Laura Jo Phillips Read Online Free PDF Page B

it over.  “See this little disk?” he asked, pointing to a small circle of gold attached to the back of the earring.
    “Yes,” Berta replied, squinting to see the tiny thing.
    “This is a meta-spacial transponder,” he said.  “Once activated it will send out a signal that can be picked up across the Thousand Worlds.  If ever you need help, or want to see or speak to the Falcorans, you need only activate the device.  They will come to you as quickly as they can.  They have the only receiver for this device, so they are the only ones who will receive your signal.  They’ve put one on the back of both earrings, so if one is lost, you will still have the other.”
    “How do I activate it?” Berta asked.
    “Take the earring off and tap on the disk firmly with a fingernail three times,” Jackson said. 
    Berta nodded as she closed her fingers around the sapphire earrings that, she knew, would exactly match the color of her eyes.  “Again, I thank you, Jackson.”
    “We have some other news for you,” Hope said, smiling brightly.
    “Yes?” Berta asked, feigning interest.
    “Talinka has made an appointment with the Dracons,” Hope said.  “You, myself and Talinka will meet with them tomorrow afternoon.”
    “Oh, that is good news,” Berta said.  “Do you really think the Dracons will allow me to be included in this?”
    “Of course they will,” Hope said, “it’s your idea, after all.”  Hope slipped her hand into Jackson’s.  “Now, we will leave you alone.  I imagine you’d like to get some rest.”
    “Yes, thank you,” Berta said.  She watched as Hope and Jackson walked out and closed the door behind them, then she opened her hand and looked at the earrings again.  She walked over to the dressing table and sat down, leaning her cane carefully against her chair.  Then she placed the earrings on the table and reached up to remove the tiny gold hoops her father had given to her when she was sixteen years old.  She’d been wearing them when she was abducted and, except for regular cleaning, she hadn’t taken them off in over sixty years.  Now she removed them and set them on the dressing table.  Then she picked up the sapphire studs and put them in her ears.  A sense of safety washed over her the moment she had them on and she wondered if it was because the Falcorans had given them to her, or if it was because of the transponders.  They felt heavier than the hoops she had worn for so long, but she knew that she would soon become accustomed to them. 
    She gazed into the mirror, smiling sadly when she confirmed that the sapphires did, indeed, match her eyes.  Oh, how she wished....  But no, there was no sense in dwelling on it.  She’d made the right decision.  The only decision.  She was sorry for the Falcorans, and a little sorry for herself as well.  But she could not change what was.
     
     

 
    Chapter 5
     
     
    Berta, Hope and Talinka sat in the Bearens’ office with the plans for a Rami House spread out on a long table before them.  The house would have a sitting room, kitchen, and dining area, a large bedroom and an enormous bathroom.  The bathroom would contain a jetted bathtub large enough for four, an equally large shower and four sinks.  There would also be a modest deck and private garden.  
    Once the plans were approved, eight Rami Houses would be built, each one a reasonable distance from the other, and all of them at least a mile from Arima House.  These would be used as guest houses for the visiting male-sets while they courted their Arimas.
    Berta could hardly believe that the project was going forward so quickly.  In only three weeks the site for Arima House had been selected and prepared for building, the plans for the house had been drawn up, the builders hired and the materials ordered. 
    The three of them had been appointed by the Dracons as overseers of the entire project, with an unlimited budget.  Once construction was complete, Berta