He has grown and proven himself. You have raised a fine son.
“Let me look at you,” she said, pulling back and looking him over. She immediately noticed his forehead. The infection was wider than the bandage on the cut, and she could see the angry purple and red bruises under the skin. She pulled the bandage back and made a tsk sound. It was ugly, but he’d had much worse before.
Cameron winced and pulled back. “I’m fine, Mom. Both of us are.” He looked behind him at Alex standing there, waiting quietly. Jill knew right away something had happened between them. That girl was looking at her the same way Roen used to look at Jill’s dad. Well, it was bound to happen. They were already getting close before the attack. The two traipsing all this distance could only have brought them closer.
Tao must be fuming that his host has fallen for a Genjix girl.
“She’s an ex-Genjix now.”
That remains to be seen. Tabs falls closer to the fanatical end of the spectrum.
“Come,” Jill said, reaching for the girl. “Your father has been worried sick.”
“Is he here?” Alex said in a small voice.
Jill nodded and gave the girl a hug.
“Is Papa all right?” the girl asked. “And the others? Rin? Mr Ohr?”
“Come,” Jill said, putting her arms around the two children. “Let’s go surprise them.”
Freeni beamed at Cameron, and he enthusiastically waved back. She disappeared and returned a few seconds later with the rest of the people inside the trailer.
Vladimir burst into tears as he fell to his knees and opened his arms. “My little girl.”
Alex left Jill’s side and ran into his embrace. If anything, the Russian’s reaction was even more extreme than her own. He sobbed big, shoulder-wracking sobs and began to talk so fast in Russian Jill couldn’t make out what he was saying. Jill sympathized with the pain he must have felt over the past week. It wasn’t that Alex meant more to Vladimir than Cameron to Jill, but Alex was all he had left in his life.
She gave Cameron one more squeeze and leaned in. “I’m proud of you, son. You did it. I’m sure Tao helped, but it was you who took responsibility and got both of you here safely.”
His face fell a little. “I’m sorry, Mom, but we might not be able to go back to Eureka anymore. There was an incident at the school. Alex and I had to beat up a few kids.”
“That’s so Tao,” Jill laughed, not really caring about anything else right now. “It’s all right. Our house isn’t there anymore anyway. Don’t worry. We’ll find a new place to call home. You’re going to have to tell me all about your grand adventure over dinner.”
“What about South America?” he asked. “Maybe it’s time we leave the country. Go someplace more friendly to us.”
Jill followed his gaze to Alex. That girl must have really gotten to him if he was talking about leaving the country. Jill worried. Cameron seemed to have caught the bug hard.
It is probably better he gets his heart broken now than later in life. Teenage love, while annoying and dramatic, is rarely as fatal and permanent as it can be with adults.
“That’s because you’re not a mother, Baji.”
Technically, I am more qualified than you. I have been a mother thousands of times.
Alex was whispering something to her father, who glanced over at Cameron and Jill first with concern, then with shock. He stood up abruptly.
Oh there they go. Daddy is now going to get a shotgun to protect his little girl.
“He’ll have to get through me first. I wonder how many times I have to beat him up before he stops threatening my son.”
The blood had drained from Vladimir’s face. He said something Jill couldn’t quite make out. He looked like he was about to faint.
“Are you all right?” Jill asked.
“We need to leave here right now,” he said. “Now, before it’s too late.”
“Unfortunately, it already is too late,” a new voice said from off to the side.
Before Jill knew what was happening, five figures emerged from the darkness. Each were armed, hooded, and in armor. She recognized the silhouette of their guns and immediately drew her pistol. Freeni did the same. However, they were outnumbered, outgunned, and her son was right in the middle of it.
“Put the gun down, Jill Tan,” the lead voice said. It was male, deep, and exact. In fact, his cadence was so neutral, he was either a television anchor or an Adonis Vessel. He also knew who she was. Her heart sank as the man walked up to her.
The hooded and masked figure looked at her and then at Cameron. She tried to pull her son behind her, but he shook his head. “Let go of the boy.” She reluctantly did, and watched in terror as he took off his gloves and cupped Cameron’s jaws with his hand. “Tao.” The name came out of his mouth in a growl. Then he reached over and touched Jill’s face.
Chiyva! How is this possible?
The man threw his hood back and pulled off his mask. “My name is Jacob Diamont, and tonight I pay back a long-overdue debt.”
35 Jacob Hunting
As has happened many times in the past, humanity required course adjustments. That was what The Great War was; just another reset and correction. As they had in the lead-up to the Black Plague before it, the humans themselves had created a false safety net with a network of ill-advised treaties in an attempt to maintain prolonged peace. The Genjix merely snapped that peace and pushed the dominoes forward by murdering a petty Archduke of Prussia, one Franz Ferdinand, who happened to be host to the Prophus Baji.
Zoras
It didn’t take long for Jacob and his men to secure the betrayers. After all, they had arrived into Fort Bragg earlier that morning and had spent the entire day waiting for the boy and the girl to lead them to the Prophus safe house. He had found the Sign of Shamash in an alley next to the bus stop, and the instructions written in invisible ink on the wall told him to watch the main highway going through the town. Jacob was surprised when he found the two children walking down it instead of driving. That just made his job easier.
Jacob had to admit; the wait was longer than anticipated, and he was getting restless. Alex should have brought the boy down yesterday, and he had almost called off their reconnaissance of the street. However, Chiyva’s wisdom had prevailed.
The betrayers are in no rush to leave. We should not be in one to move in.
His guardian was correct, and now, after all these years, justice was at hand, and Jacob’s vengeance was almost complete. He looked at the woman and the boy. Roen Tan’s wife and offspring, and in the boy, the Prophus Tao, who had been with Roen when Grandfather was murdered. It was only fitting that Jacob was now Chiyva’s vessel. Fate had come full circle.
The priority is the scientist.
“Of course, Holy One.”
Rin was on her knees, arms bound behind her back. She was the only one they really needed. The others, Ohr and Vladimir, in many ways more despised than the Prophus, were Genjix in name only. These weak-willed, selfish moderates had only used the Holy Ones and the Genjix to enrich themselves without ever fighting for the cause. They were parasites that sapped the strength of the true believers. Then there was the girl, Alexandra, the one who had led Jacob here. She was standing next to her father, looking nervous. It was time to test her loyalty as well.
“How did you find us?” Jill asked.
He backhanded her casually, knocking her to the ground. The boy looked ready to pounce on him. Jacob smirked; he would welcome that. The group waited in silence until the last member of Jacob’s team returned from the trailer.