The Code War by Ciaran Nagle

to leave. But Bezejel was different.
She was a true believer. No wonder the Leader liked her so
much.
    Bezejel pushed the knife deep into
the table for effect. 'But now High
Command have spotted someone who could re-cast Earth's social
landscape and put it back the way it should be. The way it always
was. A young female who has the skills and talents we need in
abundance. Right now she's quite the little lady. But she also
displays a promising ability to manipulate others. She knows how to
use fear to achieve her aims. We've looked deep into her
psychological profile and she has dark potential that's off the
scale. She has an eye for detail and an organisational ability that
most human leaders lack. We believe that with the right spiritual
guidance and carefully-chosen experiences she can be turned. To our
way of thinking. She has the power to take over and lead one of the
few well-managed criminal organisations on Earth and turn it into
an empire that will truly last a thousand years. It will get its
claws into every government, corporation and military
establishment. It will control them through fear, money and the
kind of sex on demand they haven't seen since the days of the great
harems. We'll have war on tap. Civil war, cold war, red hot nuclear
war. We'll be able to turn them on and off whenever we like. Mostly
on. Orphans will fill the Earth and grow up to become tyrants and
warlords in their turn. Everything is coming nicely into place. The
young woman is the last piece of the jigsaw we need. No-one
suspects her and even if the angels knew of our plan, they wouldn't
be able to stop it. We've run war games on this and there isn't any
way they can prevent us.'
    Bezejel paused, looking for
reaction.
    'This is very exciting, Madam
Bezejel.' Kodrob looked around the table, showing he was speaking
for all of them. 'It's the kind of plan we've all been yearning for
since we arrived in Hades. What do we need to do?'
    'We've created a trail that the
young woman needs to follow. It's a code trail that will lead her
naturally to us. Once she gets to the end of the trail, she's ours
and we will own both her and her future. My mission. Our mission,' she corrected herself looking meaningfully around
the circle, 'is to make sure she stays on the trail and picks up
each sequence in the code. That is our destructive
purpose.'
    'Thank you ma'am we won't let you down,'
said Kodrob earnestly.
    'Thank you ma'am,' they all
muttered. The meeting seemed to be over.
    Bezejel reclaimed her knife and
put it away. She stood up as if she was ready to go. Then she folded her arms across her chest and
walked around the room till she stood beside the image of the
Leader. She regarded it for a moment and then abruptly stepped in
front of it.
    'There's one more thing.'
    Silence returned.
    'The young woman I have been
describing has no family. She, too, is an
orphan. And she has lost touch with her past. We must ensure she
does not rediscover it.'
     
     
    Eilat,
Israel
     
    The coach transporting Martin, Andy, Pete and Nancy from Tel Aviv
airport arrived at the end of the lane that led to their rented
apartment in Eilat. This small coastal town lying at one end of the
Red Sea with its crystal clear waters and beaches of fine sand had
offered excellent value accommodation. Only 200 kilometres from
Jerusalem yet effectively a part of the desert, Eilat was a new
town built on an ancient seaport.
    Now as they alighted from the
air-conditioned vehicle into the open air, it felt like walking
into a furnace. Nancy gazed at the low flat-roofed building
indicated by the coach driver and compared it with the picture in
the brochure she had brought with her.
    At the other end of the lane, only a few hundred metres away she
could see the beach promenade where vacationers could saunter in
the evening heat and soak up the atmosphere. Beyond that was the
sea, as sparklingly blue as sun-lit topaz and as inviting as a new
lover. It called to them with forget-your-cares