Part 29
As Alice busied herself relighting the lantern, then setting to work on the fire, Zac moved through the darkened kitchen to Marc's side. He put one hand on the man's shoulder, whispered something in his ear then led Marc off to a secluded corner of the room. Zac was aware of Keller watching them from Rose's side. When he saw Marc slump back against the wall, one hand covering his face, Keller got up and went over to his father. Trudy and the others were watching too, now. Zac, at Marc's bidding, left the two men in the corner of the room and went to tell the other Mall Rats.
"Cloe gave birth to a baby boy today," Zac began, lifting the spirits of all those before him, "But, there were complications and she lost a lot of blood. She died not long after her son was born."
Trudy's face fell. If only she'd stayed, she thought. Her heart went out to Keller: the young man didn't even know that Marc wasn't his real father, that he was an orphan now, his new half-brother being the only blood kin he had left. Not that that mattered in these times: the tribe had always been a kind of family and would stay that way, whether they were allowed to call themselves a tribe or not.
"Did she name him?" Marc asked, breaking the reverent silence that had fallen across the room.
"Kevin Conrad," Zac answered, simply, deciding it would be better to leave out the rest of Cloe's last sentence.
Marc nodded, drew his hand down, over his moustache to his chin. Keller put a hand on his father's shoulder as the fire finally leapt into flame.
"He will be welcome in my house," Marc replied, after a short and thoughtful pause, "once this mess is cleared up. Until then, keep him safe with my daughter, please."
Zac nodded. He would have spoken, but for a second time the farmhouse door flew open, plunging the group into total darkness once more.
"Dammit!" Alice was heard to say.
--
The main problem Jack had work around was twofold. Firstly, the farm was entirely devoid of power and, therefore, cut off from any interference, bugging or other tricks from his systems. Secondly, this meant he had to depend on Denver to carry out a significant part of the plan. The imbecilic Neanderthal should be there by now, Jack thought. Here's hoping he remembers what he's supposed to do. There were several things that could mess up this plan: one of the largest of them was Denver. But it was no matter if he did mess it up: Jack had planned for that and every other possible mishap.
Jack turned his monitor over to TV mode and flicked through the various channels until he found the one that watched over the farm. The light was just flickering on inside the poorly shrouded window. It was an unsteady light, wavering precariously on the brink of darkness, but it illuminated the interior of the old farm kitchen enough to show Denver's bulky and unmistakable silhouette. He was there. It had begun.
--
Java turned as the monitor beeped, there was new mail. She opened the short note from Jack. It was brief and to the point, stating only one word: "Begin".
She closed the e-mail and turned to her workers. Giving them a few short, sharp instructions, she watched as they began the simple, but lengthy, process of removing Ram's animated playthings from their virtual imprisonment. They were still unconscious. They would remain that way until they reached the city. The penthouse to be exact. They were Jack's prisoners now. Ram no longer needed them. Since Ram had spoken to Jack, there hadn't been much he had needed. Jack had needed knowledge, or rather, more knowledge, of the remainder of the Techno systems in the city. Ram had given him that knowledge. Ram was no longer needed. Ram was dead.
Java smiled, remembering how good it had felt to finally pull the plug on her once dear, now departed, husband. She was a widow. She was free. There was much still to be done: all the gear in the warehouse would be coming to the city with them and that could only be packed up once the prisoners were safely loaded on board their accommodation for the next full day. Much of the personal belongings of Java and her workforce had already been loaded up and sent on ahead with Jack's staff from the city. By this time tomorrow, she would be back in the city, with her lover, without any ex-Mall Rats to worry them.
