The Good Doctor's Tales Folio Six Read Online Free Page A

young third generation Focuses like DeYoung, weren’t supposed to act on their own initiative.  Doing so could bring the wrath of the normal authorities down on the necks of all the Transforms.  “How are you going to be accomplishing this miracle?”
    “We’re putting together a group of like-minded Transforms, both here and in other countries, to lobby for Transform rights,” Poe said.  “The laws of all nations, save the nations who have criminalized all Transforms, are silent on the question of citizenship rights of Transforms.  This gives the local authorities free reign to persecute Transforms as they wish, it gives businesses free reign to discriminate against Transforms as they wish, and it gives Focuses free reign to treat the Transforms in their own households as they wish.”
    Tonya’s gaze turned even frostier.  “Have you enslaved your Focus?”  Focus enslavement had happened before.  Although the UFA tolerated such aberrations, the Council didn’t give the slavemaster Transforms the right to act politically in their Focus’s name.  Tonya’s question was a powerful charismatic demand.
    Poe shrugged off the charismatic demand, and sighed.  “No.  Martine is out talking to other Focuses and Transforms in the Southeast Region.  I was picked to handle the Northeast Region.”
    “The Council won’t stand for this,” Tonya said.
    “If we can convince intelligent and forward looking Focuses like yourself to support our goals, then we will end up working with and for the Council.”
    “I will never do so,” Tonya said.  Radicals.  Not unexpected.  She thought the first generation of Focuses – the ones quarantined by the government and who had later and illegally broke free of their quarantine – held their power too tightly.  They had apprenticed the leading members of the second Focus generation, which Tonya belonged to, and brought some of them into the inner circle, but they had brought in none of the third generation of Focuses.  The first Focuses had suffered greatly under the quarantine, and they and their people carried mental wounds that would never heal.  To some degree, they had shot their bolt breaking free of the quarantine, and were now working on giving power over to the second Focus generation so they could retire.  One of the hot items on Tonya’s agenda was politicking for the Council Presidency, as the current Council President, a first generation Focus by the name of Wini Adkins, had already announced she was going to retire after the next full Council meeting in early October.  Wini, one of Tonya’s closer friends among the Focuses, favored Tonya for the position, but not all the first Focuses did.  There were two other candidates, both current Council members.
    Poe shook her head.  “You know as well as I do that Transforms have to move to secure their own civil liberties, or we ’ll be consigned to be second class citizens forever.  We have to make common cause with the other downtrodden minorities in America and throughout the world.  More importantly, we must come to some agreement regarding how Focuses treat their own Transforms – a Focus who enslaves her own Transforms is as bad as the Transforms who enslave their Focus.”
    “All very interesting, and all Council business,” Tonya said.  “Is your Focus interested in sitting on the Council?”  The South Region representative, first Focus Faith Corrigan, needed replacing.  She dutifully represented first Focus Sarah Teas on the Council, but otherwise didn’t put any other effort into Council business.  Her mental efforts, such as they were, were all involved with the new Focus mentoring program.  Focus Teas wanted Faith out of the seat as well, but Faith possessed her own independent power-base, and so far showed little interest in retiring.
    “Only as a last resort,” Poe said.  Tonya frowned, and exerted her charismatic will.  She wanted a better answer than that.
    Poe nodded,