Chapter 4 Sunday

The Zero-hour Operation Zoo rehearsal was something of a bust. Only a few Calfers were invited to it, and fewer still showed up. Not that there was all that much to do. There wasn't. Zero-hour would be the time that CALF actually took over the zoo, and that was hard to rehearse. Joshua didn't seem to mind though. He seemed to be almost in a trance. But he was happy, and with his charisma, that made everybody else happy, even Jack.

Brian was planning to tell Joshua and Jack to count him out if they were really going to take over the zoo. Until now, it felt sort of like a game. Brian kept putting off telling them. The time never was quite right. Then Brian thought about his talks with Professor Rexford and Lori yesterday. Maybe they were right. Maybe he couldn't take a stand - commit to something. Maybe Operation Zoo was an opportunity to actually do something. Brian weighed the pros and cons, and took no action. That meant he would go through with Operation Zoo. Brian played with the idea now, in a new light. He was the committed revolutionary, single-mindedly pursuing his ideals. If this wasn't commitment, he didn't know what was.

Then he thought about Lori. She'd be along on Operation Zoo. It was a romantic notion. Brian had seen enough old movies to know that on the eve of going into battle, you spent it with your girl, perhaps doing things you wouldn't ordinarily do.

After the rehearsal, Brian rang up Lori and asked if she were busy tonight. She wasn't, and her dorm mate was still out of town. He imagined Lori had probably seen the same old movies.

At seven that evening, Brian was buzzed into Lori's dorm building. As he rode the elevator up, he got cold feet. When she opened the door, he kissed her. That took courage. Then he invited her to dinner and another movie.

During the movie, he knew he wanted something from her, but he didn't know exactly what.

After the film, he escorted her back home. At her door, he said, "Tomorrow, at Operation Zoo, we'll continue this."

"Continue what?" she asked.