Project Aura by Bob Mayer Read Free Book Online Page A

know the answer to."
    "Is Dr. Hammond working for the Priory?"
    "Not that we know."
    Something clicked then for Dalton, an unresolved issue he had puzzled over. "The first Psychic Warrior team that was lost Raisor's sister was your agent, wasn't she?"
    Eichen nodded. "We got her in there after Souris left and the Priory's attention had shifted to HAARP. We wanted her to use Bright Gate to check out HAARP and gather more information on it. Apparently someone didn't want her to. Hammond's predecessor, Dr. Jenkins, pulled the plug on her team. Jonathan Raisor pulled the plug, so to speak, on Jenkins."
    "Did Raisor know his sister was your agent?"
    "No."
    "But Jenkins worked for the Priory?"
    "We’re not certain. He was Souris's replacement. The one who took her theoretical work and made it practical in the form of Psychic Warriors. When he was killed, we managed to get Hammond into the slot there before the Priory could send someone they had corrupted. It's like playing a chess game in the dark each side trying to take control of a square before the other can."
    "And sometimes pawns have to be sacrificed, right?"
    "You're a soldier. You know how it is."
    Dalton had no doubt about his status as a piece on the board. "So the Priory doesn't have control of Bright Gate right now?"
    "There isn't much left there," Eichen noted. "But I have no doubt that a new Psychic Warrior team will be reconstituted. And it's very likely someone on that team will be working for the Priory."
    "Geez," Dalton muttered. "What a mess. We're fighting ourselves."
    "Not just us," Eichen said. "This is worldwide. We have members in Nexus from other countries. It turns out Eisenhower wasn't the only world leader threatened by the Priory. Most go along, but some, men and women in positions of power who see the threat from the shadows, are putting everything they have on the line."
    "But you don't even know exactly what the threat is or what the Priory's goal is," Dalton noted. "For all you know, the Priory might have a good reason for doing what it does."
    "I doubt that," Eichen said.
    "Why, sir?"
    "Why hide if their motives are good?" Eichen asked in turn. "Trust me on this. The Priory is our enemy. I've looked at your service record, Jimmy," Eichen said. "You’re a good soldier. You've served your country a long time, and now we're asking you to serve once again."
    Dalton didn't take the bait. "You know more than you just told me."
    "Not much more. And you're going to be out there, exposed. What I have told you won't compromise much of our organization. The Priory knows Nexus exists, as we know it exists. I'm your cut out"
    Dalton knew what the general was saying: If he was compromised, he could only give up the little he knew, which was basically his cut out or intermediary-the general who was his only link to Nexus. The rest of the organization would be safe.
    "What is Nexus's agenda?"
    "We fight the Priory, try to stop it from taking actions that harm our country."
    Dalton thought that overly defensive and reactive, but kept that opinion to himself "What do you want me to do, sir?"
    Eichen stood. "Go back to Bright Gate. I want you to see if you can find out what Eileen Raisor discovered before she was cut off."
    "How will I do that?"
    "Use the master computer there—Sybyl. There should be some sort of record of Ms. Raisor's mission. There might be nothing. I don't know. But I'd like to know as much as possible before I go to Alaska. Then try to find out who was running things there; who was behind Jenkins and Souris before him. Find their cut out if you can. Maybe we can work our way up their organization. Anything you find out you report back to me."
    "What happened to Souris?" Dalton asked. "Is she still at HAARP?"
    "That's another strange thing," Eichen said. "She disappeared two years ago. We haven't been able to find her since."
    "Killed?"
    "Perhaps. Or maybe she's working on something else for the Priory now. We don't know."
    Dalton had worked in