head.
'Sync me, probably just some tech-head sticking his nose in.' Pete began fiddling with the onboard sweep feed. After a few moments, he cleared his throat. 'Speaking of Corpers, is your sister coming to the baby homecoming?'
Jed knew Pete liked his sister Ingrid, although he wasn't sure why, she hadn't expressed any interest in Pete. All she cared about was her career at Corp Tech and climbing the career ladder as quickly as possible. She didn't talk to
Jed often and was absolutely horrified to learn that he and Kira were planning to follow the long out of fashion natural approach to raising their baby.
'Yep. Don't get too excited though.'
'Why not?' Pete turned slightly to look at Jed.
'Unless you're the latest piece of Tech to hit the market I doubt she'll show much interest.'
'Don't you worry about that Jenks, I have a plan,' Pete said.
They landed at Force HQ and walked through the hover bay. Security waved them onwards to meeting room one.
The Chief stopped talking mid sentence and Roger Hamble looked up as the two detectives entered the room.
'Good,' Hamble nodded. 'You're here. Sorry to pull you away Jenkins, big day and all but I've got..well.. this needs to be sorted and sorted out quick.' He nodded again.
Pete and Jed looked at each other in confusion.
'Sit down detectives,' the Chief said. 'As of now, you two are the only ones cleared to work the rape case.'
Pete perched on the edge of his chair.
'Do we know who the victim is yet Sir?'
'The rape victim was, er..' The Chief cleared his throat and looked up at Mr Hamble who was now pacing by the door.
'The victim was Martha Hamble.'
Jed frowned in surprise. He knew Martha. She was Kira's best friend. He had wondered this morning when working through the rape case details why the victim was nameless, now he understood. The daughter of the Marketing Director of fragging Corporation. And not just an assigned daughter, she was an actual made to order. Obvious when you met her - red hair and green eyes were only available to those with the right connections, couple that with the creamy skin and freckles and it literally set her apart from everyone else. Babies weren't grown like that for Collection. It was extremely rare to grow your own these days but when you were on the Board, strings could be pulled. He was going to have to think of something to tell Kira before she got herself involved.
Hamble cleared his throat.
'Her medical file has been redacted, I want nothing on official record,' he said, not looking at either detective. 'You do your job and you find the bastard, and that's the end of it. Keep in contact, I want regular updates and I want a fast resolution Jenkins. I'm counting on you. See this through and Corporation will look after you.' He glanced at Pete. 'Both of you.'
Mr Hamble checked his wristplant, nodded and left the meeting room.
The detectives stared at the Chief who was frowning.
'I don't need to tell you the firestorm we'll be in if anything, and I mean anything, goes wrong on this case.' The Chief jabbed his finger at each man. 'Barnes, Jenkins – you get to the bottom of this if it kills you and you do it fast. You have full unit resources but nothing leaves HQ and you're not to bring anyone else in unless I authorise it, you hear? Get to work.'
Before either detective had chance to react, the Chief got up and walked out of the room.
'Frag. You know her right? She's one of Kira's friends isn't she? What, I mean, how do you process … are you good?'
Jed nodded tightly.
'Face it Pete, this just got personal and I want to close this case fast.'
They began to set themselves up in the meeting room moving furniture and setting up the internal monitors. Pete called up the case file and checked the progress made on the Drone TV. About half the footage had been screened, no leads. Both detectives sat down and focused on the monitors in front of them, determined to be the one who caught sight of the perpetrator.
ANTIC: Security lock down at Force – do you know what's happening? Upload now and keep the sweeps active, we need your input.
The door chimed and Kira called out 'Open'. Grace stirred and whimpered.
'Shhhh my darling,' Kira whispered, bending over the baby cube as Martha came in. Looking up with a smile to greet her friend Kira began frowning instead.
'Oh sweetie! What happened?'
Martha's face was streaked with dried tears, eyes red and puffy. She looked broken. Kira moved forward to hug her friend and Martha jerked back with a small cry. In her cube Grace started making snuffling noises, moving her head from side to side, small whimpers escaping as she grew more distressed.
'Oh, oh oh look at that.' Martha caught sight of the baby. 'Oh no. It was today, today was Collection. Oh I am so so sorry. I will leave you alone.'
Kira grabbed her friends hand and despite Martha's stiffening, held on and drew her forward, guiding her to sit on the couch.
'Sit. Breathe. I'll make us all some drinks.'
Martha just looked blankly at her friend. Kira raised her voice slightly, 'I'm going to get Grace's bottle and make us some synth-caf – okay?'
Martha looked towards the kitchen and seemed to realise what she was going to do. Kira squeezed Martha's hand, threw a slightly panicked look at the baby cube then hurried over to the kitchen area.
Grace cried louder and louder, sharp shrill wails that seemed to pierce Kira's heart.
'Where is it? Where is it?' she muttered to herself.
Kira opened two cupboards before remembering she'd put the baby formula in with the mugs and glasses. She flipped the drinks machine on and grabbed mugs, a bottle and the formula. When she opened the fridge she saw the pre-made bottles.
'Idiot.'
Scooping a bottle up, Kira flicked on the auto-warmer button whilst choosing the strong synth-caf option for herself and Martha.
Martha was fluttering her hands, looking worriedly at the crying baby in the cube next to her and half rose out of her seat.
'Should I do something?' she asked.
'No, no I got it. It's her first feed. Loud isn't she?' Kira's voice trembled as her hands shook to finish as quickly as possible. She could feel her scalp prickling as she got hotter.
'I'm coming, I'm coming,' Kira called. Everything binged at once so she took Martha her synth-caf and picked up her red-faced baby.
'Shhhh shhhh.' Kira began to bob the baby up and down as she went back to the kitchen for the milk.
'Here, here, here. It's here.' She put the bottle near Grace's face and the loud wailing cut off suddenly. Both women exhaled.
'Phew – that was intense. Poor little thing, I got you, I got you. You were hungry weren't you, it's okay, it's okay.'
Kira sat down with Martha. Both women watched the tiny baby drink hungrily. After a few moments Kira looked up at her friend.
'What happened honey?'
Martha's hands began shaking, sloshing the synthcaf. She gasped as the hot liquid spilled. Quickly she put the mug down on the floor beside her and scrubbed her hands on her trousers, wiping them dry. Martha tried to marshal her thoughts and without looking at her friend began speaking in a low monotone.
'I was walking home from work, through the park on fourth. It's so tranquil and I imagine what the trees will look like when, if, they ever grow back. It was a normal day at work. The same routine. I did...there was a bee. I wondered if I was imagining things. But it was definitely there. You do believe me Kira?' Martha begged, peering up at her friend with a note of desperation in her voice, eyebrows drawn together, eyes pleading for a positive response.
Kira nodded. She was sure Jed had mentioned a bee at Collection.
'I'm not sure what happened.. there was a sound.. a man... he grabbed me...' Martha started to breathe quicker and quicker, tears rolled down her face. 'I can't Kira, I just...please don't force me.'
'Shhhhh, shhhh it's alright Ma, it's alright.' Kira didn't know what to say, she looked down at Grace, who had stopped feeding and was once again blissfully asleep. 'Just let me put her down.'
Martha had drawn her legs up to meet her body and was hugging her knees, rocking backwards and forwards saying 'No, no, no, no, no' under her breath. Kira didn't know what to do but she couldn't leave her friend in such a state so she touched her ear comm.
'Forty-seven? I need a cocoon for visitor M2 please.'
The apartment lights took on a soft glow as a sedation patch ap
peared on the arm of the couch next to Martha, who continued to rock. The patch attached itself to Martha's arm and a sedative was released. Martha's movements slowed until she was still and her breathing returned to normal, then became deeper and calmer.
Kira reluctantly placed the baby back in her cube. She had wanted to enjoy their first moments together, but she felt tense and uneasy, sick with worry as she pulled the cocoon fabric from the top of the couch over her friend. Nothing was turning out the way she thought it would today, and she needed to clear her head before she rang Jed.
She walked over to the small altar in the corner of the room and a sense of calm came over her. She lit a candle, sat down and took a couple of cleansing breaths. Kira imagined herself surrounded by a ball of blue light. With each breath she took in she drew energy from the earth far beneath her, and with each exhale she visualised all her stress and anxiety leaving the top of her head. When she felt completely calm, Kira thought hard about the light around her and attempted to extend the protective energy from herself to her new daughter and her best friend. Kira was beginning to feel in control of herself again when the door chimed.
'IGA,' an efficient voice announced.
'Frag it,' thought Kira, they weren't supposed to come till tomorrow. She got up and went to the door. As she opened it, Jed and Pete walked up the corridor and stopped behind the officious looking woman.
'Timing,' muttered Jed as the three of them entered the apartment.
Chapter Three
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'What are you two doing here?' Kira whispered as Jed and Pete followed the Infant Growth Assessor lady into the apartment and closed the door behind them. Pete pursed his lips and Jed frowned as they both saw the activated cocoon. The IGA ignored it and pulled out a touchscreen.
'Later,' Jed murmured.
'Good afternoon, I'm your IGA,' announced the woman. 'Who are the parents?'
