Free Progtopia: Book 1 of The Progtopia Trilogy by Eula McGrevey Page A

appointment. A beautiful redhead dressed in a professional but suggestive manner, she always made heads turn. She knew how to get the President’s attention—a dress almost too short, showing a hint of cleavage just enough to let every man’s imagination, including President Burton’s, run wild. Often running her hands through her long red hair, she had the President eating from the palm of her hand.
    “They can come in,” he murmured.
    She smiled, making his heart skip a beat. Exiting briefly, Abigail re-entered with the three men. Once settled, she brought them coffee, then left the four alone to discuss the project. NSA was represented by a tall, thin man in his sixties. As a career government employee, he steadfastly believed the government was the answer to all problems. He never quite understood the small government movement, and he was completely perplexed by the firestorm caused by the thirteen-year-old who ran away. He was a data man who believed the collection of information for the benefit of society should trump any privacy concerns.
    By data mining phone records, emails, the Department of Education’s core curriculum information, and protected health information, the NSA was able to produce a comprehensive list of the President’s enemies and allies. That list was critical to successfully achieving Project Renaissance. The President sipped his coffee, deep in thought. No one dared to speak. He leaned back, relieved the list was complete.
    “Very well,” the President replied. “I want the enemies’ list given to the Director of Homeland when I direct you.”
    The CIA director, peeved he was not privy to the full details of the plan, displayed his irritation with arms folded, tense, and silence. The President, not caring much for him, had appointed him as a favor to a generous political donor. Finally speaking, he asked, “Do you have a backup plan to distribute this list if electronics go down?”
    The NSA director shook his head.
    “Well,” the small-statured CIA director said, “that’s a big problem. Since I haven’t been briefed on the full extent of the project,” he said with irritation, “if there is any chance of a power outage, there needs to be a backup plan for distributing this list. I suggest that a CIA operative has a back-up list and be located regionally.”
    The President didn’t say a word, but again took this information in. He needed to let the American people think the people on his allies’ list were randomly selected. If the list were discovered before Renaissance was initiated, his plan might not succeed. On the other hand, the CIA director brought up an excellent point. Although there should not be any power outages caused by Renaissance—at least initially—power failure in the early stages could foil the whole plan.
    “There are key regions that need to be taken care of within twenty-four hours of implementation of Renaissance,” the President said. “I would be willing to release that list to key operatives whom you trust twenty-four hours before Renaissance commences.”
    His Chief of Staff stood up, signaling the end of the meeting, informing the attendees they would hear about Project Renaissance when it was about to begin. Once the men left the room, the Chief of Staff sat with the President to update him on the full details of Renaissance.
    “Mr. President, we are close. At what point do you want to inform some of the world leaders of your plan?”
    “How long after G8 will Renaissance be ready to go?”
    “Not long.”
    “Okay. We need to arrange a meeting with the leaders of Germany, France, England, and Italy. I want you to make sure that anyone who was involved in this project at any level is not on the allies’ list. That includes the leaders of those four countries.”
    “Consider it done, Mr. President.”
    “Are we on schedule?”
    “Yes, Mr. President, it is on schedule.”
    “I don’t want this to start until a few weeks after we plant