Chapter 28 Wednesday, 1820 hours (6:20 PM)

At six thirty precisely Jack arrived with Kit. Jack was very punctual, a trait he was very proud of.

Jack had his arm around Kit's shoulder as Joshua opened the door. Joshua was dressed all in white, and the room was bright, cheery, and there were platters of kid-type food in abundance. Jack looked down and saw that Kit appeared edgy..

Joshua gestured them in, clapped Jack collegially on the shoulder and looked down to his other visitor.

"and you must be Kit," said Joshua.

"Yes sir, but everybody calls me Cat,"

"Cat it is then. Come on in and let’s get to know each other," said Joshua shepherding Kit inside.

The three of them sat down to talk.

"Why don’t you get something to eat first young man," said Joshua.

Kit did not need much urging since his meals had been rather irregular of late. Eschewing the cakes and cookies, he made a huge sandwich of cheese and luncheon meats, grabbed a soda can, and, eager to play his part in the surrender of the zoo, took a seat on the couch between Jack and Joshua.

Joshua began by chatting about Kit’s school, his hobbies, his life back home in upstate New York, and then his zoo trip. Jack in contrast, sat in silence.

"Well. How do you like our zoo?" asked Joshua.

"I like it a lot, sir. It’s really great."

"You can call me Joshua."

"OK."

"What did you like best here at the zoo?" asked Joshua

"The SkySafari. That was neat."

"You liked that did you?"

"Yeah. It was like flying. I wanted to go around, but they made me get off at the other end."

"You like flying then?" said Joshua pursuing a topic that was also one of his passions.

"Yeah. My dad’s a private pilot. Gee. I wish I could go on the SkySafari again," said Kit.

"I think we can arrange that," said Joshua, "before we, ah, release you."

Jack was perplexed knowing as he did, that the tramway at the moment was only used by CALF snipers. He didn’t like the idea of a diversion. Why couldn’t Joshua just get on with it, tell his story and let the kid go. While Jack wrestled with this, Joshua turned to him.

"Thank you for bringing Cat," he said. "Now Jack, I think you can return to your duties."

"I thought I’d stay until you finish and then I could drive Kit to the exit," said Jack.

"That’s not necessary. I’ll take Kit out of the zoo. I appreciate your offer, but I’m sure you have other things to do."

"Thanks Joshua, but I think I’d rather stay here with you guys," said Jack lightly.

"No. I think it’s best you return to your duties," said Joshua in a tone that admitted no argument, further accentuated by Joshua standing up.

"OK," said Jack trying to keep his misgivings from showing in his voice.

"I’ll see you guys later," he said walking to the door.