Imuna Parker
I stood on the terrace that overlooked the vast city of Menkara. Five hundred years ago it was known as Philadelphia, but a lot had changed since then, including the fact that there was now a vast ocean that had come all the way inland. Looking at maps, there used to miles of land between Philadelphia and the Atlantic, but now that area was covered in water.
Menkara was a capital Earth city. It was where the Menkara Council was located, and that included a vast space military base, which was why I lived in this particular city. My husband, Sion, was a pilot. We had been married for a year now and I was always worried when he went on a trade mission. But it was his life and I knew that when I agreed to marry him.
So I tilted my head toward the sky, watching the ever-flowing traffic of ships entering and exiting Earth’s atmosphere, wondering if I could make out his ship. Standing on the terrace always made me feel closer to him somehow. It was a good terrace, part of our large penthouse home on the top floor of a skyscraper floater. A floater was a floating building. This meant that the first floor of the building was some sixty feet off the ground accessible by three elevators, or a grand spiral staircase available in emergencies. The floater buildings were necessary as the city became overpopulated. We had run out of room to build, so buildings were permitted to be built over public spaces like plazas and over other smaller commercial buildings like shopping centers. This left those places in shadow, with only artificial light to light the areas, but it was necessary.
Buzz. My door buzzer rang. My eyes opened wide, and I was extremely excited that Sion was home before I had expected him. But why was he ringing the buzzer?
“Mrs. Sion Parker?”
Two officials stood in my doorway in blue uniforms. My smile dropped to a frown.
“Yes,” I said.
They both looked at each other took off their hats, holding them to their chests. One pulled out a large black envelope.
“No…” I whispered already knowing what that black envelope meant.
“We are sorry to inform you that your husband, Commander Sion Parker, was killed in mission action. The report is in this envelope and we are very sorry for your loss. The department would—”
“Get out! Leave me alone!” I cried as I snatched the envelope from their hands and slammed the door. I slid to the floor in a puddle, not able to support myself any longer. “No! No! This isn’t happening. No! It can’t be true!” I screamed and cried. My stomach felt like it was on fire. I thought I was going to vomit. “Sion! No!”
I was in a state of disbelief and anguish. My hand was shaking as I tried to pull open the envelope. I didn’t believe those men. They had to have the wrong pilot. I needed more answers. I pulled out the official card of the council with its blue and green colors and Earth emblem. I crawled to the panel and slipped the card inside. A man, an official of the council, came on screen. It was just his head with a solemn look on his face.
“This is a killed-in-action report for pilot Sion Parker, division pilot K235. Pilot Sion Parker was in a ship, a twin B6, on his way back to Earth from the Jupiter moon base. At approximately oh-nine-hundred hours, he was entering the Earth’s atmosphere when the ship exploded upon re-entry. A full investigation of the ship’s malfunction has been launched. End report.”
“No, it’s wrong. It’s wrong,” I screamed hitting the screen that had now gone black. They had to have the wrong ship. It was impossible! My husband was an incredible pilot, and even in a malfunction he could safely pilot the ship to an altitude where he could jettison out of the ship in the escape body pod. Now they were trying to make me believe it just exploded? No, there was more to it.
I was filled with anger and hate. I wanted to tell the division to shove their report and to go find my husband. He was probably still on the Jupiter moon, and they had the wrong ship. It wouldn’t be the first time their ineptitude gave a pilot wife the wrong information. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t get up off the floor. My sadness and anger crippled me from movement. I cried hard and fell asleep on the floor.
The next day a bright ray of sun hit me in the face. I opened my eyes. It was all a bad dream. I dreamt that my husband was dead. But then I saw that I was on the floor and that brief second of relief went away. Anger coursed through me as I had no tears left. I got up from the floor and went to the bedroom to change. I was going to make a ruckus.
“I am here to see Councilor Vilox,” I said at the Earth council lobby.
“Do you have an appointment? Is he expecting you?” the man replied.
“Yes, he is,” I lied. “I am the wife of pilot Sion Parker; he knows who I am,” I said with my chin stuck out stubbornly.
“One moment. I will call up to his office. Have a seat,” he said pointing to the waiting area.
I moved to the waiting area, but I could not sit. I was too amped up and anxious. I paced back and forth knowing that my little ploy was not going to work, but I had to do something.
“Mrs. Parker, he will see you now.”
I was shocked. I wasn’t expecting it to be this easy.
“Thank you,” I said as he led me to the elevator. He swiped his security pass on it and the elevator lit up. He pressed a combination of buttons and gestured for me to step inside. I nodded and stepped in. I took a deep breath. I held back tears as the elevator swiftly rose. Then it stopped and the doors opened. I stepped out. There was a man in a blue fitted one-piece suit waiting for me.
“Mrs. Parker?”
“Yes.”
“This way.”
I followed him down a stark white hallway. It was empty, and I could hear my heels echoing off the walls. I could hear a low murmur of voices that we were heading toward. Finally, the hallway opened up to a vast room with floor to ceiling glass that looked out over the city. Councilor Vilox sat at a massive glass desk.
“Mrs. Parker,” the official said.
“Yes, thank you. I will call you if I need you,” Vilox said.
“Mrs. Parker, I was not expecting you. It is very rare that anyone without an approved appointment gets up here, but when I heard the name I knew what you are here for,” he said standing up.
“Yes, my husband.”
“I am sorry for your loss,” he said.
“I need to know what happened. Are you sure it was him? How can you be sure if it was an explosion? There is no proof,” I said moving toward him.
“You are not the first wife to doubt a black envelope, Mrs. Parker. But the data does not lie. You may trust that this information was gathered with caution and—”
“No! That is bullshit! I don’t believe you!” I shouted not wanting to hear the same speech given to all the wives.
“Mrs. Parker, please, now if you will—”
“No! I refuse to believe the limited information in that envelope. I am owed more than that. My husband gave his service loyally to the department.”
“Which a deeper investigation will give you, but I assure you that it was your husband and we will find out the details of the malfunction—”
“No! I don’t believe you. How do you know? How do you know it was him?” I shouted. My chest heaved up and down in anger.
Vilox sighed. “We try to keep things like this from the wives as it is just too hard for them. I wish you would wait until I have a full report for you.”
“No. Tell me what it is you try to keep from the wives,” I said, angry that there was something else.
He looked sorrowful. Then he moved to his desk and typed in something. The holographic screen on the wall came to life with lines of audio.
“Come in, base twenty-two.”
I gasped as I recognized my husband’s voice.
“I’m having a malfunction of the auxiliary… there’s smoke! I repeat there’s—”
Then the audio went dead. Tears flowed down my cheeks. I couldn’t stop the agony. Hearing my husband’s panicked voice in his final moments was too much.
“Mrs. Parker? Are you alright?”
I slowly reached for the arm of the couch to catch my suddenly heavy body. Then I sat down trying to catch my breath as I felt like I was hyperventilating. “You were going to keep that from me?”
“Only until we have the full report. It’s standard procedure and—”
“You are ruthless! You and your reports! That is my husband, and you would just have me wondering what his final moments were like for months?”
“We think it is best that—”
“To hell with what you think is best!” I shouted. Then I stood up, using my anger to propel me forward and to make my legs work. It was the only thing that could drive me now as I headed for the door. As I walked, I heard Vilox speak into his intercom. “Mrs. Parker is headed your way. Can you please have a guard escort her home? She is not well.”
“Yes, Councilor Vilox.”
I kept walking. I didn’t turn to thank him. I just kept on moving. Once I got to the lobby, there was a guard with a sympathetic look on his face. He said nothing but walked with me all the way to my building elevator where I dismissed him.
For the next two months, I would live in complete agony. I would never get over the loss of my husband. It was asking the impossible. No man could ever take his place.