Every Last Mother's Child
Page 49
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Jill Wilson was sitting in her room working through a history lesson about the early days of the Trenan Star Nation with the Holo running in the background when out of the corner of her eye she saw her father on the Holo. He was standing with her Aunt Mylea listening to a man who was dressed in a business suit. Jill guessed he might be a cop. Just the way he stood and his haircut indicated he might have spent a good deal of his life in uniform. She had seen many like that in and around her grandmother’s home and her parents’ home here on Trena. As the camera panned back to the restaurant it briefly came to rest on a young woman with long black hair and a perfect figure.
A voice was saying “About an hour ago. A woman entered this restaurant and killed the owner. Two members of the Companion Military Police unit walked into the restaurant as the woman killed Lottie, the owner. The two Thonian MPs killed the woman. The woman is reputed to be a special security officer from Ebio. The owner a woman named Lottie was a bioengineered human.”
Jill watched the news story until they went back to normal programming and then went in search of her step mother.
“Lisa did you hear?” Jill she burst out as she entered the study interrupting Lisa and her housekeeper as they planned the next week.
“Did I hear what,” Lisa snapped. Although she would have preferred that the teenager had not interrupted them; she decided not to chastise the girl. This was the first time the girl had shown any rudeness since she had been in the house.
“There’s been a bioperson killed.” Jill said and Lisa looked to Georgia who simply nodded. Until Jill had burst in on them, she assumed that the agent was just checking up on her. She turned from Georgia to hear what the girl was saying, “Two companions walked in on an assault and tried to stop it but not before she was killed. Dad was on the news with Aunt Mylea. They mentioned something about the woman that the companions killed was a special security officer from Ebio.”
“A Closer,” Lisa retorted, “That’s not good!”
Lisa was furious. Lady Wilson had noticed that Georgia had quietly entered the study a little while before. She had a right to be told why the security unit had increased its presence in her home and about her family. She felt Georgia should have said something to her as she came into the study. She cooled out a bit as Georgia had simply done what she had been told to do.
As she cooled out she became concerned. Closers were a fact of life on Trena every so often. Every time one of these closer units showed up on Trena, it caused a panic in the bioengineered community. Often one or two murders and several disappearances would be reported. The Trena Mounted Patrol had a special squad that dealt with the closers. Usually the Mounties dealt with the closers as harshly if not as brutality as the closers were to her brothers and sisters.
“Aunt Mylea said they were really bad people,” Jill’s voice interrupted her thoughts, “Aren’t they here to capture you and Dad?”
“They’ll try,” her step mother responded.
“Are you and dad that much of a threat to Ebio?” Jill asked.
“Jill,” Lisa started; but didn’t know what to tell her step daughter. There was a lot of her past she hadn’t told her husband about. She felt Michael should hear it first from her before she shared it with anyone else. She really didn’t want to keep secrets from the girl; but now wasn’t the time to share them with her. Lady Wilson looked at the girl and continued, “Yes. Of all the biopeople that have escaped, none have ever been CDB’s. Then there is some information that I know that the company doesn’t want to see the light of day. There are a few other reasons they want me partly because who I was!”
“Who were you,” Jill asked.
“I was a Containment and Alignment officer,” Lisa replied, “They get pretty upset when people like me leave C & A teams. We know too much. They are afraid who I might share what I know with. They assume I have told your father.”
“So these closers are here to take you and Dad some place you can’t talk.” Jill asked.
“Yes,” Lisa answered, not knowing how far to go with this. Jill needed to know more about the company she was the major stock holder in; but Lisa wasn’t too certain if she should be the one to tell her about it. She was after all highly prejudiced when it came to Ebio.
“But why did they kill that biowoman?” Jill asked,
“To try to intimidate and terrorize the biopeople who have sought refuge on Trena.” Lisa answered. “But all closers aren’t assassins Jill. In the early days they did do some good. When Company officers or managers tried to sell clones without the company knowing about it or some other skullduggery the closers tried to at first to keep things from getting out of hand. But then closers became assassins as they tried to apprehend the escaped clones.”
“Why haven’t I heard more of this? I know that Grand mom and Princess Carol didn’t tell me about my heritage in the company, but I thought I would hear about these closers.”
“You might have heard them referred to as Earth Bioengineering Containment and Alignment Teams.” Lisa said, “We were the company’s special forces.”
“You were part of them?” Jill asked incredulously, she couldn’t believe that her step mother was the type of person to be associated with the woman who had killed the clone.
“For a short period of time,” Lisa said, “I escaped from a containment team.”
There was a lot more than just escaping from the containment team. A lot more but Jill didn’t need to know the details. Yet!
Jill was quiet and Georgia looked at her charge in a new light. There was something about Lisa that Georgia couldn’t quite place, and now it made a little sense. Lisa had a discipline that she herself wished she had.
“They are on Trena,” Jill asked, “For you and Dad?”
“Yes,” Lisa said, “But for more than what I am. The Company does want me back. Over the years I seemed to be at the right place and the right time to keep the company from doing things they shouldn’t. A couple of the company security people and a couple of company execs are a little ticked off. There’s more. Jill; I don’t want to keep secrets from you but there are some things that I will not discuss with you. You have to trust me when I say that today is not the time to discuss it. We’ll sit down and talk about my time on the run and with the company with you; but not today. For now just believe me when I say I never have nor will I harm anyone who isn’t harming me or mine.”
Seeing the intensity on her step mother’s face Jill knew that Lisa meant every word she had said. Jill decided to let it drop for now. It was obvious that Lisa didn’t want to talk about it. She would honor her step mother’s desire to speak about her past at a different time and place. Which was probably for the best, as she was having some trouble with her mother’s statements. She needed to know more; but she would have to wait for it.
“Jill,” Lisa intruded onto her thoughts, “go with Maggie and help her in the kitchen to get ready for dinner tonight. Maggie please keep it simple, they’re coming from a gruesome scene and they may not want to have a big meal.”
“The Queen, Lord Mercer, General Alphine, and Chief Atomi were supposed to join you for dinner. Should I plan accordingly?” Maggie asked.
“Yes,” Lisa said, “They are going to want to go over Mike’s testimony in the House of Lords.” Lisa commented.
“I listened for a while Mom,” Jill said, “I think Dad did okay. At least Lord Ramsey seemed to back down.”
“Yeah, Mike did do well,” Lisa said she had sat through the testimony in a small study she had found near the back of the house. It had surprised her. But it gave her a quiet place to work without the kids or people disturbing her. Maggie had later told her that it was the Queen Mums private study. The main study was for the kids and the family; but this small place was for the Queen Mum to get away from the family. Lisa had adopted it and it soon became her special quiet place. Even Mike didn’t bother her in the study unless he had to. What surprised her tho
ugh was that Jill had paid attention to her father’s testimony. She had to ask. Watching news programs was not a normal teenage activity.
“I don’t understand these people,” Jill replied, “Why is it they hate dad so much!”
“It’s not your father,” Lisa answered, “Anyone who would disagree with their own vision of how to help would be grilled. They are just trying to make sure Michael and the Queen are taking care of business.”
“I see,” Jill said and started to go to the kitchen with the Housekeeper.
“Jill,” Lisa said softly, stopping the girl in her tracks, “Don’t take this wrong; but what are you doing watching the news. I mean I would have thought that you would be watching Trena Now, or some other thing geared toward you and your fellow kids?”
“Ever since you and dad disappeared, I always have had a news account. Trying to find out what happened to you. I was desperate to hear about you. So I thought the news might tell me. If I knew how rich I was I would have hired a PI to find you! As it was I was limited to using an AI to help me to find you. If I had not seen the swearing in on the Holo that night I wouldn’t be here now.”
“I see,” Lisa said, up until the evacuation they had tried to live as quiet a life as possible.
“Since I arrived on Trena I wanted to know more than I did about Trena. Watching the news helps, and of course anything about you or dad I am going to pay attention to.” Jill continued.
“I see,” Lisa said, “I was just curious. All right see what Maggie needs. Jill we’ll talk later about things.”