Zero Hour: Where are our Children (A Serial Novel) Episode 5 of 9

by Gary Sapp

started to say.

  “Grant a dying man his final words if you will,” Thomas dared to interrupt a king in his own court. “You do plan to kill me don’t you? That is the only endgame you have in store for me isn’t it, Xavier? So far, all I’ve earned for my efforts is to be held hostage in my own home, threatened in every way imaginable by two deadly organizations, questioned and accused by the feds and now this.”

  Xavier sat back in his seat. “You have not been without choice, Thomas.” Xavier laughed. “It’s not as if anyone held a gun to your head.”

  Thomas took a cautious step closer. And then another. He stole as many small footsteps as a man who wore his large shoe size could manage without tripping over them. He felt someone shadowing his steps from behind—it was Warren.

  “I’ve been used by all of you.” He swung his arm around in an exaggerated half circle for effect. “I’ve been living in a path of daggers. A House in Chains and Pandora has both used me to gain sympathy for your causes.”

  “No, you haven’t been used, Thomas.” Xavier stood and surprised Thomas when he met him half way. “You’ve provided a valuable service to a nation who truly needed it. You’ve exposed all of the ugly truths for everyone who isn’t still wearing blinders to finally see for themselves. No one in this country can deny that racism still exist here even after the election of a Black President into their White House.”

  “When you speak of truths, Xavier, you sound as if you’re talking about something specific.”

  “I am, Thomas.” Xavier nodded. “You helped remind everyone that Black people and White people in this country hate one another.” He said and then lowered his voice. Thomas could smell the staleness of cigarettes on the man’s breath. “Sure, we now live in some of the same neighborhoods, attend the same public schools and churches, serve the same Master…but underneath all of the courtesies, niceties, and good faith rhetoric, a deep seeded mistrust and hatred almost at the cellular level, still remains.”

  “Okay, Xavier,” Thomas matched a House in Chains leader’s low tone with one of his own. “So there is great work that remains, there are bridges to be gapped. We should all remember the words of great men like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—“

  “I will, Thomas.” Xavier replied and squeezed Thomas’ sore shoulder with some affection. Whether it had merit or not, Thomas could not say. “I’ve memorized all of Dr. King’s words and Malcom X’s, I can recite all of the great words from all of the great men who have passed on to a better life than this one, including my own father.”

  “And what conclusion have you reached?”

  “I’ve concluded that the 411 has been inevitable since the day Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. I realized that the Rooster was capable of the Rapture from the day Martin Luther King died from his gunshot wound. And I now know that the Zero Hour…Scar and the Whirlwind will descend on us all—“

  “You mentioned your father,” Thomas said. “Isaac Prince was indeed one of those great men like you spoke of before. He wouldn’t have let this end this way. You have power, Xavier. I want you to put the past and a possible future aside for a moment and remember that you have influence of events happening right now. Don’t give up, Xavier, don’t you ever give up on your father’s dream of peace and tolerance between our two peoples.”

  Xavier stepped towards Thomas—and straightened out his tie and brushed the dirt off of the shoulders of his shirt. “You should keep to the truth, Thomas; it is what you do well. You should leave Fantasy and Science Fiction to lesser writers. You’ve provided my House with truth. We won’t forget that. Now go, Thomas, leave this place. You don’t belong here.”

  Xavier showed him his back but the truth teller wasn’t finished with his business yet. It took Warren and two other Peacekeepers to restrain him from running up on Xavier from behind.”

  “You never asked me why I asked to meet with the Circle.” Thomas managed to say before the larger of the two Peacekeepers began working him over.

  He saw Xavier glance at Grace, who looked as uncomfortable as she could look at that moment. He held up a hand and the latest beating stopped. The petite man pimped more than walked back to the spot where Thomas had fell to his knees.

  Xavier stuck a toothpick in his mouth.

  “Alright, Thomas, enlighten me. Why did you risk your life in asking to see us here?”

  Thomas tone neared a whisper as he told Xavier that he needed to reach into his pants pocket for something—that was not a weapon.

  Xavier Prince seemed to mull it over a moment and eventually nodded his head in approval. Warren’s one visible green eye shifted from one end to another. Even Grace had stepped closer, almost standing in between her leader and Thomas in case the truth teller had indeed been proven a liar after all.

  Thomas Pepper pulled out a key card and presented it to Xavier.

  “A key,” Xavier asked, truly curious at the other man’s meaning. “What is this supposed to unlock, Thomas?”

  “Whatever chamber that houses your heart’s greatest desires, Xavier.” Thomas said quickly before he changed his mind about his own Whirlwind he was about to unleash. “I’ve given you a personal focal point for you to unleash much of your aggressive energy towards. You have something to pour 400 years of hatred…and vengeance upon at last.”

  Xavier frowned and then he raised his eyebrows which Thomas found difficult to see either motion in this reduced lighting. “Who will I find on the other side of this door you’ve given me the key to, Thomas?” And when Thomas only answered with a smile the other had grown impatient and raised his voice as a result. “Tell me Goddamn you, Thomas.”

  “Lucy Burgess.”

  “What?” It was Grace Edwards who had spoken into the silence first.

  Xavier only stepped closer until he and Thomas were nearly one. “Why would you do this?”

  “Lucy is staying at this hotel downtown. She is alone. She is vulnerable. She is an extremely easy target.” Thomas nodded towards where Grace was standing but had eyes only for her leader. “I’m sure Grace would have located her sooner or later. I’m guaranteeing you that it is sooner.”

  “Why would you do this?” Xavier asked him again.

  The two men stared at each other for how long a time Thomas could not say. No one else said a word. No one moved. Thomas could feel his heart fluttering in his chest. He was unsure of what would come next. He didn’t break his gaze with Xavier. To do so at this moment would show weakness. Men were little more than wild animals when you got down to their core. And the strong always kill the weak in the wild. It was not a manner of cruelty; it was the way of things…the way of the wild.

  Xavier broke his gaze first. He turned the key, pinched between his index finger and his thumb over and over again.

  Sometimes even the predator doesn’t know he is being preyed upon.

  “You want something,” Xavier said. “You’ve given me this woman because you want something in exchange for her life that you’ve placed in my hands.”

  Thomas didn’t hesitate.

  “I’m asking you to extend your Zero Hour deadline 12 more hours.”

  Warren shifted his one visible green eye and shook his head. “That is out of the question.”

  Thomas never took both his good eyes off of the Circle’s leader. “Have you been outside lately? You’ve already proven your point, Xavier. The public is frightened to death. What’s 12 more hours to you…half a day longer until the end of the world as we’ve known it? We’ll all see the American version of Armageddon live and up close soon enough.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Number One.” Warren said. “You know he’s in bed with Pandora—with Serena herself, he’s trying to buy them time to counteract us.”

  Xavier told the younger man to shut his mouth.

  “All of this is supposed to be about getting those children back to their families isn’t it? I’m asking you to give the authorities one last chance to find those boys. I have a reliable source has mention
ed to me that the FBI has dispatched a team specifically tasked with bringing in Serena Tennyson before your original time frame runs out as well.”

  Grace said, “I’m sure those same efforts are being used to round up members of the Circle to.”

  “I’m sure they are, Miss Edwards.” Thomas admitted as much. “But the point is this: I don’t know what you and your people are prepared to unleash on the public in response to those children not being found, but I’m sure there is no way from you to pull back from the operation once it begins. Mr. Washington is correct in his assumption that I do know Serena Tennyson at a more personal level somewhat. She is terrified of this Whirlwind that she has planned for you. If she is afraid then you should be afraid, Xavier.” He said. “We spoke about great men. I have no doubt that someone will utter the name Xavier Prince someday in a conversation just like the one we were having. I implore you…I beg you to give sanity more time.”

  “Alright,” Xavier nodded his head once.

  Thomas neared tears. “Thank you.”

  Thomas looked to Grace to escort him out of—out of wherever they were. She locked her small arm in his and began walking him forward. Xavier dug a cigarette out of his pack. Warren and the Peacekeepers stood in shocked silence until the Circle member moved to put the hood back over Thomas’ head.

  Thomas saw Xavier’s mouth part to speak before the bag pushed him back into a state of