by JC Ryan
When he turned up at her apartment, he had his mind made up. She took one step towards him when he opened the door, saw his face, and said, “Peter, something’s wrong. What is it?”
“Kelly, come and sit down with me. I'll tell you.”
Kelly could feel his sorrow and huddled into his arm as he started talking about what he’d seen. She was in tears, her body shaking, when he came to the end and told her about the floor with the babies.
“Oh my God! Peter, we have to stop this insanity!” she cried. “I haven’t even seen the videos and I’m sick. I’m not sure I want to see it. It must be terrible for you that you had to watch it.”
Neither of them could go to sleep that night. They switched on the bed lights, found comfort in each other’s arms and talked until sunrise, when she phoned her office to tell them she wouldn’t be in that day. It was the first sick day in her entire working career.
They decided that it was time to start wrapping up their lives in New York. They knew their time in the city was rapidly coming to an end. The mountains of the Gallatin National Forest would soon be their home. Consequently, they decided to put both their apartments on the market that same day. They would rent a place close to her work. They still had more work to do, but the moment Roy and his team had the chip unraveled and they were ready to set President Harper and his wife free, the two of them would move. Peter had already decided that he wouldn’t want to let Kelly stay in New York while he was on that final mission.
***
At sunrise, everyone in the Rabbit Hole attended the daily Pilates session and had breakfast. Afterward, they went on their way to their daily tasks. Salome and Daniel had prepared Roy and Sarah for what was awaiting them at the Steering Committee meeting that morning. Daniel gave the attendees an overview of what he and the three others had already seen and warned them of the graphic and shocking nature of it. Even Sarah and Roy, who were forewarned, were shaking with fury when they reached the end.
The individuals in the group reacted no differently than those who’d seen this before. Roy wanted to start a nuclear war - he was ready to start building nanonukes and killer lasers. JR, Mark, and Doug wanted to gather a brigade of Marines. Rebecca, who had seen more human suffering than anyone in the meeting, could not stop the tears. Sinclair and Raj were pale and wordless.
Those who watched it before were revisited by the same nauseating feelings of a few hours earlier. There was just no way to not be repulsed by those scenes, no matter how many times they watched the video.
Strange enough, it was as if Daniel’s outburst earlier had cleared his mind and helped him to think logically. “Roy and Raj. I suggest that you take the technical information and see if there is any useful information in there. I also propose that we consider sending those guys in China more and better equipment.”
“Yes, I agree,” responded Roy. “We should try to at least get the new generation spyflies to them. They could also do with the earphones and microphones, but I’m not sure about a mirror phone. We should think about that.”
A short discussion followed, during which Sam, Luke, and Salome shot down the idea of sending new generation spyflies to China. They would rather accept the fact that it would take longer to find the solution than take the risk of compromising their communications system.
***
When Rebecca left the meeting, upset as she was, she managed to get herself to think rationally. She was part of the technical team - well aware of the progress that had been made and of the fact that they still had to resolve the live testing issue. The whole effort of reverse engineering the chips would be fruitless unless they could find a solution for that problem.
She got Jack, Roy, and Raj together. “I think we are quickly approaching the end of the road with our efforts to reverse engineer the chips. Soon we will have everything in place except for a solution to the problem of conducting live tests. We will be at a dead end, unless we resolve that problem.”
“Any ideas, Rebecca?” Jack wanted to know.
“Not the solution if that is what you want to know. Nevertheless, I’m of the view that our Chinese collaborators got sidetracked when they saw what was going on in that place. I don’t blame them for that, it would have more than sidetracked me and, I guess, any normal human being,” Rebecca explained.
Raj immediately caught onto what Rebecca was saying. “I agree, we need to get them to find the path of those chips that are removed from the production line for quality checks. Is that what you have in mind?”
“Exactly. I am ready to bet that if we find the place where they check those chips, we’ll find our answer.” she replied.
“Okay, let me have a quick word with Sam to clear it with him, and I will be on the phone to Rube.” Raj said.
The technical team submerged themselves in the remaining technical data. A few days later, they had the complete picture of the puzzle they’d been working on for what seemed a very long time from the day they held the first box of chips in their hands. They knew exactly how each component functioned and had the videos to remind them of the effect of the nanobots. With the blueprints of the parts and nanobots, they started building their own nanobots that would neutralize or destroy those released by the chips.
The pilots
Peter and Owen were the proud owners of private pilot’s licenses for single engine aircraft. Alison and Kelly were taken on short flying trips at every opportunity and enjoyed it. The next step for the men would be to be certified in night flying and twin-engine aircraft before they’d be ready to purchase the Baron G58.
Peter had a pleasant surprise in store for Kelly when he asked her to take a long weekend and accompany him on a trip to meet two friends. She was not allowed to know the destination or the names of the friends. She played along and controlled her curiosity as best she could. Her inquisitiveness almost got the better of her when they turned up at a private airport just twelve miles from Manhattan, got into the two-seater Cessna and took off.
Two hours into the flight, she could not hold in her curiosity anymore and employed all her charm on Peter to tell her where they were going. He had to give in and tell her they were heading for Cape Cod for a weekend of brown trout fishing. What he didn’t tell her was that Owen and Alison would be waiting for them as part of the first celebration of their secret engagement. It would be the first opportunity Kelly would have to show her ring to anyone other than Peter and talk about the man she loved with someone other than Sarah.
She enjoyed the flying so much she started wondering if she should also take flying lessons, but decided that it wouldn’t fit into her current schedule while still working at WONN. She’d think about it again when they lived in Montana.
When they landed at the airport, Owen and Alison were there to pick them up, much to Kelly’s delight. Owen and Alison had also traveled by plane all the way from Montrose, making stops along the way. They’d taken a side trip to include a visit to his ‘outlaws,’ as Owen liked to refer to Alison’s parents. His first words to Peter were, “What a pleasant way to travel man! I don’t think I ever want to sit behind the steering wheel of a car again. I should have become a pilot a long time ago.”
That night, while having dinner, Owen said he wanted to tell Kelly about a conversation he and Peter had not too long ago. “You see Kelly; he phoned me one night to talk to me about farming and asked for my advice. I told him everything I knew. Then suddenly he said he had plans to go farming, but he reckoned it was something that he couldn’t do without a wife. He wanted to know if Alison and I could help him find a wife, because he said he got the impression there was no perfect woman left in the world that would want to marry him. So, we set out to help the poor man fulfil his dreams, and had to go through this whole elaborate scheme just to get the two of you together.”
Peter just shook his head when he heard how Owen had filled in a few details of his own.
By now, Kelly had Peter by the ear again, “Oh, I see. Is that how it
happened? Come on I want to hear your version.”
Try as he might, it was two against one; Peter could not get his version to sound believable. It was a relaxing and joyful weekend with Owen having them shouting with laughter at times with all his larks. They had no idea what a shock was waiting for them when they returned to New York.
***
The Supreme Council was in conference, discussing their plans to move the world to a new currency system.
“It’s time that we hand out our last gift to the people,” John Brideaux said with an evil smirk on his face, while looking around at the members of the Supreme Council.
“Mr. President, we are ready when you give us the word,” replied the financial advisor.
The financial advisor explained the plan. They would launch a pilot program in one of the South Pacific island nations such as Samoa, Tonga or Fiji, monitor the results carefully and make changes as required. Once the pilot program was completed, they would roll it out worldwide. The first step would be to write off all debt for individuals in exchange for taking a chip. Those who already carried a chip would get the same benefit. All credit card debt, overdrafts, mortgages and personal loans would be wiped out overnight.
They knew the financial world would collapse into chaos when that happened; stock and money markets would crash. Every currency in the world would become worthless.
That was exactly what they wanted to happen. In the ensuing chaos, they would introduce their new monetary system –virtual, electronic money, no cash – and their computers and chips would control it. That would make it impossible for anyone without a chip to buy or sell. The payment bots on chips would be activated and cash registers would be replaced with chip scanners to record transactions. Fraud, embezzlement and theft would be something of the past.
It was an elaborate and unscrupulous plan that required careful planning and timing, absolute precision and flawless execution. They expected resistance on many fronts, including chaos at banks and ATM machines from people trying to withdraw their money. Civil unrest was expected. They would have to make sure law enforcement agencies were ready to deal with issues. People lining up to be chipped would flood the chipping centers, therefore those facilities had to be reinforced with additional staff and police.
The media had a significant role to play in getting the initial announcement out and then getting messages out during the expected crisis. A few of the selected big media outlets had to be given advance notice so they had enough time to prepare and be ready for the big day.
With a well-planned project, the Council members were satisfied that the pilot program could be kicked off with no unexpected trouble.
***
Late on Monday afternoon, back at work after her long weekend at Cape Cod and shortly before Kelly was due to go home, the station CEO called an urgent meeting in the boardroom. On arrival, she immediately noticed that all of the most senior WONN staff members were present. Something important must be afoot.
In his opening address, the CEO announced how proud he was that WONN had been honored. It was chosen as one of only a few media outlets across the world to receive the information he was about to reveal to them. Before he went into the details, he issued a harsh warning to the members that this was for their ears only. It was in the strictest confidence until further notice. Their jobs and the station’s future depended on their ability to keep it secret.
He then went into the details of the Supreme Council’s plans to introduce their monetary measures to the world. Kelly was well aware of the Council’s agenda and she knew the one world currency was in the pipeline, but she’d expected the announcement to happen a year or two into the future. She was watching the people in the room to try and gauge their reactions and body language. She was surprised to identify quite a few who were obviously troubled and some even agitated by what they were hearing.
She just hoped that the spyflies were in operation in the boardroom and doing their job. When the CEO finished, he allowed a few questions. The pilot program would be implemented in Samoa and would run for a maximum of two months. The rest of the world would follow thirty days after that. They had three months to prepare.
“Kelly, you have the most popular program here at our station, and it will be expected of you to contribute heavily to this initiative,” the CEO told her.
“It will be my pleasure, sir.” She allowed her face to smile and her mouth to speak while everything else inside her was in revolt.
When she arrived at their apartment, Peter had dinner ready. This was the result of their evening cooking classes, which they’d been enjoying so much. She told him about the meeting she just attended and when the announcement was expected. The two of them had discussed this scenario at length before. There were no surprises except for the timing.
“That means we have less than three months to get our ducks in a row, including the evacuation of President Harper and his wife. Do you think we’ll be able to pull it off?” she asked.
“It’s difficult to say. We’re entirely dependent on a few technology breakthroughs now. My understanding is that there are only a few more things we need, but without them, we are still nowhere. I'll call Sam after dinner to find out if they made a recording of your meeting, and I’ll find out what we can do to help.” He said.
“I am not much of a guru when it comes to finance. However, I do know that in three months, our money will be worthless and we won’t be able to buy anything,” she commented.
“It’s good that we sold our apartments so quickly. The property would be next to worthless within a few days after that announcement. Owen and I will have to buy that plane very soon and we’ll have to make sure we have all the building material for our house at Mount Ararat,” he said.
“Yes, that makes sense. I guess we also have to get rid of our stock portfolios and cash. What do you think?” she wanted to know.
“Oh yes, definitely. We have to sell those and buy precious metals, such as platinum, gold and silver. And we certainly won’t give it to a bank for safekeeping,” he said with a smile. “We just have to do it in such a way that it doesn’t raise any suspicion. But you can leave that to me. I have a few good contacts in the financial world.”
“We can’t hide it under the mattress. We should think about where we can hide something like that.” She smiled.
“I’ve just been thinking. You know I wonder if we should delay our plan to set President and Mrs. Harper free until after this announcement. The chaos that will follow could be the ideal distraction for us to execute Operation Pincer while all of law enforcement would be busy with crowd control,” he mused.
After dinner, they called Sam and got confirmation that the Rabbit Hole group had the video of the meeting. Sam told them the Steering Committee had come to the same conclusions. All cash should be invested in precious metals, and any purchases that had to be made should be completed before the announcement. After the announcement, the only way to survive without being chipped would be through bartering. He also agreed with Peter’s idea that it might be better to wait for the chaos that would follow the announcement to execute Operation Pincer.
Sam gave him an update on the progress made by the technical teams, and told him he was confident that a breakthrough was imminent.
Mandatory death penalty
Gui and Jian were inspired by Rube’s plea to find the end destination of the chips coming off the production line for quality checks. The images of the suffering of those poor souls in that institution were etched into their minds, and they understood what the implication of a breakthrough on that front would be.
They were absolutely committed to finding it. Starting with mapping out every corner of the Science Advisory Panel Headquarters building, then room by room, they followed the people going in and out, carefully videoing and documenting everything happening inside. They reported their progress to Rube regularly through the Dark Net websites.
At the same time, the technical te
am at the Rabbit Hole focused their attention on constructing their own nanobots, which would be used to eliminate those in the chips.
Roy started working on a radar decoy system to install on the airplane that would airlift the Harpers, plus their own version of Palladium that would be used when they were ready to launch Operation Pincer. Sam and his team regularly revisited the Operation Pincer plans, poring over the new images and footage received from the additional spyflies and hummingbirds they'd deployed over the Harpers' farm, weeks ago.
They had a scale model of the entire farm, outbuildings, complete with roads, fences and gates. The model of the residence was updated long ago and they now knew the place better than most of the inhabitants did.
Salome remained worried about the ‘trap’ that she was convinced would be there. As they were speculating about what and where it could be she got a brainwave and shouted, “That’s it! I think I’ve got it!”
“What is it, Salome?” Luke was first to ask.
“Everyone in that house and on that farm is chipped. I am convinced that’s how they did it. They have sensors throughout the house that tracks every movement of the people and they know at all times who’s there and where they are,” she said. The realization made her voice shake. It had to be, and they’d almost walked blindly into the trap.
The rest of them looked at Salome and each other in astonishment. It was there all the time, right under their noses. Daniel called Raj and asked that he join them for a few minutes.
When he arrived, they explained Salome’s notion to him. Raj just smiled and said, “Imagine the trouble we could have walked into, were it not for an astute ex-FBI agent in our midst.”
He told them that he already had the frequencies the chips operated on, since they’d reverse engineered the GPS feature. But the spyflies had not yet been programmed to scan for that. He asked that they allow him a few hours to investigate. Late that afternoon, Raj called them to the computer center and showed them what they were looking for. Indeed, Salome had hit the nail on the head. There were chip scanners all over the place. Those scanners reported to a central computer, which was linked to the Washington Security Control Center. If someone without a chip in his body walked into that house, those who monitored would instantly know about it.