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== The rescue of John Galt ==

== The rescue of John Galt ==

On November 22, John Galt made his famous three-hour speech. Shortly thereafter, John Galt was arrested. Dagny Taggart gave every indication of having turned him in to the authorities in order to protect her railroad, but Francisco knew her better than that. He now had merely to wait for the final series of disasters to convince Dagny that any further "strikebreaking" was futile.

On November 22, John Galt made his famous three-hour speech. The next day, against Francisco's advice, Galt went back to New York. Francisco was not a "nail biter," but if he ever came close to doing that, this was the time. Three months passed with no word from Galt, other than a gazette of sorts describing the decline and eventual shutdown of Rearden Steel. Francisco informed Rearden, who laughed at him and said, "Francisco, Rearden Steel is right here in this valley!" In fact, Francisco and Rearden collaborated on building a real truck road, so that Francisco could move his copper to the valley much faster. He needed to—because Rearden did indeed re-found Rearden Steel, with a blast furnace that poured Rearden Metal. The last of the dependencies on the outside world disappeared.

The final event was the abortive presentation of the "John Galt Plan for Peace and Prosperity." In that episode, John Galt made a rapid movement on a stage so that millions of people, watching on the still-new medium of [[television]], would see plainly that someone had been holding a [[gun]] on him. Galt then said, "Get...out of my way." After that, the authorities stopped transmission.

And then John Galt was arrested. Dagny Taggart gave every indication of having turned him in to the authorities in order to protect her railroad, but Francisco knew her better than that. He now had merely to wait for the final series of disasters to convince Dagny that any further "strikebreaking" was futile.

Dagny, as Francisco expected, returned to her office to pack. Francisco met her outside, at the plinth of the statue of Nathaniel Taggart, the original founder of Taggart Transcontinental. Both of them noticed a number of people fleeing New York, with their personal belongings lashed to the roofs of their cars, after hearing that a malfunction at the notorious "Project X" had destroyed the Taggart Bridge across the [[Mississippi River]]. Whether that was the final disaster that caused Dagny to join the strike, or whether she had made up her mind before hearing of that, Francisco did not know then, but that did not matter. She turned to Francisco, raised her right hand, and declaimed,{{cquote|I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.}}

Ragnar Danneskjold was back in the Gulch by then, having put his privateering ship in "mothballs" in a Norwegian fjord and begun settling his crew in the valley. But with the news of Galt's arrest, the men in the valley cried out for leadership to get him back. Ragnar obliged. He organized the Galt's Gulch Air and Land Militia, with half the men in the valley participating, using every aircraft available. Francisco served as the chief of intelligence.

The two could not make their way to Galt's Gulch right away. John Galt was still in the government's hands. Ragnar Danneskjold had found out exactly where, and had planned a commando-style raid to free him. Dagny and Francisco participated in that raid, which was all the easier because the kind of men who were guarding the facility where John Galt was held prisoner did not have the best minds in the world. They rescued Galt easily, took him to Ragnar's waiting plane, and took off for the Gulch. As they passed over New York, the city was plunged into darkness as the power grid failed catastrophically and permanently.

He got word to Dagny, leaving only a telephone number for her to call when Galt was in danger. Meanwhile, Ragnar infiltrated Manhattan Island with his militia, and set up "camp" in multiple "safe houses" (actually, safe ''apartments'') around the Wayne-Falkland Hotel, where the authorities held Galt. But they did not dare storm the hotel; the authorities would almost certainly kill Galt before they could get close.

 

Francisco did not have to wait long. During the abortive presentation of the "John Galt Plan for Peace and Prosperity," John Galt made a rapid movement on a stage so that millions of people, watching on the still-new medium of [[television]], would see plainly that someone had been holding a [[gun]] on him. Galt then said, "Get...out of my way." After that, the authorities stopped transmission.

 

Dagny called Francisco almost immediately afterward. She warned him that the authorities were going to fly Galt to the [[State Science Institute]] campus near Lyme, [[New Hampshire]], and there put him to the torture. Francisco instructed Dagny to go back to her apartment, change clothes, pack up her jewelry, valuables, and some warm clothing, and meet her in forty minutes at a corner near the Terminal. En route to the rendez-vous point, Francisco noticed a number of people fleeing New York, with their personal belongings lashed to the roofs of their cars, after hearing that a malfunction at the notorious "Project X" had destroyed the Taggart Bridge across the [[Mississippi River]]. Dagny came to him on time, and, hand upraised, declaimed,{{cquote|I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.}}

 

Dagny and Francisco got off Manhattan in a hurry, but not by the usual route. How they got to Francisco's aircraft, or even where that aircraft rested, the novel does not make clear. Obviously the entire Galt's Gulch Militia had to decamp with them.

 

Dagny, Francisco, Hank Rearden, and Ragnar Danneskjold flew together to New Hampshire, with the militia keeping formation with them. Ragnar gave the order that he and his companions would rescue Galt themselves, with the militia standing by. That rescue turned out to be ridiculously easy—because the kind of men who were guarding the facility where John Galt was held prisoner did not have the best minds in the world. They rescued Galt, took him to their plane, and took off for the Gulch. As they passed over New York, the city was plunged into darkness as the power grid failed catastrophically and permanently.

Francisco now devoted his full attention to his one copper mine, and had plans laid to drive or sink more mines, in a society that would have better respect for the rule of law. He even had designed a new type of smelter that would allow him to process his ore much more efficiently, and looked forward to supplying Henry Rearden with large quantities of copper with which to make his new Metal.

Francisco now devoted his full attention to his one copper mine, and had plans laid to drive or sink more mines, in a society that would have better respect for the rule of law. He even had designed a new type of smelter that would allow him to process his ore much more efficiently, and looked forward to supplying Henry Rearden with large quantities of copper with which to make his new Metal.