Every Last Mother's Child

by William J. Carty, Jr

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  “Francine,” there was a knock on her door, she looked at the clock and saw that it was almost five am. She shrugged and rolled over and said “enter.”

  “Francine,” Georgia slipped into her room. That got Francine’s full attention. Georgia never sought Francine out when Lady Wilson didn’t need her. “Admiral Wilson’s is about to clear customs at the port. I am sending a limo to pick her up.”

  “Have you told Lady Wilson?” Francine asked.

  “No,” Georgia said and Francine wondered why, “And before you ask, one of the port cops gave me a personal heads up. From listening to Lady Wilson, I get the feeling they were close, I thought it wouldn’t be out of line to surprise her.”

  Francine nodded stepped out of bed and quickly dressed. “I’ll go get her.”

  As she went to the port she wondered if she was doing the right thing. Later she knew she would do it again given the choice. The look on her mistress’ face when she saw Joyce Wilson was just too precious to ever forget.

  “Admiral,” Francine introduced herself to the Marshal’s mother. She was waiting in the VIP lounge where the customs officers asked her to wait for someone from Serenity to pick her up, “I am Francine. I work for your son’s family.”

  “Did they send you to pick me up?” The admiral asked.

  “No ma’am,” Francine and quickly told her what was going on.

  “She’ll kill us both!” Joyce said, “But it’s too good to not do!”

  Francine took an immediate liking to the admiral. They loaded into the limo and went to the palace. She knew she had a small window of opportunity before the Mmarshal would be out of bed for his morning coffee. The mMarshal would sometimes spend part of his morning working in the residence unless he had a staff meeting or an event outside of the palace. Lisa was also an early riser. Sometimes taking the girls down to the pool for an early morning swim, and occasionally taking a long morning walk before she got her own breakfast. She had called ahead to have Georgia waiting for them at the vehicle entrance to the palace. Georgia personally escorted the pair of them through palace security and to the Marshal’s residence. Maggie was just finishing making the first pot of coffee for the house.

  “Francine?” Maggie asked as Admiral Wilson was escorted into her kitchen.

  “Maggie, this is Admiral Wilson, the Marshal’s mother,” Francine replied.

  “Welcome to this home Admiral,” the housekeeper replied. Joyce was impressed. The housekeeper, majordomo, was fully dressed, and immaculately groomed. Much like the senior chiefs and NCOs she had dealt with in her career. She also carried herself with the same air that those men and women had too.

  “Hello Maggie,” Joyce said. “May I intrude into your kitchen for a while?”

  “Yes Ma’am.” The housekeeper said, “I take it the Marshal and Lady Wilson don’t know you’re here?”

  Joyce shook her head as Maggie raised an eyebrow. She turned to Georgia, “Get your camera young woman. Lady Wilson is going to want pictures of this! I’ll go get her.”

  Joyce poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table.

  “Lady Wilson,” Maggie quietly entered the master bedroom. She had known that the Marshal was up and moving before she started the coffee. The AI gave her a status report as she woke every morning of where everyone was in the residence, “Can you step into the kitchen for a second.”

  “Now,” Lisa asked she was entertaining found thoughts of joining Michael in his shower.

  “Yes ma’am it’s very important.” Maggie said, “Francine has brought something home you have to see and she says it can’t wait.” Maggie would never lie to any of her principles, but that didn’t mean she would tell the unvarnished truth either.

  “Okay,” Lisa said, so much for a morning romp she thought. She got up and put on a robe and followed her housekeeper out to the kitchen.

  “Hey Lisa,” Joyce said as the biowoman walked into the kitchen, “I don’t suppose you can tell me where I can get another cup of coffee in this joint do you?”

  “Joy....”Lisa was speechless as she nearly ran to the older woman. Georgia quietly slipped into the kitchen and was taking photos as Joyce fiercely hugged the lady that had given her life back to her.

  “Joyce I am so sorry,” Lisa said, “I heard about the Colonel’s death on Holly, where they sent me after you left. I did get the bastard who claimed responsibility.”

  Joyce held her at arm’s length trying to comprehend what her daughter in law was saying. As she spoke, Lisa remembered how she became involved with the Wilson family.

  She remembered the distraught, marine colonel who had interviewed her. The Colonel’s wife had suffered a hideous combat injury on their wedding day. It was a couple of months after the injury, and the colonel had been persuaded by his son on the advice of the Space Station’s Chief Surgeon that they look her up. The chief surgeon, Michelle Klond, then a lieutenant commander, had seen her work and thought Lisa could do wonders for Joyce. But Colonel Wilson was not happy about hiring her contract. He didn’t want to have an indentured servant in his home. It wasn’t just the morality of having an indentured servant in home; he couldn’t afford to have one in his home. It became moot as the His son, heir to his ex-wife’s huge fortune, had slowly convinced his father that it was okayInterstellar Rescue Service covered the expense of Lisa’s contract.

  So Lisa went to live with the Wilson’s. The Ccolonel had made Lisa welcome in the apartment that he and his family shared in the better part of the space station’s housing. Mike’s father never treated her like a servant, more like a daughter, or niece. She worked every day with Joyce helping her mend her arm and her soul. Her soul had taken a severe hit. Flying was in Joyce’s blood. If she couldn’t fly then there was nothing else she was willing to do. Lisa didn’t know who was happier when Joyce got her flying papers back Joyce or herself. Joyce had been her toughest patient to date. Somewhere along the way, she had fallen in love with the whole family. Colonel Wilson she would never forget, he was a quiet man often observing and sometimes you would think he wasn’t paying attention to what was going on only to repeat exactly what you had said word for word. He was the best of the best in the Marine Corps SpecWar who had become a member of the Black Guard. She remembered the last time she had seen him, and the woman she was hugging.

  “Lisa,” he had said, “The apartment’s yours to use for as long as you want it. We own it. We should be back by the end of the year. I want to thank you for all that you have done for us.”

  “Your welcomed Colonel,” Lisa had said, not telling him that she had gotten word that the company had pulled her contract and that she had to go to Holly where they wanted her for production. Up until her and Mike’s reunion five years ago, it had been the happiest time in her life. It would be months later when the company found that she couldn’t be placed in productionbred, (They had of course forgot that she could control her menstrual cycle at will,) she had been assigned to a containment team. She was sitting in the squad lounge when one of her team described in great detail what he had done to a marine colonel who had been captured on a company base. Including the grisly details of cutting his head off and sending it back to his widow. As she heard this she made up her mind that she was not going to be team medic for these animals. The one or two missions she had been on with them already had shown her that this company team was nothing but murders. This was her second team and it was so different from the first one, that she was having trouble dealing with it. A few nights later she escaped from the company. As she did she executed the man who had murdered the quiet gentle marine who had given her a place in his family. She had killed him in the bed he had taken her to. On a whim she left a note on his chest, “Never kill a marine, their family and friends will always honor their passing and if given the opportunity render justice.” Later as if the note was prophecy every one of the containment team had been killed. All of them except for H
ozenbur had been killed somehow.

  Joyce looked the younger woman in the eye and knew it was true. She had never told her step son, but she knew more about Lisa’s activities while she had been on the run than she let on about. Lisa had been an item of interest on many intelligence summaries. She knew that the gentle caring healer who had mended her so many years before could and had render justice on more than one occasion. “Thank you!”

  Maggie, Francine, and Georgia looked at their mistress with new respect. Francine had known a great deal about Lisa’s exploits while she was on the run. Georgia and Maggie did not. Francine who had never been black understood what it was that Lisa had just said to Joyce.

  “Let me take a look at you,” Joyce said holding the younger woman at arm’s length not wanting to discuss what Lisa had done. She noticed a slight bulge that some of her friends had in the past and jumped to a conclusion, “You’re pregnant!”

  “About three months,” Lisa said.

  “Boy or Girl?” Joyce asked. Lisa looked fit and healthy. It had been years since she had seen her; but the years had been kind to her. She bore no scares of her ordeals on the run. At least none that were visible.

  “One of each,” Lisa said.

  “What did Michael say to that?” Joyce asked.

  “He doesn’t know,” Lisa said.

  “I want to see his face when you tell him.” Joyce as she was mugged from behind.

  “Grandma,” Jill had come into the kitchen. Francine had forgotten that Jill had the same habits of her father and step mother, an early riser.

  “So you got here huh?” She was still angry at her granddaughter. She wanted to have an intense counseling session with the youngster. The girl had scared her to death. She knew that Jill was on her way to Trena; but until Michael had sent word to tell her that Jill had arrived safely she had been worried to death. “I thought we had discussed not coming to Trena.”

  The youngster didn’t say a word. She knew better. If there was anything she had learned from her grandmother; it was better to just keep quiet and let her vent. If she tried to interrupt; tried to state her case before her grandmother was ready to hear it, it would only make things worse.

  Lisa was about to say something; but decided to keep quiet. She wanted to see how Joyce was going to handle it and to see if Jill was going to be a problem. She was still trying to learn how Jill reacted to things. What she had seen so far, had made her respect how Joyce had raised her step daughter!

  “I should ground you for the rest of your young life!” Joyce said, “I should do a lot of things to explain how stupid you were. But I trust that your father and Lisa have done a better job than I could, and most likely have. The only thing I am going to say is: that the next time you pull that stunt, you best be on your way to join the marines, or to get married, because the next time, if there is next time you best will your soul to your gods because everything else belongs to me!” She hugged Jill and said simply, “You scared the crap out of me! Please don’t do it again.”

  “Welcome to Trena Grandma,” Jill said, “I will never do that again. I thought we weren’t coming to Trena?”

  Joyce chuckled a bit, and said “Well I got lonely on Mars!”

  “All right folks,” Lisa said finally, “we need to get breakfast going. Maggie what do you want me to do?”

  “Set the table,” Maggie replied, “I can take care of this, you folks get out of here and let me get things done.”

  The women filed out of the kitchen. Francine came back into the kitchen and asked, “What do you need me to do Maggie. I know you and Lisa usually do this so with the extra...”

  “Start making juice, and let’s put out some more fresh fruit.” Maggie answered. Although she really didn’t need the help, it was appreciated. She wanted for some reason to show the admiral that her family was well cared for.

  They had just set breakfast out on the table in the dining room, when Michael joined them. He didn’t see Joyce at first. He had barely noticed that there was one additional person at the table. It wasn’t unusual for one of protective detail, Aggie, or some other member of his staff to join them for breakfast. Joyce was sitting with her back to the door. She had chosen that seat with care. She didn’t want her step son to see her until he sat down.

  “Why are we here and not in the breakfast room?” Mike asked without looking up from his printout. It was the morning brief that was delivered to him every morning. It was given to his aide who made sure it was sitting next to the uniform that his steward laid out for him every morning..

  “Oh Mom thought it might be a good idea to eat here this morning,” Jill spoke up as she poured a cup of coffee for her father trying to keep a straight face.

  “Oh?” Michael said absently taking the coffee and sitting down. Still immersed in his daily brief, Wilson didn’t notice Liz, enter the dining room and sat down next to her boss. Often they worked in the study until they left for his palace office. Lisa had insisted that she join them for breakfast when they worked in the residence.

  “Hello,” She saw the strange woman sitting at the end of the table and introduced herself to the woman, “I am Liz Tannerman!”

  “I am Rear Admiral Joyce Wilson of the Interstellar Rescue Service,” Joyce introduced herself to Liz.

  At that Wilson dropped his coffee cup splashing coffee all over his uniform, as he turned to his mother, “Mom?”

  “Hi Mike,” Joyce smiled enjoying her step son’s reaction.

  “Welcome to Trena,” Wilson said, as Liz quietly left the table to get her boss a clean uniform shirt from his steward. “I didn’t know that you were coming to Trena.”

  “I got bored on Mars and thought I would come out here.” Joyce said, “Thought you could use another light space craft skipper.”

  “I sure can,” Michael said, “but it would be a waste to use you in that regard.”

  “Why a waste,” Joyce asked, sipping her coffee.

  “You would find it boring to be just an LC jockey,” Mike said.

  “Then what can a retired Admiral do for you,” Joyce asked.

  “How would you like to be Jill’s representative on Home?” Mike asked. “We need to have someone on Home to look after our interests, and to begin building our place there.”

  “Getting rid of me already huh?” Joyce said with a smile.

  “No,” Lisa said, “God I wanted to come to you for years Joyce. I just didn’t want to put you in danger. But we do need someone to go to Home. Someone who can be our representative there! Someone to answer any questions the people arriving on Home might have and to supervise the building of our home. No, we’re not getting rid of you.”

  “When do I leave?” Joyce asked.

  “Oh in a month or so,” Mike said. “I need to get a few people to go with you. This saves us from having to hire some lawyer to do the job.”

  “You’ll do that?” Lisa asked.

  “Look I am either a pilot, or CSAG.” Joyce said, “I was getting bored on Mars with no teenager to run after, and truthfully I wasn’t designed to be a retired grandmother with more leisure time than I know what to do with!”

  “Okay!” Michael said. Looking at his seventy year old step mother he couldn’t imagine her retiring to a rocking chair yet either.

  A few minutes later Admiral Wilson saw the woman who had asked her who she was, brought her son a shirt. Joyce shook her head. She had never understood how he did it. It wasn’t that he was having sex with all the women around him, on the contrary he didn’t. It just seemed his aura attracted very beautiful women who were very good at their jobs. She had seen it when he was in the marines. Some things never changed.

  “Marshal,” the young woman said looking up from her pad, “I can rearrange your morning meeting with Boeing Space Works, but the Qqueen’s briefing has been reschedule twice in the last 24 hours. If it’s going to happen it has got to happen this morning. And in about twenty minutes!”

  “
Okay,” Mike said, “Mom, Lisa I will see you at dinner. Mom if you don’t want to be our site supervisor it’ll be okay, we’ll make it happen.” He drank his coffee leaving it on the buffet by the door as he walked out the door.

  “Hey get some breakfast somewhere huh?” Lisa called after her rapidly departing husband. As he waved in acknowledgment Liz locked eyes with her and said, “I’ll see that he gets something Lady Wilson.”

  Joyce seeing the look in her daughter in law’s face remarked, “That one will take care of him.”

  “Liz?” Lisa asked, “Yes she might sit on him long enough to get a donut down him! I just worry about him. This job is going to kill him if he doesn’t slow down. He needs to take a couple of days off. Period!”

  “Mom,” Jill said, “Why not a weekend at Lady Hawthorne’s. She invited all of us, and Dad does like her place. Even with all the people running about it!”

  “Uh Lady Wilson,” Maggie commented, “We could move everyone off to the summer palace.”

  “But he’s still got to deal with all of his day to day duties.” Lisa remarked.

  “That’s true my lady,” Georgia commented, “But the atmosphere at the summer palace is more relaxed. If you remember, we bring only the personal staff, and the principle advisors. Not all of them. They can be ferried out if needed.”

  “How do we make the suggestion,” Lisa asked.

  “Let me speak with the Queen’s maid,” Maggie started, “We’ve always been able to...”

  Joyce chuckled interrupting the maidMaggie, “Just what I always suspected of my aids. I was just an instrument for their needs.”

  “Admiral,” Francine looked the admiral in the eye with a dead serious tone in her voice, “I am afraid now we’ll have to kill you. We were supposed to take that secret to our graves. Right girls?”

  “We’ll I don’t know,” Maggie said thoughtfully, “It’s a fairly severe offense being busted; but do you think she would let us get away with it?” Maggie nodded towards Lisa.

  “Not likely,” Georgia remarked, “Besides she’s now part of the official family and I might have to err uh take professional interest if you try to close her file.”

  “There is that.” Francine nodded, “Oh well I guess we have to swear her to secrecy and let her join the greatest conspiracy of all.”

  “That being?” a bemused Joyce asked.

  “The care and raising of the royal family naturally,” Francine commented.

  “So now that you are going to let us all live may I see my newest granddaughter?” Joyce asked.

  “This way mom,” Lisa said chuckling leading her mother in law out of the dining room.