Read Athena Lee Chronicles 8: Infiltration for Free Online Page B

Isabella, the look of horror on her face said it all.
     
    “Well, I suppose we can do that. She is a Martian citizen after all…”
     
    “Wait, I’ll talk! What do you want to know?”
     
    I turned and looked her. She was actually scared! I should ask Amalie about that one day. “We want to know everything that you know about the Cabal, all of it!”
     
    “The story is really long. Do you promise not to prosecute me for what I say?” I glanced at the screen. Amalie had a stern look on her face.
     
    “I will try to persuade the Martian Government not to if that is your condition. However, it really depends on what you say to us. Grandmother? What do you say?”
     
    “I agree. I will withhold prosecution if you tell us everything that we want to know and I do mean everything.”
     
    Martian prisons must be really bad. Isabella looked resigned. “I was recruited at an early age. Both of my parents were members. As a child I can remember going to these gatherings. They alway explained it as Dad’s club membership. There was a picnic and a party. The adults would go to meetings and we would have cake and play games.”
     
    “Do you know the name of this organization? The one your father belonged to.”
     
    “Yes. It’s called the Round Table Charity.”
     
    “Is it really?” Amalie looked very surprised.
     
    “What is the Round Table Charity?”
     
    Amalie did not let her tell me. “Athena, it is only the biggest and most exclusive charity organization on Mars. They support hospitals and send underprivileged children to college.”
     
    “Yes, Ma’am. That is how they do some of what they do. The children. They recruit you early. Give you everything that you think you need. When you reach a certain age, they take it all away and dangle it in front of you. Join or lose it all. Most everyone joins.”
     
    “What about those that don’t?” Amalie asked what I wanted to know too.
     
    “It depends. If they know something or were legacies, they would have an accident or just disappear. The others would be shunned and cut off from any contact with a member.” Isabella had a sad look on her face.
     
    “My parents took me to the parties and on vacation. I met other kids and made lots of friends. When I was fifteen my parents introduced me to what the Cabal really was. I was given a choice to either stay or go. The Cabal believes that at fifteen you are old enough to make a decision that will affect your whole life.” Tears were streaming down her face and she began to sob.
     
    “Isabella are you alright?” I was concerned.
     
    She waved me away. “Sorry. I hated it. The decision was the hardest thing I had done yet in my short life. My parents were there along with most of my older friends. I chose to stay. I had no idea that the two of my closest friends in the world chose to go. We three were inseparable our whole childhood. They rebelled and chose to leave rather than follow the ‘herd’ as they put it.” She smiled. “They were very independent. That is something that the Cabal frowns upon. Independence is not allowed. Control is their mantra. On the way home from the meeting the aircar they were riding in malfunctioned and crashed into a deep ravine. Rescue workers reached them too late. I will always ask myself if I had chosen to go, would they have killed me too? After that ‘demonstration’ they put the rest of us through our paces. I was sent to a private college where I learned both the basic education that everyone got and other things like infiltration techniques, spycraft, combat training, and intrusion.”
     
    “I’m afraid to ask, but what school was it?” Isabella just laughed at Amalie.
     
    “Sorry Primus, I shouldn’t laugh but you will see my joke in a moment. The school they sent me to was the Foucault Academy.”
     
    “Athena that is the most prestigious finishing school on the planet. Is she serious?”
     
    “The name is a joke Primus. It comes from a