Revelations (The End 5)

2:30 pm

Chestnut Avenue, Rosebank, New York.

USA.

Xander sighed. He was tired. He had come up with various bypass solutions for the protocol, but none of them had been successful so far. He was running out of ideas.

Suzanne watched him.

“You are tired. You can rest if you want,” she said after a while.

He looked at her.

“But what about the program?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure out a way around it if we can’t meet up.”

Xander thought about it. A little nap would do him some good. He stood up and went to a couch.

“I saw Grayson again today when I went to find some food,” Suzanne said as she poured some powder chocolate in a cup and mixed it with water. “She was so happy playing with her friends. She’s going to grow up to be someone great in the future.”

Suzanne took the mug of tea to him and handed it over.

“That’s if she does grow up. Thanks for the tea,” he said.

“You guys look a lot like each other. In fact, you act like each other. You never give up,” she said as she sat at the edge of the couch. “Think about what it’ll be like to see her married one day. Wouldn’t it be beautiful? Your kid sister would be a grown woman.”

Xander thought about it. If there was anyone, he was willing to do anything for, it was Grayson. He loved her more than anything else in the world.

Too bad things had turned out that way. She wouldn’t get to be a teenager. She would never get a first kiss or join a cheer squad. They were all going to die.

Not if he could help it. He stood up from the couch.

“If I’m going to see her married, I’m going to have to by-pass a protocol,” he said as he sat before the computer and set the mug down on the desk. “Well played, Suzanne. You sure have a way with words,” he said as he went back to work.

???

2nd December 2021.

2:30 pm.

Fort Hamilton Military Base, Brooklyn, New York.

USA.

What the heck are you doing, Stephen? Bucky thought. He could barely maintain his calm composure.

Stephen had pulled out his device and unlocked it with his fingerprint before the man. He was giving away Suzanne’s secrets.

“You mean a conspiracy against the Ray of Hope?” the man asked. He said something in Russian, and Stephen nodded his head as if he understood what the man had said.

“Yes, brother. Please forgive me for maintaining English. It would sound funny if anyone heard us speaking another language. Suzanne, the one we call the High Priestess, is behind this. We overheard her speaking with some people about it,” he whispered.

The man was so caught up in the conspiracy theory; he didn’t notice the flaw in Stephen’s reasons.

“But the Ray of Hope ordered that she be killed. I thought that was done?” the man asked, leaning forward.

“What? She is practically invincible. The only way to overcome her is to inform the organization of her plans. And, to do that, I need escorts. She found us eavesdropping last night and has been searching for us since then. We made it here by a stroke of luck,” Stephen said.