The Phoenix Agenda: A Thriller (A Rossler Foundation Mystery Book 6)

by JC Ryan

  Daniel immediately called a few of the leadership team together to start finalizing the plans to smuggle Luke and Raj out on their missions, Luke to Boise to see what was going on with Sam Lewis and Raj to New York to get in touch with his underground network. Raj was sure Rube and Sombra, pseudonyms of two of his network who’d been real heroes during the Sword of Cyrus crisis, would be willing to join their cause along with many others in his network.

  Luke’s mission was first. The first question was how to get him to Boise. It was too dangerous to put him on a plane, and to rent a car was not a good option. The best options seemed to be if Owen and Alison drove him there, which was a ten-hour trip, or the Greyhound bus that was an eighteen-hour trip, and Alison or Owen would have to accompany him.

  The idea was that Luke would be disguised as an elderly woman, either Alison’s, or Owen’s seventy-eight year old ‘grandmother’. The story would be she'd had a stroke a few years ago, that left her with some paralysis on her left side and speech impairment and so she could not speak properly. For that they would need special effects makeup, and again they thought Owen was just the person. He could get it for them, as he was regularly on the sets in Hollywood where the TV series of his books were produced.

  The next issue, Daniel thought, was to figure out where Luke would stay when he got to Boise, but Luke told him not to worry about that. He knew Boise fairly well, and besides, he knew how to go unnoticed. It wasn’t something that could always be planned in advance. You had to be able to adapt to circumstances.

  Raj’s mission was a bit more of a headache for them. It was a trip of more than two thousand miles from Big Timber to New York. A trip like that would increase the risk of detection, not only because of the length of the trip exposing him to more people, but also because security cameras in the big cities were much more sophisticated when it came to facial recognition and identification technologies.

  Raj proposed that he not go to New York just yet. It would be better if he could prepare one of the laptops with a complete encoded message using some of the steganography techniques that he, Salome and Luke had been working on. He would show Owen how to use the laptop and how to get in touch with Rube and Sombra. With a bit of luck one or both of them would be willing to cooperate. If a meeting could take place between them, Owen could give them the laptop so that they could read his message and instructions and respond.

  Again, Owen’s willingness and cooperation was key to the success of this plan. He was best suited for the job, as he had to travel to New York on a regular basis to meet with his publishers. Owen and Alison would still be at Mount Ararat. A delegation from the Rabbit Hole would go over the next night. They could then bring them up to speed with what had been planned and ask if they were willing to help.

  The next evening, shortly after sunset, Daniel, Mark, Luke and Raj made the three-hour hike to Mount Ararat with empty backpacks, as they intended to bring back some supplies stored in the containers on the farm. When they arrived, they saw that the lights were still on and scouted around the house for a good hour to make sure there was no one else there, before Daniel knocked on the back door.

  Once settled, each with a big mug of coffee and sandwiches, Daniel told them they had a maximum of three hours before they'd have to leave again to get to the Rabbit Hole before dawn.

  Their conversation soon turned to what was going on in the outside world and the recent news about former President Harper and Sam Lewis, who were apparently now supporting the new order. It took them all of two seconds to agree that the story was obviously a heap of bovine droppings. It was obvious the Supreme Council was using those people for propaganda purposes. The danger was what would happen to them – the ones who were only seen but not heard – when they didn’t have propaganda value anymore.

  Owen and Alison filled them in regarding the rumors they'd heard around town, on some of the trips they took around the area. The gossip amongst the townsfolk was that many, many thousands of people, maybe millions, had been killed in the clampdown on gun owners. Many millions more were killed when government forces broke up peaceful demonstrations, and in countries that resisted the new regime, armed forces were apparently almost entirely wiped out.

  From what Owen and Alison were telling them, two facts emerged consistently. Many people were dead, and they were killed with a mysterious weapon that made people die without one single shot being fired. People wondered what kind of device might be capable of doing that. Speculation ranged from death rays to poison, gas or maybe even some alien technology. No one knew because no one ever saw it in action.

  Daniel and the rest of them in the kitchen had a very good idea what caused those deaths.

  Next, Daniel laid out the plans they had for getting Luke out to Boise and for Raj to get in touch with his network. As expected Owen and Alison were onboard immediately, they required no persuasion.

  They agreed that Owen and Alison would first go back to Nucla to establish the pattern, and then they’d visit the movie set in Hollywood. There Alison would make sure she showed great interest in makeup techniques, as she would like to use some of them to make up kids in a school play. She would try to record as much as she could of the process on video.

  Raj would prepare the laptop as planned and have it ready when Owen and Alison got back to Mount Ararat. They arranged that when the two of them returned in two weeks’ time, they would take a leisure trip to the place where Roy and Salome camped for a few days when they first discovered the Rabbit Hole. There they would drop off as much of the supplies as they could load onto the 4x4. That spot was less than a mile away from the main opening of the cave.

  When everything was discussed and agreed, they all had another mug of coffee. Alison now had a shopping list they'd brought with them and a stack of cash. Owen didn’t want to accept the money, but the Rosslerites prevailed.

  Finally, with their backpacks full of supplies, Daniel’s group made the trip back to the Rabbit Hole.

  Only one way to find out

  On Luke’s return from Mount Ararat, he and Salome got busy with planning the Boise mission. They walked through as many scenarios as they could think of, trying to assess the environment and circumstances in which Sam and Susan could be living.

  The mission would be executed in four stages. Stage one was to get Luke, Owen and Alison to Boise and to set them up in a place close to the Lewis house so that it was within the operational range of the spyflies and zingers. Stage two would be to deploy the spyflies and hummers and collect as much information about their friends and their surroundings as possible. Stage three would be to establish contact with them and set up a secure method of communication. The fourth and final stage would be to evacuate Sam and Susan and transfer them to the Rabbit Hole.

  As they were stepping through each of the stages and the possible scenarios, they made a list of the equipment and technology that would be required. They already had the spyflies and zingers on the top of their list. They would have to talk to the technical minds such as Roy, Raj and Ryan about many of their requirements.

  Three hours after they began their brainstorming session, they had covered as much detail of stages one to three as they could without having firsthand knowledge of what Luke would find in reality when he arrived in Boise.

  Stage four remained vague, as it would depend entirely on how the preceding stages played out. However, they did discuss the scenario where special agents would be guarding the Lewises. This would require the elimination of the guards in some way or another, and they agreed that the use of firearms was not an option. It would be preferable, if there were guards to deal with, that they be incapacitated in some way rather than killed. Salome thought Rebecca might have some ideas about how that could be done.

  Luke went out and asked Daniel, Raj, Roy and Ryan to join them in the planning room, where they gave them a detailed account of their plan.

  Salome smiled as she looked at Roy and pushed the list across the table while she
said, “Q, it is over to you, Raj and Ryan now to build this stuff for us.”

  “Q? Who’s that?” Roy inquired with a frown of confusion on his face.

  Everyone except Roy was laughing when Luke answered, “Q is 007’s technical man, Roy. That guy that always builds the gadgets that saves Bond and the world. You have watched James Bond movies haven’t you?”

  “Aha, hmm ok ... I see, yes I have … okay call me Q,” he said while kicking Salome jokingly.

  The three techies looked through the list, and Roy invited them to his lab as he indicated that he already had a few of those gadgets available and could show them how each worked. As Roy demonstrated some of the gadgets, his audience shook their heads in admiration for the genius of this man.

  Roy was in seventh heaven. This was his world. Only Salome ranked higher on his list of priorities than his nanotechnology projects.

  “Small earphones? Okay how about this?” he asked while he presented two small objects, each the size of the head of a matchstick. “Put it in your ear.” He gave Salome and Luke one each. “Ready?” he asked. He walked away a few paces and spoke into a microphone in his hand.

  Luke and Salome smiled immediately; this was exactly what they had in mind. Roy explained that he could make them smaller if they wanted, and he could change the color so that it would not be easy to see when inside the ear. He also explained that it could be operated from up to half a mile away from the microphone. Next, he showed them a mini microphone that was even smaller than the earphones, which could be concealed in the fabric of clothing.

  Roy stopped at the next item on the list, “Cone of silence? What is that?”

  Ryan explained how some years ago he had developed a device that would effectively block any sound for a few yards around people having a conversation. No bug or any device could penetrate that invisible wall of protection. The CIA, FBI, and other agencies were his biggest clients. He’d brought a few of them, with the blueprints, to the Rabbit Hole. Daniel explained to Roy how they’d used it during their discovery of the 10th Cycle, and how it helped to keep them out of the claws of the evil guys then. Of course, Roy was all ears right away. Ryan gave him the blueprints and devices, and they would work together to see if they could produce a better and much smaller version.

  Next on the list were the hummers. Luke and Salome wanted to know if they would, with a few modifications, be able to carry small physical items. This would be along with the existing video and voice recording and broadcasting capabilities. That wasn’t a problem for Roy at all. In fact, he could have the first prototype ready in two to three hours for them.

  Luke and Salome had one more requirement. They wanted to know if Roy would be able to build a device that would resemble the size and looks of a mosquito that would be able to inject a target with a small quantity of fluid. They were not exactly sure what the fluid was going to be yet - that was something they hoped Rebecca would be able to advise them on. They were also not sure in which circumstances they were going to use it, but it would be excellent to have it on hand and ready if the opportunity presented itself.

  Roy was excited; he would have a prototype ready in two to three days.

  “Which includes two to three nights.” Salome smiled as she explained Roy’s definition of a day.

  They gave him the specifications of what they wanted for the hummer modifications and the mosquitos, and Roy got busy.

  Next, they moved over to Raj’s computer center, where they found Stuart and Max busily working.

  Max, who had been studying computer science until the bugout to the Rabbit Hole, had joined Raj’s team and almost certainly learned more in the few weeks while working with Raj and Stuart than he would have in three years at university.

  Luke and Salome wanted to know if Raj had the knowledge and any gadgets needed to jam and hack into computer networks and Wi-Fi signals. Like Roy, Raj had already available for demonstration some of what they wanted. To the elation of everyone in the room, he demonstrated how he could intercept and jam Wi-Fi signals and how he could take control of a Wi-Fi router.

  Raj assured them that he and Roy had already ensured that the signals between the hummers, the spyflies, and the controlling devices were safe. He also assured them it was the same for the signals between the microphones and earphones.

  With Raj’s technology there was a bit of a problem though. It required a higher level of computer know-how than Luke currently had. Raj would have to train Luke on the essential things and show him what to look for and record after he managed to get the spyflies into the house.

  At some stage it might be necessary for Raj or Stuart to go to Boise. That decision could be made at a later stage once Luke had a good understanding of what was happening in Sam’s and Susan’s lives.

  Finally, Raj showed them a very interesting project he and Stuart had been working on. They had been building up a library of digital recordings of the voices of every one of those supporters and any other relevant people who spoke on the radio. They paid extra special attention to those of the Supreme Council and other senior staff of the new world order.

  Once they had a good sample, they analyzed the sound files of the recordings from the news and even a few of the people in the Rabbit Hole. It was interesting to learn that each person in the world had a unique voice pattern, as unique as fingerprints, retina patterns, and DNA. Raj told them that authorities, including the NSA, had for years been using voice pattern recognition systems to identify people talking on electronic devices. It was nearly impossible to hide or mask them in any way.

  Luke and Salome knew about that technology and the secret clearances required of the people who worked with it. They decided not to ask how and where Raj got hold of it. In fact that didn't matter to them at all. They were just very happy he had it.

  Raj’s objective was not to mask or hide the voices. On the contrary, he wanted to synthesize it so closely that no recognition system would be able to pick up the difference between the real person and the computer-generated voice. He had a few more tweaks before the program would be working flawlessly.

  At first, Daniel could not figure out how this technology could be of use to them. Then he saw the smiles on the faces of Luke and Salome, who explained, “Just imagine the absolute havoc and consternation that could be created if we could broadcast a speech by John Brideaux in his own voice that we wrote for him! Or if we got on a phone and started issuing orders to his subordinates.”

  “Raj, you genius!” Daniel exclaimed as he high-fived with a smiling Raj.

  Over the next two weeks, until Owen and Alison returned to Mount Ararat, Luke had to be trained to operate the spyflies, hummers and other technical equipment; he would then in turn have to train Owen and Alison later.

  Next stop was Rebecca’s clinic. They wanted to know what type of drugs or gasses administered in minute quantities would be able to knock a human out very quickly and for long enough to escape without killing anyone.

  As background for what they wanted, Luke told them about the Moscow theater hostage crisis in 2002, when the Russian Spetsnaz forces used a derivative of fentanyl to sedate the hostages and terrorists before they stormed the building. That was a synthetic opioid numbing agent, a hundred percent more potent than morphine and up to twenty times stronger than heroin.

  The sedative effect of fentanyl had a quick onset but a short duration. It was an excellent solution for knocking out people in a hostage situation, which was what they anticipated could be the case with the Lewises.

  Rebecca told them about a few drugs she knew that could fit their requirements, fentanyl being only one of them. Some of its more potent derivatives could work very well, but would require large quantities and access to the room or building’s ventilation system to administer. But it would possibly knock out everyone in the house. They decided to park that idea for a while and asked her to continue.

  Scopolamine was a drug made famous by Colombian criminals. It caused amnesia and sus
ceptibility. In other words, the drug would make the victim do anything suggested to him or her, and the best thing was, the next day the victim would have no idea what had happened. The drug came in a powder form and could be blown into the faces of targets.

  The problem was that not much information was available about the drug, the onset or its effects or their duration. As far as Rebecca knew, it was not available in the USA, not even at universities or other research facilities.

  Bromo-dragonfly, so named because its molecular structure resembled a dragonfly, was the supercharged version of LSD, producing severe hallucinations lasting up to three days. A minuscule dose would produce seizures, spasms in the veins and constriction of the blood vessels in the first number of hours after the drug was administered. The trip described by some victims, was like being ‘dragged to hell and back’.

  This drug was available in the USA. It was a Schedule 1 drug, which meant it would be under the strictest possible control. Only authorized university and medical research facilities would have access to it.

  Etorphine, registered in the USA under the trade name M99, was five thousand times more potent than heroin and up to three thousand times stronger than morphine, so powerful a human could be overdosed and killed simply through skin contact with the drug. It was used for sedation of animals, and 1/100th of a gram of the stuff could knock out a six thousand pound elephant. As with bromo-dragonfly, it was available in the USA as a Schedule 1 drug entrusted only to authorized universities, medical and animal research facilities.

  Bromo-dragonfly or etorphine would solve their problem of quickly overpowering their targets. They only had to think of a way to get hold of it. However, during their discussions of how they could potentially get their hands on the drug, it became evident it was going to be easier said than done.