The biggest issue for Jane was freeing her family. During a break in the marathon discussions, Jane spoke earnestly with Emily about freeing her family. Jane described the break in contact she had with her family. She knew that if she were too involved with the negotiations, it would end in disaster. The man named “Jim” was clearly in a bad mood and not interested in disrupting his business, whatever it was. He was angry with Jane when Jane was a slave. He clearly would not want to have a freed slave purchase a family unit from him.
Emily took down all the slave serial numbers. She said, “I will approach ‘Jim’ by saying I want Jane's father to construct and operate a small factory.” Emily promised to represent someone who had been told that though a slave, he was excellent at certain manufacturing processes that were hard to find otherwise.
Emily went into another room and made some initial inquiries. After about 40 minutes, she came out and told Jane, “You can purchase your family for $390,000, which seems a bit expensive. Are you sure you want to do this?” Jane exploded wordlessly with joy. She just said over and over again, “Please, please, for the love of God, please free them.” Jane collapsed on the floor.
When she woke up, she realized that Amir had carried her to a couch, and everyone was crowded around her. Emily had obviously told them what had just happened. Sarah just said, “Jane, we are very sorry, we were so caught up in the happiness of seeing you free that we all forgot about your anguish about your family. We are very sorry for being shortsighted. What can we do to help?”
Sarah squeezed Jane's hand. Jane said, “I want to affect the purchase of my family as soon as possible. I may ask for someone to help house them for a short time. Let's see if we can draft the purchase agreement as soon as possible. I do not think we need any time in one of those dreadful slave processing centers. Can we just show up with a contract and a bank draft and register the property transfer with the authorities?” Emily just said, “When can you get a bank draft? I can write up a sales contract in about an hour.” Jane said she had a bank draft with her that she had authorized with her bank for up to $700,000. All she needed to do was write in the lesser amount and sign it, and the bank draft was ready. Emily suggested, “This should be signed by Amir, to avoid having the name Foreman on any of the paperwork.”
Jane realized that she could not bring the discussions to a halt waiting for a contract to be written. Bravely, Jane got up and discussed the Microsoft 2035 problem and the 2038 Unix Problem with the group as she awaited news about her family. She lectured, “In the 1990s, the danger of writing years as two digits was recognized. This became known as the Y2K problem. The y was for year, and 2k was for 2000. This was a problem facing the transition from 1999 to 2000. Microsoft solved its problem by using four digits for the year or moving the window forward by 35 years. Thus, the danger of computer crashes on Microsoft software was postponed to the year 2035, which was one of the worst years of the economic collapses. There was no one to offer the solution to the year 2035 problem.”
She continued, “If we could get access to Microsoft source code, we would want to move the time window forward at least another 50 years. The Unix 2038 problem is a bit more complicated. The original problem is that time is measured in seconds from Jan. 1, 1970. With a signed 32-bit register, you can count up to early 2038. By converting to an unsigned 32-bit register, you get way beyond 2038, but lose access to the years before 1970. The best solution is to use a 64-bit register, which covers 290 billion years. This should allow computer networks to last way beyond the year when our sun burns out. The date ‘Jan 1, 1970’ is called the start of an epoch since it is the reference point, the zero, for keeping time. I propose we recompile every Unix distribution with a new epoch, starting on Jan 1, 2030. That will allow us to handle dates plus or minus 68 years from 2030 on any 32-bit application. Of course, we will do our best to convert as much as we can to a 64-bit system for storing the Unix date.”
Emily ran into the room. She said, “The contract is ready, and we are all ready to start the rescue of your family. How do you want to do this?” Jane said, “I will stay here. Amir, Emily, and Sarah should go in one car. Danny should drive an empty car for my family. After you get them, come here, and I will squeeze into Danny's car. We will go to Sarah's house and see how everybody is.”
An hour later, the two cars came back to Mr. Mitchell's house and honked the horn. Jane ran out and jumped into Danny's car. Jane could not speak for a few minutes. Her parents were crying. They said, “You must hate us for what has happened to you.” Jane said, “No, no, no, not at all. We have so much to talk about when we get to Sarah's house.” Her father said, “What is happening? Who is Sarah? Did she free all of us?” Jane did not want to say too much too soon. There were many things to explain. Jane quietly said, “There were two people at your purchase. The woman is the niece of my first owner. The man is my third owner. He and his wife are the ones who have purchased you. You are all in good hands. I suspect that you will soon be free from slavery.” While true, this was somewhat misleading. Danny was smiling at Jane's simple, reassuring explanation. Jane's brothers wanted to know about the gold slave collar. Jane told them it meant she could travel independently. They also wanted to know why she was not in car restraints. Jane said, “Due to a legal loophole, I do not need to wear them.”
At Sarah's house, each member of Jane's family took off their filthy clothes. They took a bath or shower and got cleaned up. Several members of the Five Couples helped with the cleaning process. Several people gathered clothes that were being prepared for the next Rose Chang Christmas Party. They found suitable clothes and then made sure everyone was presentable. When everyone was in the main room, Jane told her incredible story. Jane and Amir were wealthy enough to purchase them and free them, and not even worry about the expense. Jane was free but for only less than a week. Jane described her torment of wanting to free them earlier but knowing that the attempt would backfire unless she had the right “team” to do it for her. Bill and James beamed with pride when they realized that their own sister had transformed herself into someone who could pluck them all from slavery. James was over 15 years old. He could have been sold once he reached his 15th birthday. It appeared that his excellent grades and school records kept him from being sold. In this way, Jane's pleas that her brothers do whatever they could to educate themselves were a true blessing to the family.
Jane mentioned that she used a little-known rule that allowed her to wear a gold collar at a very young age. Her brothers said, “Cut it off! Get rid of it!” Jane just said, “It is supposed to last for decades. I think it is very beautiful. It is covered with actual gold and is scuff-resistant. I am going to keep it until I am sick of it.” Jane's brothers made a face like, “We knew you were crazy, and nothing seems to have changed!”
Once the basic life stories were exchanged, and a meal was served, Jane started asking her father about what kind of work he would like to have now that he was in the process of being freed. Her father said, “I would like to set up another bicycle factory.” Now Jane turned her brother's attitude against them all. She exclaimed, “Are you crazy? Isn't this how this madness all started? What are you trying to prove?”
Jane's father replied, “OK, OK, I assumed that you would stake me some money to get started. Now I need to tell you some secrets. When things were getting grim financially, I used someone else's identity and purchased a small, tax-free farm. The barn has several locked shipping containers loaded with bike parts. Your mother and I were constantly driving back and forth from the factory to the parts depot just to get three days of parts at a time. That way, if we were grabbed, we would restart the factory once we somehow got free. It looks like I will be checking out that farm very soon. Plus, if someone could offer some initial funding to get me started, I can make a factory that can make a profit with bikes at a much lower price tag. The problem has always been the financing. All funding I have had in the past has come with crippling conditions that guaranteed failure.”
Jane raised her hand to show she was thinking very hard. She said thoughtfully, “So far, we have invested in technology companies. A bicycle factory would appear to be a losing proposition. But if it is possible to sell bicycles for much less than anyone else can, then we might make a profit larger than we expect. We are several years before we are ready to start our technology enterprise, but the experience of running a business in a hostile business environment may be invaluable. Mr. Mitchell wants us to construct companies with closely held shares of stock held in layers of law firms. This is the place to start. We need to make bicycles as no one else can and protect the business from any interference. This will be our first battle.” She added, “Dad, check out your farm and let's inspect those bike parts. How many days will it take to write up a business plan?”
It turned out that Jane's father had been watching the bicycle market even when he was a slave. He was able to gather price lists for bicycle parts and completed bicycles. He kept those hidden in his office. He did not need to be updated about the last six years in his industry. All the contents of his farm were intact. He changed the ownership of the farm into his name, once his “free person” status was official. He was very practical. He set up an electrical line, some tools, and an empty shipping container near the barn. He was assembling bicycles with his wife and sons while the paperwork was being filed for the new “Foreman Bike Works.” The new company was owned 35% by Jane's parents, 5% by Mr. Mitchell, and 60% by Jane and Amir.
Jane's father located an empty industrial facility close to the railroad tracks that still had a good roof. Amir and Jane set a maximum budget of $220,000 for building purchase, initial utilities, initial staff, tooling, site preparation, new parts, and a basic distribution system. It was a bare bones budget, but Jane's father and mother seemed to be expert at delaying purchases, juggling things, and making do. They hired 15 people initially and discussed locally hiring over 75 people once the factory was going at full capacity.
The local TV station heard about all of this activity. They wanted an interview with the new operators of the new facility. They were shocked to discover that the sweet couple they had spoken to were recently freed slaves. The researcher was puzzled as to why someone would free slaves and then finance their factory. If the new bicycles were even a modest success, this would quickly send a freed slave into level two status. None of this sounded possible.
The station filmed a great remote segment showing the long-empty building being cleaned in a rudimentary way to prepare for the installation of the workbenches and tooling. They arranged a studio interview with the couple and their backers. The backers were Amir, Jane, and Emily. Jane wore a scarf around her neck. No one recognized her at all. Emily apologized saying, “My well-known uncle, Charles Mitchell, is too busy to appear today. Anyway, interviewing five people is tricky enough; you do not want my uncle too, he can be a bit difficult.”
The newswoman posed the question to Amir, “Why invest in Warren, why invest in recently freed slaves?” Amir said, “This is a great question. I think it is best if this is answered by my wife, who is the daughter of these fine people. She shares their status as a recently freed slave.” While the camera was on Amir, Jane took off and hid her scarf. There she was, the camera on her, wearing a gold slave collar. She calmly said, “I have always liked Warren. I appreciate the fine education that I received at Warren G Harding High School. I have many friends here. Both my husband Amir and I have enough money to purchase my parents and to fund their dream of building an ultra-efficient bicycle factory. This brings numerous advantages to Warren. We bring perhaps as many as 75 new jobs, and the opportunity to purchase bicycles at half of competing prices since there are no shipping costs.”
The newswoman was a bit shaky on all of this. She asked, “Did you graduate from Warren G Harding High School? Are you still a slave?” Jane used the opportunity and added, “Yes, I spent three years at Warren G Harding as the slave formerly known as Jane Foreman. I was class valedictorian. I appeared briefly on this station as a sophomore, and you shut down the broadcast, saying you had technical difficulties. You were very upset by my simple question. You took the time to complain to the police. I told the police that I had been ordered to ask the question on TV. As a result of this shameful affair, the police fined my wonderful owner, Charles Mitchell, $1000. I think if you invite someone to your station, you should not treat them that way, and you certainly should not treat Charles Mitchell that way. One of the reasons I am here is to ask formally for an apology to Charles Mitchell, your town benefactor, because your insulting behavior caused him to have to pay that embarrassing fine to the police. I am not asking for reimbursement; I am just asking for an apology. I have assured him that he would get an apology since he wanted to put the factory in a different town if he didn't. And please do not cut me off saying you have technical difficulties. That will not be tolerated anymore.”
The newswoman sputtered and said, “Well, we certainly had no intention of insulting Mr. Mitchell. I have interviewed him many times, and I had no idea that he was involved in any way with that affair. We just thought there was a slave girl who needed to be taught a lesson.” Jane answered, “Well now I am a rich woman who can give this town a factory or take it away. I think you and your colleagues are the ones that need a lesson in manners. Why did you insult the people who are here to bring employment to our town? This segment has gone long. Why not cut here for a commercial?”
When they cut to commercial, the newswoman said, “How dare you ambush me like that?” Jane raised her voice, “Remember you are speaking to a woman who in one day can get a $5 million bank draft to purchase this station and have all of you fired the next day. If I have a few free hours, I can have things printed in some industry publications that can prevent you from getting another job. Once you think through that, you can look me in the eye and laugh with me, and laugh with others who ask you about this interview. You can just say how surprised you were by what happened today. If you do that, we will be fast friends, and you will enjoy the parties I throw. Or you can tell me and everyone else how rude I am and never have a job again.”
Jane calmed down. She said quietly, “What I want is that every slave should be treated with respect. A slave you encounter might be a millionaire five years later. Offering basic dignity to everyone is never wrong. I do not like to live in a society where rich people can throw their weight around, and everyone else has to do their bidding. But I was deeply hurt, and I felt I would not get any respect from anyone here unless I specifically threatened their livelihood. That crack of the whip brings out people's best behavior. Each day you make choices about how you treat other people. Choose well. And I do think a letter written and signed by the general manager of the station to Charles Mitchell would be the decent thing to do.”
When the commercial break was over, Jane's parents briefly discussed having a business failure resulting in their slavery. Ruth Foreman said, “With the town's support, we can turn empty buildings and empty lives into resources for making quality products that will be cheaper than the competition. Remember the name, Foreman Bike Works.” The segment ended with the newswoman saying, “I am amazed that freed slaves could do so much to help the economic climate of Warren.” Jane just said, “This is a great town. It is just the very best! We can all rise above our present condition!”
And that was how Jane Foreman's high school friends found out she was back in town for a few weeks in the summer. When they managed to locate her, they all high-fived her for the amazing bit of TV she gave the town. Mr. Mitchell did tell Jane that the letter did arrive from the station manager. It contained a bank draft for $1,000 with the suggestion that he donate it to charity. Mr. Mitchell made it a point to donate to the station manager's favorite charity and send him a great thank you note.
Deb, Cathy, Sarah, and Ruth were having dinner one night. They started asking Ruth about her experiences as a slave for six long years. She hinted that some of the things she had to do were quite unpleasant. Deb and Cathy did get her to say the words “brothel” and “whipped.” Sarah just said, “We are very sorry.” She brightened up and said, “That was just the first year. Then I was assigned to a place best described as a slave orphanage. The problem is that since slave children do not thrive, and die in such numbers, each one is considered of little value. Thus, there is hardly any effort to help them.” She wept as she said, “I did the best that I could for them, but it was so hard to help even one baby. What can one person do? If I helped one child break the cycle, I was not doing my job for the rest, and I would be punished severely.” She cried for about four minutes.
When she was able to talk, Sarah was full of questions, “Were these babies and children slaves? Where were the parents? Were they alive? Were the babies for sale like other slaves? Who owns them?” Slowly the answers came out. Ruth said, “A slave does not have many answers. The building is at 325 Division Street; you can research the ownership yourself. The parents were dead. Some of them died during medical procedures. I do not know what they were, but it was a big joke among the management. I do not know if they could be purchased. But you could go in and ask. I would caution that so many of the babies and children are listless and are near death. I could help identify the better ones if you wanted.”
The next morning, Cathy, Deb, and Ruth showed up at the dark building on Division Street. They knocked, and someone opened the door. She said, “What do you want?” Ruth asked, “Are any of the babies here for sale?” The door-opener just said, “All slaves are for sale.” They were taken upstairs. Ruth got a chance to ask the other slave staff to help identify one or more small kids that were “recent additions” and still seemed bright, intelligent, and loving. The staff all pointed to two siblings; one was four months old; the other was 15 months old. Deb asked the staff woman how much they cost. She answered, “Most kids younger than two years of age cost $400.” Deb and Cathy each had over $400 in their bank accounts. Since Ruth was afraid of being re-enslaved, she left with Deb and Cathy as they went to their banks to transfer $400 each. They came back, and each completed the purchase of one human child.
They quickly left with the babies and the sales contracts. Since the babies only had numbers, they needed names. They settled on Brenda and David, named after their favorite teachers that they both shared. They called their friends and gathered the basic baby supplies as best they could. They called Jane up since they needed a little financial help for the two babies they just bought.
Jane laughed and said, “I am not giving you guys a penny. But I will throw in $3,000 to you as a wedding present.” Cathy said, “Who said we are getting married?” Jane laughed, “Of course you are getting married. You have two babies to support. You have rescued two lovely children. A whole community should know of this and celebrate. Let me offer you an invitation then to your own wedding. The way I figure it, it takes a long time to put a wedding together. So how about three nights from now? I think I can work out some details. Girls, go home, tell your parents. Tell your family. Tell your friends. Tomorrow I will get a bank card for you to each get a good dress, a new haircut, and a nanny for the ceremony and the reception. I will be calling on Danny and Emily to work out the details of the locations, the food, band, the liquor, and the other critical supplies.”
Deb and Cathy were unsure of their parents' reactions. They decided to call all four of them together to make the announcement. Deb's dad just said, “Well, you get two babies, and Jane pulls a shotgun wedding. What do you want your parents to do?” Cathy replied, “Not much. Perhaps help with childcare while we get dresses and haircuts tomorrow.”
The ceremony was lovely. Deb wore a pink dress, to represent the baby girl; Cathy wore a blue dress to represent the older toddler boy. The babies made a brief appearance. Some people said, “The kids do not match your skin colors.” Cathy just said, “Well, my skin color does not match Deb, either. We are a family. None of us is going to match the drapes.”
The ceremony was very emotional. Ruth cried openly through every minute of the wedding. Deb and Cathy pledged their eternal love for each other and to their new children. Jane was very careful to stay in the back with Amir. They played no role in the wedding ceremony. Jane had asked that they find a part of the ceremony where Deb and Cathy could gently give a simple account of going into the slave baby hell and bring out two precious lives. When Deb said how they looked at each other and realized that each of them had between $400 and $800, so that they had to go to both of their banks to get the money transfers, the guests laughed. But the laughter was bitter with the realization that lives were being lost in nondescript buildings in their own town. How could such an atrocity be allowed? Once Deb and Cathy finished relating their story, they sat down. Sarah stood up and quoted the Talmud, Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.
The party was fabulous. Jane had arranged for Skipper's to cater the party. There was good and plentiful alcohol, music, and good times. That night, Deb and Cathy fell into each other's arms in utter exhaustion. Jane had rented a wonderful room for them that night. They felt that they had the goodwill of the entire town. In the space of a few days, they were married with children.