The Phoenix Project Read Free Page A

here. You
haven’t even finished your drink!”
         “I’ll see if I can get back,”
Elliot replied, and left the officer’s lounge.

 
 
 
         On the dark side of Earth,
Nadine Hanover stood in a damp holding cell deep beneath the Headquarters of
the Modern Enterprise Religious Aggregate. She had not bothered to wear her
contact lenses, since the prisoner was aware of her true nature. The woman
cowering in the corner of the room futilely thumped at her head with clenched
fists. She couldn’t bear to look into Nadine’s all white eyes and instead
stared at the floor while her mind was raped for information.
         As the woman began to sob
uncontrollably, Nadine withdrew her consciousness from the wretched lump on the
floor. Now that Nadine had what she needed, she turned away and left the room,
closing the heavy door behind her.
         She walked through several
dim, depressing corridors before reaching the lift that would take her into the
main portion of the building. Nadine thought briefly of her father as the lift
passed Detention Level E.
         MERA's central complex was an
impressive construction of distinctly Gothic buildings sitting on the east
coast of what was once known as Russia. Great arches
and towers surrounded a central stone building with a unique twelve—sided dome
sitting at the top of the structure.
         The elevator deposited Nadine
on the top floor. She passed through grand corridors adorned with wooden
fittings and low, wrought iron benches. Finally, she stopped at a relatively
small set of dark mahogany doors closely guarded by two sentries armed with
particle rifles.
         Nadine nodded to them and
confidently strode through the entrance to the inner chamber of the Council of
Twelve. A group of a dozen elderly men and women were dressed in long, dark
robes. They sat in high—backed mahogany chairs within the twelve sided stone
room.
         “I take it your interrogation
is finished?” Prime Counsel Catherine asked. She had once been beautiful, but
that was decades ago. High cheek bones now sagged next to a hawkish nose and a
small wrinkled mouth sat over a wizened chin. In contrast to her aged, white
skin, her silver—white hair glistened from careful attention.
         "May I present my
findings?" Nadine asked.
         The wrinkled old female speaker
of the group smiled through her pristine teeth.
         "Go ahead."
         "The agent Lisa was sending
intelligence to the Alliance,
as you suspected. We would be best advised to tell the Coalition's Encoding Branch
that Code Four Seventy One has been leaked to the Alliance,” she stated.
         "Is that all?” Councillor
Alexander asked.
         "Yes. We caught her
before she had the opportunity to do any real damage."
         “And what of Lisa?” Catherine asked.
         “I had to cause some minor
brain damage to ensure that she wouldn’t remember me.”
         “What would you recommend we
do with her now?” Catherine asked in a rare act of consultation.
         “She won’t remember anything.
I’d recommend letting the Alliance
have her back. They’ll think twice after trying this again once they’ve seen
the results of planting spies at MERA Headquarters.”
         "A practical
suggestion," Catherine said.
         “If you feel it’s unwise, she
can be sequestered here indefinitely.”
         “No,” Catherine said, “you
misunderstood me. The suggestion was a good one. The Alliance will not try this again after seeing
one of their spies lobotomized. I would enjoy seeing their faces once she’s
found wandering the streets of New
York.”
         “If there is nothing else, my
alter ego should have finished her report to you by now. I should return to my
command of Battle Group Alpha Two.”
         “We need to speak with you on
a few points before you go,” Catherine said. “We have new orders for you.”
         “Of course, my