Every Last Mother's Child

by William J. Carty, Jr

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  The next morning Mylea went to the academy. She had picked up Jill as she drove Lamile back to school. She had received the order from Michael the night before and saw the wisdom of it. Now as she walked to the steps to the administration building at the academy, the Corps of Cadets were turned out and ready for deployment. As they came to attention and saluted her, she noticed that they were dressed in BDUs, about two hundred of them. They were all older kids over five crimens old, many of them around 6 crimen old. She nodded to their cadet officers and said, “As you were.”

  When she walked into the academy’s main hall she found another surprise waiting for her, Lady Hawthorne also dressed in BDUs with about ten of her retired NCO instructors with her. She was just about floored. She had seen Deloris in work clothes and fine evening wear, and everything in between. Deloris was the type of person who could put on an elegant evening gown and have it a wrinkled mess before she walked out of her dressing room. There was always a bit of sloppiness about her. Now dressed in BDUs she looked as sharp as the NCOs around her.

  “Chief Atomi,” Lady Hawthorne said softly, “The Queen’s Own Royal Corps of Cadets await your orders!”

  Lady Hawthorne was enjoying the look on the First Officer’s face, and the consternation she was causing her friend. She had made a long hard decision as to what she was going to do after the evacuation. It had come to her after talking to several of the retired NCOs and Officers who were helping out at the academy. Especially Millie. She knew she would never be military, and she didn’t really want to be military, it just wasn’t her style. Yet she knew she was doing good work at the academy and to respect the young people who were in her charge, and to better communicate with the military, who made up her staff, she had decided to begin dressing as the commandant should. There were still some things she had to do. One of the Sergeants had suggested that she go through boot. So she would know customs and protocols; she was in good shape, and didn’t have to go through the physical part, just the head part of learning how to be military. She was considering it.

  “You know Deloris, you are a sight to see,” Mylea commented, the noble woman was tricked out perfectly. She saw the single gold oak leaf on her collar and nodded, “I would have thought you would have made yourself out to be a general at least!”

  “XO,” Mille spoke up, “the Queen commissioned her last night.”

  “Really,” the Thonian replied, she walked around the noble woman saw that her uniform was new but not so new it would chaff her. The NCOs had done their job again. “I see Sarge you are doing it again.” She locked eyes with the ranking NCO, a Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant who always seemed to be around the academy. She had also seen her working with the Princess too.

  “Ma’am,” the woman said looking her in the eye, “someone has to take care of you officers!”

  “Indeed,” Mylea said, “Let’s talk about your deployment.”

  With that they walked into a conference room off the main entrance.

  There Mylea got another surprise, one that she rather enjoyed. Lamile and Jill had followed her in. She thought this would be an adult only meeting, but she soon found out different.

  “Chief,” Jill said reading from a note handed to her from one of the cadet NCOs, “My people are broken up into ten 20 man units. None of the kids is less than fifteen, and some are eighteen years old. All of them have either a cadet NCO or a Cadet Officer who will be in charge of them. They can be deployed immediately, and can stay in the field up to one week. My guys will need quarters, but they are ready for at least a week’s deployment.”

  Taken aback Mylea looked at Deloris who simply nodded. Delores had learned through her tenure as head mistress of the academy what the cadets could and couldn’t do and was still learning.

  After Jill called the academy and talked to the cadet duty officer telling the young man what she had negotiated with her father, she had simply said make it happen. The young man working with the adult duty officer put, a package together so that in the morning, they were ready. Lady Hawthorne and Lamile Atomi had been kept in the loop the entire way, and signed off on the program. Jill’s cadet staff still had their problems, and they were still kids; but they knew an opportunity when they were offered one and made things happen for their fellow cadets.

  “I have one squad that is a security police unit; I have one unit whose cadets are all wrench benders. They think it is fun to tear down an Elsy engine,” Lamile kind of rolled her eyes not understanding why anyone would to do that, “and put it back together. One team is a clerical support team. The others are just bodies.”

  Impressed again, Mylea turned to Jill, “Jill. I mean Colonel Wilson, you’ve been holding out on us. But well done! David will be happy to get your gear heads. Most of your people will be providing over watch at the loading zones. I take it Major Hawthorne that your NCOs will be providing on site adult supervision?”

  “Yes,” Deloris replied.

  “Well a couple of the teams will be traffic control, for both vehicles and people. There is no reason they can’t guide people to the loading zones and to the embarkation assembly points. That way we can release maybe thirty or forty cops.” Mylea said, “Also if you have an EMT unit I might stick them at the first aid station at the port embarkation area.”

  “Here’s your deployment.” Mylea handed a data card to one of the NCOs. They displayed the map that she and her staff had worked up. Jill pointed to the map and looked to Lamile, “Lamile I need to stay here so this is your baby. Where do you want to deploy your cadets?”

  Lamile and Jill had talked briefly by phone, and much to her surprise she had found out that Jill thought she should stay at the academy. When asked why, Jill had said, “If they find mom, I want to be someplace I can get to her or dad in a hurry. Besides I need to see grand mom. I can’t function out there if I am worried about dad, mom, and grand mom.”

  “Jill,” Lamile had replied, “I will make you proud. Besides this has got to be easier than managing that herd of kids I did a few months ago.”

  Coming back to reality she said, “Squad one to LZ eight, Squad two and Three to logistics command, Squad four my squad will report to the police department to work with Lord James’s team,” Lamile said staring at her mother daring her to change her orders, “Squad five will be at the space port, Squad six will be at Fletcher in the MP unit. Squads eight, nine and ten will stand by as ready teams. Tomorrow, Team one will rotate into standby and Team 10 will go to the active LZ.”

  “Okay,” Mylea replied “But I need a team at LZ 30, and one at Container Yard Charlie.”

  Lamile looked at one of the young cadets who was her first sergeant and said, “Mitch make it happen.”

  “Aye major,” the girl said. She whispered into a microphone and the display changed to show Lamile’s deployments.

  Mylea realizing who her daughter was talking was surprised to see the young woman. Her arm was in a sling; but she didn’t look to worse for wear.

  “Major,” Lady Hawthorne spoke directly to Lamile, “I know you think they can stay for a week in the field; but they’ll be bused back here every night. I want you to personally ensure that every one of your squads has adequate water, and rations. They should be back by lights out; but plan on things happening. I’ll instruct the mess hall to have late rats laid on for your cadets.”

  “Sergeant Mitchum,” Lamile said to the girl who had become the cadet sergeant major for the school, “Will you see to that please? Please double check with the cadet officers.”

  “By your leave Major,” Mitch asked getting up to attend the tasks she had been given. Everyone notice her wince in pain as she stood up.

  Lamile nodded and thought how far they had all come. “Chief, thank you, for allowing us to help. I owe a lot to Lady Wilson, and then some. Tell Uncle Mike that my boys and girls won’t let him down.”

  “I am sure they won’t Major,” Mylea said solemnly. This
was the time for these kids to shine and she was going to help them. By letting them work with the authorities it solved a lot of problems for Lady Hawthorne. She knew that if you treated kids with respect and that you gave them tasks that were meaningful, within their abilities with adult support they could do wonders, “Now I got to get back to the palace. Major Hawthorne, thank you for the use of your cadets. Tony let’s get out of here.”

  “Yes Ma’am,” her driver and aid responded.

  As they got in the car her driver commented, “Commander, I don’t recall my recruit class looking as sharp as those children. Children? No young adults.”

  “Tony you have children don’t you?” Mylea asked as they pulled out of the grounds.

  “Yes ma’am! A boy and a girl 7 and 8,” Tony answered.

  “I hope your kids don’t have to grow up as fast as these kids did,” Mylea said, “But you know watching Lam grow into her adulthood has been a wonderful thing. It’s been hard to accept her as nearly grown, but she...”

  “I know Chief,” Tony agreed he had been Mylea’s driver off and on for a couple of years, he remembered Lamile all of fourteen standard years old trying to look so grown up in the prom dress she wearing to her first prom. “She’s quite a young woman, our Lady Atomi.”

  “That she is Tony,” Mylea replied thinking of her daughter’s growing up, the skinned knees, the fights, with her, and the neighbor kids, the type of stuff kids got into. The good times too. The time she met the Earth Emperor, when Mylea was stationed on Earth for a while and the kid still in diapers had upchucked on the ruler’s suit jacket. She smiled at that. Yes her baby has grown up she commented to herself wondering why it was so damn hard to accept!