by R S Penney
With a sigh, he went to bed.
Through the open window, Anna saw the face of a tall building on the other side of the street, a towering spire with sunlight reflecting off its glass surface. Sweet summer air drifted in from outside along with the voices of pedestrians.
Anna stood with arms crossed, frowning through the window. Just what am I still doing here? she wondered. Three years is long enough for any assignment. I could have put in for a transfer long ago.
Anna looked up and felt sunlight on her face. Of course, it's not that simple, she thought, blinking. Requesting a transfer means asking myself where I'd want to go next.
The door opened behind her.
With her Nassai's assistance, she was able to perceive the silhouette of a large man who came into the office and stopped in his tracks. “Anna,” he said with just a touch of surprise in his voice.
She turned, glancing over her shoulder as a tendril of red hair fell over one eye. “I didn't mean to startle you,” she began. “Miri said that I could wait in here until you got back from lunch.”
Harlan Caro was a tall man in a light jacket with a jovial smile pasted on his thick face. His hair was slicked back. “It's fine,” he said, approaching the other side of his wooden desk. “How can I help you?”
Anna faced him with a sigh.
She leaned against the window frame with her arms folded, shaking her head ever so slowly. “I've been having a lot of restless thoughts lately,” she said. “I'm thinking it might be time to advance my career.”
Harlan watched her with a thoughtful expression, nodding slowly as he considered her words. “I've been expecting this for a while,” he said. “Alios is not exactly the most challenging assignment.”
“I agree.”
“Have you thought about where you'd like to go?” he inquired. “I'm sure I could get you posted to the homeworld. It's not exactly the most exotic location, I'll grant you, but Leyria is a major hub for travel and diplomacy. Plenty of opportunities to do some first-class police work.”
The answer to his question was right there in her mind, but she froze before giving it voice. In part, that was because she hadn't allowed herself to consider the possibility of getting what she wanted.
“Earth,” she said.
Jack wasn't the only reason she wanted to go back. Her people had finally found the birthplace of their ancestors. The answers to so many riddles could be buried beneath that world's soils. Perhaps they might finally learn why Overseers had scattered humanity across the galaxy. Bringing Earth into the galactic community would require the best and the brightest of their people, and she wanted to be among them. Anna wanted to be a Justice Keeper, and not just a mediocre Justice Keeper. She wanted to be the best.
Harlan took a deep breath through his open mouth. Closing his eyes, he bowed his head. “That will be difficult,” he muttered. “Earth is one of the most highly sought-after assignments. You'd really have to distinguish yourself.”
Lifting her chin, Anna held his gaze for a long moment. “Are you saying I can't do it?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Need I remind you of who it was that found Earth in the first place?”
That brought back memories of Dex, the light-hearted pilot who had flown her to Earth in pursuit of Denario Tarse. She stifled those memories. Tearing up in front of her boss wouldn't convince him of her suitability.
Harlan turned on his heel.
He paced across the room with hands shoved into his pockets, stopping in front of the wall. “I'm not saying any such thing,” he replied. “I think you're a fine officer. I just think you're in for some stiff competition.”
Anna sat down on the windowsill.
Pressing her lips together, she looked down at the floor. “You're right,” she said with a nod. “It will be quite the challenge. So what do you suggest I do to stand out from the crowd?”
A smile appeared on the man's face. “I suggest we beef up your service record,” he said. “A major case just came across my desk half an hour ago, and I was planning to assign it to you.”
“Oh?”
“Think you can handle a smuggling ring?”
They discussed the details for nearly twenty minutes, and by the time the meeting was over, Anna was feeling downright confident. She had accepted this assignment out of a desire to do her part. If this was where Slade wanted her, he must have had a reason for the decision.
After three years on this planet, however, she was beginning to feel as though her skills were going to waste. Oh, she'd busted up a few crime rings – mostly drugs; dealers tended to peddle their wares in the outer colonies – but much of her job had been routine patrols through the solar system.
She wanted to get back out there, to do something that mattered. Now it felt like this latest assignment would be the first step in doing so. She went to lunch with a spring in her step, confident that within a few months, her life would be going in a very different direction.
Chapter 12
A light drizzle fell on the suburbs of Winnipeg, rain pattering on the slanted roof of an old house with yellow aluminum siding. Two windows looked out on the damp front lawn like a pair of eyes.
Jack stood on the sidewalk in jeans and a black windbreaker, his hair slick with rainfall. What am I doing here? he wondered. Nothing good will come out of this little visit.
He started up the driveway.
On the porch, he found a big green door with moisture on the window that looked in on the front hall. Too bad his Nassai could not see through solid objects; it was far too dark inside for him to make out anything.
Jack covered his face with one hand, groaning into his palm. “You shouldn't have come,” he said, rubbing the tip of his nose. “You always say 'this time will be different,' and it never ever is.”
He pushed the door open.
A set of stairs led up to the second floor, and beside that, a long hallway stretched to the back of the house where another door looked out on the backyard. By the silence, he was half convinced that no one was home. Maybe he could just slip away.
“Hello, Jack,” his father called out.
Jack froze, then leaned one shoulder against the corridor wall. “How'd you know it was me?” he asked. “Did you go and put in a security camera?”
The door to the kitchen was on his right.
He found his father standing with his back turned, stirring a cup of tea that he'd set on the countertop. The old wooden cupboards that lined two walls stood at odds with the fancy new oven and stainless-steel dishwasher.
Arthur Hunter wore a pair of jeans and a blue sweatshirt, the dark hair on his head slowly turning gray. “I heard you come in,” he said. “Your mother would not be home this early, and Lauren would have knocked.”
The instinct to point out that it would be impossible for Lauren to make a surprise visit without calling ahead to have someone pick her up at the airport was hard to stifle. There were times when he himself forgot that the world had changed. Airports were all but obsolete these days.
Jack had come to Winnipeg by SlipGate, and his sister could easily do the same. In fact, she made it a point to visit their parents almost every other weekend. Jack, however, was not quite so…social.
Arthur turned.
A tall man with a stern face, he had a thick salt-and-pepper beard and the hard blue eyes that marked him as a Hunter. “So,” he said, leaning against the cupboards. “My son decides to pay me a visit.”
“Miracles do happen.”
“And he brings his alien pal along for the ride.”
Sucking on his lower lip, Jack closed his eyes. He tried to ignore the heat in his face. “Nice to see you too, Dad,” he shot back. “Summer says hi. She's really glad you made her feel like part of the family.”
Arthur crossed his arms, shaking his head in disgust. “I hardly had any say in the matter, now did I?” He marched forward with his head down. “I assume that everything I say to you will become part of your little Justice Keepe
r collective?”
Jack opened his mouth to explain that it didn't work that way. When he died and Summer returned to the Nassai collective, she would share his memories with the rest of her species. Though Summer carried the memories of other Justice Keepers, she would not allow him to experience those events. Humans valued individuality, she insisted. To burden him with the lives of those who had come before him would dilute his essence. Whatever that meant.
He opened his mouth to explain but quickly changed his mind. “That's right,” Jack said. “So you might want to think twice before you crack open the xenophobia. Just a heads up.”
Summer responded with irritation. Clearly she didn't like the thought of him lying to control his father's actions. Or maybe he was giving the Nassai a bad reputation. As if Arthur's opinion of them could go any lower.
“I assume you want to discuss the situation in Ottawa.”
The kitchen table was positioned under a large bay window that looked out on the backyard. Tiny raindrops slid across the pane, and he could just make out the wooden fence some fifty feet away.
Jack pulled a chair out.
He sat down with his hands in his lap, head hanging. “It's getting worse out there every day,” he admitted. “The government's starting to express anti-Leyrian sentiments, which will only make things harder.”
Arthur frowned, nodding as he thought the matter over. “Perhaps they're right,” he said, turning back to the counter. “I've often said that the Leyrians represent a danger to our way of life.”
“Come on, Dad…”
“I'm serious.”
“I know you're serious,” Jack said, glancing out the window. A somber day like this was the perfect setting for such a bleak conversation. “That's the problem. You shouldn't judge an entire culture by the actions of one individual, and this guy's not even Leyrian. He's Ragnosian.”
Arthur stood at the counter, stirring his tea. He lifted the cup to his lips, then took a sip. “An alien's an alien,” he said. “They're raised with different values, and they have the technology to force their ways on us.”
Massaging his temples with two fingers, Jack winced. “You're killing me, Dad,” he said, slouching in his chair. “Look, I don't want to debate this with you. I came here to get some perspective on how to catch this man.”
Arthur turned slowly, frowning into his cup to avoid looking at his son. “So, you came here for some advice,” he muttered. “What can an old beat-cop possibly teach you, the famous Justice Keeper?”
“You're right. I shouldn't have come.”
“So you're just going to leave?”
Jack got up and turned his back on the man, marching out the door to the hallway. “Is there any point to my staying?” he asked. “You've made it quite clear that you're not willing to help me.”
The long, narrow hallway stretched on to the front door where gray light came in through the window. Moisture on the pane made it impossible to see the front yard with any clarity, but someone was trying to work her keys into the lock.
A moment later, the door swung open, and Jack's mother stepped into the house. She was taking shelter beneath an umbrella that she quickly closed and set down next to the coat rack.
A small woman in green scrubs under a heavy jacket, Crystal Hunter had a round face framed by long ringlets of honey-coloured hair. “It's slippery out there,” she said, shaking her head. “Arthur, if you're going out for groceries-”
She looked up at blinked at him. “Jack!” she exclaimed, starting down the hallway. “When did you get here? Oh, never mind that! I'm just glad to see you! And you as well, Summer.”
His Nassai responded with warm emotions.
“She says hi,” Jack replied. “Good to see you too, Mom.”
As she got within arm's reach of him, Crystal looked up into his eyes. The look of concern on her face was one he had seen many times before. “Something's wrong,” she said. “Well, stay for dinner. You can tell me all about it later.”
Streetlights on the far side of the road cast an orange glow down on small houses all nestled together in a line. Beyond that, tall evergreens marked the border of a park. The rain had finally stopped, leaving a slight chill in the night air.
Jack sat on the slanted roof with his legs drawn up against his chest, hugging his knees for warmth. Coming up here was a chance to clear his head, to put aside his fears and anxieties for a few brief moments. As a child, he would sit in this very spot for hours, just watching the sun go down.
This would normally be the part where the hero said something to the effect of “If only life could be as simple as it was back then,” but Jack felt no such inclination. Life had not been simple when he was little. That it should remain complicated now that he was an adult was no real surprise.
Perhaps coming to Winnipeg had been a mistake. Lauren often lectured him on his infrequent visits and the pain his absence caused their mother. Now that SlipGates were a reality, he had no excuse.
Well, he could think of several.
His father was a good man, all things considered, but the two of them had never seen eye to eye. Right now, the last thing he needed was pointless family drama. He had to be sharp, focused. In truth, he'd been entertaining some silly fantasy that coming up here would give him some eureka moment. Sadly, real life didn't work that way. The solution to a problem rarely came as a flash of inspiration.
“Jack?”
Tilting his head back, Jack closed his eyes. He took a deep soothing breath to calm his nerves. “Out here, Mom,” he replied. “Just thought I'd visit the old hiding place and make sure my ass-groove is still intact.”
Crystal poked her head out the window.
Waves of honey-coloured hair fell over her face, and she had to toss her head about just to see him. “You want some dessert?” she asked. “I've got some nice strawberry pie that I picked up yesterday.”
“No thanks.”
A string of curses followed as Crystal crawled out through the window and got up on her knees. She looked exhausted, frowning as she peered over the ledge at the front lawn below. “So do you want to talk about it?” she asked. “The craziness in Ottawa that has you tied up in knots?”
Chewing on his lip, Jack stared into the distance and blinked slowly as he thought it over. “Not really,” he muttered. “To be honest, there's not very much to talk about. Unless you've got some counter-terrorism manual hidden somewhere.”
“What are you gonna do?”
He looked up at the night sky with a cheeky grin, blinking as he mulled over the possibilities. “I was thinking of challenging him to a duel of interpretive dance,” he said. “But my boss has this strange obsession with realistic plans.”
“You could always replace his guns with ones that release little flags that say 'bang' when you pull the trigger. That was always one of my favourites.”
“Nah. Too unoriginal.”
His mother watched him for a while, sympathy shining in her dark eyes. “It's really hurting you, isn't it?” she murmured. “Watching all this and feeling powerless to stop it must cut you up inside.”
“I'm surviving.”
Crystal folded her arms, hunching over as a shiver went through her. “I didn't ask if you were surviving,” she said. “I asked how you were feeling. You're not doing anyone any favours by repressing it.”
She wanted to know how he felt? A madman with alien technology was racking up a rather sizable kill count in his city, and his mother wanted him to open up and share? How did he feel? Helpless! Frustrated! Furious! He felt… “Like a failure. I feel that if I were actually qualified to do this job, Leo would be behind bars.”
For a long while, they just sat in silence, and Jack began to wonder if maybe he should have kept his mouth shut. He liked being a Keeper. You might not think so from the way he was willing to throw his career down the toilet every time he disagreed with his superiors, but he couldn't imagine himself doing anything else. In fact, the insistence on followin
g your own conscience first and foremost was part of what he liked about it. Now, however, he had just admitted that maybe he didn't deserve to be a Justice Keeper. He expected some kind of platitude, but his mother did nothing of the sort.
“You know,” she said after a long moment, “I remember the very first time I lost someone in the Emergency Room. I was twenty-two, just like you. I had been expecting it for months, but somehow I'd managed to avoid it.
“Then one spring afternoon, a guy came in suffering from a heart attack. I can still see him lying on the stretcher, the oxygen mask over his mouth, his hair a mess like he'd just woken up from a fitful sleep. He'd collapsed when his wife was out, and by the time she came back, he'd been left unattended for twenty minutes.
“We knew there was a very slim chance of him pulling through. I administered the thrombolytics, and then I was being shooed out of the way so that the doctors could look at him. There wasn't much more I could do; so I went back to treating other patients, but every now and then I could hear them talking.
“Maybe fifteen minutes later – it was hard to tell; I wasn't watching the clock – they called it. The guy was gone. When my shift was over, I went home, drank three beers and listened to the Arcade Fire for an hour before going to bed. I knew that there was nothing we could have done to save that guy, that his death was not my fault. And despite that, I still felt guilty.
Clenching his teeth, Jack narrowed his eyes to slits. “I know I can't save them all, Mom,” he said with a curt nod. “Knowing that doesn't do a damn thing to make me feel any better. It just makes me mad.”
With her mouth agape, Crystal shut her eyes. “I know you know that,” she said through a shuddering breath. “What I'm trying to tell you is that the best nurses still have doubts about themselves, and I'm sure the same is true for the best Keepers.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“You're welcome.”
For a while, they just sat in silence, content to share each other's company. It took some time for him to notice – he wasn't the sort of person who spotted subtle changes to his emotions – but he did feel a little better. His mother had a way of doing that. In the morning, he would head back to Ottawa.
