The Impossible Future: Complete set by Frank Kennedy (mini ebook reader .txt) 📕

desire to create chaos to amass wealth, is not tolerable. Ever.”

“It is a job, Admiral,” she said in defiance. “We have no other outlets to pursue our skillsets. The market bears our services.”

“Ah, the market. You mean our undeclared civil war? The one that exists because units like yours are available for hire. You know the standing order regarding mercenaries?”

“Yes, Admiral. I also know it is a constitutional violation for peacekeepers to engage in direct combat on Earth.”

“There you are,” he said, wagging a finger. “You have other skillsets. Practice law. Bring me before a tribunal. In the meantime, I am sorry for the loss of your unit.”

James saw the panic cross her features, the word “no” pass her lips, as Perrone turned to his peacekeepers and flicked his wrist. In unison, the three crimson soldiers took aggressive stances and fired their weapons. A volley of tracers sliced through the mercenaries’ white bodysuits, and they flailed as explosions inside their bodies tore them apart.

James, Sammie, and Michael slid closer to each other.

Michael spoke for all three. “God. Damn.”

Perrone nodded to two peacekeepers, who moved toward the teens. He stepped closer to Patricia, who bowed her head.

“I think the knowledge of failing your entire unit will be sufficient punishment. Fortunately, you are not unemployed.”

He faced the civilians. “Ophelia, we located your transport 5.2 kilometers southwest. We received a distress protocol from your pilot, just before we arrived. He needs assistance to repair a nacelle. I will toss the specific coordinates into Patricia’s open feed, and she will lead you on foot. Her service record shows specialization in nacelle design and repair.”

Ophelia raged. “On foot? Why? You have more than enough room on that Scram to take us where …”

“Yes, the room, but not the interest. Once you and your … whoever he is,” Perrone pointed to Brey, “reach your transport, you will be free to fly to any destination. Along with Patricia and …” he turned to Sammie and Michael. “These two.”

Peacekeepers separated them from James amid protests, curses, and gesticulations. James did not realize the fourth and final peacekeeper stepped forward, astride the admiral, who demanded Patricia assemble her “new unit” and march them from the hillside.

“In five minutes, all this carnage,” he pointed to the many bodies laid waste, “will become ash. I suggest the five of you move with haste and with no further protest. Yes?”

“What about Jamie?” Sammie shouted as she moved away.

    “I knew you would sweep in and steal my work,” Ophelia yelled.

“You see me well, Ophelia. Take your life as consolation.”

James held still. If he threatened them at all, they might turn the blast rifles against his best friends. Patricia led them away. Perrone commanded the final peacekeeper.

“Helmet,” he told the monstrous soldier, who complied by tapping the subtle neck brace, revealing his face.

James didn’t need the Jewel to help him make a connection. He knew at a deep, instinctual level.

“Say hello to your younger brother, James.” The admiral introduced the peacekeeper. “Be gentle, Valentin.”

James felt a slight tingle then nothing after his brother hit him with a thump concussion.

 

8

M ORE THAN ANYONE, SAMMIE WANTED to turn back, but she took her cue from Chancellors she knew for less than an hour. If the woman who led the Jewel’s recovery team and a battle-hardened ex-peacekeeper took the admiral’s countdown seriously, so did she. Convincing Michael to run was a more difficult matter.

“He’s my No. 1,” Michael said as he stopped his sprint just inside the tree line. “I’m not gonna let him down.”

“You will if you’re dead, Coop.” She grabbed him as he tried to return to the battlefield. “And if you go back out there, you’ll die. It won’t be like last time. He won’t be there to save you.”

She wanted to set him at ease, to patronize him with faux hope that they’d see each other again. But Sammie grew tired of acting – she spent her childhood presenting a face false to an entire town.

“Smart soldiers understand when to retreat until the next fight.”

“And when’s that gonna be?” He asked.

“I don’t know, Coop. It’s out of our control.”

Ex-Captain Patricia Wylehan stepped in, grabbing hold of both.

“That’s good advice, Miss Pynn,” she said. “Your father taught you well. But I’ve got better advice. Move your asses. Orbital energy slews will scorch this place in less than two minutes.”

As they charged into the forest, steeped in a thick carpet of pine needles, Sammie looked back through an opening in the trees. The Scramjet hovered over the hillside then rotated north and disappeared into the evening sky.

“Be safe, Jamie,” she whispered. “Be smart.”

“What are orbital energy slews?” Michael jogged alongside Patricia, just behind Ophelia and Brey.

“Long-range fire bombs, Mr. Cooper. They’re made of unrefined Carbedyne, compacted inside a silicated-fiber cocoon. They can be targeted like missiles.”

“Silicated who? You lost me.”

“I doubt that will be the last time,” she said. “Admiral Perrone initiated Scorch protocol. That’s code for a cleansing operation. No survivors, no evidence. They modulate energy slews based on the level of intended destruction. They can be small enough to turn a man to ash or …”

“Wipe out everything in sight,” Ophelia chimed in. “That hillside will be nothing but a black scar.”

“All those people who died?” Michael asked. “Even the folks you brought to welcome the observers back?”

Ophelia stopped to catch her breath. “They were never here, Mr. Cooper. And that’s not all. I guarantee you Perrone ordered BacTrac. A full aerial scan to identify the bodies before reorganizing each person’s stream profile to create a new narrative for their fate. In time, their deaths will be accounted for, but in a manner that will leave no one asking questions.”

“A cover-up, Coop,” Sammie said. “My parents told