Broken Dreams (The Chronicles of Mara Lantern, Book 5) Read Online Free

Luckily I was grounded, and the energy was conducted away from me. I think.”
    “When I accessed the receptacle schematics, I found no power source running through it,” Mara said.
    “There’s none,” Perry said. “There’s not that much power running through the entire console. I’m not sure where the energy is coming from.”
    “Were you able to remove the processor?” the doctor asked.
    “No, and I won’t try again as long as there’s power running through this system. It’s just too risky for me and for the entire depository. Next time that energy might backtrack into the system and put the occupants at risk.”
    “Are you feeling lightheaded? Do you think you can stand up?” the doctor asked.
    “I think so,” he said.
    She gave Perry a cursory once-over to detect any injury. “You don’t look like you sustained any permanent damage. Do you need medical attention?”
    He shook his head. “No, I’m good. Just a little startled, that’s all.”
    Mara and the doctor each took one of his arms as Perry stood.
    “Very well then,” Dr. Canfield said. “If you would have this mess cleaned up, I would appreciate it.” She turned and walked him toward the door to the hall.
    Just as he regained his balance and turned to smile at Mara, she noticed the doctor stiffen as her face went pale.
    “What is it?” Mara asked.
    “The monitoring lab is recording another spike of fear in the occupants. Worse this time. I’ve got to get back there.”
    Mara did a double take. “Wait a minute. What are we to do about Abby, Ping and Sam?” Mara called after her.
    Dr. Canfield opened the door, calling over her shoulder, “We’ll discuss it later. Go to the training center to learn how to integrate with your new body.”
    “But what about …” The doctor was gone. Mara looked at Perry and said, “I guess I should take that as a hint I’m not welcome to go with her.”
    He gave her a commiserating nod and crouched down to gather his tools.
    Mara glanced at her brother’s face in the next receptacle. His brows were furrowed and his jaw clenched. Turning back to Abby’s tube, Mara looked up at her old friend. Serene.
     

CHAPTER 4
     
     
    Mara opened the conference room door just a crack, peeked inside and found it vacant, so she slipped in and shut the door behind her. Going to a get-to-know-your-artificial-body session was out of the question. She couldn’t concentrate on anything as long as Abby, Sam and Ping might be in danger, not to mention everyone else in the repositories. This was the only familiar place where she could hide after Perry had walked her back to the smaller underground cavern that housed the offices and laboratories.
    At the round Plexiglas table, she sat, rested her chin in her palm and stared at the shiny blank wall that could display data when called upon. She needed to get her thoughts organized because Dr. Canfield wasn’t cooperating. Just standing around waiting for Abby—or rather, the Aphotis—to kill everyone, if that’s her plan, was not an option.
    If the receptacle occupants lived in a dream realm, Mara needed to extract Abby without setting the Aphotis loose again in this realm. Which would be easier if Mara knew what was happening inside this other realm. What was Abby doing to those poor people?
    Mara stood up and paced, hoping that moving around might jar loose an epiphany. She walked to the glass wall overlooking the laboratory on the floor below. The same room where she’d first seen Cam, after their arrival at the repository—where his holographic image had interacted with the attendant assessing Cam’s damages sustained after the cab had struck Cam back in Mara’s realm. Now the lab was empty.
    If only she could talk to Ping one more time.
    Mara’s eye’s widened, and she spun on her heel. There, across the room, lay the holographic platform they’d used to talk to Ping earlier. The attendant, who had brought it here and activated it, had not retrieved it