The Karma Beat Read Online Free Page A

is a good read.”
    My dad winced. “We’ll see. We want to punish him, not break him.”
    I wisely refrained from commenting.
    After my parents left, I moved my laptop to my desk and cracked open my American government book. I had to write a couple pages of essays. As I wrote about the reasons for the separation of powers, I couldn’t help thinking that there was no separation in the genie world.
    The U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E. was an acronym for Unity, Nature, Integrity, Virtue, Ethics, Reason, Society, and Education. The Directorate of the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E. was like a think tank of brilliant philosophers throughout time. They swore an oath of loyalty and were not allowed to pursue any self-interests. Ghandi, Thomas Jefferson, Socrates, and five other honored thinkers from history were given new lives and immortality in return for serving on the Directorate. They were to serve the interests of people, humans and genies alike. They monitored genie activity to make sure we didn’t abuse our powers.
    They also provided the karma points for deserving people. When a person had accrued enough points, I or someone like me, appeared to grant them three wishes. I didn’t think it was such a bad use of genie magic. Each of the Directors had a department of genies who worked with them. There were also a large number of non-genie descendants of the people who had negotiated the Treaty of the Bermuda Triangle. The treaty had freed us and started the alliance that had become the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E.
    Since the Directorate was all powerful, there was plenty of room for abuse of power. That’s why the eight were so carefully chosen from various times, religions, and countries. Assuming none of them would be dishonest.
    I thought about Leo. If he was right about his dad being framed, someone, somewhere, had been corrupted. I’d love to ask my mother about his father, but I wouldn’t have an excuse for asking. The U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E. was tightlipped about its activities.
    When I finally finished the essays, I logged back onto the Internet to check on the RokrGirlz situation.
    Baitbreath, who I’d already noticed was more than a little strange, asked if Sean played any instruments. She thought Sean would be a great addition to their band, Brattitude.
    “He can burp the ABC’s,” I typed. “But that’s about it.”
    As I closed my laptop, I told myself that even Baitbreath didn’t want a brat with no talent.
    I pulled the wireless adaptor out of the USB port. I’d stash it in the bathroom drawer while I showered. Sean couldn’t access the internet on my laptop without it. I wasn’t taking any more chances when it came to that little monster.

 
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
    I got out of bed earlier than usual so I could catch my mother alone. She always drank two cups of coffee and read over some reports before she left in the morning.
    I threw on some jeans and my favorite blue hoodie. After my usual routine in the bathroom—face, hair, teeth, blush, lip gloss—I was ready to try to get some information out of my mother. I really was curious who had access to those reports, and it was a question Mom might expect me to ask.
    I wasn’t just doing it because Leo wanted me to. I was not that kind of girl. You know, the kind who drops everything for a guy. Of course, I’d never imagined a guy like Leo existed. An über hot male genie.
    Mom sat at her place at the kitchen table. She pushed aside her report and looked at me over the top of her reading glasses. “Hi, honey. You’re ready early.”
    “Morning, Mom.” I couldn’t think up a good reason for being up early, so I chose distraction. “That your second cup?” I asked, motioning to the coffee.
    “Yes,” Mom said with a smile. “I’m afraid it’s going to be a three-cup morning. I have meetings all day.”
    “U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E. or cell phone?” I asked. Mom worked for the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E., but she was also a vice president in the cover corporation, a cell phone