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Chapter 35[]
Dead Man's Hand: Family Values[]
Ngo Family Estate
Hue, Kowloon
Bucklands Province
Lyran Alliance
11th September, 3058
"I'm not okay with this." Joker sat in a chair across the desk from the planetary Duchess.
"Funny, because it's your damn fault we're in this situation anyway." Liz shrugged, then took a large swig of her drink, "If you'd just kept your damn mouth shut, Phelan Kell wouldn't have moved heaven and earth to try and get a hold of your ovaries, and Nathan wouldn't have reached out to the Falcons..."
"You'd still have no hope of living to see thirty?" the Mercenary asked, finishing her own drink and reaching for the bottle to pour another.
"Una salus victis nullam sperare salutem." the Duchess smiled, "Look, you said it yourself, I'm dead either way. May as well go out giving fate the middle finger. And, even if I do die. Maybe it'll give the two mad scientists a clue as to how to help some other poor bugger, further down the line."
"You're not some lab-rat, Liz!" Joker slammed her glass down on the table, "You don't have to do this..."
"If not me, then who?" Liz asked, "Do you know how many people in the entire Inner Sphere have Cholmann's Syndrome? Maybe a hundred, mostly undiagnosed because it's so rear and easily mistaken for something else or mistaken for drug addicts. Just like I almost was, because they're desperate to dull the constant pain? So, what do you suggest I find one of those, drag them in for the Mad Scientists to play with?" she shook her head, "No, if anyone has to put themselves on the line for this, it should be me."
"You're a depressing drunk, you know that?" Joker asked, again downing her drink and pouring another.
"Sorry, but I don't exactly have much experience to call upon." Liz admitted, "Opioids were always my poison of choice, and by the time I started thinking about drinking, I was already on pretty high doses of the kind of medication that, well, doesn't react well with alcohol. But, now I've spent the last two weeks flushing all that crap out of my system ahead of the procedure, I can finally see what all the fuss is about."
"And?"
"And it's something I could get used to."
"Well, take it from a borderline alcoholic. I don't." stated Joker
"I hope you don't drink around my goddaughter..." stated Liz
"I should never have agreed to that." Joker grimaced, "No, I don't drink around Alexis. Mostly because Trinh has a scary bitch who has a sixth sense for anything more potent than mouth wash."
"Well, she is Guild."
"Guild?" asked Joker
"I told you, the Spacer's Guild is watching over your daughter. Trinh, and I'm fairly certain that is actually her name. Given how common it is on Kowloon, is a Rockjack. One of the few who can stand to be planet-side for a prolonged period is of time. Actually the first person I've ever met from this system who's a full Guild Member, and not just Guild trained."
"Well, I've been thinking about asking her to look after Alexis when I head back out." quietly said Joker
"She'd probably say yes, even if she wasn't acting under orders from, well, best not to ask. I've seen her around Alexis, she generally cares for the kid."
"She's gonna need that in her life. Heaven knows I won't be around all that much."
"You could stay. The Militia needs someone to train its MechWarriors..."
"Thank you, but no." Joker shook her head, "That would be too much like what we had planned on Sweet Water. No, I'm a Mercenary. It's the one thing I know for sure that I'm any good at."
"You're a good friend." Liz assured her, "I don't have many friends, not close ones. I had a couple while growing up, but I lost one to an overdose, and the other to anger and bullheadedness. You're one of the few people I'm not related to who is not only willing to put up with my more... disagreeable quirks, but give back as good as you get."
"God, you must be a really messed up if I'm your idea of a good friend!"
"Your team considers you a friend." Liz said to her
"Yeah, but you've met them. Hardly what you could call paragons of good taste."
"They love you. If I knew nothing else about you, that would be enough. Only someone worth knowing could inspire that kind of trust and devotion, with relying on fear or something stupid like honor or tradition."
"I'm a Kerensky, remember? Convincing people to do crazy things is kind of our thing."
"I do try and look past your heritage when I can." Liz looked at the empty bottle on her desk, "Why is all the rum gone?"