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SteveÕs Reamde Page

HarperCollins

 

As with all my book pages, this is intended as a guide for current readers, and a memory aid for those who have read it and wonder just where the hell books go after they've been read. The usual disclaimers and spoiler alerts apply.

 

Page numbers indicate page on which the section containing the description begins. This will seem weird for sections whose initial lines are the last ones on a page; (For instance if you turn to page 358 looking for a scene that can only practically be found on page 359.)

 

A note on StephensonÕs Google Earth comments in the Acknowledgements on page 1043: NPS states that he has played fast and loose with geographic locations and that googling any of the locations described in Reamde would be a waste of time. For the scenes in northern Idaho this is true. But for the Seattle/Canada scenes and especially the China sections (i.e. most of the front half of the book) I found Google maps to be invaluable. Nick SpringerÕs Baroque Cycle maps were beyond helpful, were they not? Particularly for readers like me who enjoy the heightened reality – dare I say the security? comfort? – maps provide. The only time googling led to confusion was when IÕd gone on the assumption that DDÕs Isle of Man castle (p247) was where Richard was heading on p583, but then Richard passes through locations clearly not on the Isle of Man (Bedford, St Neots) as he approaches DDs place Òit was situated right in Trinity CollegeÓ (p594) which is a college in Cambridge University, an hour or so north of London and nowhere near the Isle of Man in real life. If I have misread this someone set me straight please. WouldnÕt be the first time I got a little discombob in a Neal Stephenson book.

 

PART ONE: NINE DRAGONS

 

THE FORTHRAST FARM, Northwest Iowa

         Thanksgiving

3       At the Iowa reunion; Crick target practice; Gigantic wind turbine; Richard or Dodge, but not Dick; Leery relatives (Wikipedia-induced unease); Wandering among the weaponeers; What heÕd doneÉ; Zula, RichardÕs exotic niece, and her BF Peter; RichardÕs Fortune 500 Game company [waiting for cancer?] Worrying about palette drift; RichardÕs exes are still in his head; Sixty lightning-related fatalities a yearÉ

13      Driving in the Grand Marquis to Wal-Mart; Canadian money spills the beans; Left in 1972, worked as a hunting guide in Canada; Carried a dead grizzly pelt 200 miles after first defending himself and his client (but not the clientÕs large dog); CouldnÕt let the client have the pelt, paid the price.

19      How lightning killed Patricia; Alice is now the matriarch; The Òreal workÓ of the reunion; ÒCousinsÓ with laptops in the parlor; Why doesnÕt Jake come? He thinks many things are unconstitutional; HeÕs in Idaho; RichardÕs dad Nicholas; Caretaker Rosie leaves, Richard practically drools as he pays and thanks her; Wall-mounted WWII rifle, similar to the one Nicholas swung into numerous Nazi crania, saving comrades, earning CMH

26      Richard used connections (an imposing SoCal motorcycle club) to dissuade Bob from pursuing custody after PatriciaÕs death.

27      DadÕs consciousnessÉ

28      RichardÕs cellÕs calendarÕs colors; KÕShets are in the GPS, for chrissakes; fretting over Wikipedia entry.

31      Lugging the bearskin, discovering the shack; Smalltime international drug smuggling [arenÕt those two adjectives mutually exclusive when describing Òdrug smuggling?Ó]; Wanting to buy land.

32      Richard & Chet bought the Schloss; Virtual gold economy; Addictive video games; How to get $ to China; Nolan; Corporation 9592; A gold-farmer-friendly game; GoldÕs value has always derived from the effort required to mine it; Toward more realistic virtual geology; Pluto; TER-RAIN to TÕRain.

37      Gaffers at the Hy-Vee; Richard logs in as Fudd; Bothaviors & Character Types (cooler ones cost way more); The ever-desirable Chinese teens are happy to be miners; Pluto, Richard & Nolan need Creatives; Devin: mediocre, prolific, fat. Then slim.

42      Chapterhouses (HZs); Power-outage and Òboss is comingÓ contingencies; Fudd—lone wolf—is RichardÕs window on the experience of the typical (i.e. low-level) customer: a phase transition discerner; Anthrons, KÕShetriae & Dwinns; That fortress courtyard KÕShet looks very familiar.

46      Initial clothing palette hackÉthen something more subtle; Diane studies palette drift; Richard notices real-world, market-driven palette drift (colon blow!); Kawasaki & Richard analyze the farmer playing TÕRain at the Hy-Vee; Richard has an insight about color, I mean taste. [De gustibus non est disputandum Å L. ÒWe must not argue about tasteÓ]

 

         Day 0

         SCHLOSS SCH†TTLER, Elphinstone, British Columbia

         Four months later

52      Zula asks about the Apostropocalypse; [Schloss: a low-maintenance ski resort]; Richard anxiously awaits Zula & PeterÕs arrival at Schloss; PeterÕs texting; Schloss architecture imitates TÕRain architecture; [The ÒElf/Dwarf SplitÓ]; PeterÕs kinda skittish; [Devin wrote prolifically for TÕRain, weeks before 9592Õs first meetingÉthey hired Geraldine]; Peter spots an acquaintance that has just arrived at Schloss; [Richard & Chet brought Devin & Don to Schloss]

58      Corp. 9592Õs retreat at Schloss; Prima Donnas arrive

60      Meeting seating arrangement; Richard tells how he & Chet got the Schloss; Devin to Don torch-passing ceremony: getting down to real business at last; Kshatriya; Premjith Lal; Wherefore the apostrophe in KÕShetriea? Don: ÒA coherent explanation for this apostrophe is requiredÉif I am to proceed.Ó

67      Peter welcomes Wallace (the aforementioned acquaintance) who recognizes the Schloss from TÕRain; Peter & Wallace size each other up; Peter gives Wallace a DVD, Wallace prefers a flash drive.

69      Peter bums a spare thumb drive from Richard

70      Wallace patiently explains his wariness—his Russian employers—to Peter; Richard explains the source of credit card numbers—department stores who use identical code to PeterÕs previous clients—to Wallace; Wallace: ÒWhy are you doing this?Ó ÒI owe hugely on a mortgage in Seattle;Ó Wallace: ÒThugs outside will verify those cc numbers,ÓAfter DVD file is copied to thumb drive and then to WallaceÕs laptop, the DVD & thumb drive are destroyed; Scared Straight?

78      Don cleaned up TÕRain behind DevinÉDevin plotting revenge?

79      Peter & Zula drive back to Vancouver; PeterÕs avoiding the US border; [Pluto, sole Keeper of the Key]; More twitchy behavior from Peter, he really wants to cross at Peace Arch: ÒTell them IÕm asleep.Ó Zula: ÒWTF?Ó ÒWeÕre carrying some cash I got from Wallace at Schloss and I didnÕt want to declare it;Ó Zula does the math: ÒHuge amount of cashÉbut you havenÕt been workingÉÓ

86      Peter to Zula: ÒSo, RichardÕs criminality sits right with you, but mine doesnÕt?Ó (Evidently not: ÒItÕs over.Ó)

 

         Day 1

88      Zula goes to Georgetown to get her things from PeterÕs place; Brief history of Georgetown neighborhood; The night of their split, Zula recalls PeterÕs good qualities; Zula corrals her things, hears Peter downstairs arguing with Wallace: thereÕs a problem with the credit card numbers; Wallace retraces his post-Schloss-transfer steps; He backed up the file to the safe-encased driveÉbut file is missing; They open REAMDE file and see Troll image, get TrollÕs decryption-for-1000GP-ransom note; Caught REAMDE from RichardÕs borrowed flash drive? With no backup copy, they must pay ransom; $73! Wallace intercepts ZulaÕs 911 call.

100    Wallace and Zula must jack into TÕRain to pay ransom and get decryption key

101    Characters: Wallace has an evil TÕKesh, Zula has a good one and an evil one; High speed Òteleportation within TÕRain; Both die and go to LimboÉseveral times: ÒShould we wake up Richard?Ó

105    Within TÕRain, the ransom thieves were working over other ransom carriers as they arrived; Zula was up 24 hours in a long game session; Networks are all down; Ivanov lands at Boeing field with Sokolov in tow; Peter unveils gun, Zula re-veils it; Bald guy arrives at apartment and enters; More Russians arrive with plastic sheeting.

113    Ivanov chats with Peter, Wallace and Zula while plastic is staple-gunned all over adjoining room; Ivanov painstakingly tries to determine Òkoo has fucked us;Ó Splatter proofing continues next door and other, um, equipment is brought in; Wallace is sent to the adjoining room.

119    Zula explains viruses and MMORPGs to Ivanov; Outlook was the access portal; Weird forced chivalry from Ivanov to Zula though Peter; Ivanov fears his own looming death; ÒIf we can tell you who the Troll is, we good?Ó  

123    ZulaÕs meth-lab fire memory, and the gravity of the situation

124    Who at 9592 would know the TrollÕs name?

125    Sokolov has Peter erase the security cam files

126    Zula calls Corvallis and asks who healing-spelled her in TÕRain last night; Their IPA is in Xiamen, China; Ivanov presents coffee and flowers; A body is hauled out of adjoining apartment.                                             

130    Phases of Richard and NolanÕs WoW obsession; MACUMAPPIS ˆ APPIS; RichardÕs epiphany: using MMRP geeks to virtually man airport security cams; Mapping exciting medieval characters onto boring reality; Richard, eschewing Outlook, is in no danger of REAMDE.

139    Ivanov flies Peter & Zula to Vladivostok; They try to come to grips with their plight

144    ÒIf Ivanov expected to survive all this, weÕd be in troubleÉÓ

145    Csongor boards the plane and talks to Peter and Zula about which of them knows what, and about Hungary; Csongor: ÒI was a localization programmer, programming credit card readersÉwas asked to program some illegal readers tooÉbecame a systems programmer, then sysadmin for criminals. Wallace hired me while working for Ivanov;Ó OBSCHAK = slush/pension fund for Russian mobsters; Ivanov and Wallace made risky investments with credit card money; ItÕs official: going to Xiamen to find the Troll; Sokolov = war hero.

155    Many more SokolovÕs security men board the plane; Csongor had researched Xiamen, China & Taiwan connections; Ivanov will have to smuggle the three of them into China; Xiamen sysadmin probably uses some non-random method of assigning ISP numbers; Cruising iCafŽs and wardriving will be productive and show Ivanov that weÕre progressing; Zula: ÒCsongor and Peter are solving IvanovÕs problem, but we need to be solving ours.Ó

160a   Zula muses on the one characteristic shared by Csongor, Peter and Richard: non-gratuitous masculinity.

160b  Arrival at Xianen airport; Bustle at airport – denial of service against Taiwanese ISPs; On the tarmac for six hours; Sokolov wraps Zula in a hoodie; Caravan rolls into China                                                                                         

163    Richard flies a puddle jumper from Elphinstone to Renton/Seattle; ChetÕs cycle wreck & six month coma & history with Richard & Septentrion Paladins (who evolve from bikers to medieval reenactors/bikers/family men); TÕRain Gazette article ÒTroll still raking in the ransom money;Ó Gazette writers necessarily write around reality; REAMDE is big, but not catastrophic

169    Corvallis (aka C+) talks about War of Realignment & certain issues the Feds have with APPIS; The Troll controls MCs (Money Changers;) There are 1000 mules & 300 drop points in Torgai, and players from 43 different countries! At 9592 HQ Richard logs in as (the legendary) Egdod, which triggers a ÒMorpheus is fightinÕ Neo!Ó ripple effect through 9592, but the crowd thins after Egdod is disguised. Richard is in awe of the action at Torgai; Corvallis: ÒZula is working on REAMDE (Richard was unaware) and letÕs not tell China either. DonÕt need them knowing how we operate.Ó

 

         Day 2

178    Caravan from airport to office tower; 43rd floor = unfinished offices [number 43 againÉ] ; This safehouse is checked thoroughly by Sokolov; ZulaÕs sponge bath under escort; Squelching idle thoughts of escape; A nightÕs sleep; ÒWake up. Meeting in 20.Ó

183    Sokolov: ÒIs Ivanov insane? What is normal for him? All this effort for $73...is that normal?...

184    ÉWhat have I gotten myself into by following him??Ó SolkolovÕs 3 x 3 ceiling tile inventory of all parties present:

         IVANOV: High blood pressure? IVANOVÕS CHINESE CONTACTS: Huge mystery. If theyÕre worrying about Ivanov, weÕll have to worry about them. TROLL: What do we do when we find him? What if we canÕt? SOKOLOVÕS EMPLOYER: Is Ivanov working for them too? SOKOLOV: HadnÕt bargained for this. THE SQUAD: Reliable, but what if they have a spy? CSONGOR: Does what heÕs told. PETER: Loose cannon waiting to go off. ZULA: The only innocent: chivalry toward innocents is simple decency.

188    Standing in picture window, Sokolov surveys the view; Building across the avenue from the docks; Boats on the strait; Small, steep, green island, 1 km away; KFC hotel down below; Rooftop antennae; There must be streets down thereÉ Ivanov brings suitcase full of Chinese money; IvanovÕs orders: use Peter, Zula and Csongor to find the Troll; Ivanov gives Zula and Csongor orders, keeps Peter in the room and lectures him.

195    Sokolov, Zula and Csongor emerge from safehouse tower into streets full of taxicabs and astonished Chinese; They enter the KFC hotel, cause too much of a stir, Sokolov gets them into a cab; Use Hyatt hotelÕs wifi to get list of hotels; They stake out 8 hotels; Wardriving at a snailÕs pace though old neighborhoods; Sokolov needs a man-purse, Zula haggles for it; Sokolov appraises the quality of the local architecture and construction; Zula haggles for tea and other stuff to buy Sokolov and Csongor data-gathering time; Back to the safehouse.

201    Peter sees connection between REAMDE and old CALKULATOR virus; CALKULATOR came from Manila, so maybe the Troll is here in China with family in Manila; Zula focuses not on catching the Troll, but on letting Ivanov think they are making progress toward catching the Troll; Peter frustrates Zula with his inability to grasp the situation.

205    Ivanov dresses down Sokolov, demanding to know WTF Sokolov was doing; Sokolov tells Ivanov about the recreational fishermen disguise idea.                                                                                                        

208    The (in)tangibility of 9592Õs business; Richard and Pluto are on a plane to visit Devin; Excerpt from SkraelinÕs novel, TÕRain Origins Vol. II: ÒIn a heated battle, Lord Kandador reluctantly gives the retreat order;Ó Don Donald (D-squared) ÒFantasy lit often revolves around magic objectsÓ;  Pluto on the origin of the moon: ÒWhatever pulled the moon material away from the earth could, itself, have come back and merged with the earth, being within the magma today; it.txt; TÕRain has two DNAs; it.docx; Devin is first and last Writer in Residence.

216    Richard asks Pluto about ZulaÕs progress on teleological tectonics and divine intervention.

218    Landing in Omaha, Dale the VarÕ gets Richard thinking about the Us vs Them-ness of TÕRain (Earthtone Coalition vs Forces of Brightness); Recombinant cuisine as metaphor for clan affiliation; Devin lives right near KÕShet Theme Park in a bizarre Compound at Possum Walk Trailer Park; At DevinÕs front gate, Richard and Pluto are greeted by Wendy who informs them Devin is unavailable; Richard tells Devin to cut the bullshit.

223    DevinÕs space-age, high tech life-lair; Richard dismisses DevinÕs fawning minions.

225    They meet in the old trailer; Dog Whistle Politics; WOR: Good v Evil is now Primaries vs Pastels? Devin: Òwho cares what we call the two groups?Ó The recursive Other; Some people—like Richard—make money invariably. Shareholders are concerned about future success of the company.

 

         Day 3

231    Blue boots tea lady from yesterday approaches Zula; Zula asks Blue Boots (Qian Yuxia) about nearest internet cafŽs (wangba); Zula feeds Qian line about Taiwan conference; Qian leads them down a side street to a wangba.

236    Up the stairs, this wangba comprises an entire floor; Sokolov sees TÕRain poster, asks about ordering fishing gear online, buys User IDs and PWs; Almost everyone in the wangba is playing TÕRain; Up to the 2nd floor, Csongor quickly logs on and gets info; Sokolov: ÒWe go buy hats.Ó

241    Zula gets to know Qian; To the third wangba; Across the room, Zula sees a gang on a TÕRain raid, Sokolov sees it too, Csongor found the IP address.

243    Zula is chained to a sink pipe, has a breakdown upon realizing she has jeopardized Qian, escapes via ceiling tile, descends 43 flights of stairs only to be caught by Sokolov, brought back up and rechained.                                       

247    Richard visitÕs Don DonaldÕs castle on Isle of Man where life is lived medievally; DDÕs circuitous medieval email pipeline; Unlike DevinÕs compound, almost all guests are welcome here.

250    Richard: ÒWe might need to make all EC magical; DD: ÒNo. Roll it back to pre-WoRÉtheyÕve vandalized your world, fix it;Ó Richard: ÒNah, you could write something cool. We could dupe these rebels into thinking theyÕve been duped into this rebellion.Ó

 

         Day 4

254    Zula, chained again, stuffs note to family into drain pipe; Leaving the safehouse tower in a van driven by Qian; PeterÕs angry at Zula for trying to escape, but Csongor sets him straight: ÔShe snuck out of here like a phantom; even the Russians loved it;Õ Yesterday they followed one of the wangba TÕRain guys who was wearing a Manu Ginobili shirt; ÒManuÓ rents month to month in a condemned building; Ivanov cuffs Qian to van steering wheel, they head for ManuÕs building.

260    Van pulls into narrow alley, Peter, Zula and Csongor go inside after the Troll; Wifi device on roof, they follow the Ethernet cable down the front face of the building; They test wifi units by unplugging the one the roof (thatÕs not the one on in use); Ivanov sees cable from ground with binocs; They head to the basement (Ivanov thinks Zula and Qian are gay); TrollÕs room is 405 or 505, but they canÕt tell from the outside; Zula finds a fuse box in the basement, tries to read Chinese numbers on the fuses; 405 has a fuse, 505 doesnÕt, but she tells Ivanov that Manu et al are in 505; Zula, Peter and Congor are handcuffed to basement objects.

270    Qian, still cuffed to the van, weighs her options; Tells a street guy to fetch a locksmith.

272    Zula sends an SOS to 405, and tells Peter and Csongor she lied to Ivanov, but then sees a coin in place of fuse for 505—someone might be there after all

275    Locksmith arrives for Qian.

278    Qian uses PSB officer to dupe the locksmith into starting the van.

280    SokolovÕs team storms 505ÉitÕs some Muslim terrorist ammo factory, and the shit hits the fan.

282    In the basement, Peter, Zula and Congor discuss ZulaÕs recent actions as they pick handcuff locks; They hear gunfire above.

283a   Qian cuffs the locksmith to the vanÕs steering wheel.

283b  At the start of the 505 gunfight, Sokolov remembers various military and marital arts lessons; Black guy at main table draws an AK-47, and Sokolov has a pistol ready faster and fires at someone hiding behind a wall, then dive/rolls into next room, lands in blood puddle, grabs dead guyÕs AK, caps an Asian guy, then dives back through the table room to a larger room that has dead and wounded friends & foes; Huge explosion drives Sokolov back into table room and he slams door on the huge fire.

287    Marlon (troll?) in 405 is startled by gunfire one floor above, had spotted ZulaÕs SOS; MarlonÕs group (the Òda G shouÓ) [Dodgy shoe? Dodgy show?] and its MMPRPG history, they used to be called Boxers; Plaster, acetone and fire rain from the ceiling; Marlon leads several hackers out a window onto a balcony.

292a   Peter, free of handcuffs, ignores Zula and goes upstairs investigate.

292b  Marlon is out on balcony when window above him is busted out; Edging around outside of building looking into a stairwell, Marlon sees a burly white guy (Ivanov?) execute a skinny guy (Peter?); Black terrorist follows Ivanov downstairs.

295    Olivia Halifax-Lin: mixed race heritage, upbringing and employment (MI6); Speaks English, Mandarin and a little Russian, was an actress, is a deep cover spy.

298    In VancouverÕs Chinatown, Olivia blends in; Keeps images of herself off the internet; OliviaÕs dossier on Jones and his 163 victims to date: a budding Bin Laden; Jones moved from the Philippines to Taiwan, then Xiamen, and when MI6 tracked him to within one km2 they sent Olivia to Singapore to acclimate, then to Australia (SCUBA, etc.) back to Singapore, then a US destroyer, then a British sub where she gets clothes, backstory, & orders; Gets nervous after a dinner in her honor, and at 3 AM her mini sub/pod heads for the Xiamen coast; She crawls ashore, dresses, waits for sunrise, then slips into Chinese society; Hits FEDEX office for suitcase, then her hotel where she reads her alter egoÕs email; She is now Meng Anlan, an industrial liaison representing her fictitious uncle BinrongÕs fictitious company in Guangzhou; MI6 now wants Olivia simply to find Jones; Olivia finds an apartment on Gulangyu island, spends time scoping out Xiamen and feeling hopeless, but gradually comes to terms with the situation and one day, as a realtor showed her yet another office, she hears basketball on a neighboring rooftop: bingo. She leases the office, works on her cover (fake emails, fake errands, etc.) all the while surveilling apt 505 across the street; The electronic surveillance is jammed by the electrical emanations of the hackers downstairs in 405; Intel guy arrives and calibrates OliviaÕs listening tools; OliviaÕs surveillance of Jones is an unqualified success, but what will MI6 do should they learn Jones is planning something big? OliviaÕs post has many kill switches to destroy data should the need arise, but itÕs dicey since Olivia is the only one on post; (What if sheÕs at her Gulangyu apartment or out running errands when the need arises?); Olivia remembers the Zheng Chenggong conference.

315    Olivia sees Qian in the van in the alley.

316    Sokolov escapes 505—via data cable bundle—to office building across street.

319    As debris falls from above, locksmith gets van started for Qian;

320    In basement Csongor picks handcuff locks; Ivanov descends stairs cursing Zula; Csongor and Zula hear Ivanov encounter Peter in the stairwell; After freeing himself, Csongor goes to work on ZulaÕs cuffs as Ivanov shoots Peter; Ivanov enters basement, tells Csongor to step away from Zula; Csongor refuses so Ivanov pistol whips him unconscious; Jones enters and blows IvanovÕs brains out, cuffs Zula to his own wrist, grabs IvanovÕs pistol and drags Zula upstairs.

325a   Hanging from cables, Sokolov reaches office building as the apartment building explodes.

325b  In light of the gun battle, Olivia hits all the kill switches, and is rounding up the hardware in a bag when the explosion blasts her against the wall; Sokolov rides the explosion into the room and momentarily trains an AK on Olivia; When he lowers it, she bolts.

328a   After the building explodes, fallen debris has rendered the van undriveable: Qian cannot get away.

328b  Marlon sees Zula being dragged by Jones and senses she is the source of the SOS that saved him earlier; HeÕs thinking about coming to ZulaÕs aidÉwhen the building explodes.

330    Jones drags Zula upstairs to the apartment buildingÕs lobby and sees his getaway car (not the van) down the streetÉwhen the building explodes.

331    Sokolov, now alone in OliviaÕs office, sees her bag of discarded electronics, grabs it and her purse, sees Jones dragging Zula out of the collapsed apartment and trains an AK on Jones as Jones throws Zula into a taxi.

334    CsongorÕs family history on Kolozsvar, Hungary (aka Cluj, Romania), Grandfather in WWII, father taught high school in Budapest; Hungarians and math; Csongor was a hockey goalie, endured IvanovÕs comments, has fallen for Zula; Recalling getting pistol whipped by Ivanov in the apartment basement, returning to lucidity as the building collapses, finds IvanovÕs bag of money and taser; Hears nearby cry for help.

339a   Jones encourages cab driver to get moving.

339b  Sokolov see Jones and Zula escape in cab, admires JonesÕs resourcefulness.

340    Marlon & Csongor emerge on the street as Qian pulls up in van, they jump in, Qian follows Jones & ZulaÕs taxi.

342    Sokolov sees van speed off, sees cart down the sidewalk, runs upstairs and jumps out 2nd floor window onto cart and commands the guy to cart him away.

344    In the van, Csongor and Marlon go though IvanovÕs bag and find Chinese cash, three phones (CsongorÕs, ZulaÕs & PeterÕs), passports, ammo, pistol [1/3]  grenades; Csongor haltingly explains to Marlon and Qian what heÕs doing in China.

351    Jones & ZulaÕs taxi drives in clockwise loops around Xiamen island; Zula explains IvanovÕs operation to Jones, then Zula tells Jones her story, starting back in Canada; Jones makes plans (in Arabic) with someone on the phone; Taxi makes a U-turn & heads north on the east side of the island.

357    Qian follows taxiÕs U-turn; Marlon wonders why heÕs with these twoÉthen he remembers.

358    In the taxi, Jones sees a boat in the harbor and gets a call from the boatÕs driver; Taxi exits freeway.

359    Qian, Csongor and Marlon explain JonesÕs surprising failure to check six even one time!

360    Taxi drives onto pier to meet the arriving boat.

361    In the van, Csongor chambers a round, and wants to make a move; Marlon says something that inspires QianÉshe guns the van toward the taxi on the pier; Marlon gets her to stop, swaps phones, grabs some money & leaps out; Qian continues on toward the pierÉ

363    Jones men leap from boat to pier; When Zula steps out of taxi, Qian crashes the van into it.

365    Sokolov, under tarp on push cart, goes though OliviaÕs purse, finds OliviaÕs ID car; her phone has Gulangyu island photos; Taking a cue from one of his recon photos, Sokolov cuts legs off his sweatpants, uses his water bag to carry gun, ammo, money, OliviaÕs stuff, etc., directs cart pusher toward a dodgy section of the docks, dumps OliviaÕs electronics into shallow water and simply jogs away.

369    After escaping from Sokolov up in her office, Olivia makes it down to street level. She uses the back exit and, covered in blood from the explosion, is promptly accosted and tended to by hyper-considerate Chinese construction workers.

371    The taxi and van go off the pier and onto the boat; Csongor and Jones—with Zula sandwiched in between—hold each other at gunpoint; Jones notes significant differences in their two pistols favoring his situation but Csongor pulls his trigger anyway.

375    Sokolov, in jogger disguise, ÒreturnsÓ to hotel, goes to fitness room, steals a hotel guestÕs key card, keys into his room and hides under the bed.

378    Zula jams JonesÕs pistol; Csongor fires his, grazing JonesÕs head; Jones falls, pulling Zula on top of him; Csongor jumps off the pier; JonesÕs associate shoots taxi driver and is then shot by Csongor from under the pier; Cops arrive, then depart after hearing a massive explosion off in the distance (one of JonesÕs suicide bombers doing his duty)

382    In the hotel room, Sokolov dons the guestÕs suit and shoes, goes downstairs and gets the concierge to translate OliviaÕs address into English, scopes Gulangyu out on Google, then heads there.

384    Qian still in the crashed van on the boat; Marlon calls Qian on his phone; Qian sees Jones & Zula leap from pier onto boat; Jones cuffs Qian to Zula and nails their cuff to the deck as boat heads toward harbor bridge [presumably Wuyuan Bay Bridge – smr- ]; JonesÕs men shove the taxi and van overboard as more emergency vehicles scream toward suicide bomb blast; Marlon uses ZulaÕs phone to text her--she has his (recall the phone switch back on p 363).

388    Csongor, still under the pier, is still in shock, not from having been shot but from shooting others; Marlin pulls up in homemade dingy; Csongor gets in and ducks down.

391    On JonesÕs boat wounds are dressed, tea is brewed and drunk; Boat rounds north side of Xiamen island, then south toward ÒHeartlessÓ island (Wuyu Island?) a magnet for desperate migrants; Jones to Zula: ÒI cannot let your attempt go unresponded toÉyou seriously need to chill.Ó

394    Olivia in hospital, realizes sheÕs not hurt that badly, bandages herself and walks out and back to her Gulangyu apartment, where she is startled by Sokolov, who has broken in.

397    Jones grills Zula about Sokolov and the safehouse tower; The harbor is crowded beyond belief; the small boat meets with a larger boat in which Zula is then sequestered.

402    In OliviaÕs apartment Sokolov displays the contents of her purse; They discuss a possible MI6 extractionÉfor both of them.

407    Sequestered on the larger ship, Zula mourns Peter (more or less), considers praying; Jones enters, give her casualty numbers from the apartment invasion/explosion; Jones wants IvanovÕs plane.

410    Sokolov returns to safehouse tower, thinks of fallen comrades and their families, vows to kill Jones, thinks of Olivia; Rigs up a quick escape route through the ceiling and naps on the table.

413    Yuxia is waterboarded in front of Zula; Zula, taking JonesÕs hint (Ôthese guys want to see that you care enough about Qian for us to keep her around for leverage on youÕ) goes crazy with concern over Yuxia, vows to keep her safe, and is then ushered into a smaller boat that is being outfitted with gear for a mission to get IvanovÕs plane; Jones explains KhalidÕs motivation to Zula [Afghan schoolmistress rape story]; Jones demands ZulaÕs total submission, and gets it.

420    Yuxia is given tea after being dunked, shaking with rage toward her tormentors; After they leave her alone Marlon calls.

422    In the small dingy, Marlon & Csongor pursue JonesÕs ship to Heartless Island; Gas runs out and they paddle to the other (southwest?) side of the island, beach the boat, rest, and eat; JonesÕs ship arrives, Marlon & Csongor row into its path.

427    Jones & Zula trade boat for taxi on the west side of Xiamen, head for safehouse tower; Taxi drops three of JonesÕs men, returns to pier and gets two others and heads to Hyatt hotel.

428    JonesÕs ship approaches Marlon & CsongorÕs dingy from the east; Yuxia tells Marlon she is on the port side of a westbound boat on the south side of Heartless Island; Marlon tells her to cause a distractive ruckus on the ship and when she does Csongor & Marlon prepare to climb aboard.

430    Sokolov wakes on the table in the safehouse towerÉstrangers have entered quietly; Sokolov escapes though ceiling, but his phone and a scrap of paper fall out of his pocket; The intruders search the office; They have a hostage, find SokolovÕs phone and OliviaÕs address on the paper, call comrades; Anticipating whom they called, Sokolov decides to go to OliviaÕs, and sees the executed hostage as he gets down from the ceiling.

435    On JonesÕs ship Qian lures her captors down into the hold by maniacally destroying a porthole; Someone tosses a stun grenade down into the hold.

437    At hotel bar, Zula lures IvanovÕs pilots to her table where JonesÕs associate Khalid, wrapped in explosives, tells them ÒweÕre flying to Islamabad.Ó In the taxi, Jones tells Zula he has found Sokolov on Gulangyu and his men will kill Sokolov.

440    Marlon, no runt himself at 6Õ 3Ó/190cm, considers CsongorÕs formidable physical size and strength; When JonesÕs big ship capsizes their little dingy Marlon jumps up and grabs the shipÕs bow while Csongor goes into the drink and grabs the shipÕs stern as it passes; They both climb aboard and Marlon chucks a stun grenade down into the hold where theyÕre keeping Yuxia. It detonates.

443    Sokolov escapes the tower via the stairs (as Zula had tried to do earlier), rents a fast water taxi, which speeds past the larger ferry carrying four of JonesÕs men; Later, on Gulangyu island, Sokolov sees four guys on the veranda of OliviaÕs apartment building (the same four guys?); Sokolov climbs a tree and leaps down onto OliviaÕs terrace; She lets him in and he makes quick work of the four veranda thugs now waiting at OliviaÕs front door; Sokolov and Olivia run for the ferry terminal but itÕs guarded, so they hijack a water taxi and motor around the north side of XiamenÉSokolov hit redial on one of the thugsÕ phone (calling Jones?)

454    After the stun grenade explodes, Csongor tosses JonesÕs men overboard before they wake up, and coerces the boat driver to head out fast; Marlon disposes of the crewÕs weapons and deactivates cell phones.

457    Pavel (IvanovÕs pilot) explains flight plans and passenger manifests to Jones during which Jones threatens Pavel to ensure no funny business; Taxi returns to dock, picks up cargo and passengers then heads to airport FBO; On the plane, Jones gets a call from a comradeÕs phone, but itÕs not the comrade calling.

463    Sokolov confronts Jones over the phone with strong insults and threats; Olivia realizes sheÕs not just window dressing in this new partnership with Sokolov; Sokolov hands the water taxi driver a wad of cash and invites him to hop overboard so he and Olivia can continue on southeast toward Kinmen (aka Quemoy); When close enough to KinmenÕs shore, they hop out, send the empty boat out to sea, and swim ashore passing tank traps, hexagonal beach blocks and buried mines; Olivia sends a coded text to HQ: ÒIÕm on Kinmen and cover is blown.Ó Sokolov and Olivia cover up well and sleep on the beach.

472    At the airport and on the jet, Pavel uses A/V presentation to show Jones how going from Islamabad to the continental US is impossible; Pavel cooly tells Jones that he knows Jones will kill them all: the plane isnÕt going anywhere unless they have a plan that assures their (the pilotsÕ) and ZulaÕs safety; Zula wonders why she seems so valuable to so many strangers: (these pilots, Csongor, Jones, YuxiaÉ) Jones resignedly tells Pavel to file whatever flight plan will get them out of China.

 

         Day 5 (Friday)

480    Csongor keeps an eye on Mohammed (boat pilot) while Marlon, Yuxia and Batu (cook) explore the ship; Yuxia tells of her mistreatment, Marlon is affected; How much fuel is on board? How much is needed?

483    Fracas on the bridge: Csongor fell asleep and Yuxia arrived with tea just as Mohammed was preparing to make a radio call for help; Csongor tries to shoot out the radio but caps Mohammed instead.

485    Mohammed had tied CsongorÕs ankles to the bench with wire (?); Marlon comforts Yuxia; Batu escapes in the life raft.

487    Olivia gets a text response: ÒMeet at Kinmen airport at 11;Ó Olivia and Sokolov release a lot of tension with a beach boff; Sokolov has an epiphany about Jones but heÕs not ready to share yet.

489    Zula looks out the jetÕs windows as it leaves China, she sees Kinmen beach.

491    Olivia and Sokolov bushwack from their coastline love nest to the airport; They split up – she board a bus to the airport, gets a weird text from HQ (Òkitchen knife?Ó); Kinmen airport is crawling with PSB – Olivia stays on the bus and remembers the Knife Factory, clarifying the strange text.

494    Olivia considers just how difficult it will be to get Sokolov out of China; Her contact approaches her during the Knife Factory tour, asks her who killed everyone at her Gulangyu apartment, ÒLetÕs call him Mr Y,Ó They discuss what Mr Y might know about Jones; Contact destroys Meng AnlanÕs passport, gives Olivia new identity, describes how they can stow Mr Y onto a containership to Long Beach, and hopes he doesnÕt kill any more Chinese.

499    As sole proprietors now, Marlon, Csongor and Yuxia clean up the ship; Csongor measures the fuel (not much) finds explosives, blasting caps, a stash of phones; Puts oil in the fuel tanks, worries about Yuxia, sets course for Pescadore (Penghu) islands.

505    Zula, in IvanovÕs cabin on the jet, monitors pilotsÕ radio chatter via intercom; When the jet is handed off from Xiamen control to Hong Kong, Pavel dives into an extremely low-altitude scud-running profile; Flight plan was to Hainan but theyÕre actually flying past south Taiwan; They tuck in and radar-mask beneath a huge 747; Zula sees one of JonesÕs men playing Flight Sim on his laptop (which canÕt bode well for the Russian pilotsÉ)

511    Olivia gets a makeover; She and her contact pick up Sokolov (at the Meeting Place he mentioned back on p491); The contact (Mr Chow) drops them off on western Kinmen beach; Olivia wants to board the Long Beach boat with Sokolov; He talks her out of it, and gives her Ivanov/JonesÕs planeÕs N number; Olivia sees him wade out into the fog, then hears gunfire.

515    Csongor finally gets some sleep; A current has pulled them off course AND theyÕre out of fuel.

517    Richard (first appearance since p 253) busts down ZulaÕs apartment door, sheÕs not there; John is coordinating Zula missing person info via Facebook, calls the Royal Canadian Mounted Police because Zula and Peter could be anywhere in the Pacific NW; Richard wants to visit PeterÉ

520    Zula notices DIZs on JonesÕs maps; [1/2]; Khalid doesnÕt like ZulaÕs nosiness; Zula makes preparations for a cold weather ordeal in Canada, steals a steak knife from the galley; Khalid enters ZulaÕs cabin and tries to rape her; She uses fractured DVD pieces to unman Khalid and later shoots him, depressurizing the cabin; Jones enters and chivalrously keeps the O2 for himself as Zula goes unconscious.

528    Sokolov wades out to the boat, considers the confident demeanor with which Mr Chow answered all SokolovÕs questions, anticipates being debriefed by US agents in Long Beach, considers the physical nature of his relationship with Olivia, devises a plan to make OliviaÕs life easier, leaps aboard, caps two guys quickly, sends a 3rd overboardÉboat heads out to sea.

534    Olivia tries to analyze the meaning of the gunshots she heard in the fog.

536    Olivia gets into a taxi with Mr Chow and heads for Kiamen airportÉthings get testy between them.

538    The jet makes a hasty and rough landing in some trees, and Jones immediately kills the Russian pilots; Jones was reluctantly going to pop Zula for killing Khalid, but she played the Òmy uncle is a trillionaireÓ card, which (perhaps not surprisingly since Jones clearly likes Zula) kept her alive; Zula recognized that they landed in British Columbia.

 

PART TWO: AMERICAN FALLS

 

         Day 6 (Saturday?)

545    Richard tracks down PeterÕs last name and Georgetown address and gets there 12 hours after breaking in ZulaÕs door on p 517; PeterÕs tenant arrives: ÒI havenÕt seen Peter in a week and a half,Ó uses O/A torch to ÒunlockÓ PeterÕs door for Richard; Richard sees phone and modem cables have been cut, texts John; No bodies, but someone broke in, and gun safe is cut open and empty; Security CPU had been destroyed; Richard finds WiFi hard drive.

551    ZulaÕs/JonesÕs/IvanovÕs jet has overrun a short landing strip in some high mountain sprawling industrial complex.

552    Richard quickly pulls the WiFi drive, copies it at 9592, replaces it in PeterÕs apartment, calls cops; Calls C+ (Corvallis) ÒHelp me with thisÉit involves Zula,Ó ÒBe right over.Ó Richard and C+ rehash conversation [from p128] when Zula called C+ to ask who had healing-spelled her in TÕRain; C+ brings up ZulaÕs and WallaceÕs avatarsÉneither has logged into TÕRain since Tuesday morning; Zula figured out that REAMDE came from Xiamen; They examine data from PeterÕs WiFi drive...it was OK until 10 AM Tuesday; Someone came back to PeterÕs apartment two days after they disappeared and nuked the security laptop and cut open the gun case, but it was Peter who caused the Tuesday gap when he erased whatever it was he erased; Cops can get more on Wallace than we can, letÕs let them; C+ sets up a program to note if/when Zula and/or Wallace ever log into TÕRain; We can use admin privileges to find the gold stashes AND monitor accounts of whoever is stashing it.

564    JonesÕs men strip the wrecked plane; Zula huddles across bloody snow from plane to building; Jones and others try to camouflage plane under snow and brush; This place is a mine camp, but Zula is not sure where in British Columbia it is [that she even knows theyÕre in BC!! - smr-]; Zula wonders why exactly she isnÕt hysterical for killing a man (Khalid) last night; itemizes possibilities.

569    Nolan, in Sydney, had been being asked about REAMDE, but suddenly was being asked about terrorists and Russians; Richard and Nolan note the Xiamen terrorist/suicide (p381); C+ shows Richard a graph of mouse-click activity for the gold-hoarders (da G shou, which is MarlonÕs group)Éit drops off to nothing instantaneously on Friday afternoonÉthey left $2 mil in gold right out in the open, but now are losing control of the land the gold is on; If the Brights secure the land as well, da G shou will not risk a run at the gold, but if we can keep the security situation there fluid, that will make da G shou more likely to risk it, ergo more likely to log in, ergo itÕs more likely we can spot them.

 

         Day 7

576    Jones and Abdul-Wahaab (A-W) bundle up and trek out; Zula sleeps, bathes, cooks for everyone, considers the three jihadists that stayed behind at the mine camp with her, writes a letter and hides it under the mattress.

579    Jones and A-W return at 4 AM with a vehicle; Zula cooks breakfast, sees truck equipped with snow treads; The six of them leave in the snow truck loaded with gear; After a long journey into and out of valleys, Jones begins monitoring CB channel 4; The reach the piedmont of whatever mountain range they were just in.

582    Richard: Òno oneÕs noticing the gold stashÉÓ but when Don/D2 announces it to all of 9592 Richard drops everything and jets to England to see him [Isle of Man (p583)? Or Trinity College/Cambridge (p. 595)?]

 

         Day 8

584    Zula grew up with the Encyclopaedia Brittanica; The snow truck continues on, until it reaches a cliff overlooking a creek; They all get out, chain Zula to the trailer hitch, completely camouflage her and the truck under very dense layers of foliage; Zula remembers SokolovÕs angry call to Jones [p 463] Sokolov knew that Jones had Zula when the Arab-speaking thugs arrived at the 43rd floor of the safehouse tower [p 434]; Zula had trusted Sokolov and without her being aware of it this had caused him to—possibly without his being aware of it—grow intensely protective of her. Could Zula trigger the same response in JonesÉintentionally?

591    In the Torgai Foothills of TÕRain, Egdon (Richard) drops a newly-minted Anthron (Don) onto a huge pile of gold, then after fending off two encroaching strangers tells the clueless Anthron to grab the damned gold already.

594    Upon landing in England Richard bought a new laptop and installed TÕRain during the drive to DonÕs; Egdod handholds the Anthron in the acquisition and exchange of gold & deposition of this converted currency into D2Õs actual banking account.

598    In her truck-burrow prison Zula dreams of an old Eritrean war casualty warning her of Khalid, then wakes to the sound of a foraging bear.

601    When Zula had visited Uncle Jacob in Idaho he told her about bears (drawn to menstruating humans?) but the bear investigating Zula is simply going after her MRE trash; She pushes some food out to the bear and withdraws way back up under the jacked up snow truck; The bear leaves, A-W and Sharif arrive; Sharif leads Zula to a Suburban, A-W stays with the snow truck.

 

         Day 9

608    Zula is tossed into the back cargo section of a Suburban; Zula realizes Jones probably killed someone for the snow truck and probably killed someone to get this Suburban too; After awhile Zula is moved forward to the back seat and all the rear windows are covered; Zula is well taped (all but cocooned, in fact) into a sleeping bag and stays that way for—she counts three gas-tank fill-ups—over 1000 miles and perhaps 14 hours. Finally Jones stops the suburban and the entire crew and cargo are transferred to a huge RV trailer.

613    After an hourÕs drive in the RV they arrive at a deserted ferry dock where the Suburban (containing—sure enough—the murdered RV owners) is sent to the bottom of a lake. The RV proceeds onward.

 

         Day 10

616    Richard and Devin Skraelin meet in DevinÕs trailer, again, discuss the TÕRain battle while dancing around accusations regarding what has become of TÕRain and how and why; They discuss DonÕs recent first foray into TÕRain Òthe minute some Troll dumps a few tons of gold on the groundÉÓ They discuss hierarchies of vassals.

620    Jones pulls the RV into a Walmart parking lot; Zula is chained to the grab bar in the RVÕs shower with a chain and a padlock (she has a key); Jones works on the RVÕs dead ownerÕs laptop; Next day three new guys arrive and board the RV; After Jones and two others go into Walmart for supplies, the Dilbert-ish guy now on the laptop (Zakir) baits Zula by talking about her family, showing her the ÒHAVE YOU SEEN THIS WOMAN?Ó web pages; Jones and the others return with groceries, sundries, and much construction materials and equipment; Jones turns the RVÕs back bedroom into a sound- and light-proof insulated cell for Zula, complete with surveillance camera connected to JonesÕs laptop.

 

         Day15

631    Richard picks John up at Seattle airport; TheyÕre going to China; Someone in China found ZulaÕs drainpipe letter [p 254].

633    Richard drove from SkraelinÕs Omaha compound to Forthrast (Wind?) Farm in Sioux City; John & Alice have been thinking of Zula and weeping too; Next day, Richard flies back to Seattle; Richard had visited Don and Devin as part of his plan [mentioned on p 574] to keep Torgai chaotic and fluid, playing Don & Devin against each other; Richard gets email with ZulaÕs drainpipe letter, reads it; John flies to Seattle where visas are prepared for him and Richard.

638    In the car enroute to the airport, John & Richard try to figure who emailed Richard ZulaÕs letter, John wants to know what happened in China, Richard wants to tell him but circumstances prevent it.

639    Richard tells John about doings in Xiamen: the suicide bomber explosion and, later, the apartment building explosion, and the Troll disappearing at the same time as the apartment building explosion; As they wait for the person with the visas, a mysterious woman in the FBO tells Richard out of the blue: ÒZulaÕs not in China.Ó

643    When Olivia arrived at Heathrow from Singapore she was whisked to a private medical facility, stitched, queried, probed, injected and finally interviewed by her contact ÒMeng Binrong;Ó She tells about Mr Y; He asks what she knows about Jones, ÒHe has a jet,Ó ÒWhoÕs is it, who was on it, where is it?Ó They write up a timeline on a whiteboardÉZula is mentioned. ÒWhy didnÕt you tell me about this jet sooner?Ó ÒI didnÕt trust Chow;Ó An assistant announces that an American named Zula has been reported as missing.

649    British intel theorizes Jones ditched the plane on Mindanao, but they call Canada and the US just in case he somehow made it to North America; Olivia tries to work through exhaustion and jet lagÉgets her hair fixed, new clothes, and is immediately sent to Manila to meet a US contact named Seamus Costello who has been after Jones for a long time.

653    She flies to Makati, in the heart of Manila, meets Costello for breakfast; They agree to go to Zamboanga to look for the theoretically ditched jet.

655    Olivia and Seamus abandon the taxi and street-hike west out of Makati City; They catch a water taxi on a stagnant creek and follow it out to—and across—Manila Bay to Sangley airstrip; They catch a military puddle jumper for the 500mi/800km flight south to Zamboanga; Seamus: ÒWelcome to the GWOJ.Ó (Global War on Jones)

657    SeamusÕs corner of Sangley base is a very well-defended mini-fortress; SeamusÕs team are all well-armed and all business, each man focused on his laptopÉbecause every last one of them is playing TÕRain. Olivia thinks of Zula and decides itÕs about time she learned TÕRain basics: twelve hours into her 1st TÕRain session, sheÕs in pretty deep; SeamusÕs team is planning some big real-world op, but before they depart Seamus earnestly asks Olivia how strongly she feels about her (or Uncle MengÕs) ÒJones-In-ZamboangaÓ theory (ÒÉbecause some of us could die...Ó); Seamus and crew depart in helicopters on the mission and Olivia plays TÕRain nonstop until they all six of them return eighteen-ish hours later filthy and exhausted but essentially unharmed, and with a prisoner; Seamus wants to bang Olivia, but she respects Uncle MengÕs chastity wishes; Seamus works on the newly-confiscated laptop while the captured subject is interrogated by the Filipinos.

664    The prisonerÕs info tells Seamus that Jones is in North America (JonesÕs Zamboanga/Mindanao outpost had sent garbage emails to throw authorities off his trail)

666    Seamus and Olivia return to Manila, bounce North America theories off one another, even come up with Òhe could be staying off radar by flying under the belly of an airliner.Ó

667    Seamus leaves, Olivia wastes a day writing emails, flies to Vancouver, BC, decides to visit Richard (but on the DL); Meets her US contact in Seattle, Marcella Houston.

670    ZulaÕs Òholding cellÓ in the back of JonesÕs RV is expanded to include the toilet but not the shower; [Nicely lyrical descriptions of NW mountains & woods]; Zula hears more of JonesÕs colleagues arriveÉthe RV now heads a caravan of JonesÕs jihadists; Jones shows Zula his research, which now papers the front walls of the RV; Jones obtained time- and GPS-stamped photos from ZulaÕs Flickr page; Jones is focusing on the Schloss; Zula explains about the abandoned mine with long downhill chute, also describing the Elphinstone railway, which wasnÕt built all the way to the US border, but its path was surveyedÉ

680    In the Seattle FBO [continuing the conversation interrupted on p 643] Olivia, having introduced herself to Richard as ÒLaura,Ó tells Richard that Zula not only hasnÕt been in China for well over a week, but is probably Òquite nearby.Ó

 

         Day 17

682    Skipper (Marlon) Engineer (Csongor) and Pilot (Yuxia) [first mention of this trio since p. 517] have jerry rigged some sails for the the SzŽlanya – the out-of-fuel ship they commandeered form JonesÕs crew – and now are sailing though the Straits of Taiwan and heading, more or less, toward Luzon; Surviving a storm, they arrive in a Luzon bay and are immediately set upon by delighted local scavengers.

687    Giddy locals ransack SzŽlanya; Csongor confronts a guy and from him reclaims IvanovÕs money bag; On the beach Csongor discovers that all the money is gone. All he has is PeterÕs wallet containing some Canadian dollars and ZulaÕs wallet with some American; The trio rent an outrigger boat and head south along the western coast of Luzon; Csongor considers the sleeping Yuxia; Marlon: ÒI can get a lot of money if we can find a wangba

694    Richard takes Olivia/Laura and John to a biker bar (cerulean-collar crowd) across street from PeterÕs Georgetown apartment; Olivia is annoyed by US intelÕs inaction on JonesÕs flight info [2/3] Jake arrives on a bus from Idaho; The four of them walk to a bookstore/coffeeshop; Over coffee Jake tells Olivia/Laura about his agrarian self-sufficiency, northern Idaho land, spirituality, and concealed carry.

700    Richard, John & Jake decide to fly to the Schloss rather than twiddle their thumbs in Seattle; Olivia/Laura stays, devoting more time and energy to revising her quickly evaporating ÒJones In North AmericaÓ theory [christened North American Gambit – NAG – on p 696] starts thinking about Jones possibly having landed in Canada.

703    In the rented outrigger, Csongor, Marlon & Yuxia arrive at a Luzon beach; They board a bus carrying a bizarre group of tetchy Australian middle aged men and very young Asian women; The bus arrives at a hotel where the trio get a single room, paying with American cash from ZulaÕs wallet; Csongor scopes nearby internet cafŽs, brings food back to hotel room, the hotel appears to be a glorified brothel; They all shower, eat ravenously, talk about family members (who must be worried sick after two weeks); They go to net cafŽ where Marlon DLs and installs TÕRain, and on a different computer Csongor DLs and installs Linux; Marlon explains how his gang has been logged into TÕRain all this time, keeping an eye on the Torgai gold; Marlon logs in as a troll character named REAMDE.

 

         Day 18

714    Corvallis (C+) spots Marlon in TÕRain; John & Jake fly a Cessna down to JakeÕs place in Idaho.

715    Csongor watches Marlon work on TÕRain, asks about gold conversions and transfers; Marlon marshals the da G shou to action; Yuxia reads up on Jones.

719    Richard hauls ass toward Schloss, gets stuck behind a huge RV; At Schloss Richard settles in for a big TÕRain session on the tavernÕs big screen; RV drives past the Schloss; Richard logs into TÕRain as Egdod, tells C+ he wants to corner Marlon/Troll and ask him some questions.

722    Yuxia and CsongorÕs googlings reveal that nothing about Jones & ZulaÕs odyssey has been made public yet.

723    OliviaÕs London contact – Uncle Meng – calls: London has spotted someone googling about Jones, Zula, Csongor, etc.; Inspector Fournier of the RCMP calls, Olivia tells him about her Shortened North American Gambit (SNAG) theory.

725    Csongor finally gets a quiet moment and crashes hard.

726    Egdod heads toward Torgai at a deliberate pace.

727a   During CsongorÕs nap, Marlon assembles a huge band of followers.

727b  Olivia gets RCMPÕs report about a party of missing hunters in BC and immediately drives north.

728    Zula, in her rolling RV prison cell, tries to determine the RVÕs location, hears what must be Richard honking behind the RV. The RV arrives somewhere and stops.

729    Marlon agrees to lend Csongor a TÕRain toon.

730    London/Meng tells Olivia theyÕve IDÕd Csongor; Olivia (aka British Spy Chick) calls Richard who tells her to Òtrack the Troll (Richard has TrollÕs IP address) but donÕt spook him,Ó and gives her C+Õs phone number; Olivia give C+ Seamus CostelloÕs name, C+ gives Olivia SeamusÕs hotel room number & landline.

733    Olivia freaks out Seamus by calling him out of the blue on his hotel landline, gives him the TrollÕs IP address; London/Meng calls Olivia, they think Csongor and the Troll are working together.

734    Zula steps out of the RV at the abandoned mine complex with a chain padlocked around her neck; Zula takes attendance: several of JonesÕs men are named and described; They unload the RV, load up their backpacks and hike to a clearing; Zula recognizes that her neckÕs padlock is the one her keistered key fits.

737    Csonger emerges in TÕRain in the city of Carthinias as a troll named Lottery Discountz; Csongor/LDÕs troll moves about, gets killed, learns basic social conventions, observes several money sacrifices, calculates that $10 billion a year moves from TÕRain to the real world (at this rate, getting MarlonÕs $2 mil will take two uninterrupted hours.)

740    Olivia calls Fournier to say sheÕs stuck at border crossing [presumably Peace Arch crossing on I-5], following up on the missing hunting party; Fournier says ÒItÕs nothing. AND, itÕs Friday night. Let it go. IÕm out.Ó

742    A KÕShetriae Vagabond (!) named Clover joins Richard/Egdod in TÕRain, they spot the Troll/Marlon who by now has mobilized a truly awe-inspiring army; Egdod – the premiere entity in TÕRain, a rock star, donÕt forget – has no trouble enlisting Clover to form an elite raiding party; Clover updates Egdod on how much money the Troll has.

744    Zula notices that the quality of JonesÕs crew has decreased over the last fortnight (ÒAs hire As, Bs hire CsÓ) and, still collared, feels less like cooperating; She notes departures and new faces as well: Erasto (the athletic Benetton model), Abdul-Ghaffar (short, Aryan cancer patient); Zula is made to server dinner during which she eavesdrops ever more effectively (she has picked up much Arabic); At the meal Jones lays out tomorrowÕs schedule: four are staying here, eleven are leaving on the mission; Ershut & Jahandar are pissed not to be on the away team, but Jones needs them to stay to ensure ZulaÕs execution goes off with no complications.

749    Csongor observes TÕRainÕs amphitheater-esque Carthinias Exchange [Notes priests & merchants on opposite sides, with small-timers up high and high-rollers down in the pit; Red gold, Blue gold & Indigold pieces; Security in here is tight, but Lottery Discountz is so harmless Csongor is not worried about being able to move in the exchange; Benisons are used to bring money into TÕRain; Miraculous Benedictions are random lucky increases in what you asked for;] Marlon begins speaking audibly as he plays, attracting CsongorÕs & YuxiaÕs attention; Reamde/MarlonÕs armyÕs flank fends off an attack – he simply observes as would a general or field marshal – notices Brights and Earthtones fighting side by side against him; See two overlords hovering above [ Egdod & Clover??] and vows ÒItÕs all or nothing tonight.Ó

754    When Olivia arrives at her Vancouver hotel, a folder with LondonÕs report on the missing hunters is waiting for her; The hunters were not novices so they must be dead—theyÕd have found some way to contact someone—probably drove off a cliff; Their families flew up to Prince George, BC (500 km due north of Vancouver); Olivia realizes there are so few major roads in BC, it shouldnÕt take long to find someone who saw the huntersÕ Suburban; TheyÕd have to stop for gas, probably at a large and busy gas-plex in Prince George.

757    Csongor marvels at MarlonÕs world class gaming skill; Yuxia throws water on a guy and yells at him ÒIÕm not a T-Bird!Ó Csongor and the guy square off, theyÕre both packing but neither has drawn; Guy IDs himself as James OÕDonnell, says heÕs been tracking Marlon in both worlds, wants info on Jones.

760    Clover tells Egdod the Troll has $1 mil and is starting to pull huge heat. Nothing the Troll canÕt handle, but the word is out; Richard senses the Troll will make his move tonight and tells Clover Òthe time has come. Remove your headphones.Ó

761    Csongor tells James how he shot Jones, but not fatally; Marlon suddenly recoils from his computer, covering his ears; James and Marlon recognize it as a rare Egdod spell; James directs Marlon to turn off all active spells so he (James) can capital-Y Yank Marlon, and IDs himself as Thorakks [see p659 & 732]; Reamde is spotted carrying Òprobably close to $2 millionÓ worth of TÕRain coin. [NOTE: if the values on p750 are accurate—and theyÕre CsongorÕs guesses so, probably not—a yellow gold piece is worth 7.5 cents and Reamde is carrying $1,506,627.30 on p763. If we make a gold piece worth a dime, THEN red = $10, blue = $1000, indigold = $100,000 and Reamde indeed carries $2,008,836.40.] People are squinting unnecessarily at the monitorÕs perceived brightness during the spell; Thorakks tells Marlon Òa Comet Rider is incoming, let me Yank you;Ó Marlon drops all spells and Thorakks does Yank Reamde – they both emerge on a mountain ledge and watch Egdod arrive on the comet, looking for Reamde; Reamde will talk, but money comes first!

767    Richard and C+ saw the Yanking, realize Reamde & Thorakks must be headed for an LLI (ley line intersection)

768    Zula extracts her keistered key; Huddled in a sleeping bag she unlocks her neck collar; Jahandar stands guard with a rifle AND Jones comes out to work on his laptopÉshe decides not to make her move now and re-locks the collar around her neck; Jones briefs his crew on the morningÕs activities (sounds like theyÕre grabbing Richard from the Schloss); Zula will wait until the eleven leave and only four remain with her in camp.

773    Csongor/Lottery Discountz [who has gotten surprisingly TÕRain proficient in a very short time] finds an interested moneychanger for MarlonÕs indigold; LD leads him (named Dogshaker) to an LLI; As Dogshaker runs toward the approaching Reamde & Thorakks, Egdod – now probably 2 km tall if his feet are 1 km apart – grabs Reamde, LD & Thorakks and lifts them high into the sky so they can talk about Zula; Csongor tells about the apartment explosion, that Peter is dead; Csongor gives Clover the password to PeterÕs encrypted surveillance back up drive; Seamus reassures Marlon, Csongor & Yuxia that Sokolov is alive; On the video they see a stout man steal a $4000 AR-15 rifle from PeterÕs gun safe [probably not the welder that let Richard into PeterÕs apartment on p547 – he was described as lean – but the coincidence of two industrial torches at PeterÕs apartment is noted]; Richard sends a jpg of the gun to Seamus; No one recognizes the thief, Seamus will circulate the image among law enforcement channels, but this seems a dead end to Richard; Seamus tells him Òkeep your chin up, keep plugging away;Ó Someone knocks on RichardÕs door at the Schloss.

784    Richard limps to the door; ItÕs Jones of course, looking to get reward/ransom money.

786    While Richard answers his door and Egdod is idle in TÕRain, Seamus makes small talk with Yuxia & Csongor, until Seamus notices that Egdod is walking in TÕRain – bot behavior – meaning RichardÕs computer crashed or went to sleep; Seamus will keep and eye on Egdod and follow up on the thiefÕs identity, multitasking as he has been taught by the US government.

788    ItÕs SeamusÕs turn to wake Olivia with a phone call, tells her about the gun thief; She tells him sheÕs heading to Prince George to pick up JonesÕs trail.

789    Ershut & Jahandar return from the schloss – Jones and another are still down there and ask that Zula be Òexhibited.Ó She is pulled out onto a promontory so Richard can see her from the valley below.

791    Sokolov (last seen on p534) jumps from the back of a freighter ship, swims toward city light.

792    Sokolov considers the deft boatman who helped him get from the smaller boat – on which he departed Kinmen and capped three thugs – onto the Filipino freighter on which he had been resting comfortably for the past two weeks and off which he just jumped.

793    Sokolov swims ashore at Golden Gardens park in Seattle, gets directions to a bus terminal from a urinating teen.

 

         Day 19

795    Olivia is bombed by email, meets Fournier in the hotel lobby; Nice guy, it turns out, and not hostile to her theory about the missing hunters; FBI in Michigan recognizes the rifle thief as Igor, who lives in the south Seattle suburb of Tukwila; Igor and his roommate were recently alarmed when Sokolov dropped by unannounced.

799    Zula, still burning with shame for risking RichardÕs life by dragging him into this, overhears jihadistsÕ plans for heading south with Richard (and for killing Zula if the stay-behinds donÕt hear from the away team in four days.) Zula decides to make her move tonight.

801    Sokolv sees the full socio-economic spectrum on his short trip from Seattle down to IgorÕs house in Tukwila; Tells Igor ÒI just need a couple hours, then IÕm gone forever.Ó

802    Sokolov is visiting Igor as a way to communicate his status and recent activities to the Òfund managersÓ Ivanov had betrayed.

805    Sokolov fakes a shower in IgorÕs bathroom, recalls Olivia, Zula, Csongor, Yuxia, Peter; Igor makes some calls, orders pizza, grills Sokolov when he emerges from the batroom; Sokolov spots PeterÕs computer there in IgorÕs house, asks Igor about PeterÕs security; Igor noticed PeterÕs router, but not its back up hard drive; When Igor realizes that anyone who knew about the drive (who might also have him under surveillance) was simply waiting for someone like Sokolov to show up at his house, he calls whomever he summoned while Sokolov was in the shower and says stay away; An SUV arrives, Sokolov sees Olivia get out and ring the doorbell; Sokolov warns her off with a warning shot through the door above her head, pops Igor, tells Vlad to escape out the back, the runs out front where Olivia has an SUV door open and waiting.

816a   Richard muses on the benefits of being abducted by terrorists.

816b  JonesÕs crew cut the SchlossÕs power and internet lines; Richard smirks at Mitch Mitchell (Abdul-Ghaffar); Richard breaks down when Jones shows him a photo of Zula.

818    Jones tells Richard Òwe need help crossing the border.Ó

819    Richard sees Zula ÒexhibitedÓ up on the hill; Richard leads Jones and his away team on a long hike south, up a scree/talus slope to the opening of an uncompleted tunnel. As they hike, Richard judges ZulaÕs life to be worth more than his, considers the value of any possible afterlife that doesnÕt include earthly pleasures.

822    Olivia drives Sokolov north through town then east on US 2 into the forest [into Wenatchee National Forest] – by not getting on the plane to Prince George and instead flying to Seattle and renting the SUV she has completely blown her cover to keep Sokolov out of FBI custody (they surely would nail him for WallaceÕs murder, ZulaÕs kidnappingÉand if his arrest became a big story it could have international ramifications with China;) Her London bosses are pissed; She tells Seamus sheÕs going dark; Tells Sokolov sheÕll probably use John & Jake to get into Canada from Idaho.

827    Seamus wakes to OliviaÕs Ògoing darkÓ text; What should he do with his three high profile fugitives? Remembers his long chat with Csongor the night before; Csongor told Seamus he loved Zula -- Seamus shared the current Zula theories with him.

830    Seamus and his Washington DC buddy Stan bust each othersÕ balls while Stan tracks down OliviaÕs text, flight and SUV rental info for Seamus; Seamus ponders simply flying a business jet from Manila to the Pacific NorthwestÉhey, maybe Jones had the same thought; Seamus logs into TÕRain and see that Egdod has been robotically idle for 12 hoursÉcould mean Richard just fell asleep, or it could mean heÕs being forced to help Jones cross the border.

834    In the SUV after a long drive east, it occurs to Olivia that she and Sokolov and the SUV are surely on a APB and stick out like sore thumbs, suggests they split up, and meet in the BourneÕs Ford Walmart; She gets out at a bus station, Sokolov will ditch the SUV and hitch.

836    Seamus escorts Marlon, Congor and Yuxia to the American embassy in Manila; Csongor will have no trouble (Hungary and the USA have a visa waiver agreement) but getting Marlon & Yuxia anywhere will be difficult as they have no passports, so Seamus needs to call in some favors at the embassy.

839    Seamus tries to get Marlon & Yuxia American passports --  and claims he knows where Jones is -- but his station chief ÒFreddieÓ is not having it, he tells Seamus how Olivia has gone quite rogueÉthe FBI and MI6 are both livid; Freddie thinks Marlon & Yuxia might have a shot if they can finagle a flight though the military.

 

         Day 20

845    With Jones and his away team gone, Zula cooked and cleaned while the four stay-behinds napped; For good or ill, she defiantly and surreptitiously flung meat scraps toward their tents (attract bears?); Zula hears an unaccountable rustling in the woods, see two red points of light high up in the trees.

848    Zula unlocks her collar, stuffs a disguise into her sleeping bag, leaves her tent and grabs the guysÕ shoes on her way out (one pair to wear, the others to delay the inevitable pursuit;) A loud animal fight breaks out nearby and with no choice, Zula takes off.

850    Zula runs through the woods toward the schloss, flashlights flickering in hot pursuit; At the schloss the power is out, she breaks in anyway, grabs a knife and some food and heads down to the basement to get other camping supplies; Someone breaks in upstairs; Zula grabs propane tanks and a backpack and gingerly heads upstairs and sets the living room furniture on fire, escaping out the south door and into the woods; Dawn finally breaks and more terrorists arrive in a car; Sayed and Zakir catch up to Zula, Zakir slams her down face first and she blindly reaches back and slashes him with a knife; Sayed has a shotgun but is frozen with fear for some reason; Cougar gets Sayed, Zula gets the shotgun; RichardÕs neighbor Chet arrives on a Harley-Davidson.

862    Chet is awaken by the bell over at RichardÕs place and rides over; Smell of burnt plastic? No cell service, despite the schloss having its own cell tower? People start shooting at Chet who tries to escape but it turned about by more gunmen; He rides up past the schloss and sees Zula; She hops on; ChetÕs been hit, suggests they use the tunnels.

870    In the tunnelÕs mouth Chet & Zula find a booby trap with a warning spray-painted in Arabic; At the end of the tunnel they enter an adit (narrower tunnel extension or branch) which also has Arabic spray paint info; They descend a ladder and Chet clips the wire of a 2nd booby trap; A 3rd wire is clipped as they exit the tunnel on the south side of the mountain; TheyÕve emerged at American Falls.

877    Nothing in her MI6 training prepared Olivia for the soul-killing monotony of a cross-country bus ride; Arrives in Spokane, canÕt check into a hotel without showing ID and going back on the grid, so she kills time in restaurants, movie theaters, and with long walks though town; Catches the morning bus and sees all sorts of Americana on the trip though Sandpoint enroute to BourneÕs Ford; As Olivia putters though Walmart all TV sets in the electronics section show news reports of an enormous suicide car-bomb explosion at the Okanagan US/Canada border crossing.

881    Sokolov meets Olivia in the Walmart, says bomb is diversion; Need to get to get to Jake ForthrastÕs place at Prohibition Creek, they buy and assemble mountain bikes and begin pedaling north.

883    Seamus managed to get a business jet chartered out of Manila for the Fantastic Four, they fly to Joint Base Lewis-McChord (Army & AF base south of Seattle).

884    The bizjet-to-US-military-base flight was made possible by Seamus smooth-talking FreddyÕs boss at Langley; Oh, and Seamus wants to marry Yuxia.

885    Shadwell picks them up at JBLM in his minivan.

886    Shadwell minivans the Fantastic Four to Olympia Regional; Seamus rents an SUV; They go to a Japanese restaurant; FreddyÕs Langley boss agrees with Seamus that the border bomb is a diversion, tells Seamus to drive everyone across country to Langley, doesnÕt know where Olivia is but knows sheÕs in trouble: ÒIÕll explain her Tukwila escapade when you get here.Ó

888    Seamus buys warm weather camouflage gear at CabelaÕs; They hit the open road and rage east on I-90, stopping at a Coeur dÕAlene hotel; Seamus is preoccupied by the Elphinstone travel brochure he saw in the hotel lobby; On the way out to another restaurant Seamus grabs a helicopter tour brochure.

893    Richard has never been a change-peoples-minds kind of guy, heÕs a doer; Asks Jones ÒIs now when you kill me?Ó Jones says not yet; Richard suggests they are exposed on the hill and should moveÉJones ignores him, but moments later orders everyone to move anyway – Richard takes note; Richard remembers that theyÕre near his old dope-running shortcut, but keeps mum. In fact they are heading straight for JakeÕs place; Richard formulates a plan that is initially preposterous, but eventually inevitable; Abdul-Ghaffar binds RichardÕs wrists and ankles.

900    On mountain bikes, Olivia and Sokolov pass though BourneÕs Ford, head farther north along a river, then west up into a forest; A couple dogs block their path until their owner Daniel rides down; They tell Daniel theyÕre looking for Jake, and Daniel gives them a ride the rest of the way; John recognizes Olivia; They want to help Zula so they are welcomed warmly.

 

         Day 21

906    (RichardÕs plan: ÒLeadÓ Jones close enough to JakeÕs place to make a break for it, when shooting starts, Jones will lose to the overwhelming firepower of locals;) Richard has to take a dump; When he gets in a secluded spot behind and under a monolithic outcrop, a Leatherman (swiss army knife) falls from the sky.

910    In the Coeur dÕAlene hotel the Four make waffles while Seamus shares his aerial recon plan - He reluctantly agrees to take the others along.

912    Richard cuts himself loose, sees Zula on ledge above; Zula lowers a rope ladder as Jabari arrives, completely dumbfounded at what heÕs seeing; From the unwinding ladder falls a shotgun; Richard grabs it and shoots Jabari with no hesitation.

915    At airport, helicopter pilot is working on the smaller of two copters; Bigger one is down so Csongor & Marlon stay in the SUV (Marlon logs into WiFi) while Seamus and Yuxia fly north with copter pilot ÒJack.Ó

917    Richard climbs the rope ladder haltingly, throws Zula the Glock pistol; Rope ladder breaks; Jones and men shoot at Richard, but he makes it up and over the rock and is reunited with Zula.

921    Richard and Zula resolve that one of them must survive to tell everyone at the next re-u that Zula is alive.

923    Richard sees Chet sprawled on a rock; Chet gets philosophical as he coughs up blood; Some jihadists are being hunted by a mountain lion – cougars do attack humans around here; Chet has a claymore mine strapped to his chest, going to his Òsouth pole hereafter,Ó taking some terrorists with him; Richard boot-skis away down a snow-covered slope, stops to relax in snow, hears a helicopter overhead.

928    From the copter, Seamus, Yuxia and the pilot see signs of life; Seamus sees Chet, Yuxia sees Richard, and the terrorists shoot out their engine; A relatively soft crash landing puts them face to face with Richard.

932    Richard sees the copter go down; Seamus draws on him but then recognizes him; Yuxia is surprised to hear that Richard had just spoken to Zula.

933    Extricated from the wreck, Seamus tells Richard that no one else is coming to help them.

935    Recent events from ErshutÕs & JahandarÕs perspective; ChetÕs mine takes out Ershut.

938    At JakeÕs, not everyone is quite as anti-civilization as Jake isÉthatÕs OK; Next morning four head north toward the border: Olivia, Sokolov and Jake on bicycles, John on an ATV; They have to carry the bikes a lot, heading for a talus slope on the west side of Abandon Mountain; From a ridge they survey Abandon Mountain, a ridge in Canada, and American Falls; Jake gives Olivia and Sokolov maps, then heads back to John on the ATV; Olivia and Sokolov head down the north slope and have to take cover when they hear a helicopter; They go farther down the mountain, then hear gunfire and a loud, distant boom; Sokolov recognizes the boom as ordnance, knows Jones is nearby.

944    Seamus, Richard and Yuxia hear ChetÕs mine detonate; Seamus, now in full combat command mode, lays out a plan for the three of them: ÒYou two take off, if a sniper trails you, I will kill him. And everybody watch out for the cougar!Ó

946    Zula runs like hell as JonesÕs men pursue her though the woods; She approaches the top of Abandon Mountain, hears a big booming; She is now exposed on a talus slope; Someone below fires an automatic weapon; Zula dodges but a ricochet gets her in the mouth; Her Glock has ten bullets.

952    When Richard and Yuxia take off Seamus looks for a place from which to defend Jack, the copter pilot; Jack yells for Seamus and is duly shot at by one of JonesÕs snipers; Seamus uses muzzle flash of his pistol to ignite leaking copter fuel; Seamus tells Jack to chill and waits for sniper to walk past.

958    Zula lies in wait for a gunman climbing towards her, shoots him, gets shot at by other jihadists; Someone above her shoots down the hill toward the jihadists, then beckons for her to join him.

961    When Sokolov heard the ordnance he assembled PeterÕs assault rifle; He sees Zula in trouble, tells Olivia ÒGo get her, IÕll cover you.Ó

963    Richard and Yuxia riun through the woods, see SeamusÕs fuel explosion; Richard shows Yuxia how to use a shot gun, and gives it to her; Richard, weak and tired, outlines for Yuxia the sort of parade of death theyÕre involved in; They reach the switchback trail, find Zula clothes; Richard realizes taking switchbacks will slow them dramatically.

969    Csongor and Marlon leave the airport when it becomes clear the others have been gone too long; Marlon thinks of Yuxia as a sisterÉjokes about going to California.

971    At a fuel stop Csongor and Marlon see a blue Subaru arrive with what must be two of JonesÕs men arriving from Pennsylvania; They follow the Subaru for awhile, but then cross the river to follow from over there; The Subaru turns west, toward Jake, John and everyone else.

975    Zula continues up the slope, well above the tree line, approaches Olivia and Sokolov; Zula meets Olivia, they ascend toward Sokolov; Zula sees the ridge near JakeÕs place; Zula and Olivia mount bikes and head off, reach the summit and start coasting down switchbacks until they meet Jake and John on an ATV.

980    Richard and Yuxia work out how to ambush Jahandar; Richard hides behind a huge root ball, hears gunfire up the mountain, daydreams, doesnÕt see Yuxia signaling until Jahandar shoots at her; Richard tries to get a shot at Jahandar but falls; Jahandar gets a bead on Richard but Seamus and then Yuxia (with the shotgun!) finish Jahandar.

985    Sokolov itemizes JonesÕs and his advantages in this situation; Sokolov makes a dummy out of his parka and sleeping bag; Dummy takes a round in the head; Sokolov follows Zula and Olivia, descends into the forest, reaches the flooded mining camp, hides in the decrepit cabin. Jones and crew come by, most move on but two stay for Sokolov to deal with; He kills one and scares the other, but Jones and the others return; Sokolov retreats into the woods.

991    Csongor and Marlon pass the Subaru and a Camry and somehow shortly thereafter end up behind the two cars; They come upon a scene where two jihadists have just killed a pickup truck driver and pulled him out; Csongor and Marlon run over both killers; They try to run over the Subaru guys but end up rolling their SUV 360û, back onto its wheels; They run away and frantically discover thereÕs nowhere to turn, and end up in JakeÕs driveway.

998    John, Zula, Olivia and Jake head back toward JakeÕs place; Trying a walkie-talkie Zula finds much traffic on channel 13: the locals are responding to the Jones invasion; Jake commandeers the ATV and speeds home where his wife and kids are caught in the crossfire; John hands Zula a hunting rifle.

1001  At JakeÕs house, Jake greets Elizabeth in their bomb shelterÕs doorway, sends her back down and continues edging around the cabin as Zula and Olivia do the same from way out in the woods; Jake holds Csongor and Marlon at bay until Zula shouts that theyÕre good guys – Jake lets them in; They resume targeting two jihadists.

1004  Richard is too lame to be of use (sprain ankle) advises Seamus and Yuxia to take a higher road; They pull weapons and ammo off JahandarÕs body and head up the slope.

1006  Sokolove analyses his current age to be perfect for this operationÕs success (any younger heÕd make a rash mistake, any older heÕd be too weak); Hears rocks tumble from above, through his rifle scope sees a guy looking at him through his scopeÉYuxia is with the guy, so, good guy.

1010  At JakeÕs, everyone is pinned down by JonesÕs men; Zula joins Olivia, Csongor and Marlon behind JakeÕs goat shed; Jake joins them, making sure (via radio) that Elizabeth and the kids are sealed in the safe room.

1012  John removes his prosthetic legs to scoot down the hill, encounters one of JonesÕs men and shoots him, but the guy had back up; It was Jones, who pummels John with his own prosthetic legs.

1014  Sokolov runs toward JakeÕs farm, hears gunfire, sees the cabin is unoccupied, makes a break for the back door.

1016  Seamus and Yuxia see Jones pummeling John; They shoot another of JonesÕs men.

1018  Jake and Olivia see Sokolov sprinting for the back door; Sniper (Seamus?) picks off a guy who tried to follow Sokolov into the cabin; Sokolov shoots from the cabin; Idaho Police helicopter arrives and is promptly brought down by JonesÕs RPG.

1021  Sokolov dives out onto the second floor porch as RPG destroys the entire top floor of the cabin; Sokolov is pinned in rubble.

1022  Seamus sees Idaho Police copter, waves to warn it, is shot in the arm.

1023  Amid ongoing battle chaos Zula lines up a rifle shot on the RPG guy but is interrupted by something falling on her head.

1024  Csongor shoots at the machine gun guy.

1025  Zula finishes RPG guy

1026  Seamus and Yuxia run for the cabin; Seamus feels himself going into shock and realizes itÕs because he also took a round in the gut.

1027  Csongor comes face to face with Jones – Jones escapes on an ATV.

1028  Sokolov, still trapped, takes a couple shots at Jones through gaps in the rubble, knocks out the ATV.

1029a Yuxia charges after Jones on foot.

1029b Richard trudges through the woods toward JakeÕs, wonders about Egdod, still on autopilot in TÕRain; Richard encounters Jones who shoots at him; Richard finds cover in the same decrepit cabin in the mining camp where Sokolov shot Erasto [bottom of p. 990]; Richard and Jones square off on either side of a thick cabin wall – Richard guesses correctly, getting the drop on Jones who had been distracted by, of all things, the mountain lion.

 

THE FORTHRAST FARM, Northwest Iowa

         Thanksgiving

1037  Richard gives several of JohnÕs (R.I.P.) old prosthetic right legs to Sokolov; Memorial service for the dozen or so departed; Zula and Olivia compare head scars; Sokolov and Olivia are Skyping in from London; During the obligatory re-u target practice Seamus (with colostomy bag) and Yuxia arriveÉIf Seamus is careful, he tells Richard, who knows, there might be something there.


Corrections, questions, comments?
russillosm@gmail.com
23JUN12