Free The Great Deception by davidberko

in the
presence of the Lord of the Ages. He didn't demand his subjects
take this moment to pay homage to him. Far from it. That would come
later after the revelation. Then one by one each foreign leader
would want a turn with the great mind so capable of such a
terrifyingly brilliant plan.

    The room mimicked the bridge on the island
of an aircraft carrier in function, but not in aesthetic. Eight
walls in an octagonal shape enclosed the area. There were no
windows in the room, yet plenty of screens.
    The doorway held much significance to
the
    Masons. The three-in-one, triptych
entrance
    (as seen on the famous Rockefeller Center
in
    New York or on many cathedrals all over
Europe) stood erect, guarding the secrets inside.
    As the leaders of Germany, Russia, and
Britain passed under the rounded arches and support pillars to gain
entrance to the strategic space they were treated to this view: old
mixing in with the new. Stone columns buttressed an impressive
ceiling. In the center of the room a control center anchored
everything else. Consoles or work stations circled a pentagram
which projected an image of the earth with the seven continents and
all the seas. The earth slowly rotated for the guests, enabling
them to see the cities, nations--the pride of man on full
display.

    "Look at it," Howard's voice echoed
throughout the chamber.
    No one could see him, but they certainly
heard his message.
    "I could give you all you see if you do this
one thing."
    And then poof, like a smoke and mirrors
trick, Howard appeared at the far end of the room.

    "Is there a trap door in the stage that I'm
missing sir?" Grigory whispered to the Russian president. "Because
what he just did is impossible."
    The Russian leader shook his head in
amazement. "I told you this man isn't all he appears to be," he
shot back.

    No one had taken a stab at the stipulations
to the agreement just yet. The mere mortals in the room still shook
in their boots, like they had seen a ghost. And perhaps that was
true in more ways than one.
    Howard knew they were afraid of him. Only a
natural human reaction under the circumstances his mind reckoned.
"Gentlemen, this hour I will show you some earth-shattering plans
that have already been
    set into motion."
    The men remained close-mouthed.
    The Old Man took that as a sign of silent
assent to move forward. And he did. Howard cloaked himself in an
unflappable demeanor.
    Whether or not its effect on the others
proved unnerving remained to be seen. Regardless, he would continue
and show mankind his aims for world reunification.

    --

    The Basement: Honolulu, Hawaii

    President Toporvsky's forehead whicked sweat
which wound up on his hands. Then his pants would be the final
recipient of the perspiration whenever the Ukrainian man anxiously
rubbed his clammy palms against the already damp fabric. This cycle
only increased when he asked for the initial estimates on the
losses.
    The casualties buckled towards the point of
no return. Forty percent of the force had been crippled in the
dogfight.
    With some luck though the Central Cyber
Corps came through with the shield frequency on the enemy
combatants' planes: the weak link. With that key information the
fighters in the coalition force were able to retune their own
lasers to expose the loophole. Once the momentum had shifted the
other way Operation Switchblade could then hold a chance at
succeeding.

    "There's very small margin for error," Vice
President Edmond Drezzler stated the obvious to the president.
    Alexander absorbed all the images on his
screen of the FRN planes turning grey, which meant they had been
annihilated by the enemy.
    There had still been no word from the agent
on site, Jennings.

    If he doesn't come forth with what we
wanna hear in the next few minutes, the president thought ,
I'm gonna have to scrub the op.
    Sentinel Director Alfred Demsky read the
president's mind. "I don't like this, Mr.
    President. We need our men outta there. The
longer we stay, the