CONT HQ - RUSHM
AD 3999/AE 1999
Adam saw another screen go blank from the corner of his eye. When he looked over, the word "OFFLINE" was playing across its surface.
"Replay that one," he told Jason. "And enlarge it."
The scene came on again, a first person point of view that showed a police cruiser with someone inside. Someone close, someone familiar.
"Malachi," Jason whispered.
Adam and Jason both watched as Malachi pulled his gun and jammed it at the camera. He pulled the trigger, then the screen went black.
"Damn," said Adam.
"Well, there’s some good news," sighed Jason wearily. They’d been up forever, it seemed, watching the crisis worsen in Loston. Fatigue had filled Adam’s mind, scratching at his eyes and causing them to blur, but now his gaze sharpened somewhat in surprise at his compatriot’s statement.
"What’s good about it?" he demanded somewhat snappishly.
Jason hit some keys, and another screen came on beside the first. It cued up to a view of Malachi and his followers in the prison: the scene from earlier, when Tal had gone offline.
Jason pointed at Todd in the screen. "He’s not there anymore. Bet that John got him."
"That is good news, I suppose," said Adam.
"But?" said Jason, clearly hearing the unspoken conditional in the older man’s hesitation.
Adam went to Jason’s console, cueing up the first view again, the scene of Malachi in the cruiser. He stopped the action and pointed at the street sign visible over the top of the car. "See where they are?" he asked Jason.
"They’re going to the mines," the younger man replied.
Adam nodded, simultaneously flicking an intercom. "Sheila?" he said into the machine.
"Yes?" came her voice after a moment.
"Is the recovery squad ready?"
"And waiting."
"Good. We’re leaving in five minutes."
He turned off the intercom.
"You’re going yourself?" asked Jason.
Adam nodded. "Loston is starting to disintegrate. We have to stop it. If we don’t everyone there dies."
"And everyone here," said Jason.
Adam did not respond. What could he say? Jason was right. If Fran died, they all did. The future was contained in that woman’s life, theirs as well as hers.