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

by JC Ryan

  Sam was assigned to the Steering Committee, and that same afternoon during the happy hour, Sam would officially become the sixth musketeer. Susan quickly became friends with the rest of the musketeers’ wives.

  When everyone had received their assignments and left, the Steering Committee got right down to business when Daniel said, “We have a lot of things to do. I suggest we get right to it.”

  Raj had already given them all an electronic copy of the Tectus report that they were to discuss first. Luke wanted to know where the name came from and what it meant. Raj just shrugged his shoulders, but Salome explained that it was a Latin word, which meant covered, hidden, concealed, covert, closed, or hideaway.

  Daniel looked at Sam and said, “Sam, it feels like old times to have you here and to work with you again. We'd very much like you to help us prioritize, plan, and execute our strategy. I guess you would have surmised by now that we didn't bring you here just for the excellent fishing?”

  “I suspected you had some ulterior motives. I’m ready to do whatever it takes to get us out of this mess.” Sam replied with a smile.

  Daniel continued. “That's what we hoped you’d say. We’d like you to take charge of Operation Phoenix to help us rise from the ashes. The people in this room and everyone in this cave, as well as a few on the outside, are at your disposal.”

  Sam told them he owed the new government no loyalty and was not bound by any oath of secrecy he took in the past. He was happy to divulge any information he had. Raj was very tempted to ask him about the government covering up the contact they had with aliens and what was really going on at Area 51, but he decided to ask that at a later stage.

  Sam continued, “With that out of the way, I think the best place to start will be for you to fill me in on what you've done so far. What do you have in mind for the future? I also need to understand everything about the 8th Cycle discovery.”

  Daniel replied, “Let me start with our current list. With you and your family here, we can tick off the first item on the list, and the second item is the return of Raj's laptop with the report from his two friends. The next few items on our list are first, to get our hands on some of those biochips so we can find out how they work and find a way to neutralize them. Second would be to start building a network of support and communications on the outside, because we are more or less cave-bound since acquiring outlaw celebrity status.”

  Daniel paused to roll his eyes. “You do know we aren’t guilty of the crimes we’re accused of, right?” When Sam smiled and nodded his head, Daniel continued. “

  Third, we have to look at what we could do to safeguard close family and friends, which won’t necessarily mean bringing them here, but at least to a safe place. And fourth would be to recruit more people with expertise in nanotechnology, electronics, computing and any other specialty we might require. The final point would be to decide if we should break President Harper and his wife out of what we assume is house arrest similar to what yours was and bring them here. I’d say it’s a pretty ambitious list,” Daniel concluded.

  “I can’t see anything wrong with what you have on the list. None of it is going to be easy, but to make omelets, you have to break eggs. I just have to say again how impressed I am with how efficiently you’ve pulled off our escape, and again express our gratitude for that. You have just demonstrated that even with a deck stacked heavily against you, you didn’t give up; you flawlessly executed an operation that would've been difficult even for the CIA with all their resources. That gave me hope and confidence that we will win this war,” Sam replied. He got a round of applause when he stopped talking.

  Daniel and the rest gave Sam a detailed account of the 8th Cycle discovery, Project Enigma, and all the events leading up to their evacuation of the Rossler Foundation headquarters, finishing with the arrival of the Lewis family the day before.

  For the second time in two days, Sam just shook his head in admiration for what this small group of people had achieved through hard work and genius.

  Sam told them about the conversation he had with Nigel Harper at the White House and the president’s description of how the security agents were killed. He wanted to know if they had any idea what could have killed people like that.

  Salome and Roy explained that it was entirely possible to cause deaths as described with the use of nanotechnology. DNA-specific nanobots, nanopoison and even a nanolaser or invisible beam could have been used.

  “Aha,” Sam exclaimed. “Now I remember; you told me about that during the Sword of Cyrus crisis.” He continued to relate the rest of the conversation he had with President Harper.

  Sam also expressed his concern that the president would have put up stern resistance to being chipped. “You all know President Harper - he's a proud man. I'm afraid he and his wife would choose death over the humiliation of carrying the chip in their bodies.”

  “Oh my God, Sam!” Sarah cried. “We have to do something immediately. They’re our friends, our President, we cannot wait. I’ll never forgive myself if something like that happened and we did nothing about it.”

  Sam agreed, “Sarah, I agree and I think everyone else here agrees we have to do something to prevent that from happening. We might not be able to stop them from being chipped, but we could perhaps get a message through to them that we are all alive. We could let them know that I have escaped and am with you, and that help is on the way. Here’s what the President said to me, the last time I saw him. ‘They might very well be our only hope.’ Do you know to whom he was referring?” Everyone shook their heads, and Sam continued, “He was referring to you, the people of the Rossler Foundation. As long as he knows you are out there and alive, he knows you will be working on a plan to overthrow this regime.”

  “It’s humbling to hear that, but at the same time it’s frightening to know we’re his only hope,” Daniel said.

  In the next few hours it became very clear that their decision to get Sam Lewis on board was a brilliant idea. The man was more than a fountain of information – in fact, it was more like a tsunami. He’d risen through the ranks in the CIA and got access to more and more top secret information with each promotion. He'd been accumulating treasure troves of knowledge over all those years, and by the time he was the head of the CIA he had access to everything. He had the details about every operation going on in the CIA, of course. Not only that, he’d made it his task to read as much as he could about past activities, including the reasons for failure or success.

  They agreed that the two highest priorities were to get a message to the Harpers and to get hold of some of those chips. The problem was that once a person was chipped, it became extremely dangerous to contact him. They agreed that the Supreme Council would have ordered the immediate chipping of all remaining people on their watch lists, and possibly even their family members, since the Lewises escape. Chances were that the family members of the people in the Rabbit Hole would be chipped very soon, if not already, and that President Harper and his wife would be among the people on watch lists, probably first on the list.

  Of course, all CIA agents, past and present, would have a record, to which the new government would have gained access. It had to be assumed the government would have placed them under watch and probably would have chipped all of them as well, which was disappointing as they could have used some of those agents.

  Sam pulled the white rabbit out of the hat when he told them that he’d had four ‘non-existent' officers reporting to him and him only during his time as head of the CIA. The term ‘non-existent’ meant only two people knew they worked for the CIA, and those were Sam and the agent. Their identities would not be anywhere on any record. They were not on the payroll of the CIA; they were not handed over to his successor, because the agents retired with him. Every CIA head had 'non-existent' agents, but successors did not inherit them - that was the rule.

  Sam suggested, “Those are the agents we have to contact and activate. I have no doubts about them. I know where th
ey are, what they are doing, and that they will help us. We just need to get messages through to them, and we can then use them to get hold of the chips and to get in touch with President Harper. After that, there will be many more missions where we could use them.”

  One of the agents lived in Texas; two lived in New York, and the last one in Los Angeles. Through Owen and the Tectus network contacts in New York, it would be the easiest and quickest to start with those two agents first. Sam, Luke and Salome would get into the preparations for those missions immediately.

  The meeting ended with Sam giving them an overview of his strategy. “Margaret Mead said, ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world.’ Do you know why?”

  “Indeed it is the only thing that ever has,” Daniel completed the quote.

  Sam smiled, “Exactly. My initial thoughts are that we won’t win this war with weapons. We will have to win it by outsmarting and outmaneuvering the enemy’s technology. We won’t need a cast of thousands - we just need a small group of smart and willing people.”

  The Sicari rebels

  Nigel Harper could not help but smile when he saw the news that James Gordon had been replaced. Harper was not a man who carried grudges, but he was sure he wasn’t going to lose any sleep over Gordon’s fate. Worrying though, was the man who replaced him; Liu Chen. That was a reason for losing sleep. He’d heard the horror stories from his security advisors while he was still president – the man was a merciless butcher who had the blood of tens of thousands on his hands.

  As depressing as that news was, Nigel smiled again when it struck him that the announcement had just wiped out any doubts he still had whether Sam Lewis was actually on the loose. If only Sam and the Rosslerites had been or would be able to team up.

  The Harpers were out on their afternoon walk when they saw the three SUV’s pull up to the farmhouse. They looked at each other, the concern clearly visible on their faces. The last time SUV’s arrived at their house, their special agents were murdered before their eyes and they were placed under house arrest. They did not expect anything good from this visit either, and they weren't wrong.

  When they arrived at the front door, the new head of the secret services in the USA, Jonathan Lucas, who replaced Robert Wilson, was there to greet them. After he introduced himself, he stated that he was ordered by the Supreme Council to oversee a medical check-up on both of them, and that he’d brought along two physicians for that purpose.

  The Harpers were immediately alarmed; something was wrong. They had their own private physicians - why not let them do the check-up. Lucas was very abrupt and told them that he had orders to do it, and it would be done with or without their cooperation. The choice was theirs.

  Nigel and Esther protested as much as they could, up to the point where Lucas ordered his agents to restrain and sedate them, Esther was clearly frightened by now. As the officers stepped forward, Nigel held his hand up and said, “Please give me a minute in private with Esther.”

  He led her aside while his mind flooded with questions. What the hell is this? Why did they not just kill us? Maybe it’s not the time for that yet. They still want us alive, but what do they want now?

  When they were out of hearing, Nigel whispered, “Esther, my dear. You know I love you, and I would never let any harm come to you. Please, listen to me very carefully. I don’t know what this is about, but I’m sure that they’re not here to kill us. They would have done that differently. I’m also worried, but I’m certain we’ll still be alive after this. You and I have to survive. Our people will need us again, and we have to stay alive for them. I believe Sam Lewis is working with the Rosslers, and that they’re planning to get us all out of this. We must wait for them and pray that they’ll be successful.”

  Nigel's words and his arms around her helped Esther to calm down and as she wiped the tears from her face, she said, “Nigel, I love you too, and you know that. I trust you. Let’s get this over with as quickly as possible.”

  They turned around and walked back to Lucas and his entourage. “Lucas, let’s get this over with. Where do you want to do it?”

  Lucas replied, “Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Harper. I suggest we go into the house and find a place.”

  The female physician and some of the agents accompanied Esther, while Nigel was led away by the male doctor and the rest of the men. The doctor took his blood pressure and heart rate, hooked him up to an ECG machine, pricked his thumb for sugar and cholesterol tests, examined him with a stethoscope and finally took blood samples. During the blood sample procedure, Nigel felt a bit dizzy for a short while and later became conscious of a numb feeling in his right shoulder area. He looked at the spot and saw a bandage. “What is that? What did you do?” he inquired.

  “It’s a minuscule medical biochip that I inserted. It will continuously monitor your vital signs, blood oxygen levels and many other medical conditions that could be treated and prevented when detected early, such as heart disease, cancer and many others. This chip will warn us of that long before it becomes a problem. Before I leave, I’ll give you a pamphlet that has all the information,” the doctor replied without making eye contact with him.

  Nigel didn’t trust what he heard. Why don’t I have any recollection of that happening? Why is the man not looking at me? Why didn’t he tell me what he was going to do?

  In the room next to his, Esther went through the same process, except that the doctor started with taking blood samples. She felt dizzy after the first tube was filled with blood, and by the time the doctor told her she was done, Esther could not believe how quickly the examination went. It felt like a few minutes, but in fact, it was almost half an hour. Only when she got up from the bed did she feel the numbness in her right shoulder - the doctor had already left the room and was on her way back to the SUV’s.

  The Harpers met in the living room and saw the three SUV’s leaving. Nigel sat down and started reading the pamphlet and went pale with fury as he read and comprehended what just happened to them. Science fiction had just become reality as he and Esther had just become slaves under the total control of the Supreme Council. Their lives were worth as much as the push of a button at the whim of a lunatic in Brussels.

  Esther did not get a pamphlet and didn’t know what Nigel was reading. She still felt a bit queasy and sat down on the couch. Nigel had a very difficult time controlling himself and not storming the agents standing in the room. The only reason stopping him was the look on Esther’s face – she obviously did not feel well. The bastards must have given her a lot more sedatives than me. They have placed a chip in her as well. Oh my God what have I done? I am supposed to protect her, and now I have got us both tagged for death row!

  Finally, he managed to get some control over his emotions. He walked over to Esther, sat down next to her, and took her hand. They sat in silence. He decided not to tell Esther about the contents of the pamphlet yet. If she asked, he would tell her the same story the doctor told him.

  He thought about the nine hundred and sixty Sicari rebels on Masada in 73 CE, who robbed their Roman conquerors of victory by setting all the buildings on fire and then committing mass suicide on the day the Roman soldiers breached the walls of their fortress. Nigel made a decision. The Sicari rebels, almost two thousand years ago, would rather be dead than serve under Rome. He would rather die than serve under the Supreme Council. He would not let them have the satisfaction of deciding when his time on this earth was over. He was going to choose that day and time, and it was going to be at a place and time where it would have the biggest negative impact on them. He was going to use their propaganda machines against them to leave one final message to his people. There were quite a few public events coming up soon.

  He only hoped that when he was not there anymore the Supreme Council would let Esther go free. She was no risk to them or anyone. He was the threat.

  A long life

  “You Can Live To Be 200 Years Old.”
/>   “Scientists Discover The Fountain Of Youth.”

  The news headlines proclaimed scientists had developed technology that would scan the human body and find the parts and systems that were defective or damaged and report about it. Physicians would be able to take immediate steps to rectify the issues. The new technology furthermore included the continuous monitoring of vital information, such as blood pressure, heart rate, sugar levels, oxygen, and many other risk factors, and would raise an alarm when detecting any problems.

  A person’s DNA would be analyzed, a report would be provided about vulnerability to diseases and preventative measures that could be taken to avoid it through medication and diet. Treatments would be individualized. The body would be continuously monitored to let the person know when it was time to take medications, as well as when and what to eat.

  All of these wonderful benefits could be achieved with a painless, quick medical procedure by way of implanting a micro biochip below the right collarbone. Thousands of people had already had the procedure during the human trials, and they were giving their testimonials. It was incredible to hear the people testify how they were cured of cancer and other debilitating diseases. In some cases, conditions were detected years before conventional methods would have done so. There were thousands of testimonials from people who were rejuvenated and felt healthy and young again. A ninety-year-old was shown completing a half marathon, aged people looked young again - it was the most remarkable scientific achievement ever.