Read Online Atherton #3: The Dark Planet (No. 3) by Patrick Carman - Free Book Online

let this happen if it wasn't what he really
    wanted?"
    "He wouldn't do that--not without at least telling us first."
    "I heard them talking," Samuel revealed. Isabel had agreed to
    let Samuel secretly go back to Dr. Kincaid's cave, and he'd
    arrived just as Vincent returned to the cave. He'd heard
    everything they'd said.
    "What did you hear? Tell me!" Isabel shouted.
    "Only if you keep your voice down," cautioned Samuel.
    "Everyone on the tree line is listening."
    Isabel let out a grumbling sort of sigh. "Just tell me what you
    heard," she whispered.
    Samuel didn't have the will to hide anything from her piercing
    eyes, framed with those thick black brows.
    "Vincent and Edgar went together, but Vincent returned alone. I
    crept in between the giant rocks to listen. I didn't understand at
    first because he started speaking to Dr. Kincaid about things on
    the Dark Planet. But they weren't talking, they were arguing. Dr.
    Kincaid sees things differently from Vincent."
    "How do you mean?"
    "It seemed to me that Dr. Kincaid would... I don't know... risk
    more in order to reconnect with the Dark Planet. You know how
    Vincent is always protecting everyone? Well, Dr. Kincaid
    seemed to think it was time to start protecting people on the
    Dark Planet. Vincent wasn't so sure it was worth the risk."
    Samuel was trying to hold back the truth, but his resolve was
    crumbling before Isabel's very eyes.
    "There's something you're not telling me, Samuel. Spill it or I'll
    load a fig in my sling and go see Dr. Kincaid myself. I'll make
    him tell me."
    "You wouldn't," said Samuel, knowing what a good shot Isabel
    was with her sling.
    "I would!" insisted Isabel.
    "Okay, just calm down. I just think it's a lot more complicated
    than we realize. I mean, what if we really could save a lot of
    people? How much risk is that worth? I don't think Dr. Kincaid
    wants to risk losing Edgar. I think he feels he has no other
    choice."
    "He's willing to sacrifice Edgar to reconnect, isn't he?"
    "I'm not sure it's fair to say it that way. Dr. Kincaid is trying; it's
    just not that simple."
    "Of course it's simple! We're talking about Edgar!"
    Isabel's voice had risen once more and this time one of the
    adults was walking toward them.
    "What's the matter, Isabel? Is Samuel not doing his share of the
    work?" It was Lars, a good friend of Isabel's father. The last
    thing she wanted was her parents finding out about this.
    "He's keeping up just fine," said Isabel, trying to muster a
    convincing smile. "We were just talking about my reading
    lessons--it's very hard, and I've been getting frustrated."
    This was a good lie if ever there was one. Samuel read better
    than most in the grove, because he had long been a citizen of
    the House of Power before its collapse. The formerly illiterate
    population of Atherton, including Lars, Isabel, Edgar, and all of
    the former residents of Tabletop, had struggled mightily with the
    effort to learn to read, and many eventually gave up improving
    their skills in favor of a simple life of work.
    "I know exactly how you feel," said Lars. He glanced at Samuel
    and secretly wished he could read as well as the young boy
    from the Highlands. "Reading's not for everyone."
    "Oh, I like to read," said Isabel. She wasn't willing to feign
    laziness for a second. "It's just that Samuel is trying to teach me
    some advanced reading, and it's challenging." Lars frowned,
    already turning to go.
    Samuel glanced down the row of trees and then out toward the
    blue lake. "I think we should get out of here. If we leave now
    maybe we can get to the crevice before he comes back. We
    could be waiting there for him. He'd like that."
    "Maybe he would and maybe he wouldn't."
    She decided she'd like to be there when Edgar returned so she
    could tell him how mad she was that he had gone off alone
    without telling his two closest friends.
    "Let's finish this row. When we come to the end we'll sneak
    away and find him."
    Thick veins of yellow and gold glowed