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

by JC Ryan

  Peter was a bit surprised to discover that everyone around the table already seemed to know what he only realized a few days ago - that Kelly liked him. He cleared his throat and with a bit of a laugh said, “Okay, I see there is another conspiracy going on here. Let me reveal it. I like her very much and hope the feeling is mutual. If it depended on me, I would ask her …” he realized what he was going to say. He shut his mouth quickly and swallowed the rest of the sentence, causing everyone to explode into laughter again.

  Sarah was right; I wish she could have seen Peter’s reaction. She has missed a great moment. Daniel decided that he was going to re-enact that whole scene for her as best he could. And the best time would be during dinner when Peter would be present.

  “Okay, you all had your chuckles at my expense now, but we still have a plane to buy and pilots to train,” Peter said, trying to get out of the limelight.

  Doug was more than happy to help Peter and Owen select the right plane and help them prepare for their certifications. He knew Raj had a few flight simulator games and applications on the servers, which would come in very handy in their training.

  Daniel wondered how long it would take to get a private pilot’s license. Peter explained it would take between forty and sixty hours of instruction to get a license for a single engine aircraft and another twenty to thirty hours to upgrade to a twin engine.

  There were a few reputable flight training schools in Billings. If he and Owen put their minds to it and spent the time to get the required flying hours, they could probably complete it within two to three months. He would contact Owen later to discuss everything with him and report back.

  The final issue that remained was what to do about avoiding radar detection for the duration of the flight?

  Luke and Sam looked at each other and smiled. “Palladium?” Luke asked as Sam nodded his head.

  Daniel and the others looked at the two of them, intrigued.

  Sam explained, “Back in the cold war era, the CIA had a secret project called Palladium. It was designed to trick the Soviet radar and make spook aircraft appear on their screens, which they would then track while our aircraft was in a very different place and on a different course.

  When the Soviets moved their radar operations to Cuba, we fitted one of our destroyers with the Palladium system and cruised in the waters around Cuba. This sent their pilots on a wild goose chase on many occasions while our planes were doing their surveillance in another location entirely undetected.”

  “We know that Roy already has the best possible radar-evading technology in operation in the owl-drones, which could be used to hide the aircraft from detection by electronic equipment during flight. The second part we need is a system that would give them a few spook planes that would send them on a snipe hunt. Something like Palladium.” Doug concluded. With that, the first planning session came to a close.

  It was time for afternoon Pilates, then a bit of fly-fishing, happy hour for the musketeers and then dinner. Peter missed Kelly on the fishing trip. Despite not having his mind on the task at hand, he still managed to return to the Rabbit Hole with two trout, which he prepared and handed to his hostess, Sarah.

  During dinner, to Sarah’s great delight, Daniel recounted Peter's revelation about Kelly, in minute detail. Peter, by now fully recovered from his awkwardness of earlier started questioning Sarah with a big smile on his face. “So, tell me more about this whole scheme that has been going on behind my back.”

  Sarah laughed, “Peter, I would not have believed it if anyone told me there was another person on this planet more maladroit than the three Rossler brothers around women they liked. Then I saw you with Kelly and knew that, yes, there was! It was very obvious that you needed a bit of help.”

  “What did you see?” Peter wanted to know.

  “The girl is crazy about you and a blind man can feel with a stick that you are infatuated with her. However, for some reason you can’t see how she feels about you, and you can’t bring yourself to tell her.” Sarah smiled while winking at Daniel.

  “How long have you known all of this, and more importantly did you and Kelly talk about it?” Peter wanted to know.

  Sarah was in her element, “I noticed the vibes a few days after the two of you arrived here. Yes, Kelly and I did exchange a few thoughts.”

  “If you ask me, Peter, it was more like an extended discussion and not just the exchange of a few thoughts as Sarah wants you to believe. You must remember my wife is the Rossler Foundation’s official matchmaker!” Daniel laughed.

  Peter spilled the beans. “To be honest with you, I love her. At the same time I’m scared out of my wits to tell her how I feel. I’m afraid I’ll lose her if she doesn’t feel the same, and I just blurt it out. She may not even want to be friends anymore! I’ve never met another woman that makes me so happy. There’s nothing I want more than to be with her. As I almost said in a thoughtless moment in the meeting this morning, if it depended on me, I’d get in my car now, drive back to New York, and ask her to marry me. I know that sounds crazy. We barely know each other, but that’s how I feel.”

  Sarah smiled, while she mentally ticked off another match in her record book. She just needed another short chat with Kelly. “Well, now you know there’s nothing to be worried about. She’s just waiting for you to say it.”

  After dinner, Peter spent more than an hour on the phone with Kelly. He told her about his fishing trip, and that it was not the same without her and how much he missed her. His heart almost stopped when she immediately replied, telling him how much she missed him and how much she would have liked to be there with him.

  The next day, Peter called Owen and was able to report that he was very excited about the plan to start the pilot training and to buy an airplane. A day later, he went back to Mount Ararat where he and Owen finalized their flight training plans and started looking at suitable properties for him to buy. Of course, he was also keen to get back to New York as soon as possible. He had a lot to do, and besides, Kelly missed him.

  Chilling discoveries

  The information gathered and passed on by Tectus helped speed up the progress of the technical team. Two months after the Rosslerite group took delivery of the first box of chips, they were close to being able to activate some of the chips and start looking at how to neutralize the nanobots and disable the chips.

  They quickly found the GPS part of the chip and the Wi-Fi frequencies it was operating on. They didn’t have to activate a chip to find it. Roy found one of the components that he was sure would be used for communications and removed it. With the help from Raj and his team, once the component was removed from the chip and isolated, it could be activated and soon they knew exactly how it worked. At that point, they started looking at ways of overriding and jamming the signals if it ever became necessary.

  As they were moving ahead, Raj began building a computer-emulated model of the chip, using the code they’d swiped from the firmware during their analysis.

  They made some bone-chilling discoveries. The first was the infertility nanobot. This bot was founded on the same principles as an existing well-known contraceptive implant for women, which doctors would implant under the skin. It prevented pregnancy by releasing hormones that stopped ovaries from releasing eggs and by thickening cervical mucous. The nanobot, however, was much more powerful, and would permanently sterilize both males and females as soon as it was activated.

  The second horror were the discovery of ‘torture’ bots which would send excruciating pain to the shoulders, face, elbows, and other areas of the body. Some of the bots would bombard the body with simulated electrical shocks and tremors, destroy brain cells, cause severe cramping in limbs as well as headaches and stomach aches. No doubt, these bots had only one purpose – to inflict pain – which was obviously aimed at merciless enforcement of civil obedience, whatever civil obedience meant in the new society.

  The third shock came when they discovered functionality that would paralyze,
damage, or destroy parts of the nervous system instantaneously. One of them, for instance, would paralyze certain brain parts and make it impossible for the victim to breathe. These bots were for purposes of exterminating people.

  The team found the link between the chip and the carrier’s DNA. Nano electronic biosensors were used to detect a person’s specific biomarkers, which included antibodies, enzymes, DNA, diseased cells and foreign substances. The biosensors provided fast, exact and very specific measurements of the person’s biomarkers and genetic makeup, which was then stored in the chip and in some of the nanobots.

  They figured out that the mouth swabs taken before the implant procedure were used to produce the individual’s DNA sequence, which was then uploaded through the chip activator to the chip during the activation process. The chip’s biosensors would analyze the person’s DNA as soon as the chip was implanted, compare it with the DNA data received from the activator, and if it matched, the chip would be fully activated. Once the chip was activated, it would immediately release the killer nanobots into the bloodstream, where they would remain dormant until activated.

  There were three scenarios that could activate the nanobots. Remotely, through a message from the Beast, or the moment it stopped receiving signals from the chip, or if there was a mismatch between the uploaded DNA data stored in the chip and that stored in the nanobots.

  Roy and his team now knew where to focus their attention. The killer bots were roaming through the body at all times while receiving signals from the chip, and they stayed dormant as long as they received those signals. They had to devise a plan to neutralize the nanobots first, and then to deactivate the chip. They had a few options, the first of which was to deceive the nanobots by overriding the chip’s signals and send it signals and DNA information from their own source.

  That would keep it deactivated, however, it meant the killer bots would remain in the person’s body. The big risk was that their signal source could fail, which would kill the person immediately. Another option was to recall the killer bots back to the chip, deactivate the chip and then remove it. That was if they were able to program the nanobots to follow such a command. The third and best option was to develop their own nanobot that would destroy the killer bots.

  Before they could start live trials, there were some major obstacles to overcome. They didn’t have the technology to analyze a person’s DNA, and the chips could not be activated in the absence of human DNA. They could try to get blood and DNA data from one of the clinics. But then, even if they could get blood and DNA data, the problem was that once the chip was activated it would release the killer nanobots. If anyone were to be exposed to that blood, he or she would die.

  Rebecca wondered, “How are they testing the chips at the manufacturing site in China? Surely they must have some quality control measures.”

  No buts, say it

  When Peter returned to Mount Ararat from his trip to the Rabbit Hole after delivering the second box of chips, he, Owen and Alison had a lengthy discussion about the latest plans. It was then they decided it would be better if Peter were to buy a half share in Mount Ararat and build a house on his part of the property. They would then jointly carry the cost of building a private airstrip and hanger to host their airplane. They called the Rabbit Hole and shared their plans, which were approved by the Steering Committee.

  Peter returned to New York to deliver the additional spyflies and the owl drone for deployment at the Harpers’ residence. Then he would meet with Rube to find out what assistance he could give them with their efforts to collect information about the chips.

  Even though he yearned to spend his time in Montana with the people who’d become so important to him, being in New York had its compensations. It allowed him to spend as much time as possible with the woman he adored, who’d told him she missed him. Only when he could find a way to bring those opposing desires together would he be truly happy.

  Owen had already enrolled at a flight training school in Billings and Peter at a school in New York. For each of them it would be a four-week intensive course, which would equip them with private pilot’s licenses to fly single engine light aircraft, after which they would start the upgrade courses to certify them for twin-engine aircraft.

  The spyflies, hummingbirds and one owl-drone were delivered to Rube via the taxi and briefcase swapping routine and were deployed as requested a few days later. Sam had more than enough volunteers, to constantly monitor every corner of the Harpers’ farmhouse by working in shifts.

  Rube and Peter had an appointment at a safe house for the Wednesday night. Tuesday, which was Kelly’s day off, they had plans to spend the day together.

  Peter did more research on light twin-engine aircraft, visited a few airfields to gather more information, and got a few test rides. On recommendation from Doug, they were interested in a six-seater, twin engine Baron G58 Beechcraft. It had a cruise speed of just over two hundred knots, which equated to about two hundred and thirty miles per hour and a range of close to one thousand five hundred nautical miles. That was the ideal plane for their purposes, current and future.

  On Tuesday morning, Kelly and Peter met over breakfast and decided to spend the day visiting Central Park in the morning, lunch at McDonalds – a special and secret sin Kelly allowed herself only twice a month – then watch one of the latest movies, followed by dinner. By the time they came out of the movie theatre, neither of them felt like going through the trouble of dressing up to go to a fancy restaurant.

  “I have an idea,” Kelly said, smiling. “Why don’t we go back to my place and cook our own dinner? You are such a handyman in the kitchen, I’m sure we can concoct something edible.”

  “That’s a good idea, but be forewarned - I can only cook what comes out of cans or can be microwaved.” Peter laughed.

  They went back to Kelly’s apartment, tried to make beef stroganoff, messed everything up completely, and almost set the fire alarm off in the process. This produced lots of 'Ooohs and Ooops' and peals of laughter. Finally, they ordered Chinese takeout. It was that or go to bed with empty stomachs.

  Peter cleaned the dishes and sat down on the couch, and then Kelly came and snuggled into his arm. She looked up at him with a big smile on her face and said, “So, Peter Scott. Tell me what did you and Sarah talk about when you were there?”

  Peter realized that Sarah must have spoken to her since he left. “Well, mhh, let me see, I can’t remember all of it, but she said she liked the trout I caught. She also wanted to know if I was still obeying the conditions of my sentence imposed by the court … let me see, what else was there...” Peter smiled as he teased Kelly, who clearly knew exactly what was said, thanks to Sarah’s matchmaking ploy.

  Kelly grabbed him by his ear and said, “Stop it! You know what I'm talking about!”

  “Aha, got you! You spoke to Sarah since my last visit. Didn’t you?” Peter laughed as Kelly started blushing.

  “Well, yes. We had a short chat and exchanged a few thoughts.” She giggled.

  “Let me guess. When you say ‘a short chat’, that means it was more than an hour but less than two?” Peter gibed.

  “Yes, something like that,” she replied, now displaying a full-blown blush while she still had him by the ear.

  Peter said, “Let go of my ear, and I will tell you everything.”

  “Just remember, I know everything that was said, I just want to check your version of it,” she warned him.

  “Kelly, I told her that I am in love with you but that I was worried to tell you how I feel, because I’m afraid I will lose you. I told her that I have never met anyone that makes me so happy, and that there was nothing I wanted more than to be with you. There you have it. Now you can kick me out if you want to,” Peter said, his expression betraying his nerves. “I know it sounds crazy to tell someone who you've met so recently that you love her, but that’s how I feel.”

  Kelly leaned back to look at him, her eyes sparkling with mischief, then held u
p four fingers, counted three down and said, “No, you left one part out. You’ve covered everything else. I’m waiting for that part.”

  Peter knew he was in for it now, and he had to spit it out, “Okay, okay. I did leave out something, but …”

  “No buts. Say it.” Kelly was enjoying every moment of it.

  “I also said that, if it depended on me, I would get in my car, drive back to New York, and ask you to marry me.” Peter stated in a serious tone while searching her face for any indications of how she felt.

  “Yes, that covers everything. Well, I guess you must have changed your mind then, because you did drive back to New York in your car, and you saw me. But you haven’t asked the question,” Kelly replied while she snuggled closer to him.

  Peter was breathless and speechless for a few moments. He took her face in both his hands, looked her in the eyes, and saw what he was looking for. “Kelly Edwards, will you marry me?”

  “Yes! Of course I will. You were supposed to know that weeks ago! What took you …” was all she managed to get out before he kissed her.

  When they came up for air she whispered, “When did you know?”

  He whispered back, “Before I met you.”

  “What! How is that possible? Are you kidding me?” she wanted to know.

  “I’m the one who you were wearing that stunningly beautiful turquoise scarf for in Nashville, on the day when you had your interview with President Harper. In other words, to answer your question, it was the moment I first laid eyes on you.” Peter smiled at Kelly, whose mouth was hanging open.

  “I didn’t know you were there. No one told me. Where were you? Where did you see me?” she wanted to know.