The Institute’s Challenger jet landed in Alcolu around 5:15 p.m., carrying Mrs. Julia Sigsby, Tony Fizzale, Winona Briggs, Dr. Evans, and the combined Ruby Red and Opal teams, now redesignated as Gold team for reporting purposes. Denny Williams (Ruby Red) and Louis Grant (Opal) stayed aboard briefly to unload a heavy steel chest containing specialized gear.

On the tarmac, Mrs. Sigsby called her office and spoke with Trevor Stackhouse. Stackhouse relayed Mr. Hollister’s report from DuPray: Luke Ellis survived a head-first fall from a train with only a bandaged ear where a tracker had been, and a forklift operator and a female deputy took Luke to the sheriff’s office. Stackhouse added that Sheriff John Ashworth was likely out visiting his mother in a town thirty miles away, based on a convenience store clerk’s information and the sheriff’s missing truck.

Stackhouse assessed that the small-town deputies might hold Luke until the sheriff returned, giving Gold team time to intervene. He emphasized that whether or not the locals contacted Minneapolis authorities did not matter to their immediate objective. The implicit directive was to eliminate Luke and anyone obstructing them, if necessary, a course Sigsby tacitly accepted while considering the consequences of calling the Zero Phone if things escalated.

Inside the air-conditioned terminal, Sigsby confirmed with Denny Williams that the team and their equipment were ready. She informed Denny that they would make a brief stop at Exit 181, where she would formally transfer command of the operation to him, and he agreed.

The team assembled outside with three inconspicuous minivans—blue, green, and gray—eschewing attention-grabbing SUVs. With the specialized chest loaded and roles assigned, Gold team departed Alcolu, planning a roughly two-hour approach to DuPray while adhering to speed limits to avoid law enforcement scrutiny.