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

pointed south toward the horizon to a line of purple clouds. “Is it stirring?”

“It is.” James felt a sudden, terrifying hunger. “The dark wants to be fed. I have to release it, Ignatius. It’s my only chance.”

“Then time to drown them. Begin with your brother.”

 

12

M ICHAEL COOPER HAD HIS FIRST CHANCE to think about food. He recalled having eaten sandwiches in the hours before crossing the fold, but those moments seemed like excerpts from a dream. He salivated. Pork chops with mushrooms, fried chicken, Mississippi roast, meatloaf.

“What kind of food do you eat, Chief?” He asked Patricia.

“Strange question. We eat what we grow, what we process. Why? Do you have a special regimen we should know about?”

“Hell, no. I ain’t no damn vegan, and I ain’t allergic to nothing. Put it in on a plate, and I’m good.”

They strode a few yards ahead of the other three, now less than half a kilometer from the shuttle.

“If I carried portable rations, Michael, I’d share them. We have reserves in the ship. I have a question myself. I noticed your friends call you Coop. Should we adopt that nomenclature?”

“Nomen-what?” He sighed. “No. Michael’s fine. I get Mike sometimes, too. I think maybe I’m outgrowing Coop.”

“Hmm.” She checked her stream amp to verify tracking to the shuttle. “A new name for a new life? In my experience, I find little difference to be had. You are not supposed to be in this universe.” Their eyes matched, and Michael saw sympathy. “Are you?”

“I made a choice. You saying I made a mistake?”

“Enormous. Possibly fatal.” She tapped him on the shoulder. “You’ll find I am direct, if nothing else.”

“You think I’m gonna die here.”

“On Earth? Yes. Your odds will improve if you make passage to one of the colonies – especially Zwahili Kingdom. But even there, they’ll know you’re different. You must find the proper tribe.”

Hairs stood up on the nape of his neck. “See, right there! The same whites-only vibe I got from Ophelia first time she saw me. What happened on this Earth? All the Nazis and the Klan shack up and spill out a few billion babies? Am I the only brother?”

She ducked beneath a low-hanging pine branch. “I have no idea who those people are, any more than I’d recognize a vegan. And as for a brother, I thought you had no fam …”

“Dude. Seriously. Just … never mind.”

“I apologize, Michael. Our language development is similar, but not our history. You’d be served well to keep it in mind. I have no time to explain ethnic sovereignty. Nor will I recap the rise of the Chancellory or a millennium of colonization.”

“Then how am I supposed to learn?”

“A few hours connected to a pre-tier educate stream will provide the basics. History, economics, military. They’ll fit you for a training amp.” She dropped to a mumble. “If time allows.”

Michael caught her passing words. None of them took him seriously. He saw in these people the cold madness that drove Walter Huggins and Agatha Bidwell to their ends. He should have learned before stepping through the fold. Yet something nudged him on, said this universe might yet be a revelation. He wanted to be in awe of them, to stand beside Jamie on their next adventure, to travel in ships like the computer-generated wonders from film. He wanted Star Trek, but Michael realized his vision was too naïve.

He looked back to where Sammie and Ophelia continued in close dialogue, like Chancellors who’d been acquainted for years. She’s my friend, he thought. But for how long, dude? Michael did not forget how Sammie played everyone for a sucker. He did not forget how she and her parents would have allowed Jamie to be reborn as a Jewel with no memory of his first seventeen years. Or how she let Jamie run off so he could put a gun to his own head. And yet, without her, he’d never see Jamie again.

What if you’re gone, J? What the hell am I supposed to do? Can’t be a wingman. Can’t be a dumbass with one-liners.

He trudged onward until deciding to broach a new topic.

“So, Chief, how many people you figure you’ve killed?”

“Today? Or do you want my full record?”

“That specific, huh?” Michael wasn’t surprised. “Back home, my people who served in wars, they’d never talk about it. But over here, I get the feeling you lot take pride in your kills. That’s why I asked. Well, that and the blood on your bodysuit.”

Patricia laughed. “The blood is not mine. Someone on the science team. Never knew his name. But you are correct, Michael. We carry our kill record with honor. The Unification Guard has maintained order for centuries. No small task - there are far more indigos than Chancellors. Only extreme force maintains control for so long.”

“I’m betting the indigos are everybody who ain’t a Chancellor?”

“Correct. You see? Learning. My count is one twenty, with today.”

“Shit.” He continued his inquiry. “Is this what you always dreamed of doing?”

“The UG? Yes. Most Chancellor children choose the military track. We value glory. We must all aspire to something great, Michael.”

“I reckon. But you’re not in the UG anymore – at least, that’s what it sounded like when the admiral raked you over the coals.”

Her tone stiffened, and Michael sensed impatience.

“Correct. I do this line of work because I have few options. I suppose the society you left behind is morally pure, Michael?”

“Hell, no. Our weapons ain’t as pretty, and our soldiers don’t look like terminators, but I reckon it’s just as crazy. Look, I’m sorry, Chief. I am. I just don’t know how you do it. It’s no damn business of mine what you been through, or why your hair’s about gone, or why you ain’t broke up