The Good Reaper (8 page)

“I’ve already thought about it Cooper. Count me in.”

The CIPE conference ended and I went back to my dual role of
observing and studying the human race while working as a human hospital worker.
Becoming part of the secret Tseen Ke team seemed to be always in the back of my
mind. I couldn’t forget about it since I was reminded of it every day as I
watched people suffering in their final days. During the period when I was
waiting to be contacted by Cooper’s colleagues, I had watched one dying person
suffer who I believed would have met the guidelines for Tseen Ke. Her name was
Wendy and she was dying of Leukemia at age nineteen. I only transported her three
or four times and I didn’t really know her but I could tell by the look in her
eyes that she was ready to cross over.

Sometimes I wondered if it would have been better if I was
assigned to the cultural-tribal study group. I would at least have a better
knowledge of the various human religions. I thought maybe it would help me
understand the connection between belief in a Supreme Being and forcing people
to suffer in their last days.

The Tseen Ke secret team contact finally arrived about six
weeks after the CIPE conference. I had developed the habit of eating dinner out
on my days off. I worked some weekends but most of the surgeries were done
during the week so I was rarely off on a Tuesday. I was sitting in the Athena
Diner eating the Tuesday special when I realized someone was looking at me. I
looked up and an elderly man was standing there looking down at me. I
immediately assumed he was human due to his age. I had seen some elderly
Ranjisi at the CIPE Center back on Ranjisan but it never occurred to me that
some of them were serving in Phase II assignments.

“Luke Riley?” the man asked quiet enough that only I could
hear him.

“Yes.” I looked surprised as it dawned on me that he was
part of Cooper’s Tseen Ke group. I stood up and started to extend my arm to
shake his hand when he gave me a quick turn of his head. I quickly withdrew my
hand as he sat down opposite me.

“I am called Thomas Wrigley,” he said with a slight accent.
I was pretty sure the accent was British or Australian. The waitress appeared
next to the table and Thomas looked up at her and smiled.
“Just
coffee please.”

Thomas and I talked quietly about anything and everything
except the real reason we were there. Thomas was on his third assignment in
London where he worked at a hospice as an orderly. He worked at the facility
but he was often sent out to dying patient’s homes to help care for them. I
finished eating and paid the check quickly. I was anxious to learn more about
how we planned to proceed. As soon as we stepped outside and began walking
toward my apartment I couldn’t wait any longer. “So Thomas, do you have it with
you?”

“No. It would have been far too dangerous to bring them on
the plane.”

“Them? So you have more than one?” I asked.

“I shipped six to your address. They will come in three
separate packages. That’s about as safe as we can do it. No matter what we do
going forward, there will be risks. When you receive the packages, be sure to
keep the contents in a safe place.”

“I understand. What do you think will happen to us if CIPE
finds out?”

“I suspect we would be sent home immediately and we would
undoubtedly be expelled from CIPE. I’m not sure if there would be additional
civic punishment. It’s not like we are committing violent crimes.”

I was about to open the door to my apartment building when
Thomas stopped me. “I have a long trip so I’m going to head back to the
airport.”

“How will I contact you for patient approval?” I asked.

“The safest way to contact me is through an anonymous online
chat service. We’ve been using
HealthChat
. Log in and
look for TBone or Shadrack. I’m TBone but I’ll let Shadrack know that you may
contact him at some point.”

“How will you know it’s me?”

“The first time you contact us, you can tell us it’s you,
Luke. After that we’ll know your chat name. Chat sessions are not saved so it’s
safe but we are still careful not to type anything that implies that we are not
human.”

“One more question Thomas,” I said and continued, “How many
times have you performed Tseen Ke here?”

“We’ve done seven so far. The problem is getting the meds
here. If we could smuggle more kits, we could do more. That is why we are very
selective when approving someone.”

“I suppose children would be at the top of the list,” I
said.

“Not necessarily. First of all, we need to be absolutely
sure the patient has no chance of recovery. Also, we have found that human
children seem to have a special strength when dealing with their own suffering.
They seem to handle it better than adults. So it depends on many things. When
the time comes that you want to submit someone for approval, we will ask a lot
of questions.”

“Okay Thomas. I guess that’s it. I am glad to have met you
and I’m glad to be working with you on this.” Thomas smiled and turned around
and walked back toward the direction of the subway.

In the weeks that followed, I tried to focus on my real job,
observing and documenting my findings while trying to improve the quality of my
Discovery Reports. I had come to be a supporter of open contact with humans.
There were two things I was sure about. I knew we would eventually make open
contact with humans and secondly I knew that the sooner we did it, the sooner
we could begin introducing humans to advanced medicine and vaccines. I also knew
enough about Earth’s environment to know that the situation was critical. It
would require a combination of advances in medicine and changes in the way
human activity affects Earth’s environment.

When I returned home from work about three weeks after meeting
with Thomas my mailbox was empty except for a key. It was the first time I had
received a package in the mail. The key opened the large box at the bottom of
the mailboxes. I quickly opened the large box and grabbed the package, feeling
something like a criminal. It felt strange. It was official. I had broken
Ranjisan law. I was in possession of smuggled contraband.

I received the second package two days later and the third
package three days after that. I stored the Tseen Ke kits in a portable safe I had
bought the previous week. I felt as if I had accomplished something. I knew I
was ready to ease human suffering. It took me a few days to contact TBone on
HealthChat
where I confirmed that I had received the
packages and I was ready to do what needed to be done. TBone (Thomas) told me
they would have a candidate to vote on within the next day or two.

Two days later when I logged on, there were four other
people in the private chat room in addition to TBone. They introduced
themselves as Cactus1, MsOakley, Pocahontas and Shadrack. I wasn’t sure about
MsOakley but I assumed that Pocahontas was a woman and the name came from a
famous Native American princess. The candidate was introduced by Shadrack.

Patient: Blair McFadden

Female age 27

Stage 4 lymphocytic leukemia

Hospice of Greater Austin

Prognosis: no chance of recovery, 3 to 6 months to live on
life support.

“Is she in pain or discomfort?” Pocahontas asked.

“Patient requires transfusions several times a week,”
Shadrack responded. “Side effects from transfusions include flu-like symptoms
and infections and last up to 48 hours. The only time the patient feels
somewhat comfortable is in the period after the side effects from the previous
transfusion wear off and the next transfusion begins. This is usually about 8
hours. Quality of life is nonexistent.”

Shadrack paused for a few moments and continued, “But of
course the big questions as in the past have to do with her mental state. Is
she ready? Is she scared to die? Is she clinging to life?”

“I work as an orderly there at Hospice. I’ve been taking
care of Blair for about two months. She has a lot of visitors so I only talk to
her in the evening after all her visitors have left for the day. We have talked
extensively and I have found again that younger people have less fear of death.
It is kind of ‘upside down’ that older humans seem to be more afraid to die.
Even though they have lived their lives, they cling to life and worry about
every little ache and pain. Younger people seem to understand and they seem to
be more willing to accept the inevitable. Not only that, they seem to be less
resentful. They generally don’t blame anyone or ask why it had to happen to
them. So, in Blair’s case, we have talked about ending her life. I have stopped
just short of telling her who and what I am but she knows that I am different.
A few times she has asked me who I really am. Blair has expressed the same
concept we have seen before in terminal young people: if there is nothing to
look forward to, there is no point in continuing to live.”

“Have you actually told her you can do it?” I asked.

“Yes, in a vague way I have told her I could help her pass
over.”

“I should also tell you that she comes from a very religious
family and she believes in the Christian concept of heaven. At one point she
said she was actually looking forward to the journey.”

“I think that’s all I need to know,” TBone said. “I’m ready
to vote.

It was unanimous. All six of us voted in favor of Tseen Ke
for Blair McFadden.

***

Arkab Oriel-Leonis was a physician back on Ranjisan so when
he volunteered for Phase II of the Q76-P3 Discovery Project he was immediately
placed in the medical team. His fascination with Earth and the human race began
with his father Dziban who was an engineer on several Earth aerial observation
missions during Phase I. During those sweet times when his father was home, he
would tell Arkab and Arkab’s sister Heka all about Earth and all the different
tribes of humans. Heka usually daydreamed when Dziban told his Earthly stories
but Arkab was fascinated. So it was only natural that Arkab would eventually
become a galactic voyager.

Arkab was in his final year of medical study when Ranjisi
officials announced that they were about to begin recruiting for the next phase
of the Q76-P3 Discovery Project. The first phase had consisted of aerial
observation with no human contact. The second phase consisted of actual
assimilation into human society. Arkab was one of the first volunteers to be
accepted into the program. For his second tour on Earth he assumed the identity
of an orderly named Joe Moretti. Joe worked at a hospice in Austin, Texas.
Working at a hospice was a difficult assignment for anyone, human or Ranjisi.
But being Ranjisi added one more layer of sadness. It was the feeling of helplessness
that came with Joe’s knowledge of “end of life” dignity which was held in high
regard on Ranjisan. Joe Moretti had briefly studied cell diseases in medical
school back home so he understood cancer which was about as serious on Ranjisan
as the flu was on Earth. A simple set of blood infusions could seek out and
destroy the “cloned” cells of cancer and yet Ranjisi recruits like Joe Moretti
had to stand by and watch humans suffer and die.

A co-worker at the hospice center once told Joe that the key
to working there was to care about people while compartmentalizing your
feelings. “You have to feel things. That’s part of how we make dying people
feel as if they are not alone,” Joe’s co-worker had said. “But you need to
detach yourself from the grief or it will gradually kill you.”

In theory, Joe understood, although it was often easier said
than done. He knew he had become too attached to Blair McFadden. He genuinely
liked her. Joe sometimes imagined her cancer free. He imagined that they could
be more than friends. The heartache always seemed to punch him in the stomach
when he walked into her room. 

“Your parents left early,” Joe said as he stepped into Blair
McFadden’s room.

“I kept falling asleep and it’s a miserable night. I hear
the rain beating against the window,” Blair said. “I told them they could
leave.”

Blair looked wide awake to Joe. He moved quickly to help her
reposition her pillow as she put her weight on her elbows to sit up. Joe
cranked her bed up a few inches. He knew exactly where he should stop cranking.
Blair leaned forward a few inches and Joe raised her pillow up so it was
centered behind her neck. As he began to pull away and turn to see where the
visitor chair was, he felt Blair’s hand on his wrist. When he turned back to
look at her, he noticed she had a different look about her. Her perfectly
shaped oval face was the same. Her light brown eyes were the same although the
darkness around the edges looked more menacing. Her head was covered with a
thin yellow stretch cap. It was just enough to keep her head from getting cold.

“Remember what we were talking about the other day Joe?”

“Yes, I think I know what you mean.”

“You said you may be able to help me. Have you thought about
it?” Blair asked.

Joe didn’t speak for at least two minutes. He just looked
down at the floor as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Yes Blair. I have thought
about it. I have thought about almost nothing else.”

“I don’t know exactly who you are Joe but I do know that you
are masquerading here as an orderly. It’s not that I mean there is anything
wrong with being an orderly. I just see in your eyes that there is much, much
more.”

“You don’t need to tell me, or maybe you could since there
is very little chance that I will reveal your deep dark secret. But the main
thing is that I get this feeling that you could take me on that journey and it
would be beautiful and painless.”

“Yes and no Blair. It would be painless but I don’t actually
know if it would be beautiful. I know you are religious and you believe in an
afterlife. I don’t know if that is what happens when we pass on. If you think
about all the beliefs of all the religions of all the worlds, they can’t all be
right.”