The Child Thief 6: Zero Hour

by Forrest, Bella

  “Another stressful day in paradise,” Ant said as he walked over to us. “Guess we finally need to take Alexy up on that hiking. If I don’t start moving, I’m going to lose my mind.”

  I wasn’t excited about another aimless day in Brightbirch either, so it seemed like as good a time as any to start our mole investigation. I wanted to start poking around Robert’s tent and questioning Rhea about his apparently heroic acts back in Edgewood. But first I decided to check my pocket in the vain hope that maybe we’d have a mission update or meeting request from Nathan. Finding my pocket empty, I realized that I had left my phone in the tent in my haste to get outside. I walked back inside to retrieve it.

  When I got to it, I saw that, just as I had feared, there were no new messages. But as I was slipping the device into my pocket, I was startled by a sudden vibration.

  Leader meeting at the admin building. Come ASAP.

  It was from Corona.

  My pulse quickened. This must’ve had something to do with the landings. I was ready for Team Hood to be at the forefront of some actual Little John movement.

  I stepped back out of the tent with my phone in my hand. It looked like Jace was reading his message as well, and I strode over to the rest of the team.

  “It says to get there as soon as possible, so we better get going,” I said.

  “What says that?” Jackie asked.

  “Corona just messaged us,” I responded. Maybe they hadn’t checked their phones yet.

  “I don’t have anything,” Denver said, looking at his phone.

  “Me neither,” Abe added.

  What? I picked up my phone again to look at the message. Leader meeting. Did that mean not everyone was invited? I suddenly felt very stupid for assuming. But why would I have gotten a message if the rest of Team Hood didn’t? I wasn’t a leader. I turned to Jace. He flashed his phone at me to show that he had gotten the message from Corona.

  “So are just you two invited?” Gabby asked in a crestfallen tone.

  “Why’s Nathan playing favorites?” Ant asked sullenly.

  “Yeah, I thought we were finally together as one team,” Alf said.

  I was starting to feel uncomfortable. I didn’t mean to sow any division between us. I had just assumed that we had all received the same message.

  “We are together as a team.”

  I looked over to see that Cloyd was speaking now. He had taken a position at the head of our little group.

  “Jace and Robin might just be the appointed delegates. That doesn’t make us any less of a team,” he finished.

  The rest of the group stood slack-jawed in the face of Cloyd’s statement. They must not have realized yet that we had smoothed things over the night before. It was probably a strange change of pace for the rest of them.

  “Thanks, Cloyd,” I said. I didn’t consider myself a leader among the group. But Jace and I had spent more time with Nathan and Corona than anyone else on the team, and that probably led to some sort of appointment to team leaders. I hoped that the rest of the team would understand.

  “He’s right,” Nelson added. “We’re just lucky to have ears in that meeting at all. I’m sure we’ll get whatever information we need from Robin and Jace.”

  I nodded. I didn’t have any intention of leaving the rest of the group high and dry. We were a team, after all.

  “So then what are you guys waiting for?” Abe asked with a grin.

  I looked over at Jace. As soon as possible. Abe was right. We needed to get moving.

  “Let’s go,” I said. It was time to get more information about what we were doing here in Brightbirch. And it was time to find out who had arrived.

  14

  It was hard to focus on any one thing while Jace and I walked to the administrative building. Too many topics were running through my head. I thought about the conversation that I’d had with my mother about my birth story. I thought about Henry being ostracized by people who suspected him of being the mole. And I thought about Cloyd’s pregnant wife who was lost in the raid on their secluded home.

  It had been an eventful couple of days, and I felt completely overwhelmed. I didn’t think I had the mental capacity to take on any more stressors, but now we were headed to a leader meeting with Corona after a mysterious landing of multiple airships. Luckily, Jace seemed to understand that I wasn’t necessarily in a chatty, lighthearted mood.

  A few other Edgewood team leaders were walking in front of or behind us on the road toward Fiora’s office building. I noticed that Bridge, Sy, and Zion seemed to have also been invited to the meeting. It was a weird feeling to think that Jace and I had somehow been elevated to the same leader status as these others. We hadn’t even been part of Little John for very long. The only logical reason for our inclusion that I could think of was that we had been out on outside missions recently. Still, I felt guilty that Nelson hadn’t been invited. Of all of us, I felt like she was the one who had done the most to get us where we were.

  So I promised myself that even if Nathan demanded that we keep the details secret, I was going to be forthcoming with her about the meeting. She deserved to know.

  “Do you have any idea what we’re going to be talking about in this meeting?” Jace asked.

  I shook my head. “It must have something to do with the ships that landed,” I replied. “Unless they made some headway in the mole investigation.”

  It seemed like the most reasonable answer. I couldn’t imagine that they would already have a new mission lined up for us when there were so many security concerns on base to take care of first.

  “That’s what I’m hoping, too,” Jace added.

  We walked on in silence for a few more paces.

  “Have you thought about your name?” Jace went on as we walked.

  “My name?” I asked, confused. Why would I be thinking about my name? I was thinking about a hundred other things at the moment.

  “Yeah, I mean your surname,” Jace replied. “Sylvone. I was just wondering. Have you thought about taking Juno’s name instead?”

  I turned to look at him as we walked, trying to clear the mental space in my head to take on another confusing thought.

  “No, I guess I hadn’t,” I replied.

  “Oh. I didn’t mean to imply anything. It’s obviously your choice,” he said reassuringly.

  Robin Jones, I thought to myself. Or I could be Robin Wright if I took my father’s name.

  Or if I really wanted a change . . .

  “My first name was Elyse,” I said.

  Jace looked at me with a gentle smile. “Elyse,” he repeated. “That’s a beautiful name. What do you think of it?”

  “Truthfully, I haven’t much,” I replied. “I’ve had a lot on my mind.”

  “Of course,” he said. “Well, I just want you to know that I’ll call you whatever you want to go by.”

  I smiled at him, feeling my heart fill up with love.

  But could I actually change my name? I thought about the three names that I had held in my life so far: Elyse, the name my parents had given me. Then there was Robin Sylvone, which my adoptive parents had chosen. And finally, Robin Hood. That name still seemed the most fitting, since it was a name I had gotten to partially choose for myself when I took the reins to my own future.

  But I didn’t necessarily feel like Robin Hood anymore. Robin Hood had been my name when I was in hiding. It was the name I had chosen to represent the shadowy way we had to work when we were reuniting families on an individual basis as well as we could. It wasn’t the name of the person I was now. It wasn’t indicative of the person who was ready to step out of the shadows and take on the regime directly, in any way I could. So, in a way, the name no longer fit.

  “What about Robin Elyse?” I asked Jace.

  The question surprised even me. It seemed to slip out of my mouth before I had the chance to think about it. But it felt fitting. Robin may have been the name the Sylvones had chosen for me, but I had adopted it and made it my
own. And I could honor my parents by taking my birth name as my surname.

  It made the two halves of me feel whole, for once in my life.

  “I love it,” Jace replied. “Robin Elyse. It’s beautiful. Like you.”

  I leaned over and pressed my head against his shoulder as we walked. If Jace liked it, then that was the icing on top.

  “Well, we’re here,” he said abruptly.

  I looked up to see that we were standing in front of the administrative building already. I hadn’t even noticed.

  “Time to get some new information,” I replied. “Or at least, I hope that’s what we’re doing.”

  Jace and I pushed through the wrought-iron gate again and into the lush yard. The front door was propped open by a potted fern. If I didn’t already know that there was a top-secret anti-government meeting going on inside, I would’ve thought it was just a sweet old lady’s house.

  Jace and I took the creaking stairs up to Fiora’s office and entered. There were already quite a few people sitting around in the plush velvet and leather chairs, which looked and smelled like they were over a hundred years old. Jace and I took seats to the left of the large wooden desk, next to a few colorful terrariums and a bookcase full of old books in various languages.

  I looked around the room to take in all the details. This was my third time in Fiora’s office, so most of it was fairly familiar to me at this point. The snoozing parrot and spoiled Persian cat were still hanging out on their respective perch and pillow, but I did notice a crackling fireplace for the first time, on the far side of the office, opposite the bookcase. Fiora, Nathan, and Corona were nowhere to be seen. And while I did see a few people whose names I did not know, I assumed that they were Brightbirch team leaders. So I had no idea whether any of the people in the room had been on the airships that had landed this morning.

  Zion came in after us and clapped Jace on the back.

  “I see you two got a promotion,” he said teasingly. Then, in a more serious and sincere tone, he continued, “About time.”

  Jace nodded and I smiled. It did feel nice being considered a “leader,” for whatever reason. But with Nelson and the team excluded from the meeting, it also felt strangely incomplete.

  A few stragglers were still walking in and finding seats around us, but none of the executives had shown up yet. Luka, the blond man who had originally given us our tour of the base, took a seat beside me.

  “Remind me of your names again,” he said to Jace and me as he sat. “I recognize you from the Edgewood teams, but I’m terrible with names.”

  “I’m Robin and this is Jace,” I replied.

  “That’s right,” Luka said. “And what team are you on?”

  Jace looked over at me with a knowing smile.

  “Well, we’re kind of a specialty team,” I replied.

  Luckily, we were interrupted before I had to explain further. Fiora and Corona walked in from a door to the left of the desk. Fiora was wearing riding pants and boots like she had just been training for an equestrian event. She was also wearing fuchsia lipstick, which lit up her bright, warm smile as she looked over all of us. I was instantly reminded of why I liked her.

  Corona looked similarly well-off in a tailored pantsuit. Her outfit was much more modern and muted than Fiora’s, giving the two of them an anachronistic contrast.

  Fiora took a seat at the head of the desk with Corona standing beside her, and then three more people walked into the room from the same door: a bald, dark-complexioned man in a fitted suit and trendy spectacles; a uniquely thin and tall woman wearing a fur coat, slacks, and high heels; and a short, portly man in a busily patterned short-sleeved button-up. I almost chuckled. They all looked like caricatures of rich people, and I wondered if they were the people who had arrived on the airships. And since there were three people and there had been three airships, I wondered if they all came from different bases.

  If so, maybe these were base leaders.

  The door closed behind the three newcomers as they came to stand beside Corona at the head of the desk, and I peered around the room once more, coming to a startling realization. Nathan wasn’t here.

  Corona stepped forward with her hands clasped before her in a graceful and authoritative way.

  “Welcome,” she began.

  I looked over at Jace to see if he had the same thought I had. He looked back at me and confirmed my suspicion when he silently mouthed a sentence at me.

  No Nathan?

  I shrugged with a furrowed brow. I, too, was confused. Where was he? Wasn’t he pretty much the most important leader in the entire organization?

  “We’ve called you here today because you are our leaders for our mission teams, and we have some important mission information to impart,” Corona continued. “Plans need to be set into motion to keep Little John moving forward and out of the government’s reach. But to start, we need to decide on a course of action. That’s why we’ve brought you together. To put some possible plans to a vote.”

  I raised my eyebrows involuntarily. We were voting on how to proceed? Being a leader seemed to have its perks.

  “But before that, I want to allay any fears you may have had about the airship landings this morning,” Corona said. “I’d like to introduce you to some trusted friends.”

  The bespectacled man stepped forward first.

  “Evers is the base leader at Greengate. He and his teams handle the financial aspects of our organization, namely managing transactions and the coffers.”

  My eyes widened. It made sense that Nathan wouldn’t have been able to keep Little John’s riches in a bank, given the nature of his business and his focus on confidentiality, but it was still surprising to think that he had to keep all of his money in some vault somewhere. What would happen if Greengate was attacked?

  Evers nodded and then took a step back, and the thin woman stepped forward.

  “Liza’s teams manage the bulk of our outside scouts and recruitment efforts. She is based out of Sweetwater.”

  Liza had small, suspicious-looking eyes and thin lips. It didn’t look like she was much for smiling or niceties. She glanced over us listlessly and then stepped back into formation.

  The portly man stepped forward with a strange gait that could’ve been drunkenness or confidence. He was wearing dark sunglasses inside, even though the room wasn’t well lit, and his sparse ring of dark hair, encircling a shiny bald spot that took up most of the top of his head, was gelled down. Still, his smile seemed genuine and kind.

  “Finally, Arlo handles Little John’s business endeavors,” Corona said. “He’s our public face when we need one.”

  “Otherwise, Mr. Evers wouldn’t have any money to manage,” Arlo said in a deep voice. Then he mock-curtsied before stepping back in line. A titter of laughter spread over the room at his antics.

  I looked over the trio with great interest. It was strange to see the different faces of Little John all at once, particularly when it seemed like confidentiality was of the utmost importance. But it also made sense that if we were going to proceed, we’d have to start involving the organization at large. After all, Little John’s finances, business interests, and recruitment efforts would probably all be involved in any large-scale missions. And maybe now more than ever, it was important to share information face-to-face, to avoid messages falling into the wrong hands.

  “Now that you have met the crew, I’d like to establish a few ground rules,” Corona went on. “First and most importantly, the information that is shared in this room does not leave this room.”

  My stomach dropped. That was what I had been afraid of. I didn’t want to keep anything from Team Hood, and I saw no reason to. Corona was obviously concerned about information being relayed back to the mole, but then again, how did she know that the mole wasn’t in this very room? I was confident that the mole wasn’t back with the Team Hood members.

  Although, suddenly and with a rush of anxiety, I realized that I couldn’t be a hundre
d percent sure of that fact. And at that, I became torn between trusting my friends implicitly and acting cautiously. I didn’t want to make the mistake of putting my faith in the wrong person and causing damage to the organization. Or worse, putting my friends in danger. But I also felt that if I distrusted everyone, I was letting the mole win. What if one of their goals was to divide Little John and thus weaken it?

  I felt like I had to make the conscious choice to trust that the mole was not a Team Hood member, or else the fractures would start to tear us apart. And, in that regard, I wasn’t sure I could follow Corona’s orders.

  “Second, we’re all leaders here. Please don’t feel like your vote matters less than anyone else’s. But with that being said, for security purposes we will occasionally need to take the discussion offline and convene with base leaders only,” Corona said.

  Which made it even less convincing that I needed to keep anything from Team Hood. Obviously, if there were “security concerns” within the team leader meetings, that meant Corona was admitting that we couldn’t be sure the mole wasn’t in this room with us.

  “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I wanted to make sure that we’re all as knowledgeable as we can be going into this leg of our missions,” Corona went on. “I know many of you received some degree of education, and that probably included a history of the current administration. And I’m here to tell you that it was all propaganda and lies. So whatever you know of Burchard, please forget it. And we’ll share the truth with you.”

  I held my breath. The truth? How much worse could it be? I had certainly had some civics courses in our fancy boarding school, and while of course the regime was painted in a very positive light, it was still a dark story to anyone with a sense of empathy. Burchard had taken over after the 2082 crisis. A ballooning in government spending, mostly on military and defense, had popped, sinking the populace into a severe depression. The value of the dollar dropped to mere pennies. Hostile foreign powers took advantage of the situation by lending trillions of dollars to the United Nation of America, knowing the interest would practically exceed the gross domestic product of some of the countries. The country was in a horrible state.