by JC Ryan
Sam gave the drivers of the two vans waiting to transport everyone instructions to drive up to the farm entry road, switch off lights, and wait for their passengers. At 11.05 pm the lights in the Harpers’ bedroom and the family room went off, while the lamps in the agents’ office remained lit.
At 11:30 pm, two couples in their mid-sixties boarded their Baron 58 at Upper Cumberland Airport and moved to the end of the far end runway, where the pilot turned the plane around and stopped. He completed his pre-flight checks. While the pilot was busy, at 11:35 pm, Peter and Kelly got up out of the tall grass next to the runway where they were hiding and got into the plane unnoticed.
At 11:38 pm, the plane took off and headed south towards Georgia. At the same time, Rube launched an owl-drone in stealth mode, which followed the plane. Ten minutes into the flight, Peter called Rube and told him to switch the drone’s stealth mode off while he changed to stealth mode in the Baron. As soon as Rube gave him the confirmation, Owen changed direction and set course northwest towards Billings, Montana.
The owl-drone would fly for four hours and then self-destruct by an explosion that would vaporize all onboard electronic components and every bit of the body of the drone. Peter called Colonel Eric Winchester and activated Operation Fugere. After ending the call with Eric, Peter explained to the Harpers what the operation was about. Esther responded with a prayer, “God, we pray that each and every one of those families will find favor in Your eyes. That You will deliver them from evil tonight the same as You delivered us.”
Everyone on the plane agreed with her sincere prayer.
The travelers in the Baron 58 settled down for the flight to Mount Ararat before dawn. Kelly and Alison made sure Esther and Nigel were comfortable, and that they were not experiencing pain from their wounds. They offered them coffee and food and then sat back to relax – there was a lot to talk about.
Operation Fugere
While the Harpers were on their way to Mount Ararat, Eric Winchester and Dennis McMahon orchestrated Operation Fugere with military precision, as was to be expected given their backgrounds. Sam and his team were following their progress and systematically helped them to double check that nothing was missed, the same as they did during Operation Pincer.
None of the families was under the same intense protection as the Harpers were. They were watched by one guard, which was posted outside their residences and would follow them everywhere they went. Their homes were bugged and phones and Internet were tapped. The Tectus agents had studied the routines of the guards and surveillance methods at each of the family dwellings. Allowing for the number of people in each family and the effort required, Eric and Dennis assigned a team of three to five Tectus members.
The teams were equipped with mosquitoes, spyflies and all the necessary medical equipment to remove chips. The training videos and user guides, compiled by Rebecca, Roy, and Raj, prepared them well for their tasks.
Each team had at least one ex-military person onboard. The families were primed and cooperated very well every step of the way. The younger children found the chip extraction procedures very frightening, but with the loving embraces and assurances of their parents next to them, most of them were quickly pacified. The evacuation from their homes took between twenty and thirty minutes for each family and, depending on the distance to the safe house, another forty to ninety minutes to a secure location.
All cell phones were destroyed and left behind. The extracted chips were placed in the canisters and taken with them to be delivered to Roy. The unconscious guards were also relieved of their chips and left with similar personalized notes in their hands as those at the Harper’s residence. Cheers of joy erupted from the families and everyone else in the Rabbit Hole, as the news that their loved ones had been unchipped, evacuated, and brought to safety started flowing in.
At 2 am on Monday morning, to Salome's extreme relief, the final report came in. Her brother, his wife, and their two young children arrived safely at the Minneapolis safe house. They were the last family to reach their designated safe house and would be the first family to be moved to the Rabbit Hole, because they were the closest. Owen and Peter would airlift them to Mount Ararat within the next three days.
The remaining seven families would be moved over the course of the next two weeks, using various modes of transport arranged by Owen and Peter. First, they had to get to Mount Ararat and then to the Rabbit Hole where Ben and his public works team had been hard at it for long hours to prepare new quarters for all of them.
None of them knew where their final destination was.
***
President Harper could not control his curiosity anymore, “Peter, we have been guessing and wondering for months about this, but would you mind telling us where we are going?”
Peter replied with a big smile. “Not at all sir. We are taking you to Mount Ararat and from there to the Rabbit Hole.”
Nigel hesitated for a moment, “Mount Ararat? In Turkey? You are not serious!”
Peter laughed. “No sir, not that far afield. Mount Ararat and the Rabbit Hole are all in Montana, not too far from Bozeman.”
“What a relief! I was worried there for a while.” Nigel laughed.
“What does it look like? Is it a farmhouse? Tell us more; we are very curious to know,” Esther said.
Kelly explained, “Mount Ararat is a farm which we own jointly with Owen and Alison – a beautiful place. Peter and I have just moved in and have been enjoying every moment of it. It’s just a few miles outside McLeod in the Sweet Grass County, about twenty miles southwest of Big Timber. All small towns.”
“I’ve never been there, but it sounds lovely. What about the Rabbit Hole?” Esther wanted to know.
“Now, that’s a different story. It’s hard to explain. I have never experienced anything like it. It’s a place one has to see and experience in person. I can tell you it is a cave system in the mountains of the Gallatin National Forest. I have been there twice and Peter a few more times and all I can say is it blew my mind away every time. I trust it will be okay if I don’t tell you more than that. I really think you have to wait and see it for yourself. I won’t do it any justice by trying to describe it.” Kelly elaborated, without going into much detail. She wanted them to be surprised.
About three hours into their flight, Sam called Peter and gave him the good news that Operation Fugere was completed successfully and that everyone was out of harm’s way. There was jubilation, not only in the Rabbit Hole, but also on the plane. Esther wiped the tears of joy off her face as she smiled and said, “Thank you, God!” while everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
Once they settled down after the exciting news, Nigel asked if they could continue the discussion they started earlier. “Please, tell us why Mount Ararat for the name of the farm?”
“Owen and Alison can tell you about the history of that much better than I can. They named the place long before Kelly and I appeared on the scene. We like the name. It is very appropriate as you will hear when Owen tells about it,” Peter replied.
Owen and Alison recounted the whole chronicle from the time when Daniel and Mark knocked on their door late that night when they'd made the emergency landing on their farm in Nucla. Then continued right up to the point where they were on their way to the Rabbit Hole in the Baron 58 now.
They included the details of Sam and his family’s rescue, the activation of Peter and Kelly, the contact with Tectus, and the invaluable assistance they were giving the Rosslerites. Finally, they told of the discovery of the space mirrors, Operation Night Owl when the chips were stolen, and the final breakthrough with the revelation of how to shut down the chips.
As the whole story unfolded through Owen’s humoristic account, filled in by the others when required, the Harpers shook their heads in admiration. That this small group of people had achieved so much through their loyalty and dedication to their country, friends, and family was truly inspiring.
After listening to everythi
ng, Nigel and Esther agreed Mount Ararat was an appropriate name for the farm.
JR, Rebecca, Aaron, Cindi, and Mark made the trip to Mount Ararat as soon as they got the news that the Harpers were airborne. They took medical supplies, binoculars, zingers and owl drones equipped with surveillance cameras with them. On their arrival, Rebecca and Cindi went to the airplane hangar and prepared the place where they and the Harpers would hide until that night, when they would be taken to the Rabbit Hole.
The two of them remained there while JR, Mark and Aaron positioned themselves in different locations around the farm, from where they would have a good view of the surroundings. They would launch the surveillance drones a bit later to give them a better view so that Owen and Peter could be notified if it was safe to make the landing or not.
An hour out from Mount Ararat, JR contacted Peter and told him that everything was clear. They kept in touch until Owen landed the plane shortly after 5 am on the Monday morning, five and a half hours after they took off from Upper Cumberland airport. Owen taxied into the hangar while the Harpers had been lying low since they started the descent so that it looked as if there were only four people on the plane.
They all got out and were welcomed by the smiling faces of the five Rosslerites waiting for them. The Harpers were escorted to their quarters in a container at the back of the hangar, where Rebecca examined them both. First, to make sure they were suffering no ill effects of the chip removal, the flying, and the ordeal they’d been through since they were placed under house arrest.
The fact that the mission was almost over, and the realization that they could finally relax after more than forty-eight hours of high tension, allowed fatigue to set in. Owen, Alison, Peter and Kelly left for their homes while the Harpers and the rest all found a place to sleep for the remainder of the day.
We respect your choice
By 9 am on Monday morning, while the Harpers and their rescuers were fast asleep over half a continent away, the first of the six agents who were guarding the former president opened his eyes. First, he became aware of a splitting headache, then that he was gagged and tied up. He had no idea what had happened. His last recollection was that he was standing outside having a smoke. He had no idea what day or time it was.
In moments, his heart was racing with panic. Something was terribly wrong. He started wrestling with the rope tied around his hands behind his back and after a while managed to free himself. He saw the little metal canister and envelope with his name on it, picked it up, and hurried into the house, where he found all his comrades conscious but still tied up. He helped to untie them, and a few minutes later the six terrified men read the letters in the envelopes addressed to each of them in person.
We took the liberty of removing the biochip from your body. You are in no danger; we know how to remove the chips without causing any harm to you at all.
You can now choose what you want to do. If you wish to have the chip back in your body, please visit one of the implant facilities near you. They would be delighted to replace it. We apologize for any pain or inconvenience caused.
If you choose freedom, we suggest that you get away and find a hiding place where you can stay out of sight and the reach of the police and government. You should take the little blue canister and this letter with you, and bury it in a place where it can never be found. It contains the chip we took out of you.
When you make your choice, please remember what happened to the agents who failed to protect Sam Lewis, the former head of the CIA.
We respect your choice, whatever it is.
As they finished reading the letters, they stared at each other, too afraid to speak first. They knew very well about the horrific end that came to the Boise agents who failed in their duty, and they were now in the same boat as those ill-fated agents. If they decided to ask for the chips to be inserted again or stay on the farm, they would be dead in any event. If they left and went into hiding, they at least had a chance of survival.
The agent in charge of the group finally gathered enough courage to speak first, “The way I see it, men, is that we don’t have much choice. Do we?” He looked around at them as they nodded their heads in agreement.
“Is it agreed then, we make a run for it?” one of them asked, just to make sure he understood correctly what everyone agreed to.
“I see no other option, unless you prefer to take your chances with the mercy of President Brideaux,” responded their leader.
Hearing Brideaux’s name sent shivers down their spines. Within fifteen minutes, they were packed and ready to go. They left everything as they found it when they woke up. The more time that could pass between their departure and the discovery of the empty house, the further away they would be and the better their chances of survival.
In other parts of the country, eight more agents woke up with horrific headaches, untied themselves, read their letters, quietly thanked their mysterious liberators, and disappeared.
Indeed this is the Phoenix
Shortly after darkness fell on a Monday night, the five Rosslerites along with Nigel and Esther Harper, left Mount Ararat. They arrived at the Rabbit Hole not long after midnight.
Every soul in the place was waiting for them. The euphoria that followed when the former president and his wife were led into the Robert Cartwright Town Hall was only matched by the time when Daniel and his friends arrived.
Tears of joy flowed freely, not only from the Harpers' faces but also from every other face in the room. When they all finally managed to calm down, Nigel took Esther’s hand, stood up, and asked them for a moment. Everyone went quiet.
President Harper looked around him at all the people. He was without words for the first time in his life when it came to trying to express his feelings. The immense work they had achieved astounded him. Esther’s and his rescue was nothing short of a miracle. It would be ages before he learned all it took to keep them safe as they were extracted from their home and brought here alive and well.
“Esther and I have been talking about this moment for many months. We actually prepared a speech for this moment. But there is nothing that could have prepared us for the events of the twenty-four hours that started the moment Peter and Kelly walked into our bedroom last night. There is absolutely nothing that could have prepared us for what we found here tonight. I cannot describe our joyful thanks for what you have done for us and all your families still on their way here.
“We are here to report for duty, not to receive Presidential treatment. We are here to work alongside you. We have come to this place to do our part in raising the Phoenix. There is not a task or duty that we wouldn't tackle. There is not a thing that we won’t be prepared to do. We are here to support and assist you wholeheartedly in your effort.
“Our hands and our energy, our skills and our minds are available to you. It is an indescribable honor for us that you have invited us into your midst. From this moment forward, we would both like all of you, without exception, to call us by our first names and treat us the same as you treat anyone else here. It will be an honor for us to be part of this amazing family.
“We are astounded by what you have achieved, and we know we haven’t even seen a fraction of it. We are astonished by your hospitality, your hard work, your dedication, and your loyalty - we would like nothing better than to be part of it.
“Indeed, this is the Phoenix. It has already been reborn and it is busy rising from the ashes of its predecessor. There is nothing that could be a greater honor for us than to be counted amongst you and to become part of the noble cause you have chosen.
“We thank God for you. May God bless all of you and your families and may God bless America and, indeed, the whole world.”
The audience was on their feet in applause. Another round of embraces followed, and then Daniel and Sarah wanted to take them to their quarters so they could get some rest, but the Harpers didn’t want to know anything about that.
“Daniel, my friend. You are not going
to deny us the tour? Are you? We were told that everyone who stepped into this awe-inspiring place for the first time got a royal tour, which was led by Sarah. Esther and I would not be able to sleep until we have seen this whole place.” Nigel laughed.
“Mr. Pres …,” Sarah began to say and remembered their request to be called by their first names, “Nigel and Esther, I am burning to show you, but aren’t you too tired? You went through a lot the last day, not to even mention what you went through all those months before, or the ten-mile hike to get here.”
Esther laughed. “We aren’t that old, Sarah. We’ve just walked that ten miles and didn’t even break a sweat. We also slept the whole day. We’ve seen only a little bit of this place and we want to see the rest. As Nigel said, we wouldn’t be able to sleep until we’ve seen it all.”
Many hours later, the Harpers were taken to their quarters, which were neighboring those of the Lewises. They were so excited and overwhelmed by what they’d seen they were unable to sleep. By six o’clock, they were still awake and ready to join Roxanne’s morning Pilates session. After breakfast, they were invited to join the daily Steering Committee meeting where they got their assignments. Esther, who was a practicing physician until she became First Lady, joined Rebecca’s team and also the Gardeners of Gallatin because of her love of growing herbs.
Nigel was assigned to Sam’s operations team and the Steering Committee. He also had a particular interest in construction, so therefore, his second assignment was to Ben’s Department of Public Works. Ben explained that with the expected arrival of the rescued family members, there was a lot of construction work in progress, and they would welcome all the help they could get, irrespective of previous experience.
During the Happy Hour on Tuesday afternoon, Nigel got his induction into the rituals of the top secret society of the musketeers. After having two shots of Chateau de Grotte and one shot of honeyshine, he became a lifelong member of the exclusive, elite fraternity.