Apella's Turn: A mission turned on end for a cause worthy of your gifts

Mystery, adventure, difficult decisions, promise for the planet, hints of the future, "Apella's Turn" has it all, and it all lies ahead for newly minted government agent Daniel Oyente. Dan's breakout mission is not well defined-Locate, Infiltrate and Identify members of a guarded group of dissidents living somewhere in remote northwest Montana. His orders are vague-Catch a westbound freight out of Livingston, Montana, and take it from there. Dan has been a bear researcher in Yellowstone Park for two years, and leaving a job he loves is not easy. His boss tells him, "A lot of bears where you're going, Dan, likely some interesting people too." But is Dan really prepared to spy on a group of eccentric strangers hiding at the edge of civilization? Dan has spent a lot of time in the Yellowstone backcountry, and he has not been far from the 4 million people who visit Yellowstone National Park in a typical year. He and his boss have worked around crowds at geysers and hot springs, watched hundreds snap pictures of moose, pronghorn, herds of elk, fields of wildflowers, Yellowstone's Grand Canyon, the prismatic springs and travertine rocks shown in a "Star Trek" movie. For some, there's the thrill of walking on an active volcano, and Dan has seen too many visitors, young and old, edging dangerously close to bears and boiling springs. Dan could relive it all in great detail, for his number-one asset is his superhuman memory. Of all the wonders of Yellowstone in Dan's head, the one thing that few visitors, if any, come to see is a rock carving near Old Faithful Geyser. Petroglyphs are rare in Yellowstone. This may be the only one in the park, but tucked away in Dan's memory are details of another carving. It looks like a stumpy, eight-legged caterpillar-actually it's a water bear-and it sits on a moss-covered boulder near a lake in the Absaroka Range. Dan's memory suddenly fails him when he takes a train ride with a hostile stranger. He forgets all about the carving on the boulder. If only he knew it marks the site of a fateful tragedy-the fiery death of a park visitor. The tragedy and the carving are known to a chosen few, and they are sworn to secrecy. Track into the Rockies with Dan. Get to know the group he's up against. A far cry form survivalists stashing weapons and canned goods in the woods, these people are internationally connected, ultra-high tech, and fear no one. And they are hellbent to recruit Dan Oyente. They want his memory. Watch Dan's mission turn on end as new friendships tempt him to join a shadowy, underground organization linked to the water bear carving on the Yellowstone boulder.