The Improbable Life, And Possible Death, Of Alexandra Stephanie Hayes (Tall Tales)

----
=Story By JA Baker=
----
Every family has its Black Sheep: the oddballs, the outsiders, the ones you don't talk about at family reunions. In the case of Alexandra 'Alex' Hayes, this is because she was, to be perfectly blunt, a bastard.
Born on Barstow in 3014, for most of her life, Alex Hayes thought that she was simply the daughter of Cathy Hayes and an unnamed MechWarrior who her mother had had a brief but passionate affair with during the Third Succession War, where she had served as a cargo master on a AFFS DropShip. All Cathy would ever say on the matter was that her lover had "died doing his duty", and that there was no need to saddle her daughter with stories of a man she would never meet. Cathy had had no reason to even suspect she was pregnant at the time of the man's death, but put in for a leave of absence as soon as she realized the truth, and dedicated herself to raising her daughter alone.
It would not be until 3034, when a then 19 year old Alex applied for a military scholarship, that the truth would come out.
During her routine physical, a blood sample was taken for cross-matching and screening for certain genetic conditions. It was also run against a database of known samples often individuals who were wanted by the state. Alex's sample fund a match, and the young woman and her mother soon found themselves being taken into MIIO custody. Where a number of very pertinent questions were asked. Cathy refused to talk, and Alex genuinely had no idea what they were talking about, so the pair soon found themselves on a DropShip, headed for New Avalon.
There they found themselves in front of Hanse Davion.
Confronted by the First Prince, Cathy had no option but to break her silence and admitted that her deceased lover had been none other than Ian Davion. Hanse's older brother and at the time of his death, the First Prince of the Federated Suns. She admitted that she had been serving on the DropShip that had carried the command elements of the Fourth Davion Guards to Mallory's World in 3013. She had been personally responsible for the First Princes Atlas and the two had quickly bonded. Soon engaging in a passionate affair that both knew would never last. They had in her own words been two soldiers looking for some comfort in the war, and had found it in each others arms. Alex had been an unintentional, but not wholly unwelcome, result of their brief relationship.
More DNA tests and an examination of Cathy's military records as well as debriefings of her former crew mates cooperated much of her story, but Hanse Davion had said he'd never doubted the truth. He'd seen his brother in Alex's face the moment he first laid eyes upon her.
This, however, would cause a potential problem. As Ian's daughter, illegitimate or otherwise, under the Laws of Succession for the Federated Suns. An argument could be made that Alex had a legitimate claim to the First Princes throne, ahead of her uncle. Even though Alex had no interest in pursuing any claims based upon her newly discovered lineage. There were those within the Federated Suns and beyond, who would try and use her as a figurehead to further their own agendas. There were those within MIIO who recommended killing Alex to protect the First Prince and his at the time two children, his wife, Melissa, pregnant with their third at the time. Hanse had quickly and sternly dismissed such suggestions. Stating that he would no kill his niece, no matter what happened. She was, in his mind, a link to the brother he had lost, a member of his family, and an innocent.
But this led to the question of what to do with Alex?
As First Prince, Hanse had the authority to legitimize her as a member of House Davion, to grant her her father's name and a place in the nobility. Alex turned this offer down. She had lived her entire life as Alexander Hayes, and she saw no need to change that now simply because her father, a man she had never met and had never even suspected her existence. Whom had been any more than another solider who had died in the war against the Combine. Impressed by her character, Hanse had agreed to her request, but insisted on granting her a full scholarship at the New Avalon Academy of Law, along with a comfortable but not inconspicuous apartment near the campus and a stipend to cover incidental expenses.
It went without say that she also received a hand-picked, and highly discreet, MIIO security detail.
It was while attending NAAL that Alex met Jian Novikov, a fellow student from the world of Brighton in the St Ives Compact. The somewhat shy and retiring Jian soon became friends with Alex triggering an investigation into him by MIIO. While they found nothing about Jian himself to be concerned about, they did uncover that. Like many people within the Compact, he had family still living in the Capellan Confederation. Digging deeper, they found that he had a second cousin serving in Warrior House Hiritsu, a revelation that had alarm bells ringing all across New Avalon: were the Maskirovka to learn the truth of Alex's parentage, they might attempt to use her in a renewed attempt to subvert Hanse's rule of the Federated Suns.
The convention between the First Prince and his niece was held behind closed doors, and no record is known to exist of exactly what was said, but those who knew him best are on record as having said that the only time they'd seen him look so humbled was when Melissa got worked up over something. All that is known is, despite the best efforts of the First Prince and MIIO, Alex and Jian remained friends. Someone suggested arranging to have the Academy expell Jian on some pretext, but Hanse rejected the idea, stating that it would only enrage Alex further then he already had.
It seems that, for all his prowess as a general and a statesman, the Fox had been cowered by a young woman barely old enough to drink.
Time passed, Alex and Jian growing closer until it was clear that their relationship was becoming romantic, despite the best clandestine efforts of MIIO to break the two up. This led to a number of rather uncomfortable debriefings for her security detail, especially when the relationship became fact rather than speculation. Unfortunately, the desire to keep Alex's existence secret, to allow her to live as close to a normal life as possible, meant that there were only so many people they could bring in. This meant that many of the decisions had to be made by the First Prince himself, who apparently found it more than a little uncomfortable to be presented with detailed reports of his nieces love life.
Things came to a head in 3038, when an agent tasked with following Jian witnessed him buying an engagement ring.
Suddenly, all hopes that the relationship was nothing more than a youthful indiscretion were dashed, and MIIO had to face the real possibility of a member of the ruling dynasty marrying someone with family connections to the Capellan Confederation. Memories of the Second Hidden War in mind, it was decided that, personal consequences be damned, the First Prince would have to act.
What followed was something that in his personal diary, Hanse Davion would call one of the great failings of his life.
Alex and Jian were collected off the street and driven to a MIIO safe house outside Avalon City. There they were met by Justin Allard, who, acting as both an AFFS officer and Duke of St Ives. He questioned the two about their feelings for each other for over an hour. Jian was understandably surprised to discover that his fiancee was a member of the the Davion family. All be it illegitimate, but maintained his position that he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Alex was somewhat more volatile in her reaction to what she saw as a gross invasion of her privacy by her uncles underlings. The conversation soon became an argument, with Alex storming out of the room.
Jian followed as Alex made her way through the house, Justin trying to calm her down while ordering the MIIO agents to stand down. Seeing a set of car keys, Alex grabbed them and made her way out into the stormy night. Finding the car the keys were for, she told Jian to get in, before driving off at high speed. Justin followed in a second car, ordering the MIIO agents to alert the local police. The safe house had been located at the top of a steep hill, the road leading back to the capital steep and winding, difficult at the best of times, and downright treacherous in the rain. An ACPD helicopter located the two cars as they raced down the hill, far faster than was safe. Eventually, the lead car lost control: hydroplaning, it skidded wildly before crashing through a low barrier and over a cliff-face. The drop was almost a hundred meters, into a fast flowing river, which had been turned into a raging torrent by the storm.
The wreck of the car was recovered by military divers the next day, several kilometers down stream. The force of the impact with the water, and the numerous underwater obstacles it had impacted against, had turned it into a twisted mess that could only be positively identified as the car Alex and Jian had been driving by checking the chassis number against MIIO inventory records. Of the two young occupants, there was no trace. A press release was put out, announcing the tragic deaths of two NAAL students in a car crash. The official coroner's report listed the cause of death as probably drowning, stating that the two had probably been rendered unconscious by the inertial impact, then drowned as the car sank, their bodies being shaken clear of the wreck by the force of the water.
Funeral were held on Brighton and Barstow, with empty coffins laid to rest by grief-stricken families. Despite everything that had happened, Cathy Hayes never went public with true story, but instead chose to retire, spending the rest of her days helping disadvantaged children on her homeworld. Jian was survived by two older sisters, the youngest of whom would go on to name her own son Jian in his memory.
And there the official story ends...
But, as with all good stories, it may not be the whole truth.
First, while he was working for MIIO at the time, and indeed being groomed to take over as Intelligence Secretary of the Federated Commonwealth, Justin Allard had never officially been a part of Alex's protection detail. Instead, he had been personally asked to intervene in the matter by the First Prince. Secondly, having a set of car keys left out in the open. Even in a secure safe house was a massive breach of basic MIIO protocol, completely inexcusable for the agents assigned to watch Alex. Third, neither Alex nor Jian were considered to be experienced drivers, and it is highly unlikely that they would have made it as far as they did before crashing.
So, what does this tell us?
Well, nothing. Everything I have told you is purely conjecture and hearsay, as no official records concerning the supposed connection between Ian Davion and Cathy Hayes are known to exist. Nor is there any solid evidence indicating that Ian was Alex's father, or that she ever met Hanse Davion. There are perfectly logical and reasonable explanations for everything, with even the brief extracts from the First Princes diary too cryptic to be easily understood. What we are left with are stories, rumors and conspiracy theories.
I can tell you this. Records show that two NAAL graduates, Stephanie Harding and Julian Rubinstein, left New Avalon the day after the crash on a ship bound for the world of Killarny. While this may seem purely coincidentally, it is interesting to note that the photos attached to their records have more than a passing resemblance to Alex Hayes and Jian Novikov, and that nobody in their year has any clear memories of the two.
The End
----
--Back to Tall Tales - Main Page--
The Improbable Life, And Possible Death, Of Alexandra Stephanie Hayes
The Improbable Life, And Possible Death, Of Alexandra Stephanie Hayes
The Improbable Life, And Possible Death, Of Alexandra Stephanie Hayes