The Good Doctor's Tales Folio Eight Read Online Free PDF Page B

Council meeting.  They’d like to hear about the Arm flap of last March.”
    Four months in the proverbial doghouse due to the fallout from the Arm Flap, and now Polly was ordering her to rub salt in the wound, yet again.  “Whatever for?  I’ve already done a formal report, and…”
    Polly cleared her throat.  “They would like it to include what you left out, Tonya.  A Sunday morning report.”  Sunday morning.  The time for discussing the darker aspects of Focus life.  Tonya’s breath caught for a moment.
    “I’m not sure that’s wise, Polly.  There’s a lot of things about this mess that shouldn’t come in front of the Council.”  The problem was Keaton’s rescue of Hancock from the CDC Research complex.  Tonya hadn’t been particularly informative the last time she made the report and she didn’t see how she was going to do any better this time.  Officially, according to Council edict, Crows didn’t exist.  Yet, without the Crows’ involvement, the rescue wouldn’t have occurred.  Thus, she couldn’t give the full story.
    Nobody trusted Tonya much these days.  Focus business used to weigh her down, requiring her to act directly or as a facilitator.  No longer.  Council business had also stopped. The other Council members either ignored her or dealt directly with her boss, East Region President Schrum.  Esther Weiczokowski, the Midwest Council Rep, had said it most cattily: why bother with Tonya when you can deal with the real decision-maker directly.  Even her secret letter writer, likely the Madonna of Montreal, had given up on her after the Arm Flap, not sending even a single bit of cryptic advice.  In her newfound free time, Tonya had found a way to leverage herself into the local Crow letter-writing circle, under an assumed Crow identity.  All that had gotten her, so far, was the knowledge the Crows feared her more than the Focus community feared her.  Even Keaton no longer returned her letters or phone calls.
    “The Council needs t he information,” Polly said.  “Someone is still kidnapping female Transforms at the rate of one a month, and killing about three male Transforms a month.  We need to do something about it.”
    Meaning the Council needed to appear to be doing something about it, Tonya thought.  This was a bad time for all Transforms: the Focus Network was crippled, an unknown enemy was kidnapping and killing Crows, and someone was ambushing and hunting the Arms on a regular basis.  Tonya was the only one who cared about the big picture, but she couldn’t do much to help in any event, not when she was this far out of the loop.  Right now, she half-wished Rizzari’s rebellion would succeed and toss Tonya out of her Council Seat.
    It would have been extremely impolitic to say any of her thoughts aloud, though.
    “Polly…” Tonya started.  The scream of a circular saw roared in from the next room, drowning out her voice.  Tonya waited, and then told her people to go work somewhere else.  “Sorry about that.”
    “No problem,” Polly said.  “We’re looking at the possibility of having the Arms protect us from whoever is behind it.”
    “I’ll support that vote,” Tonya said.  Lupe Rodriguez officially handled the Arms these days.  Both Arms lived in the West Region, where Tonya had the fewest supporters.  “For what little my vote is worth.”
    Polly laughed.  “Are you worried about Lori Rizzari’s rebellion and her Council candidacy?”
    “I’ve spent the past month making sure I don’t have to worry,” Tonya said, trying not to think about the time and money she had poured into the effort.
    “Suzie just wants to make the vote look legitimate.  You don’t need to worry.”
    “I won’t, then,” Tonya said, not believing a word of what Polly said.  Although Suzie said she still wanted Tonya to be her handpicked representative on the Council, Tonya sensed new tension, and tension meant problems.
    “There’s one other