Another reflective segment. No politics as yet. Given that Fussy now knows literally everything Allie recalls from her little adventure, I’d imagine she thinking very hard about what comes next while talking to her husband and this little hero.

I only found out how sad Fussy was, the regrets, on my drive home from DayJob today. As we know from Regent, Aurie possesses a certain bloodlust. It was always just a job for Fussy. And from what they now know from her brother Gary, she realizes that she will outlive her second husband and at least three of her children: humans Callie, Robert, and Julian. Honestly, she might outlive some of her grandchildren. That has to hurt.

With no stemma attached, to be clear, Johnston, as Fussy’s second husband, is step-great-grandfather to Allie. Blood only matters when thinking about the Demi allele.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

The promontory where Faustina had her house, mansion, really, jutted due east out into the Hellas Sea for nearly two kilometers.  Alicia’s father had told her the Empress had spent a not insignificant amount of her own money having the roads and infrastructure put in before the mansion complex, three buildings masquerading as one, built at the tip.

Standing, she made some small adjustments to her dress.  Mostly just a thin, off-white gown cinched at the waist, it covered her arms to her elbows and reached to just above the slippers on her feet.

I will admit, she thought, the sunrises are amazing.  For someone who lived simply on Earth and almost never wore anything except a legionary uniform, I guess she wanted to splurge in her so-called retirement.

Once the mansion was built, her second husband, Stephen Johnston, joined her.  Two years younger than her eighty years, as a human, it showed.  I wonder if she’ll marry again?  She has said she’s too old for any more children.  We are all tools to her, but she does love us, in her odd way.

Alicia walked through the corridors and down a flight of steps, headed east, toward Fussy’s quarters.  She sensed her in the common area, the great living room off next to the open kitchen.  She looked left to give a smile and wave to Miss Silque, who had been with first with Robert Wade’s family as their maid, and now this one.

Curly blond hair and that pink and white maid’s outfit. Over a hundred years old.  Looks mid-twenties.  Never speaks.  My family collects mysteries.  That stopped her walk.  “And now, I have, too.”

“What’s that, Great Granddaughter?” Faustina asked turning her head around while sitting on a couch with a print book in her lap.

Eighty.  Looks barely fifty.  Her brother had finally done enough research that, yes, demis aged slower, but this was something else, because of said brother’s wife:  nanomaterial regeneration.  Alicia gave a ninety degree bow.

“Emeritus Empress Faustina,” she said to the floor.  “Thank you for receiving me.”

“Oh, get up and come sit next to me, silly girl,” she laughed.  “You’ve changed all of creation and made me a fool for not getting to know you better.”

“No one,” she stood back up and moved carefully toward the couch, “would ever think you a fool, Empress.”

“Even you, who calls me ‘Fussy’ in her mind?” The older woman’s eyes twinkled turquoise.

“I… I think it makes you more real to me,” she admitted, sitting to her left.  “You have always been a far off great figure of history, not my great grandmother.  I confess it made – and makes – me feel closer to you.”

“I thank you for your honesty, Allie.” She closed her book, set it to her right, and held up her hands.  “May I?”

Touch me.  Touch my mind.  Alicia took a breath, and let it out.  Now, her white eyes were as bright as Faustina’s.

“Of course.”

The old demi-human placed a hand on each side of the girl’s face.

“Show me?” she asked.

Well, she did ask…  Alicia lowered all of her psychological defenses.  A show of perfect trust.

And got something unexpected in return.

After just a moment, Faustina leaned away, surprised to see the young girl’s tears on her hands.

“I guess you felt that,” she said a bit ruefully.

“I… Faustina,” Alicia cried, “I never knew!  So much regret!  You are always so brave…!”

“I can be if needed,” she shrugged, wiping her hands on the couch and earning a disapproving noise from Miss Silque.  “But I’ve been at this for over sixty years now.  How I treated my family – all of my family – not being there when Robert died.  And the oceans of blood:  St. Louis, Old Washington, all of the other campaigns.”

“The recollection of war is poor comfort in old age,” she sighed.

“Old age?  Pooh.” Alicia wiped her eyes and leaned to kiss Fussy’s cheek, hearing someone come into the room behind her.  “I’ve seen your brother’s work.  You are maybe middle-aged at this point.  And now, semi-retired, you can maybe take up a hobby instead of a gun.”

“That’s a bit harsh,” said an old man in a tired voice.

“Great grandfather!” Alicia turned and stood, giving another kiss.  He looks so old!  And cannot walk without a cane.  At least our lower gravity is a boon to him.

“My wife said you’d be visiting,” Stephen Johnston said, allowing him to be led to the couch, taking the spot where the girl had sat.  “Glad I was awake to see you.  One last time.”

“One last time?  Pooh!” she exclaimed yet again.  “You’ve years… what, Faustina?”

“He has months.  We never lie to each other.  His nervous system is failing.” She raised her hand.  “We’ve talked to all doctors who matter.  This simply is.”

“But,” Johnston said, waving a re-weepy Alicia over to sit between them, “I’ve lived long enough to be a part of one of the most amazing moments of history:  alien intelligent life.  And discovered by one of my little girls, no less.”

He paused to look out the huge picture windows, to the east.

“I have so much to be thankful for,” Alicia barely heard, “and so many questions for the Lord.  Maybe I should believe in that Purgatory y’all do!”

“Yes, you should,” Faustina chided him, moving the cane and taking her husband’s hand in hers.  “But, I think being with me counts as that.”