by JC Ryan
Shortly after the news about their friends, the quiet and peaceful life of the Harpers was shattered to pieces by the coup d’état at the G20 summit in New Delhi. The next day the senior agent of their security detail told President Harper that Robert Wilson, head of the secret services in the USA wanted to meet with him later that afternoon. Nigel immediately agreed, as he was sure he was about to get all the details of what happened in New Delhi and how it was going to affect their safety and security.
Late that afternoon three black SUVs with tinted windows drove up the road and parked in front of the house. Robert Wilson got out, and he and one of his agents walked towards the president, who was standing outside the front door with all four of his own security detail standing beside him. The rest of the agents accompanying Wilson emerged from the vehicles, taking up stations in front of them.
“Good afternoon Robert, it’s good to see you again. I didn’t know you travelled with such a big entourage these days,” Nigel said with a smile as he extended his hand.
Wilson stopped two paces away from the president and instead of shaking his hand, he said. “Mr. Harper, I am not here for any pleasantries. I am here to place you and Mrs. Harper under house arrest.”
Nigel was immediately affronted and alarmed. “What the … have you lost your mind, man?”
“Mr. Harper the men that came with me will be your new security detail. I will go through the rules with you shortly.” He looked at the secret agents who stood next to Nigel. “Okay boys, you heard me. Get your asses over there in the SUVs. Your stuff will be packed and sent to you by your replacements.”
“Robert Wilson, I demand an explanation. Now!” Nigel shouted.
“Mr. Harper, I get the impression you don't understand what’s going on, but you are in no position to demand anything. I suggest you listen carefully to what I say and avoid any unpleasantness,” Wilson said while his hand started moving to his gun.
Nigel’s agents went for their weapons, but before any of them could touch their guns, they were overwhelmed by sudden muscle spasms and dropped to the ground clutching their throats. Nigel turned to his right and stopped as he saw blood spurting from the mouths and noses of his agents.
They were all dead within less than a minute.
Wilson had the gun in his hand pointed at Nigel when he looked up at him from the dead men by his side. “Mr. Harper, please, let’s avoid any further incidents like this. I trust I can now rely on your full cooperation?” Wilson asked with raised eyebrows.
“You bastard! You killed them. Why, you son of a bitch! Why?” Nigel shouted.
“Mr. Harper, in case you haven’t realized it by now, things have changed as of yesterday. You will now cooperate with me, and there will be no further dead people around here.” He half turned to the agents at the SUVs and said, “You and you, go and get Mrs. Harper and bring her out here. I want them both to hear the new security rules.” He spoke to the rest and said, “These bodies can be loaded in body bags and placed in the back of the SUVs. Then you can unpack your stuff.”
Nigel Harper was trembling with rage and shock. “Listen you scumbags, if any of you so much as lay a finger on my wife, I will kill you all!” he shouted to the two men on their way to the front door.
Wilson erupted into evil laughter, “I’m wondering how you’re planning to do that. Get going guys - I don’t have all day! I’m a busy man!”
Nigel decided it was time to remain quiet.
A few minutes later, Esther Harper walked out the front door accompanied by the two men sent to fetch her. She was in time to see the last dead agent placed into a body bag next to the three others. Shocked and with her hand covering her mouth, she stifled a scream when she saw her husband’s pale face. Something terrible had happened.
“Nigel, Robert what happened? What’s going on? Are they dead? Why? What happened? Tell me what’s going on!” She was trembling badly.
Nigel folded his arms around his shaking wife and whispered in her ear. “Esther we are in grave danger. Please, please stay calm. We’ll be okay if we just listen for the moment.”
Slowly the shaking stopped, and the former first lady recovered her demeanor.
Nigel looked at Wilson with hate in his eyes and said, “Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss for thirty pieces of silver. You betrayed your people and your country to keep this job. But I guess I might as well be talking to the rocks over there in the garden. So do what you were sent to do, and then get out of here. If I never see you again, it will be too soon.”
By the time Wilson left, they understood what Wilson meant when he said ‘under house arrest’.
Six new agents had replaced their secret service detail. They were refused any contact with the outside world. No telephone calls, emails or meetings with anyone unless approved by Robert Wilson. They could not even get in touch with their families.
Surveillance cameras and bugs were installed throughout their house that same night. They had no privacy anymore. They had access to the news via their TV and radio, but soon realized it was not worth bothering to switch those on for the purpose of learning what was going on in their country and the world. It was extremely troubling to watch as the world descended into the darkest place in modern human history and maddening to sit by and watch without being able to lift a finger.
They were told that they would remain in limbo until the head of BOSS could see them and agree with them about their future. Of course, the Harpers were not used to this type of treatment. As President of the United States and thus the most powerful man in the world for eight years, this was a humiliation that went beyond his self-control. There was no way he could ever accept this as the new way of life for himself or for Esther.
They found that the only private time they had was when they would go for an early morning or late afternoon walk, and only as long as they kept their voices down. The agents were never more than ten paces away from them. They had to remain as calm and collected as humanly possible under these circumstances of utmost provocation and be ready when and if the right opportunity presented itself.
About three weeks later, while out on their early morning stroll, Esther whispered, “Nigel what do you consider is the real purpose of the meeting later today with that James Gordon character? What’s going to happen there? Do you know him?”
Nigel replied. "I know of him. He was the former head of MI6 and has now apparently gone over to the dark side. I remember that Sam Lewis, my head of the CIA when we were in the White House, met him once or twice, but other than that, I don’t know much else about him. As for what to expect later today, it’s difficult to say what's going through these madmen’s minds, but I have a few guesses. “
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
“I’m pretty sure they won’t lock us up. At least not yet. They would have done that on day one if we were of no value to them. They’ll try to get as much mileage out of us as they can, until we aren’t useful to them anymore. They’ll parade us in the media at every available opportunity. They’ll use us as propaganda to show the public that even the former president has joined them. We will, however, never be allowed to say a word in public. Of that I am one hundred percent sure.” Nigel said with sadness in his voice.
“What do you think we should do at the meeting today?” Esther asked.
“I think it isn’t going to be easy to keep calm, but we’ll have to. That’s more of a warning to myself than you. I’m the one who’s been struggling to keep my composure. I’m sure the place is going to be crowded with the media, and after all, it will be a big photo op for their propaganda machine.
I suspect he’s going to offer us the moon and the stars if we come out openly and join their cause. If we don’t, they will keep us more or less in our current situation until we are of no use to them anymore,” Nigel said with a grim smile.
“What happens to us then, Nigel?” Esther asked with the concern noticeable in her voice.
“My dear, I sugge
st we cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, if we play along and don’t upset them, we have time on our side. As long as we’re useful to them we’ll stay alive and out of jail. And as long we’re alive and out of jail, we at least have the opportunity to work on a solution,” Nigel said. Esther nodded in agreement.
The roadmap
The morning after the town hall meeting, the Steering Committee quickly reviewed and received progress updates of all ongoing projects as usual. And then, they got right down to the business of creating their roadmap to freedom. They decided that Mark and Doug, both ex-officers in the military, would become part of the Steering Committee, while Ben and Ryan would take on the oversight of the internal infrastructure projects.
It felt strange to find themselves on the other side of the fence, where they were now the bad guys, the terrorists, and infiltrators, the most wanted people in the world.
The fact that the news they had access to was under the absolute control of the new government meant that the events were not what really happened in the outside world. The seizure of people’s guns, for instance, would not have happened the way the news media dished it up. Reports such as ’There was no resistance whatsoever; all people voluntarily handed in their guns’ was obviously a lot of horse manure.
“A spokesperson for The Supreme Council in Brussels today expressed the council’s profound gratitude for the cooperation of all. The council was particularly grateful that everyone understood the necessity of removing guns from society,” just made them laugh. They knew better than that. Those who’d been with Owen and Alison in little Nucla, Colorado knew for a fact that this particular issue was a direct insult to the town ordinance requiring every head of household to own a gun. They suspected the same attitude about the Second Amendment was prevalent, at least in the Western United States, where bumper stickers declaring ‘You can take my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hand’ was a common sight.
Understandably, they were also extremely skeptical about the apparent euphoria that descended upon the world. Every government on the planet, with no resistance and no demonstrations from anyone anywhere, apparently welcomed the new world order? People were dancing in the streets with joy? Interviews with people who were so excited about the amazing future in store for everyone on the planet were broadcast more or less 24/7. The Rosslerites were sure that was not the true state of affairs.
The first thing the Steering Committee had to consider was how to find a way to be better informed than by listening to the council’s radio news broadcasts. They had to have access to the real situation, which not only meant having observers on the outside, but also having access to the new government’s electronic data storage facilities. They understood that their situation required skills and experience they did not have.
Except for Luke, who was a retired CIA field agent and Salome, who had been an FBI profiler, they had no one who had even the slightest clue of the covert world of espionage.
Luke suggested, “I am of the opinion that we need to get hold of Sam Lewis. He’s the most trustworthy man I ever met. He would be more up to date with the latest in spy technologies and counterintelligence than anyone else I can think of. Not only that, he would also have contact with some ex- and current covert operators who might want to join our cause.”
Salome responded, “Yes, I agree with that, Luke. Getting in touch with Sam would be ideal, but we'll have to cross a few bridges in the process. He was a high-profile person, and he would still be, but in a different sense now. He would be under the closest surveillance you can imagine. We'll have to be more than just extremely careful.”
Daniel added, “Based on my personal experience of Sam’s handling of the Sword of Cyrus crisis, I agree. I’d like to have him with us for this. I can’t think of anyone better. The first question, though, is where can we get hold of him? The second is, Luke, are you up for the job?”
Luke turned his somewhat surprised gaze to Daniel, “What do you mean? Up for what job?”
Daniel replied, “The way I see it, you know Sam better than anyone else here. Not only that, but you have the field craft skills to move about unnoticed and locate him. If he’s incarcerated somewhere already, you’re also the best candidate to break him out. I think you’re the best and most logical person for the job. Wouldn’t you agree?”
The full weight of the veracity of Daniel’s words caused a brief silence before Luke responded, “I guess you’re right about that. I am up for it. Let’s work out how it can be done.”
The unhesitating commitment by Luke, who was already approaching seventy, served as a harsh reminder to everyone present about the type of engagement required of each of them in the future.
Raj and Salome started to speak at the same time and then both stopped mid-sentence when they realized it, “You go first, Raj.” Salome smiled.
Raj continued, “Thanks, Salome. I will be quick. I wanted to say that before taking the risk of sending people out there, we would have to get a few other crucial things in place. The first would be to get hold of the latest satellite tracking software so that we know where the surveillance satellites are at any given moment and take steps to avoid detection. Second, similar to the satellites, we will have to work out countermeasures against drone surveillance. Third, we will have to look at what we can do to escape the most sophisticated facial recognition systems and fourth, we will have to come up with a secure communications strategy.”
“It’s true then, great minds do think alike! That’s more or less what I had on my list here,” Salome said with another smile.
Daniel continued the discussions. “Okay, so far our analyses have highlighted some gaps. I don’t think we have to find the solutions for them today. I suggest we continue our gap analysis so that we can get the full picture of what we are up against.”
Sinclair was next. “We all know, and I am sure also agree that the secret ingredient with which we could eventually outmaneuver the technology of the new government could very well be locked up in those libraries. Hell, come to think of it, even Brideaux knows that, hence his relentless efforts to track us down. The problem we’ve had so far was that the translation process was just too slow and cumbersome. We still don’t have any idea of the full extent of what those 10th Cyclers left for us to discover. We have to find a way to speed up the process.”
Raj agreed, “Yes I support that idea. Sinclair has already spoken to Stuart and me, and we've had a look at it. Our initial assessment is that there are parts of the work that can be automated. We will keep on working with Sinclair and pick his brain. As we get a better grip on his processes, we might very well find more areas for automation. Nevertheless, I have to warn you, it is not going to be a quick or easy job. It will take time, and it might even at some stage require outside help.”
"What you propose to do and how you start sounds good to me," Daniel said. “We’ll have to cross the outside help bridge when we come to it. He then turned to Roy. “Roy you’ve been quiet. I’m very interested to hear your ideas.”
Roy smiled, “In fact, I have a lot going on in my mind. I think we’ll have to get our hands on those implants - ‘The Skinwalkers’ as Joseph used to call them. Then we can analyze and reverse engineer them. Once we understand how they work, we might be able to find a way to neutralize them. But then again, I guess getting hold of the Skinwalkers brings us back to the first point we discussed. We need someone on the outside who could find them for us.
“Another challenge we'll have is also to figure out how those chips are connected to the Skywalker satellites and if there is a way that we can perhaps neutralize or destroy them somehow. Due to our friend, Brideaux’s abhorrent sense of timing, bad manners, and drinking habits, we never had the chance to conduct a meticulous study of exactly how that part of the 8th Cycle technology worked. I’d like to understand that in detail, because I’m sure that’s what his scientists have been keeping themselves busy with lately.”
Roy’s sarcast
ic remarks about Brideaux had them all laughing. This was a side of Roy that they hadn’t seen before. Salome was wondering if her husband’s usually shy personality’s suddenly developed humorous streak could be the side effects of the morphine given him for pain. Alternatively, maybe it could be the result of spending thirty-three days in Daniel’s company, or even Owen Bell’s. Roy had told her of Owen’s constant joking.
Roy continued, “That would in broad terms be my approach. I’ve also been thinking a lot about that ‘time travel’ discovery that Raj made. It alerted us to the future those Sword of Cyrus crazies had in mind for us. Maybe it could do the same again. That time travel technology of the 10th Cyclers has been bugging me ever since, and I would certainly like to delve deeper into that. Who knows, I might find a way to travel back and put a gun in Daniel’s hands to shoot the asshole outside the 8th Cycle facility when Daniel learned about his plans. Or even for those of us who were inside to overpower him when he walked in. Wouldn’t it be great to go back and kick his ass for him before handing him off to JR for special treatment?”
All Salome could get out was, “Roy!” before her voice was drowned in the laughter.
While Roy was talking, Daniel noticed the stunned looks that passed between Mark and Doug, as if they were asking, “What the hell have we gotten ourselves into? Time travel? Have we managed to land ourselves in the looney bin?”
Daniel just smiled and decided to have a little bit more fun with them, “Mark, Doug don’t worry about it. It won't happen all of a sudden, it happens gradually, you won’t notice it in the beginning. And then one day, when it is too late, you’ll discover it has happened - you have gone crazy.”
By the looks on their faces, the two of them were now seriously worried. Daniel thought he’d better calm them down before they ran away, “Guys let me put your minds at ease. It’s true. We discovered something a few years ago in the 10th Cycle Library, which I guess you could call time travel. That discovery saved our asses big time. We haven't yet discovered how they did it, yet, but