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[the-reclusive-wordsmith]

The Golden Hour

CHAPTER 6: QUID PRO QUO

“Infil-infiltrate? Sir? How! Why?”, asked a bemused Tao. 

“Tsk tsk. You ask too many questions, Tao.”, said Howard. “For now, do as I say, and when the time is right, I will tell you all you need to know.”

At this point in time, Tao was not sure whom to trust really but he agreed reluctantly seeing no other choice. 

“Go get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day for you.”, said Howard. “I’ll be at the station, should you need me.”

“Right, Sir. Goodnight.”, said Tao and left for the night. 

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Lt. Howard had returned to his office and was sitting in isolation. Sykes excused himself in, hoping to get a few papers signed. He saw the Lieutenant looking tensed and sensed something was off. 

“Lieutenant. So, how was the burning house?”, asked Sykes.

“Uh. Well. Uh, it was- it was taken care of by the uh- patrol officers and fire department.”, said Lt. Howard hesitantly.

“And...?”, asked Sykes with a frown.

“And nothing. We did not find anything. It was taken care of, yes.”

Lt. Howard was relatively new to the department and had little experience about lying to his colleagues. Detective Sykes on the other hand had spent enough summers and winters to know when something is even slightly off. 

“Lieutenant. It is okay. We are a cohesive unit here. You can tell me what is going on.”, said Sykes reassuringly. “Rest assured, I have your best interests in my mind.”

Lt. Howard had to tell someone about it. This case was too complicated for him to handle by his own and he needed a second set of eyes and ears on this matter. He confided in Sykes. Necessity gives rise to the most unusual of alliances and Lt. Howard and Sykes were probably the prime examples of it. 

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“SO YOU MEAN, YOU HAVE NOT SAID A SINGLE WORD TO TAO?”, asked Sykes flabbergasted.

“No. Not yet. I don’t want to frighten the kid. This mission requires someone like him.”, said Howard with a sigh. “And there’s something else I need to tell you, Detective. Umm, so you see, I may have promoted Tao to a Probationary Detective at Major Crimes. I believe...”

“Maybe promoted?!”

“I mean, I have.”

“WHAT?”, said Detective Sykes with a laugh of disapproval. “You gotta be kidding me. Tao? He barely has any experience with field missions. He is a goddamn Call Operator!”  

“Which makes him all the more suitable for this job, Louis! Nobody knows him.”, said Lt. Howard firmly.

“I need to know the entire plan, because if shit blows south, I don’t want to be in the middle of it!”

“Okay. But this is strictly between us. If word comes out that we’re doing this, we could be tried for treason and felony against the state.”

“Not a word, I promise Lieutenant. But the way you’re going about it, I already have a bad feeling about this.” 

“We need to know what is going on, Louis. I too have a bad feeling about this.”

Lt. Howard continued, “So the plan is to steal some evidence and get some leads on this case. I have been ordered to transfer all files and evidences pertaining to this case over to a Special Agent Sanchez, who will be coming in tomorrow morning.”

“Then why not take the evidence away while we still have it? Why do an espionage on the CIA and risk getting caught?”, asked Sykes.  

“Where do you think we are less careful? In our homes or at work?”

“In our homes. But what has that to do with this?”

“I am an ex-CIA, Louis. I know how they work. They have internal links in all state departments, including our Major Crimes division. I can bet my ass they have put the strongest surveillance out there on all our evidence lockers and logs. We make one wrong move here, and we could end up in a state penitentiary.”

“There are people working directly working for the CIA in our very department?!”

“Yes. The CIA is ‘THE CIA’ for a reason. Look Louis, I need you to trust me on this one. I know what I am doing. Please.”

“Okay. What happens next?”, said Sykes with a frown.

“I will let the Sanchez guy take the evidences and files away tomorrow morning. Once it gets registered under the CIA logs, they’ll let their guard down, even if it is ever so slightly. This is the moment when we capitalize on them. Tao will be disguised as a janitor. He will enter the CIA headquarters and place some IEDs in the washroom next to the Central Server Room. Once the IEDs go off...”

“Hold on, hold on. IEDs? What is going on, Lieutenant? Don’t you think that we might actually be committing treason here? Bombing up the CIA is not the right way! And why are you so interested about a burning building, anyway?”

“I could not recall the number from which Tracy Beck had called earlier tonight. But I did some digging around, and found out that the number belonged to Jack Vincent’s desk phone.”

“And the surprising part of this is ... Lieutenant?”

“Jack has been AWOL for six years now. Zero trace. His position got replaced by Tracy Beck, I’m assuming. But unless confirmed dead, Beck cannot officially sit in Jack’s office. She can’t even be a Agent-in-Charge. And she can’t certainly be officially using Jack’s desk phone. She’d be an interim at best. Which means she lied to me, and quite possibly does not have operational authority. But I cannot take a risk here. I need to be able to hold my position on this case. She was registering the call under Jack’s name in the CIA call logs, but why?” 

“So you suspect some foul play, Lieutenant? Why can’t we run a background check on this Beck lady and see what turns up?”

“I smell conspiracy, Louis. There is no use trying to trace Beck. We do not have the clearance for her files, which makes it very strange. How can a possible interim have her files under protection? Only the highest officials at the state departments have that privilege. Jack’s been my friend ever since. I don’t think there is any officer or agent good enough to compete with him. He is the very best of us. There is no way he is AWOL. Specially, since his records do not show any ongoing mission at the time of his disapperance.”

“Could be an undercover mission?”

“Unlikely. Jack had to place a metal rod in his right leg after a skydiving incident. Since then, he lost his clearance for field missions. If at all, he would be engaged in intelligence analysis on site with a full security detail. ”

“When did Jack go missing then? Did you not try to track him down, Lieutenant?”

“Well, to be honest, Jack was one of the vagabond types. The job did take a toll on him sometimes, so he’d disappear for a few days, but then positively return to resume operations. When he was gone for long, I did try to find him, but no luck. I eventually gave up. Thought, he might have left behind this life.

Lt. Howard continued, “Anyway, the burning building, the dead bodies and prints on the presumed murder weapon, is what we need to proceed with the case. And there is not a rat’s chance in hell, we will be able to get those leads by sitting here. However, if we can break into the CIA headquarters, we can access raw data files and also the evidence files that we need.”

“Lieutenant. Your methods are unorthodox. Very unorthodox. We seriously cannot be thinking about blowing up the CIA headquarters. We could kill someone that way!”

“No, no, no, Louis. These IEDs will only have a localized effect. It will be enough to cause a panic, and possibly a fire. But nobody will get killed. We need to take this risk...”

“Then you’re going to tell Tao everything. I do not want that kid in the middle of an espionage, which by the way, does fall along lines of treason and felony, and be thinking what to do next. You need to take full responsibility of everything!”

“Louis, I cannot tell Tao everything right now. Fear during a covert operation is not what I need. I promise you. He’ll pull through.”

“I cannot agree with you Lieutenant. I can only provide you with my assistance, but I cannot agree with you for baiting the life of an innocent kid.” 

“I am not baiting Tao’s life!”, said Lt. Howard angrily. “All right. You don’t have to stay with me if you don’t want to. Just be there if I mess up.”

“Uh, correction. It is ‘when you mess up’ and not ‘if’. Lieutenant, have you even thought this through? Let’s assume,Tao does manage to disguise himself as a janitor, how will cross the metal detectors, and the motion sensors, an army of guards and I don’t know what you guys have up your sleeve, but I’m pretty sure, once the IEDs go off, that place will be swarming with SWAT forces and the USMC in no time. Tao is a dead man there. They will seal the area completely, find out that Tao is not what he is appearing to be, and god forbid if he speaks, you, sir, will be in a lot of trouble.”

“I’ve got it covered, Louis. I will make sure, Tao is safe. I too, have a few tricks up my sleeve.” 

“You better. Else, you’ll have the blood of an innocent on your hands.”

“All right, then. We will be doing this tomorrow morning after Agent Sanchez has logged in the evidence at the headquarters. Prime traffic hours. I need you to do a few things for me Louis. Here, take this card. Go to this location. You’ll find a man there named Big Daddy G. Tell him, that I’ve sent you. He’ll arrange two getaway vehicles with fake number plates, IEDs, some smoke grenades and unlicensed taser guns. He will give you a map of the area around the CIA headquarters. Find a suitable spot and park the vehicle there. And...”

“And?”, asked Sykes anticipating that the Lieutenant will give him a task that will blow his mind. 

“I need you to fake a heart attack.”, said Lt. Howard shaking his head.

Sykes was aghasted at this request. Lt. Howard could not help but chuckle a bit.

He said, “Louis, don’t worry. You’re not dying so soon! I just need to establish a reason for us to be around the CIA headquarters when things go down. Security footage and our call logs will help in that.”

Sykes had to assist his commanding officer, even if it was done begrudgingly. He left to meet Big Daddy G as per Lt. Howard’s instructions.

Meanwhile, Lt. Howard had some very important calls to make.

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“Hello? Who is this?”, asked a growling voice over the phone.

“Hello, Major Jenkins. I am your well-wisher.”, said Lt. Howard from the other side of the line.

“The army does not need ye voodoo men, huh. Scoot!”, replied Major Jenkins.

“Switch to a secure line, and I will tell you something very important. It is about your men posted in Afghanistan, who I think, are very eager to come back home.”

The Major was intrigued. He switched onto a recording line hoping to catch this sly man on the other side of the call. But...

“Ah, ah, Major. Now, you see, I am not your everyday ordinary man. I know you switched to the recording line instead of a secure one, in which case, I think, the recorders will be happy to know about the cash you had vanished last summer on a routine resources drop for your men posted in Afghanistan. And I’m pretty sure, your men will be very, very pleased to know how you had taken half the resources allocated to them, and made money off of it.”

The Major’s face turned red. Nobody knew about this incident. And the Major had thought he had done a good job at burying it under bundles of paperwork. He quickly switched over to a secure line and spoke nervously, yet trying to retain a dominating voice, “Okay. Shut up. Who are ya’ and what do ye’ want?”

Lt. Howard faked an irreverent laugh and said, “Now we’re talking! I am your well-wisher for sure, for I can bring your good men back from Afghanistan. They have been posted there for too long. They’re out of resources, low in morale and will get killed eventually, because the President’s peace talks are making your men sitting ducks for the Talibans, am I not right? So, I need a favour. And I am not requesting for it. I am ordering you. Else, the recording about you sniffing out money from the marines posted in the bleak conditions of Afghanistan is airing tomorrow in the news. However, I am not the devil here, so I will do you one good. I will help get your men back, but in return I need my job done.”

“What do you want me to do ye lil’ bastard? Ya think ye can fool them Army and threaten me? How will ye bring my men back?”

“Oof! I’d probably mind that tone if I were you, Major. Listen very carefully and do exactly as I tell you to. Tomorrow there is going to be a ‘little party’ at the CIA headquarters. You and SEAL Team Six will be invited to it. I want you to decline that invitation and also make sure that the SWAT team is taken care of. From my end, I’ll ensure that the President declares an attack on the Talibans and your men can then finish off the rest and come back home.”     

“I do not have much operational authority on SWAT. Ye’ should know that!”

“That is your problem, Major. Figure it out. Think about it. This is the only way you can get your men back. That, or risk ending up in the morning news.”

The call was disconnected. Lt. Howard was not too happy having to make such threats. But the situation demanded him to lose his moral fiber for the time being. Lt. Howard’s methods were different, and to find the truth, he was even willing to tread on dangerous roads.

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“Emma?”, asked Lt. Howard eagerly.

“Charles? Is that you?”, asked Emma in a surprised tone. 

“Hey, hey, hey. How are you? Long time no see, huh?”, said Lt. Howard excitedly.

“Oh, really? Well I remember you were the one who had left me when you had to shift to Langley... How’s your job going?”

“Well. I, uh. I work for the V.S.P.D. now. Major Crimes Division.”

“So the CIA finally threw you out?”, asked Emma with a laugh. 

“Haha. Very funny...”

A moment of pause fell upon them. The fond old memories were flashing infront of their eyes.Even after so many years, lost love did not fail to put a ache in their hearts all over again. But Lt. Howard broke the silence and said...

“So, you’re still working at The White House?”

“Yes. But lately work has been quite hectic...”

“Uh, do you get to talk to the President?”, asked Lt. Howard cutting through Emma’s line.

“Charles. Yes, I do get to talk to the President. How did you know that...?”

“I need a favour, Emma.”

“Okay. I see it now! So you already knew, that I have been appointed as the Senior Adviser to the POTUS. Funny how you kept track of that! You did not call because you were missing me or if you wanted to know how I have been doing. You called because you bloody needed a favour! You haven’t changed one bit, Charles, have you?”

“Look, Emma, dear. I need ...”

“Don’t you dare ‘dear’ me, Charles! I have been waiting for you to call for so long. So damn long. And when you finally do, it is not for me, but for a favour!”

“I’m sorry Emma. Things could not have worked out between us. You knew that too. But I really need some help on a case right now. Somebody’s life may depend on it. You have to understand... just for this last time, Emma. Please.”

“Be quick about it. I’m getting late for work.”

“I need you to convince the POTUS to declare an attack on the Talibans.”

Emma started laughing wildly. She thought Charles was making some weird joke.

“Emma, I’m serious. I really need this.”

“Charles. We’re in the middle of our peace talks. Why would the POTUS suddenly declare an attack? This is insane!”

“I’ll handle the “why” part of the thing. I just need you to convince him for the attack.”

“No, Charles. I am not doing anything without knowing the full story here.”

“Okay, listen. There will be a serial IED blast tomorrow, at the CIA headquarters. I need you to pin this act on the Talibans, and convince the POTUS to go on the offense.”

“An IED blast? What are you talking about!”

“Emma. I cannot reveal much details about this. Please, trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

“Charles. This better be something good. I am risking everything here. I need something in return. I don’t think I can trust you fully, unless...”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever you need. Go on.”

“I want you back.”

Lt. Howard was taken aback. He did not see this coming.

“Emma, I don’t know if I can do that. I can’t promise you ...”

“I am not going to ask you again, Charles. Deal or no deal?”

Lt. Howard’s head started throbbing really fast. He had only the slightest opportunity to gather the files from the CIA headquarters. And he could not let it go now, that he had come this far, even at the cost of signing away his own life to a woman he had once left and had not met for years. 

“All right. Once all this is over, I’ll come back to you in Washington. We’ll be together.”

“Promise me, Charles. Promise me!”, said Emma firmly.

“I promise.”, replied Lt. Howard.

Emma was very happy. After all these years she had finally had her chance of living the life she had imagined with her dear Charles. She agreed to his terms. But the Lieutenant was on the brink of giving up. Each of these calls seemed like a blow on his self respect, on his morals, on his heart and mind. The path of justice and knowledge, is never the smoothest one, but needs to be tread by the valiant. 

There still remains one last call. And this was probably the most difficult one.

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“H.O.S. Sergeant Rios?”, asked Lt. Howard.

“Yes? Who is this?”, asked Rios.

“My name is Lieutenant Howard. I am from the Major Crimes Division of the Virginia State Police Department.”

“Hoo-rah, Lieutenant! How may I be of assistance?”

“Sergeant Rios, I was hoping you could come over to our P.D. and guide us with an ongoing murder investigation.”

“A murder investigation, sir?”

“Yes. We were hoping you could help us with the security detail of the witness. We are planning to put the witness in the witness protection programme.”

“Sir, I cannot officially be engaged in anything else, other than looking after the external security of the CIA.”

“Oh, Sergeant! This is going to stay off the records. Don’t worry about that. We had heard many good things about you, and we were also wanting to present you with a medal of appreciation for your time with us, but seems like you’re a bit busy...”

“No, um. Hold on. Uh, okay. If you can promise me that this stays completely off the records, I can come.”

“I assure full secrecy of this matter, Sergeant.”

“All right, sweet. When do you want me to come over, then?”

“Now would be a very suitable time, Sergeant.”

“Now!?”

“Why yes. The sooner we finish this murder investigation, the sooner we can award you for your kind services!”

“Okay. I’ll come over right now. I still have some time on my hands before the employees come in.”

Lt. Howard was successful in inviting the Head of the Security over to the P.D. All that there was left was to make him go to sleep for a while. 

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H.O.S. Sergeant Rios had arrived at the P.D. 

 “Ah! Sergeant Rios. What a big help this is.”

“Glad to be of service, Sir!”, said Rios beamingly. 

“Here, come sit in Conference Room II, while I get the case files for you. And uh, please help yourself to some coffee!”

“I will. Thank you, Lieutenant.”

Rios sat down comfortably on the chair and helped himself to a large cup full of steaming espresso. The smell was fantastic, thought Rios. But, just as he took his first sip, his body started to twitch and within seconds he was knocked unconscious. 

Lt. Howard came rushing in and took Rios by his arms and dragged him to his room. Luckily it was very early in the morning and nobody was there at the P.D. to catch Lt. Howard in the act. Lt. Howard turned down the window blinds, taped a mild sedative pill to Rios’ nose, just in case, and took out Rios’ cellphone from his pocket.

The Lieutenant proceeded to call up the front desk security of the CIA and asked them to take the day off and post new reserve guards at their places, citing a ‘giving opportunity to newcomers’ reason. The plan worked. Lt. Howard was a good impersonator, it seems. Rios was lying unconscious in his room and there is no way he would be able to call for backup when the IEDs would go off.

Lt. Howard locked his room, and wiped clean the evidence of Rios’ whereabouts from Conference Room II. 

The plan was finally in motion. All he had to do now, was to wait for Agent Sanchez to come and collect the evidences and files from the P.D.’s Evidence Room. Once the evidences and files are with the CIA, Lt. Howard can start with the final phase of his espionage. 

[the-reclusive-wordsmith]

The Golden Hour

CHAPTER 5: FINDING HELP

Apollo had been running for long now. He was fatigued, but he did not want to give up. Gracie had very little time on her hands. Apollo had to get help for her before anything bad happened. 

With Gracie’s bracelet in his mouth, and his heart palpitating, he sped down the broadway that connected the barren outskirts to the larger civilian settlements. Having seen the first sight of a human after so long, relieved him. He had found his way into the city, finally. He reduced his speed and started looking around for people he could trust. But how was he to find trust in a stranger was an insurmountable task that he had to figure a way out of.

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Apollo was Dr. Cross’ dog. A Great Dane by birth. But somehow, he did not look like one. He had larger extremities, superior muscular build, sharper teeth, enhanced senses and a deafeningly loud bark. Apollo was so strong and fierce that if he wanted, he could take down a grizzly bear by himself. 

Apollo was never quite sure what it was, but as a puppy, he felt he was very different from what he is today. He used to be like the other Great Danes, the normal Great Danes... he would often miss his siblings very much. He missed his nanny with whom he used to play. He missed the small kennel that nanny got him.

Apollo still remembers the day he was captured by some men. It was a very unpleasant exchange. His nanny was weeping, but little pup Apollo could not do anything about it. He was picked up by a large man, and shoved in the back of a minivan, where he met many other dogs, just like him. Even for little Apollo, it was clear, that this was somehow not right. And that was the last time that Apollo saw his nanny. The van drove Apollo away. Far, far away...

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Apollo was brought to the facility. He was new to this environment. He had never seen such tall buildings, nor had he seen so many machines before. With big beady eyes, shining with curiosity and a hint of fear, he looked around, trying to comprehend his surroundings. He tried to befriend his fellow dogs who were captured along with him. He realised that this was his new life now. 

Apollo was trained everyday by an instructor at the facility. He did not like his instructor, especially when his instructor would beat him if he refused to do certain tasks. He was always afraid of his instructor. These tasks were new to Apollo too. It involved tearing, biting, growling, and killing. This was so different from what his nanny had taught him. He knew how to fetch newspapers, or shoo away teenagers who would disturb his nanny. He knew how to jump through hoops or play with a ball. He also liked how his nanny booped his nose whenever he wanted to get some extra love. He loved lying in his nanny’s lap. But his instructor did no such thing with him. It was rather troubled times for Apollo growing up.

Apollo was not given the usual dog-food that nanny used to feed him. Instead his food came in thin glass bottles. A man with a white coat would come, to put a needle in his thigh. It pained initially, but as Apollo grew older, he became immune to the pain. He was no longer afraid of his instructor, or for that matter anyone now. Apollo grew in size quickly, became larger than any other dog of his breed. He did enjoy this apparent feeling of dominance. 

One surprising thing for Apollo, was the fact that he never got to see his old pals again with whom he had first come to the facility. He did see other dogs come in everyday in bunches, but just not the ones who had come in with him on the first day. He sometimes wondered what must have happened to them.

Apollo was trained as a military dog. But most of his training involved offence and not defense, which was surprising because other military dogs did not get such extensive offensive training. However, Apollo did not know much about the outer world, which made him unaware of his task at the facility. With minimal human interaction, it was only the facility that he had gotten to know during his training. 

Soon Apollo was cleared to work with the white coat guys at the facility. One of them, who seemed to be the boss, atleast to Apollo, was Dr. Richard Cross. He was Apollo’s new master. 

Dr. Cross would let Apollo accompany him almost everywhere. Apollo did not understand much of Dr. Cross’ work, but all he knew was that he was to follow what was told to him, even if it meant killing or getting killed in the process. 

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It was quite late at the night and Apollo had no place to call home. The city had changed quite a bit from what he had seen as a pup. Reminiscing his childhood memories, he quietly walked down the sidewalk trying to smell for familiarity in the unfamiliar neighbourhood. A hint of hope is what makes blood, sweat and tears worthwhile perhaps. 

But Apollo’s search came to a halt, when a man came running from the other end of the street and bumped straight into Apollo and fell backwards as if he were thrown off a trampoline. It took time for Apollo to register too what the heck was going on. The man was perspiring profusely and constantly turned behind to gawk at the street. ‘But, there was no time to apologise to the unsuspecting innocent Apollo, was there?’, thought Apollo to himself. He was a tad bit offended on how a human who had eyes dead centre on his faces cannot see a huge dog infront of him! And not just any dog; he was Apollo afterall!

Apollo grrred through this sharp canines to scare the man for being so rude. Surprisingly, the man paid no attention, got up swiftly, and continued running haphazardly trying to deal with the blow he had just received from the collision. 

As the man sped past Apollo, he got a whiff of the man’s scent.

The back of Apollo’s ears started getting hotter. Apollo’s eyes started turning to a dark shade of red and Apollo’s heartbeat was off the charts. 

Apollo had found a familiar scent! He just could not recollect who it was, but he knew the man. Somehow, he did. 

Without much ado, he decided to go after the man. Maybe this is it. Maybe this is the help he needs to save Gracie.  

Apollo caught up with the man in a little while. He seemed to be running directionless. Apollo barked loudly to arrest the man’s attention, but that somehow made it worse, because the man started speeding up. Apollo was still confused what was going on. This certainly did not seem like a normal night jog. 

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The man found a dumpster by the road and hopped into it. He tried to shoo Apollo away lest the loud dog gave away his position. ‘Oh, so he hiding from someone!’, realised Apollo. He scanned the surroundings and saw two cops approaching the dumpster slowly. They had probably seen the man get inside of it. 

Apollo knew what he had to do. Apollo took a strong stance, and barked furiously at the cops. The cops were taken aback by this attack. 

“Sh-sh-shoot that beast down!”, suggested one cop nervously.

“And explain the Chief, what? That we shot a dog because you shat your pants, bimbo?”, said the other cop exasperatedly. 

“We are not getting through him like this. Do something!”

As the barking became louder, the exasperated cop pulled out his taser and shot Apollo hoping to neutralise the dog. 

But it did not work. Apollo stood there, fiery-eyed, unscathed. The taser electrodes could not even penetrate through Apollo’s skin, let alone neutralise him. This was enough to scare even the toughest of men. The cops ran away and did not even look back for once.

The man was watching all this from the cover of the dumpster, play out infront of him. He had a faint smile on his face. 

“Apollo? Is that you?”, asked the man with surprise, coming out of the dumpster.

Apollo was taken aback. How did this stranger know his name? Apollo felt the heat coming back to his ears. He just could not remember who this man is. The man slowly approached Apollo and caressed his cheek.

“It has been so long, buddy. We have met before. Remember me? I am Sam.”       

Chapter 6: https://the-reclusive-wordsmith.tumblr.com/post/613935824286973952/the-golden-hour

[the-reclusive-wordsmith]

The Golden Hour

CHAPTER 4: STOP THE INVESTIGATION !

“911, What is your emergency?”, asked the operator.

An old gruff voice answered, “Be advised, a house has caught fire on 21B North Street. I don’t know if there are still civilians inside the building, but I’m afraid the fire is spreading out to the neighbouring houses as well. Please call in the M.C.D. and inform the V.S.F.D. immediately.”

“Can I have your name along with some ID ple...?”

“Time is of the essence now, Officer. Hurry.”

The call was disconnected from the other end. But there was something very strange about this call. Call Operator, Officer Tao hurried upstairs to the Major Crimes Division to inform about this strange call-in to his superiors.

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“Tao? Is everything okay? You look ... a bit exhausted.”, asked Lieutenant Howard.

A panting Tao said, “The elevators were not working. I had to take the stairs, and climb sixteen floors, Sir...”

“And... ?”

“We have an emergency, Sir. A 911 call came in about a few minutes ago regarding a house on fire. I’ve informed the V.S.F.D. but...”

“How long have you been working here in the police department, Tao?, asked a male voice from across the room in a scornful way.

“Er... just a day short of 3 weeks, Sir.”

“Then, maybe you should go back to the Academy and learn about the divisions in the V.S.P.D. once again, because clearly you don’t seem to...”

Lt. Howard turned to the voice and reassuringly said, “It’s okay, Louis. I have it from here.”

Then, turning back to Tao, Lt. Howard continued, “Tao, what the good Detective Sykes here wants to say is that we’re the Major Crimes Division. We don’t respond to fire emergencies. The ground patrolling units and the V.S.F.D. looks into it first.”

“Yes Sir...”

Tao threw a glance at Detective Sykes and continued, while still trying to catch his breath, “I know about the divisions, Sir. But this 911 caller seemed strange. He asked for the Major Crimes Division right away. Usually 911 callers are in distress and they don’t speak in such details. This caller, however, knew exactly what to say. It felt as if he spoke our lingo, as if he were one of us. He had given the address of the burning house before I even asked for it and hung up when I was about to ask for his ID, like he knew that I was going to ask for it at that specific moment. It felt strange, so, I thought I should bring this to your attention...”

“Lieutenant, I think we should really focus on our ongoing open cases, and let the V.S.F.D. handle this one. This is probably some fool trying to mess with the Police Department. That thing that kids do nowadays... What do you call those things now...”, Sykes said scratching his bald head.

“A prank?”, guessed Tao.

“Yes, that... whatever that is.”, said Sykes in a dismissive way.

“Detective Sykes, I know you’ve been in this department even before I was born, and your services have always been seen under the brightest of lights...”

“Oh, I know exactly how the higher-ups think of me, Lieutenant! I mean... they promoted you from the analytics department of the CIA, to head our division! Analytics, really? No disrespect to you, but I’ve been in this division since its inception. I haven’t missed a day of work. I have been in more active shooter situations than you can even think of. Being an analyst, I think you’re better suited to a desk job than running the Major Crimes Division! Sir.”

“Detective. You’ve made your point. We can have this conversation later. And if you are so keen in knowing why I was transferred and made your commanding officer, then you should know, that it was because while working with the CIA, I was able to prevent a major terrorist attack on the Virginia State Police Department. None of you even had one blink of information about this. I was an undercover agent on this mission for almost seven months. This place and the rank that you hold so close to your heart now, would have been in rubbles, had my team and I not deferred this terrorist attack. While I don’t expect gratitude from you, for what it is worth, I still value your opinions with the highest regard.”

“Sir, the V.S.F.D. have taken control of the fire. They are asking for an update.”, Tao meekly informed trying to cut through the intimidating atmosphere.

“Tell them that we are on our way, Officer. ETA 5 mins. Ask them to tape the scene and not let anyone leave.”, instructed Lt. Howard.

Tao nodded and went off to make the necessary arrangements.

“Louis. I am sure you will proceed with the open investigations, while I quickly go check what this fire is all about?”

“Yes, Lieutenant, I will.”, said Sykes with a heavy voice. He did feel a bit ashamed for losing his calm and questioning Lt. Howard’s worthiness. But there are always other jobs to do in a police department, so personal feelings could wait.

.

.

.

Major Crimes had arrived at the scene. Lt. Howard took Tao with him too, just in case, if he could identify the voice of the mysterious 911 caller.

“Go and speak to the witnesses. Let me know if you can recognize anyone’s voice from the 911 call. And tell a few patrol officers to move the media reporters to one side. I don’t want this scene getting tampered with, in any way.”, the Lieutenant firmly instructed.

“Roger that, Sir. C.S.U. is inside the house, waiting to fill you in. Fire Chief Mason is by his truck with his men.”

“Kalen? He is here? What is the C.S.U. doing here? Why wasn’t I informed about this?”

“Sorry Sir, I only got to know about it just now from Patrol Officer Hayes.”

“All right. Do as I have instructed. SITREP in 10. I’ll be inside the house.”

“Yes, Sir!” 

.

.

.

“What are you doing here, Kalen?”, asked a confused Lt. Howard once he had found Officer Kalen inside the main living room gathering some samples.

“Bad news, Sir. C.S.U. has found three bodies. A white male in his mid 40′s and two Latinos in their mid 20′s perhaps. The burns are extensive on the two Latino bodies while the third one, the white male, had a knife dug into his chest. No cash or ID have been found on the bodies. Looking at their build and clothes, I can only make a guess that our white guy here is a businessman perhaps? I cannot say much about the Latinos, though. Their bodies have burnt beyond recognition. We’ve collected blood and tissue samples from the bodies and sent the knife to F.I.D. for fingerprinting. This house belongs to a Sam Reading as per the neighbours’ statements. But nobody saw him go in or out of his house during the incident. They say he lives alone and hardly had any visitors. He is not picking up his calls either. Two patrol officers have gone around the block to look for him. Time of death on the Latinos is uncertain but ...”

“But?...”

“But, the white male’s body is still very warm. I’d say he was killed maybe an hour before we arrived here. The V.S.F.D. personnel have found brake fluid in the garage, which is perhaps the cause of the fire, based off of our preliminary checks.” 

“Hold up, hold up, hold up.”, said a baffled Lt. Howard. “This is too much to process at one go. First of all tell me WHO CALLED YOU HERE? Major Crimes did not, because clearly, as you can see I am out of the information loop here. And as far as I know, we’re the ones who call you to a crime scene and not the other way round!”

“We received an anonymous tip about three possible dead bodies inside this house. We thought someone is joking with us because the C.S.U. has never received anonymous tips ever. Nevertheless, we sent a small team to check the authenticity of the call in case it turned out to be true after one of our office staff members, saw a news report being aired on Channel 19 regarding a burning house. When our investigatory team got here, they spotted two burnt bodies in the garage and they called it in.”

“ ‘Another’ anonymous tip? A Channel 19 news report? What the heck is going on?”

“Yes, we got a call from an old man on our office landline. He had a really gruff voice, so I am assuming he is old. I dialed back the number from which we had received the call, but it ended up on a public telephone booth. But, what do you mean by ‘another’ tip?”

“Wait, wait... Tell me something, was it the only channel showing that news at that time?”

 “Why, yes. Now that you mention, I remember going through different channels, back at the office, on the TV, because I was bored and I don’t think any other news channel at that time was flashing this news. They were the first ones to the scene, maybe. But how could you possibly know that...?”

“I think I’m sensing a pattern here. Earlier this night, the Major Crimes Division received an anonymous call from a gruff voice, possibly the same old man who had called you guys up, and informed us regarding this same burning building. I obviously did not call you guys in because I did not expect this to be a crime scene then.”

“Well, as much as all of this sounds interesting, we’re on the clock, Lieutenant. What are my orders for now? Because we need to wrap up the crime scene before it gets any more contaminated.”

“All right. Send all the blood samples, tissue samples, every piece of furniture from the garage and the rooms, articles, utensils ... WHATEVER you’ve found here, into forensics. There is more to this case than it meets the eye now. I need a fingerprint check on that knife. Get the bodies to the morgue asap and ask Dr. Morales to personally handle this and begin a post mortem analysis with Priority Level 1. I need to know every small detail that you find. Log everything into the evidences database and match the fingerprints with our existing database. And, ah yes! Send that anonymous call recording that you had received, to my office, urgently.”

“Priority Level 1? But isn’t that for cases with...?”

“You asked for my orders, Officer Kalen. I have given them, and I expect them to be followed by the letter.”

“On it, Sir.” 

.

.

.

“Where’s Tao now? I asked him for a SITREP every 10 minutes!” “Tao? TAO!”, called out Lt. Howard. 

“I’m here, Sir! Hang on a minute, please.”, replied Tao in urgency.

Officer Tao was talking to the witnesses. All they could say was that they had heard a loud bang, that had woken them up. None saw anyone going in or out of the house. Tao, also did not have much luck with identifying the 911 caller.

“Tao. Get me the news reporters, now.”

“But, Sir? They are gone...”

“Gone?! What the heck? Why?”

“You asked for them to be removed from the scene. So I sent them away.”, said Tao innocently.

“Arghh. NO!”, stomped Lt. Howard.

“Is everything all right, sir? What did C.S.U. Officer Kalen say?”

“I’ll let you know as and when required, Tao. For now arrange a meeting tomorrow in my office. I want every news reporter from every news channel who were here covering the burning building news.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“And congratulations, Tao.”

“Thank you, Sir. But umm, may I ask what am I being congratulated for?”

Lt. Howard smiled and said, “I am promoting you to the post of a probationary detective at Major Crimes. Till this case is solved, I will be expecting your services for our division. I am sure we can find another Call Operator Officer to fill in your spot for the time being.”

Tao was happy. But work-formality did not let him express his smile or his gratitude. He tried to keep a poker face.

“At ease, Detective Tao. You can smile now, tough boy!”

The Lieutenant’s gesture was warm and comforting to Tao. He let out a small smile and nodded in approval to Lt. Howard’s advice. Tao felt he was no longer one of the push-arounds. He was a Detective, now.

“I must warn you though, Detective Sykes may not like you very much... specially you making Detective in just 3 weeks when he has been at this job for 40 odd years now!”, said Lt. Howard with a laugh. “Oh poor Louis! He is going to be so mad at this.”

Tao finally broke into a grin and said, “Detective Sykes and I will get along just fine, Sir. He is way too old to...” 

The Lieutenant’s phone rang up. He glanced at his cellphone screen to check who was calling him at this ungodly hour. It better not be Detective Sykes! Now was not the best time to tell him that he had promoted a 3 week old Call Operator Officer to a probationary detective at Major Crimes!

But, it was not Sykes. The smile disappeared from Lt. Howard’s face as he stared hard at his phone. Lt. Howard seemed to know the number, but he could not recall whose it was. Sensing that something was up, Tao brought back his serious face.

“Lieutenant? Can I be of some help?”, asked Tao.

“It’s okay, Tao. I got this. Excuse me.”, said Lt. Howard in a deep voice.

Lt. Howard took himself away from the crowd and picked up the call, “Hello?”

The voice on the other end of the call asked, “Am I speaking to Major Crimes chief-in-charge, Lieutenant Charles Howard?”

“Yes. This is Lieutenant Howard. How may I be of assistance?”

“This is Special Agent-in-Charge Tracy Beck from the CIA. I have been asked to inform you to stop your ongoing investigation regarding a burning house on 21B North Street with immediate effect and hand over all the evidences along with the dead bodies to the CIA Headquarters in Langley. Special Agent Sanchez will be coordinating with you for the smooth transfer of this investigation to us.”

Lt. Howard was indignant. Did the CIA just vulture off his investigation? None of this made sense. Since when did the CIA bother about arson and murders? Something big was up. He could feel it.

“Listen, Ms. Beck, or whoever you are, I was with the CIA before joining the V.S.P.D. I know your methods, and I am not falling for it. Back then, the Special Agent-in-Charge was Jack Vincent. Where is he? I want to have a word with him. You can’t just ask me to stop my investigation! This case falls under my jurisdiction.”

“Not anymore, Lieutenant. We have reason to believe that this burning building is a part of our ongoing mission, details of which are highly classified. You do not have the clearance to know anything more about it...”

“Classified CIA Mission? What bullshit is this? I want to speak to your commanding officer or superior, now. I am not handing over this case without knowing more about what is going on...”

“I AM THE SUPERIOR HERE, HOWARD! My badge ID is 78320. Make sure you don’t piss your pants when you run a background check on me, assuming that you even have the clearance to do that in the first place! And understand this, that the CIA does not act on threats of a simple cop. We act on orders of the Military and the Department of Defense. I have passed the information down the chain of command. I want you to follow them as I have instructed. If you fail to do so, I’ll be compelled to put you under the investigation of Internal Affairs. Think what that’ll do to your career. There are only two moves here, Lieutenant. I hope you pick the right one.”

“You know what? You can kiss my ass, lady...”

That was the end of the conversation. The call was hung up from the other end.

Lt. Howard was perspiring with anger. He could not let this thing slip. He had to know more about what was going on. 

He called out to Tao. Tao came running to him. Little did Tao know that he was going to be entrusted with a very big mission.

“Yes, Lieutenant?”

“Are you ready for your first undercover mission, Tao?”

Tao was not expecting this so soon. He could not gather a definitive answer.

“Ye...No...Mayb...? I don’t know, Sir!”

“Good. This uncertainty is good to some extent. It keeps you more vigilant.”

“It does?”

“Yes.”

Exhaling a deep breath, Tao asked, “What is my mission, Sir?”

“You’re going to infiltrate the CIA Headquarters and steal something.”, replied Lt. Howard with a straight face. This was no joke.

Tao’s eyes widened and his skin turned pale with every word, as Lt. Howard proceeded to explain the plan to him. Surely, something big was going on. And 3 week old, newly inducted probationary detective Tao was right in the middle of it. 

Chapter 5: https://the-reclusive-wordsmith.tumblr.com/post/613132841527771137/the-golden-hour

[the-reclusive-wordsmith]

The Golden Hour

CHAPTER 3: THE FUGITIVE

The banging intensified and Sam’s heart skipped a beat. He could feel Mr. Dark’s embrace get tighter on him with every strike on the door. Sam soon realised what was going on.

“Oh, Dark, you smug son of a ...” 

The door burst open and in came two burly men with ropes, pliers and hammers. Nothing more was left to guess here: they had come to make Sam pay.

“Quick! I’m losing my grip on this bastard. Tie him up!”

One of the goons inched forward to land a punch on Sam’s face.

Sam, a lanky man who was not even half the size of the goons probably did the most courageous thing in his life: he kicked Mr. Dark in his crotch and rolled over to the side shoving him at the incoming goon. 

The punch landed. However, on Mr. Dark’s head instead of Sam’s face. Mr. Dark blacked out and fell head-first into the tea table behind him shattering glass and wood all over the place. 

Sam made a dash for the kitchen. One of the goons followed him, while the other was trying to help Mr. Dark get on his feet. For the first time Sam felt happy having small rooms. It was adding to his advantage with two burly goons trying to pounce on him. 

Sam grabbed a knife from the countertop and flung it across, aiming at the goon who was trying to grab him. He missed his target, but the diversion act gave him enough time to flee and squeeze himself through a trapdoor that led to the garage. 

The goon could not fit through! He was too big!

In the midst of this, Mr. Dark could be heard screaming from the floor, “You idiots! Go through the main garage entrance and catch that bastard. I want him dead!”

.

.

.

The goons hacked open the garage door with a crowbar. 

“Move slowly. The subject could be armed and dangerous.”

“Watch your back, bud.”

“What is that liquid on the floor, though?”

“I don’t know. Let’s check it out. Seems like it is leaking from his car. Maybe he is inside the trunk?”

“All right. You get the trunk and I’ll watch out for any signs of movement.”

Both the goons moved slowly to the end of the garage area and one of them inspected the trunk.

“It is already open.”

“What?”

“It is empty!”, screamed Sam leaping out from the front corner of the garage. He had a butane torch in his hand. And he looked quite vindictive. 

“I will burn you if you try to do anything funny. Understand? Stay where you are with your hands up in the air and tie yourself up with this rope.” Sam threw a rope at their feet.

“Do it now! Or, I swear I will burn you.”, he screamed.

The goons were out of options now. They slowly kneeled down on their knees and started to wrap themselves up with the rope. Sam was beginning to feel some control.

“Faster! And wrap that thing tightly!”, said Sam threatening the goons with his burning butane torch.

“Done.”, muttered one of the goons. “You can back up now and keep that torch away. We just want to talk.”

“Stop fucking with me. I know what you guys are upto. I’m calling the police now. And then you’ll know that you’ve fucked with the wrong guy here.”

.

.

.

Sam was about to call the police, when a limping yet furious Mr. Dark ambushed him from behind. Sam threw the burning butane torch in the air, as the fist fight between Sam and Mr. Dark ensued. 

The burning torch landed on the liquid on the floor, and set the car up in flames. With it, went both the goons who had practically tied themselves up to their own death, and in the matter of a few seconds the engine of the car caught fire and exploded. 

It was brake fluid that was lying on the floor. Sam probably hadn’t thought this through.

The boom was loud. VERY LOUD. The neighbours woke up in the middle of the night and possibly came around the scene to check what had happened. They could probably see the burning garage with two burly men melting away in the fire.

The explosion almost deafened Sam, disoriented him and gave him concussions, but he somehow managed to crawl his way back into the kitchen through the trapdoor. He picked up his knife that was lying on the floor; made it to the couch and dropped flat on his back to catch his breath thinking all this is finally over. He had no idea where Mr. Dark was or what his condition was post the explosion. 

.

.

.

“Stop marinating in your momentary glory, Sam.” 

It was Mr. Dark. Still alive; still looking to capture Sam.

“I trusted you, with everything. I thought of you as my friend. And this is how you betray me?”

“I am your boss, Sam. Bosses are meant to betray their employees. You were never no more than a speck to me in this world of dirt that I work in.”

“I did everything you asked me to. I worked extra hours, I transported furniture for your company to the remotest of all places...”

“Furniture?!”, laughed Mr. Dark frantically. “You are as dirty as we are, my friend. You were transporting death.”

“Death?”

“I know about you Sam. I know about Operation Mindwrecker.”

Sam’s eyes widened. His lips were trembling in disbelief and anger.  

“Operation Mindwre...?”

“Yes. The very Operation that you sought to destroy years back. But you’ve failed. And we are stronger than ever now.”

Sam could not believe his ears. It was all coming back to him. His past was catching up with his present.

“Unfortunately, now you know too much. So you must die. Oh and before you die, I think you should know, your wife was sleeping with me the whole time. You know, maybe she realised what you are.”

“I was perfectly normal! You made me into this creature! I was never given a choice. You’ve cost me everything, Dark. This will not end well for you.”

“I’d like you to try. Grr...”. Mr. Dark’s teeth clenched.

Sam had heard enough. His grip on the knife tightened. Mr. Dark with the remainder of his energy launched himself onto Sam. Mr. Dark was not aware of the knife Sam was holding behind his back.

The knife plunged through Mr. Dark’s heart. This time Sam’s aim did not miss its mark. The death was not instant. Mr. Dark fell on the floor clutching the knife, struggling to get it out.

Sam took out the knife. And plunged it back into Mr. Dark’s heart another 18 times. Sam saw the light go away from Mr. Dark’s eyes. His body came to a still.  This apparent overkill was not self defence. It was not murder with a motive. So what was it?

Sam realised there was no getting out of this. The neighbours had gathered on the front porch. The fire in the garage was making its way to the main rooms. The police and the fire department sirens could be heard at a distance.

He must flee. He must not get arrested now. There were too many unanswered questions.

Sam Reading, a lanky mid aged fellow, is now wanted for three counts of murder and an arson. Sam Reading, the guy who hardly stood upto anyone was now a fugitive.

Chapter 4: https://the-reclusive-wordsmith.tumblr.com/post/612202407878934528/the-golden-hour

[the-reclusive-wordsmith]

The Golden Hour

CHAPTER 2: THE ESCAPE PLAN

“Woof!”

“Is that you, Apollo?”, Gracie asked shakily peeping through a gap in the closet door.

Apollo quickly ran upto her and started licking her face in joy. He had found her.

“Shhh... They must not know we’re hiding here. How did you find me anyway? Gosh, I missed you so much! I thought Dr. Cross had taken you away.”

Apollo let out a soft whimper. 

“Don’t worry. I have the perfect plan to get out of here. Okay? But first I need you to do something.”

Apollo imbibed every word that Gracie said and nodded in approval. 

.

.

.

Apollo’s ears stood up suddenly. His body language was no longer the one he had while he was lying in Gracie’s lap. He was ready to fight now.

“Footsteps? Must be Dr. Cross’.”, Gracie thought to herself. “Go Apollo! And remember what I’ve said. On my call, okay?”, she whispered.

Apollo took a position behind a stack of brown boxes that were scattered on the floor, waiting for the unsuspecting Dr. Cross to come in. “Gracie! GRACIE! Where are you? You know there is no point in hiding. This is a closed facility guarded extensively. Come out and we will talk. I promise you, we will talk.”

Dr. Cross’ eyes scanned the room. He saw Gracie’s hair band on the floor. He knew for certain that Gracie was around somewhere. “Okay. Come on out now. We need to finish that test, remember? Don’t you want to be famous? Known as the saviour of humanity? Gracie? Where are you, Gracie? I will find you and...”

Dr. Cross’ eyes fell on a piece of cloth sticking out by the edge of the closet. He sniggered, “ Ha! You think you’re too smart, don’t you?” He flung open the door but much to his surprise a huge doll fell right on his face. “Apollo! NOW!”, yelled Gracie from under the bed.  Apollo leapt out from behind the brown boxes and launched himself at Dr. Cross. He tried to bite through Dr. Cross’ face, frantically trying to scratch and tear the man apart. He was down. 

“You’re not going to get away with this! Guards! GUARDS!” “Come on Apollo, let’s go! Enough! We need to hurry now.”

But Apollo was not done yet. He was far too angry maybe. Gracie had to pull him apart and then the duo made a run for the vast open fields that lay beyond the walls of the building. Gracie’s diversion had worked. But a huge task lay ahead of her and Apollo.  After running blindly for about five miles, Gracie had to stop to catch her breath. She could no longer run. Apollo pulled her by her pants, trying to urge her to not stop now. 

A faint siren could be heard at a distance. They were closing in on her. And they would get to her eventually if she did not hurry. 

Gracie tried to stand up, but she could not. She was just too exhausted to do anything. The chemicals that Dr. Cross had injected in her had made her very weak. It was a miracle that she even made those five miles. 

She lay on her back on the ground and asked Apollo to come join her. Apollo obliged sensing he was about to be given some instructions. 

“I cannot make it Apollo. You must go...”

Apollo tried to protest Gracie’s decision, but she continued with a faint smile on her face, “You must leave and find help. Get them here. They’ll get to know what these monsters are doing here. The world needs to know, Apollo. And if I don’t make it alive, don’t be upset. I’ll always be watching over you from the stars. Take care, Apollo. I’ll be waiting for you.”

Tears rolled down their eyes. So this was Gracie’s plan afterall. With the sounds of the sirens intensifying, Gracie for the one last time, holding Apollo’s face close to her heart, said, “I love you Apollo. I know you’ll come back for me...”

Wiping off her tears, she continued, “...I know I’m blind but I can feel things. And I can feel you cry, Apollo. Don’t. We need to be brave today. We need to get through this together. We’ll meet soon, I promise. Here take my bracelet. That way I’ll always be able to be with you. Now go!”

Apollo felt his heart getting shattered by this. But this was perhaps the only way to save Gracie. Apollo would wipe his tears if he could, but for now, he was headed straight to the city before the guards can catch upto him.

Behind him, he could hear Gracie’s voice disappear away under the starless night sky. He was no longer the dog who lay in Gracie’s lap anymore. He was on a mission now. He had to save her. He had to...

Chapter 3: https://the-reclusive-wordsmith.tumblr.com/post/612141354619994112/the-golden-hour

[the-reclusive-wordsmith]

The Golden Hour

CHAPTER 1: YOU’RE FIRED !

Sam dusted off an old camera and set it on the mantelpiece. “Shines like the sun, eh?”, he thought to himself with a bleak grin on his face. It had been long since that thing had seen the light of the day: an old camera with the Prontor II  lens by Gauthier. Sam received it when his grandfather’s inheritance was split among his family members. Sam was close to him. Infact, he felt, of all people, his grandfather was the only one who always stood by him and let him bake in the oven of his own dreams like a fresh bread. 

Growing up, being with the camera was one of Sam’s favourite things to do in the vacations whenever he would visit his grandfather. Grandfather always told him, if you can capture the golden hour in the frames of your camera, you’ll have found the elixir of life captured in a box. Little Sam with glistening eyes would wonder how spectacular it would be to be able to do that.  “Will that make me famous, grandpa?“ he would ask, but Grandpa would just smile away.

.

.

.

The doorbell suddenly rang, and Sam broke from his trance. This was new. Sam usually never had visitors at home unannounced. Draping his pyajamas around his bony shoulders, he hurried to answer the door. It was Mr. Dark, Sam’s employer, and his friend too.

“Can I come in?”

“Yes, yes! Sorry. I did not expect you to be here at this hour.”

“Should I come back later then?”

“That would not be necessary, sir. Please come in and make yourself comfortable on the couch.Coffee or tea?”

“Ah, no thanks. I have come to discuss a very serious matter with you, Sam.”

“It is cold outside. I think I should go and get a glass of red wine for us, what do think?”

“Sam. Please listen to me. You’re not helping this situation by avoiding the conversation.”

“Okay look Mr. Dark, I know you’re here to tell me that the company has put me under observation for headbutting an old lady, but let me assure you Sir, I did no such thing! That stupid woman slipped and fell down by herself and destroyed the furniture. How was I supposed to ask for the payment at that point of time? She clearly did it for the insurance money, I’m sure! Besides, I was not eve...”

“I am here to tell you that we are going to have to let you go.”

“Oh? Like, the old lady dropped her charges against us?”

“No, Sam. Like, we have to fire you.”

Sam let out a soft chuckle. “What?...But why?”

Mr. Dark took a deep breath and continued, “You’re performance at the company has not been upto the mark and we’ve incurred losses during your salesmanship. To top that all, we’re facing a lawsuit against us by an old lady whom you seem to have headbutted somehow. I’m afraid the company has decided to take that amount from you. By any means possible.”

“What bullshit! I am not paying you a dime, you smug faced ass.”

“Well. I am not the one in charge here. I am only relaying information. The company would have sent goons instead of me. I volunteered to come, only because I thought of you as a friend. But the way you’re treating me, it seems maybe you’d have liked the goons better, wouldn’t you?”

“Hey stop playing that friend card bullshit with me! You’re the one antagonizing me and I just got my ass handed to me. I have no job, and now no house because you’re going to take that away as a settlement, won’t you?”

“I’m deeply sorry.”

“ ‘I’M SORRY’ ? THAT IS ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY? REALLY? WOW. SO MUCH FOR BEING A FRIEND, EH!”

“It was not my decision. I am myself operating under limitations, son. If there were anything I could do about this, I already would have. Trust me.”

Overwhelmed by grief and anger, Sam collapsed on his couch. He was just so tired of everything now. It was rare to see a grown man in his 30′s cry like that. 

  Mr. Dark went over to Sam’s side and held him in a comforting embrace. “It is going to be okay, Sam. It is going to be okay. I am here for you.”

This short moment of silence was calming to Sam’s mind until it was broken by a strong bang at the front door. 

They are here. The goons are here...

Chapter 2: https://the-reclusive-wordsmith.tumblr.com/post/612128052988821504/the-golden-hour

[the-reclusive-wordsmith]

Darkness

[the-reclusive-wordsmith]

The end of an epic is always decided by destiny.

Anonymous

[the-reclusive-wordsmith]

The real story behind ‘Bandhs’ in India.

Before going into the topic, there are a few things that I would want to put up as a disclaimer :

I am no political activist, or any political affairs expert.

This is not a propaganda against any political party, and hence all original names related to any incident are hidden.

These are just first hand observations, and probably a revelation on the truest, goriest sides of the Indian democracy.

This is going to be a long article, but reading it might strike a few chords and light up a few sparks of thought.

So,

The story begins from as to what a ‘Bandh’ is and why is it at all a part of South Asian democracies (and by that I mean mostly India and Nepal).

‘Bandh’ or as called in proper English: ‘Strike’, is a form of political or social protest, which in theory is supposed to be a powerful form of civil disobedience to arrest the attention of those in power, and to spark a chain of changes that benefits the protesters. But here is a problem to bandhs in India: They are ONLY GOOD IN THEORY. The moment you step outside the textbook, it is nothing more than hooliganism in its greatest forms. The general idea about a bandh is to bring changes for the betterment of a society, but for the better part of the Indian democracy, it has only brought changes to the ones who had nothing to do with it.

Our stories of bandhs date back to the days when we were under the British Rule. And this is probably the time frame when the concept of bandhs were introduced to the Indian subcontinent. As a matter of fact, it served us quite well in terms of putting up a protest against the tyrannous British Rule, which also explains why decades later in a democratic India, bandhs were still seen as a means to voice opinions and in some cases strong-arm the ruling party to accept the wishes of the other parties. There is no specific reason as to why bandhs are needed or for that matter even a part of our democracy, other than the fact that when you, as a ruling party, try to put an end to this, you come in the cross-hairs of the opposition party’s machine gun with only a knife to save yourself. Bam! Here’s a legal charge for restricting freedom of speech and expression, says the opposition party! The opposition party? It somehow feels the need for a bandh, to be heard by the ruling party in the first place. Given the scene of politics in the country, both these parties feed off on each other's losses.

Yes, unfortunately, maybe the bandh becomes a necessary evil that we cannot keep to the side.

“The concept of bandh is by far only good in theory”. And the inhumane acts that are displayed on a ‘bandh day’ by both the ruling and the opposition parties is NOT a sight to soothe sore eyes.

The ruling party ‘forces’ government employees to ensure 100% attendance to workplaces on bandhs.

Amongst others, the effects that a bandh carries with itself are a disruption in transportation facilities. Negligible public transportation facilities run on this day and it sure is a major problem for the ones who commute via public transportation. Not just that, it becomes highly unsafe to travel in the ones that are running, as there is an 80% chance that some protesters will stop your vehicle in the middle of your ‘not-so-safe-journey-to-your-workplace’ and massacre the shit out of your vehicle, while you are left to make a run for your life. These employees risk everything there is to reach their workplaces, and the reason they do so, is because in case you do not listen to what your government tells you, you are up for major career trouble : from harassment to termination of job. And I’ll leave the rest to your imagination. This becomes a serious affair as official government letters and notices are issued to order all employees to ensure 100% attendance on the day before the bandh, the actual day and the day after. The government believes that it is a form of protest to the demands of the opposition party by keeping its offices up and running; not realizing the threat to the lives of those who keep these offices up and running.   

All hell breaks loose.

The seemingly ‘good-in-theory’ bandh witnesses a wide scale assault on public transportation facilities, on the ones who are on the road irrespective of whether they have any role to play in the bandh, on the very schools where non violence is preached, on the hospitals, on the restaurants, on the very offices of the panic-stricken government employees, and seemingly on all the good things on god’s green earth! Public and private transportation facilities like buses, cars, rickshaws, autos, etc are burnt down, broken and demolished beyond recognition. Cases have come up where ambulances, and even hearses(vehicles that carry the deceased) have been demolished and the people inside them had to make a run for their lives. Buildings, ranging from office spaces to the houses of political activists, leaders, manipulators, all come under a threat of being put on fire. These crimes are committed with such confidence  and fearlessness of the law that it seems, even hell would be a better place to live! From beating up opposition party members, to harassing and molesting anyone who tries to cross paths, and to bombing schools, office spaces, and houses, nothing is left for the imagination. This is the scenario in metropolitan cities; lets not even talk about what happens to the remote areas of the country!

Role of Public Servants : The Police and The Fire Brigade

This is a controversial topic, as these departments face an utter state of confusion in discharging their duties. The police forces (not strictly speaking), are controlled by the ruling party. So under orders from the highest authorities, they find themselves in a position where they need to stop the bandh BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. That leads to not only more chaos and bloodbaths between the two groups in concern, but also to a dismal state of lawlessness. The problem is, that the police needs to take actions in a way that stops the bandh on one hand and also to not instigate any of the two parties to ‘mammothify’ their protests. Seems like the police signed up for some impossible tasks! 

The fire brigade have their side of the story and it is quite amusing as they are on their toes for the day to put out the fires resulting from the bandh in all sorts of places.

Ah! Only if those hosepipes could be shoved down the backsides of those who take the cover of bandh to promote vandalism!

The ‘DIRTY POLITICS’

When a bandh takes place, it is not really possible to take tactical control of the entire scenario, as we are dealing with a population of almost 1.5 billion people, on a land that has been deemed the seventh largest country in terms of area, and of a culture so diverse that almost everything is possible. Here is when we see the ones in power and the ones opposing, trying to deliberately create a state of pandemonium and then later on putting the entire charges on one another to gain political leverage and formulate public opinion. Their line of defence to avoid the general public in any given scenario : “THE OPPOSITION DID IT! WE WERE THE ONES TO BRING THEM DOWN.” A huge blame-game sets in motion which goes on for another 2 days after which politicians forget about the losses that the general public had to incur due to their hooliganism. There have been cases where parties went at lengths to formulate conspiracy plans to bring down governments. 

The other major losses

A bandh is a pretty volatile condition involving a mammoth ton of risk to lives and open businesses, which is why most shops, be it the small grocery stores, or the large ‘all-in-one’ stores, they remain shut till the storm ends. Sadly, most medical shops are also closed. The local bazaars are also closed and the worst case scenario would be people being deprived of food. As more and more resources get wasted to stop the bandh, the entire economic condition for a day takes a dip. Apart from that there is an evident damage to peace of mind and a wide-scale violation of human rights.

The winners? The losers? The sufferers?

Another outrageous thing about bandhs is that in almost all cases they turn out to be futile. Nobody wins, nobody loses, but we all suffer. And the ones who suffer the most are the ones who had nothing to do with the bandh in the first place. Government employees, people on the streets, women, kids, and even the bands of goons who take part in the hooliganism of the bandh are not safe from being injured or maybe even being dead. The only safe people are the politicians who find it convenient to play a blame game over social media and mass media, rather than helping the situation. Ofcourse, the ruling party does not cave in to the demands of the opposition, and nor is the opposition ready to drop their claims. The lust to keep up the political dominance, metaphorically speaking, kills  the very people on whom they want to enforce such dominance. 

Are all bandhs this bad? If so, why are we still allowing such things to happen? No. All bandhs are not this bad. Many bandhs have been able to take a human perspective to things and have been positively successful in bringing much needed changes to the country. 

But having said that we also must understand that a few positive impacts should not be an excuse to continue a concept as vicious and vile as the bandh. The cons are too heavy to bear, and the yeild, no matter how good, is attained at the risk of human life and liberty. Moreover, the politicians forget their duties once the shitshow ends.

So how does the story end?

Maybe, IT DOESN’T. Eradicating something like a bandh is no child’s play. Not only will it require a unified force but also courage and strength to de-root a concept as old as this. For as long as  this concept survives, we are willing to live another day to fight it. You and I, individually, we may not know what’s good for all of us. But we do know this :

“Man can be destroyed, but not defeated.”

                                     - Ernst Hemingway

                                    ‘Old Man and the Sea’