Plan B, IV: Resistance

On *Candid Conversations*, Connie announces Mitch's memorial service and tries to read a poem comparing him to a dishrag. The image sounds insulting until she explains that a dishrag receives little attention while making other things shine. Mitch's work in public relations often made others look better without bringing him credit, and his personal kindness made people feel better too. Connie cannot manage a public speech at the service, but she wants to honor him while alone at the microphone.

Whit and Jack return from the post-office robbery but speak only about cleaning and antiques in front of Joanne. Their odd conversation is deliberate. Using detection equipment, Whit finds listening devices in the office and Bible room. He and the Allens move from room to room addressing the hidden microphones, forcing Bennett Charles and Monica Stone to realize their surveillance has been exposed. Whit removes the taps, strengthens his computer connection, and prepares additional alarms.

Monica delivers the stolen package to Charles, only to find canceled stamps inside. Whit recognized her before leaving the post office and arranged with Wooton to switch the registered parcel for a decoy. Monica leaves town to search for Eugene while the real package safely returns to Whit through Wooton's mail route.

Wooton also reports that he saw Eugene at the post office late two nights earlier. Eugene hurriedly placed a similar parcel in an outdoor mailbox but would not let Wooton become involved. The destination remains unknown, adding another possible trail to the missing research.

Dent's computer disk is heavily encrypted. Whit cannot decode its main contents, but one readable memo records an Andromeda board vote approving Operation Think Tank by twelve votes to one. The attendance list includes Bennett Charles and Armitage Shanks. Before Whit can investigate further, Eugene sends another email. He and Katrina remain safe, but he asks Whit not to search because any pursuit might lead unwanted people to them. Whit reluctantly agrees to honor the warning.

Connie feels unable to endure more helpless waiting. During a walk, she meets Wooton, who gives her the companionship she needs. She regrets never telling Mitch that she loved him as a friend and wonders whether she was beginning to love him in another way. She also misses Eugene and feels foolish that their last long conversation concerned whether his socks matched his shirt.

Wooton tells her that two hours spent arguing about socks can communicate love. As a child in Alaska, he preferred debating superheroes with his best friend to eating cheeseburgers with anyone else, even though he loves cheeseburgers. Time freely given reveals affection even when the perfect words never come. He then guides Connie through funnel cake, laser tag, and a spinning amusement ride until grief no longer feels as crushing. Connie realizes that Mitch knew she cared because they often spent unhurried time together.

FBI Agent Bourland visits Whit and demands Dent's disk. Whit gives it to him but confronts the agent about bugs the FBI secretly planted alongside Andromeda's devices. Bourland claims the surveillance was for protection, though it failed to protect Whit and Jack from Monica's gun. Whit keeps one clue to himself: a Chicago address hidden in Dent's package.

Whit travels alone to the address and finds the apartment of Dent's late mother. A neighbor has heard Dent inside but cannot make him answer, so she provides a key. Whit discovers him collapsed and calls an ambulance. Doctors diagnose a stroke apparently caused by a brain tumor resembling Armitage's condition. Dent remains conscious but is described as deeply paranoid.

Dent insists that the diagnosis is wrong. He says the people who killed Armitage have done the same thing to him and will kill him before morning if he remains in the hospital. He begs Whit to help him escape immediately. The danger behind his medical condition and what Whit chooses to do next remain unresolved.

Back in Odyssey, Bourland admits that the FBI has decoded little of the disk and does not fully understand Andromeda's plan. It knows that Eugene's disappearance and stolen research have delayed the project. It also believes Whit himself is somehow obstructing the company, which explains the extraordinary effort to watch his activities. Neither Whit nor the FBI yet knows why Andromeda considers him so important.

At Mitch's memorial, Jack delivers a eulogy before the many friends Mitch made in only a few months. Connie sees Bennett Charles among the mourners and publicly accuses him of murdering Mitch. Charles pretends not to know her, calls Mitch a dear coworker, and promises Novacom will help find the killers. Whit intervenes and orders him to leave before Connie's anger grows further.

After the others depart, Connie remains with Whit among the flowers. Teenagers from Mitch's Sunday-school class, coworkers, softball teammates, and friends have all described the difference he made. She wishes she had told him. Whit says they sometimes must trust God to fill the spaces left by words never spoken, though Connie does not want that comfort to become an excuse. She turns to someone she can still tell and says that she loves Whit. He answers that he loves her too.