October 9

October 9 is the Wednesday around which Andy McGee’s escape plan is arranged, with Charlie McGee directed to reach the stables at one o’clock and Andy scheduled to depart Longmont for Maui later that afternoon. The date gives the plan a precise deadline, but the two timetables place father and daughter on different parts of the Shop’s tightly controlled schedule.

A Wednesday Deadline

In a note to Charlie, Andy says he hopes they will be out by the following Wednesday and gives her a specific task: she must be in the stables at one o’clock that afternoon. He leaves the means to her, even suggesting that she make another fire for the Shop if necessary. The instruction turns the date into a meeting point in a plan dependent on Charlie’s ability to appear where she is expected to be.

The note also makes the appointment more urgent by warning Charlie not to trust John Rainbird. Andy tells her that Rainbird led the men who captured them at Granther’s place, despite having gained her confidence. He wants Charlie to conceal any change in her feelings toward Rainbird, because he expects Rainbird to come around and believes the man will be out of their way on Wednesday afternoon. The date therefore marks not just a rendezvous but a planned break from Rainbird’s influence over Charlie.

Andy’s Scheduled Departure

The Shop’s computer gives October 9 its official timetable. When John Rainbird checks Andrew McGee’s status, the system reports that Andy is scheduled to leave for Maui at 1500 hours on October 9, under Cap Hollister’s authorization. It also lists a route from Andrews Air Force Base to Durban Air Force Base and then Kalami Airfield. Rainbird realizes that October 9 is Wednesday and that Andy is due to leave Longmont the next afternoon; the discovery catches him by surprise because he had not previously known about the authorization.

A carbon copy of the Wednesday schedule supplies the planned movements in greater detail. Andy is to leave at 12:30, with Cap picking him up at his quarters. They are to drive toward the eastern checkpoint, pass Parking Area C, collect an escort of two cars, and continue to Andrews Air Force Base to board the plane at about 1500 hours. The flight plan includes a refueling stop at Durban Air Force Base, near Chicago. The schedule makes Andy’s removal look like routine transport, while its exact checkpoints and escort also show how closely his movement is managed.

The Plan’s Narrow Window

Charlie’s one-o’clock appointment falls shortly after Andy’s scheduled 12:30 departure from his quarters. That difference places their parts of the plan within the same afternoon but does not, by itself, establish how they will reunite. Andy’s note calls for Charlie to be in the stables; the official schedule sends him toward a checkpoint and an escorted trip to the airfield. The contrast between a secret meeting instruction and a documented departure itinerary gives October 9 its central tension: the escape depends on acting inside a system that has already assigned both of them places and times.

At quarter to one, after Charlie has awakened, Don Jules appears at her door and tells her to come with him. Charlie goes. The moment places her in motion just before the time Andy specified for the stables, but the available events do not establish where Jules is taking her or whether she reaches the appointed place. October 9 thus remains the date of a plan under pressure rather than a confirmed account of the escape’s completion.