Reconciled in the End

Chapter 16: A disconcerting 'Revelation'

Thomas jerked up as both heard a blaring sound. The vibrato pulsed in their heads, then was gone. Looking around into the darkness, it was the dead of night.

"What was that?!" he hollered over to Siren as he grabbed her up. He was genuinely afraid as he snapped the lights on. Plaster chipped around the window edges and door frames as if the sound had sent vibrations through the whole world.

"Was that a sonic boom?!" he next murmured, looking out the window. Everyone else was doing the same.

Siren bit her lip, watching broken glass windows from other apartments. "That sound had far more power. I don't know what that was."

Thomas wiped his face. Siren observed his hand just shaking. She gave him a comforting smile as she leaned on him. "All is well."

Shaking his head in dismay, he slumped to the couch and scanned his Crown. The network was shaky and all aflutter with news of the sound burst. Many believed it was trumpets, but no horn or speaker could carry in such a way and around the whole World. Thomas sighed in relief, the buildings in sector thirteen handled the blast far better than other Sectors. There had been quite the destruction in weaker places. A hydro dam cracked in Sector eight, one hundred thousand were in jeopardy there.

Thomas sat still, Siren was safe beside him, and other than dusty plaster, no trouble befell them. It was several hours until morning when he would go to work. He loathed knowing he was leaving her alone here today as it was her day off at work. He hated it entirely.

Waiting on news updates, all running through the unexplained chaos that occurred not just in a sector, but all around the World at the same time, the two cooked breakfast. The familiar routine calmed the tension slightly. Thomas grimaced while placing his uniform on. He debated whether he'd be allowed to take her to his office. Sadly, he knew the fleeting desire was out of the question. Unlike normal offices, his was military restricted.

"I don't want to leave you," he frowned, kicking at the plaster dust in the apartment entrance.

Siren noted the mess as she consoled, "It'll give me time to clean this up. I also will start reading 'New Testament' today. It'll be fun to see what that beholds. The Old Testament had much history and premonitions."

Thomas nodded unhappily as he groaned deeply. He stood to stare at her for quite some time until he fiercely kissed her forehead, then left. He was very disgruntled to leave, especially today for some reason.
Stepping outside, Thomas clearly noticed the atmosphere was filled with heaviness. The air was clamorous, voices shouting all around him. He assumed much of this chaos was caused by the commotion the night before.

Scanning records curiously on breaks, he checked the news. The World clearly heard a trumpeting blast wave, but how? Lives had been claimed by disaster. Some rare cases, people in fact, just disappeared from their job. A whole small community in Sector Seven disappeared, talk in the forums was aliens. Panic clearly filled the discussion boards, but he felt his job even more intensive that day. It seemed every scoundrel was out to grasp their chances. Thomas was swamped, but so were his fellow officers.

An hour later than usual he went home, concluding there were no good people left in the world anymore. At least home was his refuge, paradise, in fact. Siren was such a blessing for a wife. Recalling a Proverb he just couldn't forget, twelve four, A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

A Crown indeed! Now, every time he studied those flashy pieces on a forehead, people's strong attachment to the device, and especially as he placed his work one on, the reminder of her graceful form enticed him. She was his precious Crown. Thinking again of her smile, those lips, his mind shifted to lewd memories as he cleared his throat and tapped the Crown in his chest pocket. As a Crown laced close to a head, her being laced his heart far tighter. He kicked his foot a bit on the train, restless to get home.