PERIL Read Online Free Page B

loyal to him and will, no doubt, be skeptical of her. Still, she can’t wait to meet them. She has spent countless hours studying their personnel files and personality profiles. She also studied the mission protocols endlessly, often wondering if she will be ready for the journey ahead.
     
     
    It’s 8:00AM and Vanessa is on her treadmill. Pushing herself to the limit of exhaustion , she’s covered in sweat. Holographic images float in front of her recording her speed, heart rate, blood pressure and distance traveled. She is surrounded by a holographic image of a forest with tall trees and the fake dirt path she is running on sends small plumes of dust up with her every step. She’s too tired to continue so she steps off the path onto the grass. Suddenly, the illusion of the forest, trees and dirt path disappear leaving only the image of the floating data. The abrupt disappearance of the forest reveals her apartment. She is home. The holographic display recording the distance she’s ran flashes in red indicating that she has not met her goal. Frustrated Vanessa waves her hand through the image and it disappears.  
    She walks over to her sofa and picks up a white towel. She wipes the sweat from her forehead.
    “Are you ready for your weekly psych evaluation, Vanessa?” the computer asks.
    “No time, I’ve got to meet the crew.”
    Vanessa showers and gets dressed. She picks up her entry card and does her usual obsessive routine of double-checking the apartment’s security protocols. This is a fruitless effort as she has preprogrammed the computer to handle this task; however, it’s a compulsion she can’t resist. Sometimes she’ll even return to the domicile to check it again, unable to resist the nagging temptation.
    “ What if I left the door unlocked or left the view screen on?” She would think to herself.
    She heads over to the Ares Corp. building to meet the crew. Vanessa arrives and is standing outside the enormous complex. The building is imposing with sixty white wid e concrete stairs leading to its entrance that is guarded by two large lion statues and the mythological figure of the ram Ares is serving as pillars on either side. It’s patrons bow before entering the massive structure. Vanessa isn’t a follower of Fathomism, however she bows before entering.
    Inside there are many people wandering about. Businessmen, clerics, nuns, scientists and security guards all preoccupied with their daily routines contrast the glass open-air environment, which seems mundane. The building is where they come to work, pray and study all under the watchful eye of The Seeyer.
    Vanessa can hear the echo es of her heels hitting the floor as she makes her way through the building. The sharp sound is often a welcome distraction in this sterile environment. As Vanessa walks down the gigantic halls she passes three women dressed in stark white habits and their faces are semi-covered by veils. This is another example of the merging of religions. Two of the women wore white veils, which means that they have been in the faith for less than ten years. A grey veil marks a transitional period of five years in the faith. A black veil means the woman is a “Supreme Mother,” a high holy figure. A Supreme Mother has been practicing for thirty years or more and she communes daily with The Seeyer. This level of connection is reserved only for Clerics, Supreme Mothers and other high-ranking clergy.
    The women pause and the Supreme Mother in the group bless her by making hand gestures of the cross and a circle.
    “Go with in finite knowledge my child,” she says to her, referring to the MV5 Mission.
    Vanessa walks into a conference room and is formally introduced by General Graham to her crew. She immediately recognizes Lieutenant Commander Leroy Reed who is sitting in the back of the room. He was her drill sergeant years ago. He was especially tough on her and the other female cadets in her unit.
    What started off as a difficult