Paige Cameron Read Free Page B

mouth, as the old saying goes. He turned slowly.
    “Good morning, Cody,” Dr. Rexford said. His gray eyes shone hard as flint. Many said the doctor had been named well as his first name, Lonato, meant “flint.” He walked to his patient’s side. “I’ve looked at the X-rays. We’ll be taking him to surgery in the next fifteen minutes. Time is of the essence.” Dr. Rexford looked at Cody. “But don’t worry. I believe I can succeed without Payton’s help, although if he wants to lend a hand I won’t refuse it.” He turned and walked out, leaving Cody and the nurse with open mouths.
    “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen him show any human emotion or make a joke,” the nurse said.
    “Yeah, we all call him the robot, but he is a damn fine neurosurgeon.” Cody shook his head in amazement and walked out of the room to see if Mr. and Mrs. Camilius had arrived. Maybe if he focused on helping them, he’d keep control of his emotions and not let the fear overtake him.
     
    * * * *
     
    Gala Secundus sat on her bed with a flashlight reading her father’s book. She didn’t want her parents to find the volume of information her dad had left her. He’d ignored her for many years until she finished school. Then he’d begun to speak to her at times when no one was around. He warned her, her mother would not be happy to see them develop a relationship, and so they met in secret places. She’d always wanted him to accept her. Gradually, he explained his plan and how he and Gala would become the reigning royalty of the three tribes. They, along with their followers, would be in control. He’d planned everything working with one other man on the outside. When the others landed from their home planet, her father and his partner were ready.
    Yet it had all failed. She and her father’s partner were the only ones left to revive the plan and win. She would take down all of the mightiest warriors. Her father had left her the details of how to start and what to do. Also how to contact the other one, the outsider who helped her father plan the attack.
    Tomorrow she would begin. They’d never figure out what was happening until it was too late. Gala rubbed her hand across the paper where her father’s handwriting was scrawled. Tears ran down her face.
    “Gala, are you awake?” her mother called out from the other side of the door.
    Gala flipped off the flashlight and quickly hid the volume under her mattress just as her mother came in the door. “I’m restless, Mom. I was too lazy today, and so I’m not sleepy now.”
    “I thought I saw a light around the door.”
    “No.” Gala nodded to the moonlight coming in her window. “It’s just the moon. I’m off tomorrow, too. I’ll go riding and get some exercise so I can sleep better.”
    “That’s a good idea.” Her mother bent and kissed her cheek. “Still, try to get some rest tonight.”
    Once her mother left, Gala wrapped the book and slid it underneath some shoes in a shoebox on the shelf in her closet. Her mother never bothered her things. Hopefully it would be safe there until she could decide on a better hiding place.
    She hadn’t lied. Tomorrow, she’d go riding and hopefully plant her first dose of the special resin her father left behind. She’d found it after reading his papers. Heart pounding, she’d snuck back into his room a few days after the battle ended. Gala had found the resin, along with a specific poison, right where he’d written it would be.
    She couldn’t sleep for making her plans. Her first victim wouldn’t die right away. It must be very gradual. She’d suffer first.
     
    * * * *
     
    The call came first thing in the morning. “Dad, I’m sorry I forgot to phone you when I got here as I’d promised. Kira was here, and we started talking. Time flew by and then I was tired and went straight to bed.”
    “That isn’t why I’m calling, Averil.” His voice sounded grave.
    “Is Mom all right?”
    “Yes, she is.