The furlings and the Rescue Rangers (sans Gadget for the moment) gathered at the entrance to Thorn Valley, accompanied by Justin, Brutus and the Brisby kids, for their departure. Brutus begrudgingly opened the door and ushered them through the dark flight of dirt stairs underneath the tree, and they emerged into blinding daylight for the first time in days. Abigail shielded her eyes and winced, but Michelle gave a happy gasp, gazing at the world once again without having to do so behind a pair of glasses. Justin took a deep breath of fresh air and gave a satisfied smile, enjoying being outside again.

"I always hate this part," said Edgar, rubbing his irritated eyes as he came through the hidden door.

"You seeing alright Michelle? asked Willy.

"Yep! Everything looks so pretty!" she answered happily.

Nearby they saw Gadget, who was looking over the newly refurnished Ranger Wingamathing. The rats had reinforced the wings and added a few extra new features. It wasn't hard to journey to the nearest road and find litter; the hull for example seemed to have been elongated by the shell of another plastic container of some kind. Gadget was adept at finding discarded human garbage and making it into something else.

"The plane should be in working order," said Justin, "We've fitted the plane with batteries so it'll move faster, and we've elongated it and put in some extra seats."

"Does the radio work?" Dale asked.

"Dale, we don't want to waste batteries again," scolded Gadget as she tightened another screw on the hull, having worked long into the night, "It's fine when we're just flying around town with it, but we can't use it on long trips. New rule."

"D'awww," Dale sighed, "Y'know this trip hasn't been very fun."

"It's not a vacation," said Abigail.

"Ah well, we'll rescue everyone soon," said Dale, "But by then Chip will be back and he won't let me use the radio either."

"What's our plan exactly?" Abigail asked Justin.

"You'll need to locate the human who can help you in," said Justin, "I think you'll find she lives not very far from NIMH."

"What was her name again?" Gadget asked.

"Her name was Penny Stacy I believe," said Justin, "Note that my visions aren't exactly accurate, yet. I'm still trying to get to the level Nicodemus was at. But I'm certain that this woman will give you the help that you need."

"Golly, that name sounds awfully familiar," said Gadget, "Wait a minute, isn't she who I chatted with online? I looked her up on the NIMH website too."

"I think you're right!" Dale exclaimed.

"That's where I'd heard it before," said Abigail, "And when Justin showed her to me she looked like one of the scientists we saw at Dapplewood."

"Really? That one with the blonde hair?" asked Edgar.

"Yes her."

The memory of that day sent chills down his spine.

"You sure she's good now?" asked Russell.

"She has realized her calling," said Justin, "From now on she will be a friend to all rodents. Your fates have been intertwined from the beginning. Go now, and together you may stand a chance against NIMH."

"Looks like we may need to find another computer and figure out where she lives," said Gadget.

"You said you were sending someone with us?" Abigail asked, looking at Martin and Teresa, expecting it to be one of them.

"Oh yes, I did," said Justin. He turned around toward the door, "Brutus?"

Brutus stepped out, disliking the sunlight, and speaking a forcibly respectful tone that did little to mask how irritated he was, "Yes, Justin? How may I serve you?"

"It is your sworn duty to protect Thorn Valley, is it not?"

"That it is."

"And you know the stone is the greatest protection we have, do you not?"

Brutus narrowed his eyes and stared at the necklace Abigail wore, "Yes, it is."

"And nothing would make Thorn Valley safer than NIMH's defeat, right? If you want to protect Thorn Valley from danger why not eliminate the source of that danger entirely?"

"You're sending me?" Brutus asked, surprised.

"It's a mission only fit for someone of your caliber," Justin said, folding his arms behind his back, "I appoint you Abigail's bodyguard during this dangerous mission. Their team already has much wisdom, heart, and extraordinary courage, but one thing I notice they lack is brute strength. That's where you come in."

"Why him?" Abigail asked, glaring at Brutus suspiciously, who glared right back at her.

"It'll be good for him," said Justin with a smile, "He could really use a bit more sun and fresh air, might aid that temperament of his."

Brutus just growled, "You take advantage of my loyalty to you, Justin."

"All kidding aside, you are the only rat for the job," Justin said, putting his hands on Brutus' shoulders, "Consider this your life's fulfillment. If this goes as I hope it will, you won't have any more reason for that fear and anger that you cling on to. NIMH will be history. Or at least, not a threat anymore."

Brutus shook out of Justin's grasp, "Bah. Fine, I'll do it, but only for the safety of Thorn Valley, and to make those humans pay for the things they did to me and everyone else."

"So that big palooka is coming with us?" Dale asked, "Does anyone remember the time he almost took Abigail's head off with that electric spear thing, or am I the only one?"

"I don't think I trust him either," said Willy, "My body is still sore."

"I'll be doing that to your enemies from now on, idiots. Think of that," Brutus said.

"I guess a little defense wouldn't hurt to have around," said Gadget, "But honestly, from what I've seen he doesn't seem too in control of his emotions. Bringing him seems a little risky."

Brutus scowled, "The girl wears the amulet. I am her protector now. Before, when I attacked you, I viewed you as trespassers, and enemies. But as wearer of the stone whoever is this girl's enemy is also the enemy of Thorn Valley, and is therefore also my enemy. As much as it irritates me to be protecting the likes of you, I will do so with my life. Is there a part of this process that escapes your feeble minds?"

"No, we get it," said Gadget, "I guess he'll temporarily replace Monty as our team's muscle, huh Dale?"

"Yeah, if Monty were on steroids, complete with the 'roid rage," Dale mumbled.

"So our first mission is going to a human for help, I overheard?" Brutus asked, "I think you've finally gone insane, Justin. I'll never trust a human. Much less one that works for NIMH."

"Understandable sentiment," Justin replied, "But I'm sure about this one."

"If, by some astronomical chance, this does all go well, I will never question your outlandish logic ever again," said Brutus.

"I guess this is good bye," said Teresa to Abigail, "Good luck out there."

"Yes, come back to us," said Martin, "You should see our ma again after this too."

"We will, I promise,' said Abigail, hugging them both, "We might even resettle near her farm. It's safe there as long as we stay away from the fields."

Gadget finished tightening a screw in the hull, and wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Everything's all set," said Gadget, "Come on in everyone."

One by one they climbed into the newly refurnished flying machine, complete with an extra row of seats. Dale and Gadget took the front, with Zipper in Dale's lap.

"I wanna be by Abigail," Michelle said.

"Oh that's right, you don't need to sit on my lap anymore," said Abigail, "I'll sit in between you and Willy."

"Guess that leaves us with him…" Russell said, looking over at Brutus, who climbed into the middle row simply by lifting a leg and getting in, being the tallest of the group. Everyone else had to climb in with their arms.

Edgar and Russell climbed in through the other side of the plane, Edgar getting the middle. Even with just the three of them it was a tight squeeze. The middle row also sported the winder-uppers, which Brutus looked down at with curiosity.

"Move those cranks you see in front of you to get it started," Gadget explained to Brutus.

Russell began turning the crank first, though once Brutus began the muscular rat could easily have lifted the whole plane by himself. Russell gave it his best try but he hardly ended up putting any muscle into cranking the winder-uppers at all. Gadget flipped on a switch and the popsicle-stick propellers whirred to life again. The furlings waved farewell to everyone below as the aircraft took to the air.

"Goodbye everyone! I'll come back with your amulet!" Abigail called out.

"I am confident that you will!" Justin replied, before they hovered above the tree and flew on above the forest, headed south-east toward the Atlantic coast, the general direction of Bethesda and NIMH.

"So, where to now?" Dale asked as they reached a high enough altitude to begin gliding.

"First we make it to the city of Bethesda by following a road," said Gadget, "From there we find out where this Penny Stacy lives, and go there to ask for help."

"I sure hope you guys are right about this scientist," said Dale, "I know humans aren't all bad but when was the last time one actually helped us? I mean what have we got to go on, Justin's crystal ball thingamajig?"

"I wasn't expecting an intelligent question out of you," said Brutus as he cranked the winder uppers, nearly all on his own, "I agree. If you ask me Justin has gone off the deep end."

"You agree with me? Should I take that as a compliment?" Dale wondered.

"I see it more like a broken clock being right twice a day," Brutus replied.

"What about everything else Justin said that came true?" Abigail asked, "I trust his judgment. And I saw the visions myself in his…future-seeing…thingy."

"He may be able to predict some things, but even Nicodemus never saw it coming when Jenner decided to drop a house on him," Brutus said, "Justin relies far too much on his visions. He's gone mad with overconfidence. Hopefully it's not going to lead to a death sentence for all of us."

"Nicodemus got a house dropped on him?" asked Abigail, her curiosity piqued.

"Justin probably skimmed over that whole fiasco when he told you our history, didn't he? Only because it goes to show that his prophecies aren't 100 percent. They can't be, if Nicodemus' weren't."

"I don't know how Justin could have pulled that same name out of thin air," said Gadget, "I'm all for logic and reason, but it does seem uncanny. I'm not going to say I fully believe in his supposed powers, but I think it warrants further investigation. If he can predict things, there must be some rational explanation for it that science hasn't fully grasped yet."

"You've gotten a lot more open-minded since this stuff happened," said Dale, "I hate to say it but I almost agree with the grumpy rat. This might not just be a wild goose chase, it's more like a wild cat chase because what we're chasing could kill us."

Michelle held onto Abigail tightly and whimpered, and Abigail stroked her head to comfort her.

"Don't worry Michelle," she said, "I won't let anything harm you."

"You're scaring the children with your metaphors, Dale," said Gadget.

"And why not?" asked Brutus, "Young or not they should know what we're getting ourselves into."

"We'll probably keep Michelle someplace safe when we go into the human's house anyway," said Gadget.

"As usual," Michelle said, disappointed despite her fear of humans.

"What do the rest of you think?" asked Abigail, "Is following Justin's prediction a good idea?"

"I hope it is," said Russell, "We all know there's good humans too but…well…I can't lie, I am pretty nervous about going to see one. And it's that same lady who was in charge of kidnapping everyone from Dapplewood."

Abigail's ears went down, Russell's position made sense when factoring in that fact, "I guess you're right about that. But…people can change, right?"

"I'll never forget the human who helped me out of that trap after the gas leak," said Edgar, "He helped me when he just as easily could have killed me. Maybe this one will help us too. She could have just not realized what she was doing before, she didn't know we were smart, right?"

"Justin said something like that," Abigail agreed, "That she didn't realize we had real feelings, something like that. He said she used to know when she was a kid but something made her forget."

"I'm not sure I like this idea, but I'm always behind you, whatever you do," Willy replied, giving Abigail's hand a squeeze and making her blush. She kissed his cheek.

"Zipper?" Gadget asked.

Zipper gave a confident nod and pointed forward, indicating that he supported the plan they had.

"So those in this plane who are for going to a human for help outnumber those against it,' said Gadget.

"We're not the council of Thorn Valley," Brutus grumbled, "And anyway, I'm sworn to follow Justin's orders whether or not I think they're a good idea. But it just so happens that because of my oath of loyalty I've been forced into a suicide mission with a group of imbeciles who I don't like."

"Aw, I think he's warming up to us," Dale joked, "Before he hated us, now he just doesn't like us."

Abigail couldn't help but giggle as Brutus silently glared at Dale and kept cranking the winder uppers, with a little more ferocity than before. At their speed it wasn't long before they finally came to a paved road, and followed it toward Bethesda.