Darkest Designs by Dale Mayer Read Free Book Online

last century? Did he have food or water? And if he did, that meant body functions. Still, there appeared to have been little to no aging in all the decades or centuries that he’d been stuck here. Had time stopped for him? And if so, what would happen to him when it started again?
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    Stylus, she asked mentally. Is he okay? If he’s been here all these years, can he survive in the Torans’ world now?
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    He’s been comatose for all this time.
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    Right. Was that good or bad?
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    Does that mean we can take him back or we can’t? I don’t want him to die when we get home, but… She chewed on her bottom lip. This was a new concern. Originally, all she’d wanted was to get home. Now she wanted take this poor man with her and…she was very much afraid he couldn’t go back. That was a horrible concept…and one she had to question in her own case.
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    We believe he will die.
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    Will he? She glanced over at the sleeping man. Are you sure?
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    Yes. And if you stay here, it will be your fate too.
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    ***
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    Eric finished packing, doubled checked that the broken stylus was safe, then tucked it away in his inside jacket pocket. He didn’t mention it to Paxton. The scientist was protective of all the styluses, and Eric didn’t want him to refuse to let it go.
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    Still, if there was any chance this one had information for Storey, then all the more reason to bring it to her. Just because Paxton said she couldn’t access the information, didn’t mean that was fact. As he was quickly learning, Storey knew a lot more about some stuff than most Torans.
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    A fact that would irritate them all. Especially his father.
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    â€œWhile I’m gone, you’ll make sure to keep my father locked up, right?” When an answer wasn’t immediately forthcoming, Eric spun around, “Right?”
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    Paxton nodded. “Yes. Still, I wish you wouldn’t go.”
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    â€œI know.” But that wouldn’t stop Eric. “So help me minimize the danger.”
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    Paxton held out a weird instrument. “Just in case there are no landmarks or sky to work with, I’m going to give you a different type of tracker.” He stood up and walked over to his workbench. He opened a drawer on the left side. Inside the drawer was another locked box. Eric leaned over. He’d never seen this box.
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    Paxton opened the box and pulled out a small, pill-like object. “Here. Swallow this.”
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    Eric stared down at the thing. His stomach heaved. He didn’t like the sound of this at all. “Do I have to? I can’t imagine what it could do in there.”
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    â€œThis tracker will flush out of your system in a few days. In the meantime it will track your body heat in case we lose communications.”
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    â€œBut you already can track me. Look…” He pointed at Storey’s moving pathway. “Track me like her.”
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    â€œI’m tracking her stylus, not her.” Paxton waited patiently.
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    Eric looked from the pill to his mentor and back again. “Fine. But I don’t like it.”
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    â€œYou never did like to take your medicine, did you?”
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    Eric rolled his eyes at the mention of his childhood behavior and tossed the pill into his mouth. With difficulty he swallowed it dry.
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    â€œGood. Now we’ll set it up and it should go live in a few minutes.” He turned back to his monitors, his fingers busy on the keyboard. “Do you have everything you might need?”
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    â€œPaper? Something for Storey to write on if need be?”
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    Paxton found a spare tablet in a different drawer by his knees. He held it out.
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    â€œThe only thing is these are small. She has these huge paper sheets that work well. And being electronic – will it even work over there?” Eric stared down at the tablet. He didn’t think it would work to jump