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

bringing him along. You want us to convince them to call a truce, right?”

The mercenary nodded. “Just long enough to put me through a medboost, and then I’ll book passage off Earth. I’ll disappear.”

“So why not kill us and take our ship for yourself?” Brey said.

“I’m a soldier,” he said, sagging. “I’m not a murderer.”

“I’ll disagree,” Brey said. “Your lot seemed to do a fine job of murdering my colleagues. Most of us were civilians.”

“They paid more than I’ve made in the four years since I left the UG. I did my job. I served my benefactor. I …”

Sammie remembered her father’s words. “Hesitation is the swift punishment of the damned. When they come for you, Pumpkin, allow them no quarter.”

As if Daddy were standing beside her now, motivating her toward proper technique, Sammie cleared her inhibitions and made her move. The pistol became a natural extension, and she fired once. The bullet opened a hole just above his left eye. He teetered and fell like a stone tablet.

She lowered the smoking gun, and Michael stepped away.

“Damnation, Sammie. I think the dude was about to give up.”

She saw the fear in Michael’s eyes, but he didn’t flash it toward the enemy lying dead. She hated explaining herself.

“You heard him. A man like him doesn’t care who he kills so long as the bank stays open. Daddy once said …”

Michael threw up his hands. “I don’t want to hear another word about your freaking Daddy. That dude was a nut to the core. Look what he turned you into.”

“You’ll never understand, Coop, and I’m fine with that.” She grabbed him as he walked away. “But get this through your head: I’m not sweet little Samantha Huggins, and I never was. My father trained me to be a soldier. He taught me how to turn my blood cold when the time came. I am proud of what I am, and if I have to do this,” she pointed her gun toward the corpse, “so we can find Jamie and follow him where he needs to go, then I will do it again. And again.”

She saw a tear before he looked away toward their destination.

“You got to be the craziest damn white girl in the world.”

She did not respond. Instead, Brey moved to Ophelia, who groaned as she awakened. A few feet away, Patricia lifted herself to one knee and tried to shake off the daze. The chief raised her weapon, looking for a target. She took quick stock of the dead man and fixated on Sammie, who held the pistol at her side.

“Did you …?”

Sammie nodded, but Michael beat her to the punch.

“It was insane,” he said. “Soon as this nut come charging in for the rest of us, Sammie plugged him. You guys should thank her.”

They shared a fleeting glance, yet Michael seemed more distant.

Patricia stood over the enemy. “I should have sensed his presence. Cud! First, I lose my unit, now I cost us …”

“Nothing,” Sammie said. “Just a little time, Chief. We’re still depending on you.” She flipped on the safety and restored the pistol behind her back. “I got off a lucky shot is all.”

“He seems familiar,” Patricia said. “I wonder if I ever … ? Did he say anything before you killed him?”

“No,” Michael jumped in. “Dude never had a chance.”

“His strategy makes no sense,” the chief said. “He hit us with a thump at standard mode. Soldiers like us,” she sighed, “modulate a thump gun for extended incapacitation, even to the point of neural paralysis. He could have killed us all.”

“His motives no longer matter, Chief,” Ophelia said. “We need to make haste.” She offered Sammie a huge smile. “I thought we lost the day when Augustus stole the Jewel out from underneath me. But I believe we have found another jewel of enormous value.”

“Doing my part,” Sammie said, uneasy about Ophelia’s words.

“More than you realize, Miss Pynn. You’ll recall I mentioned your descendency’s strong name when we first met? The Pynns have not exerted political leverage for years, but their legacy and wealth are bountiful. If your father planned the future to the degree I suspect, I believe you will soon be a wealthy young woman. And our team will need considerable financing for the next stage.”

Sammie ignored the comments about wealth. She already knew exactly what holdings her father left behind.

“What is the next stage, Ophelia?”

“Confrontations on two fronts, Miss Pynn. Of course, we recover James. But he is not the only one returning through the IDFs.”

“The prototypes,” she nodded. “At least, that’s what the observers called them. The Jewels reborn.”

“Given our setback, your inheritance will be vital to uniting them.”

Patricia demanded the group resume its march southwest. The sun dipped below the tree line, and shadows lengthened. As they started away, Michael hung back for a moment. He made a final look at the body, reached behind his back where his own pistol remained, and shook his head. She gave him space.

Patience, she thought. He’ll come to you.

She sidled alongside Ophelia.

“Something I don’t understand. You knew about the Jewels for fifteen years. Why is money an issue? You had time to prepare.”

“We did, but life in the Collectorate has become more complicated. The rift between Chancellors has brought down dozens of powerful descendencies. Some of our original teams lost faith over the years, pulled their funding. I have only been team coordinator on Earth for three years. And the Green infiltrated our ranks. You saw what happened in the tunnel.”

“Daddy said the ten IDFs to those Jewels were tightly guarded secrets, but I guess the secret is out – at least here, anyway. Have there been problems at the other nine sites?”

Ophelia wrapped her arms against her chest and sighed.

“Last report