Final Solstice by David Sakmyster Read Free Book Online Page A

expression darkened. “Let one of the vile pharmaceutical corporations get their hands on it, claim all the credit and then march down and ravage the jungles and the people for the cure? No way.”
    “But, there’s so much potential.…” He stared at Shelby, still marveling that she had been cured, his deepest wish all these years come true.
    “In due time.”
    “Time? Gabriel, there are people suffering.”
    “People will always suffer, Dad. That’s their nature. They’ll still be suffering if and when this cure is made public. You must be patient.”
    Shelby moved in, took Mason’s hand. “Dad, it worked. I can hear, and I’m so happy again. I can’t wait to see Mom and tell her.”
    “I can arrange for you to be taken home now,” Gabriel said. “But Dad here has something else he needs to do. Someone to see.”
    Mason’s mouth dried up. So this is it. There has to be a cost. Nothing this big is done without expectations . “Where is he?”
    Gabriel smiled and pointed. “First lift there. Annabelle’s waiting at the elevator, she’ll take you straight up to him, where I hope you’ll listen with an open mind and accept …”
    “Accept what?”
    “The offer to join us, of course.”
    “If I refuse?”
    Gabriel continued smiling. “You won’t.”
    “Daddy,” Shelby whispered. “You won’t. I was just made a similar offer.”
    “You?”
    “Yes, coinciding with my research in London. They need someone in the branch office there.”
    “You’re still in school. It’s out of the question.”
    “In my spare time, Dad. It’s like an internship.”
    “A well-paying one,” Gabriel said.
    “And when,” Mason asked, “did money become important to you, Gabriel?”
    “Who said it was? We’re talking about my little sister, who sure enjoys spending it. And besides, I know what you make as a weather hack, Dad, and I know how hard it is to pay for Mom’s care. So please do us all a favor, drop the martyr act and really listen to what’s offered to you up there.”
    Shelby squeezed his hand. She signed, for old times’ sake, Please.

Chapter 9
    The elevator ascended gracefully. Surrounded by glass, Mason had initially suffered the sickening feeling that he was being levitated or blown up by a steady wind. Dizzy, he tried not to look below his feet, through the glass to the awesome sight below, the marble tiles merging with the earthen floor, the stones in a perfect circle, their shadows lengthening in the glancing sunlight. He saw through the treetops, the lush grove, the rock tables, the flowing stream and the minor waterfalls pumped in from the northeast corner.
    “Beautiful, isn’t it?” asked his guide, Annabelle. She was petite and cute in a way, freckles on her cheeks, blonde hair parted down the middle and in curls around her face. He was struck with the sudden question whether Gabriel found her attractive and maybe some kind of workplace romance was going on. Maybe it was the way she stole sideways glances at him, as if she was sizing up her love interest’s father, unsure of what to say at this moment.
    Suddenly, the elevator trip was taking too long. He couldn’t look away, still awed by the view—this time out the windows, over the rolling hills and swaying sycamores, up and across the veiled shadows in the mountains’ peaks and valleys under a broad sky of cobalt serenity.
    “Beautiful,” he said belatedly.
    “Thank you.” Annabelle blushed as if taking the compliment directly.
    “Tell me,” Mason asked gazing up now, seeing they were about halfway up the tower, heading toward a thin platform. “How many people work here?”
    “At this location? Nearly two hundred.”
    “Really? Where?”
    “Below, mostly. There are six sub-levels, plus two research labs. What you see here is really just our common area, a place of reflection, meditation and relaxation. We eat here, we have informal discussions, we talk before and after our shifts.”
    “And your boss … he’s