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

She shook her head. “I very much doubt… no, Samantha. Our goals have changed since yesterday. We secure the Ukrainian first. Trust me,” she said to both Sammie and Michael. “Acquiring her will provide us the leverage to bring James back into our company.”

Michael didn’t respect the tone. After three days with these people, he developed an acute radar for Chancellor bullshit.

Ophelia changed the conversation into directives. She told Brey, Rikard, and Patricia to return to the shuttle. Brey, to calculate a more potent tranquilizer should the Ukrainian need containment. Rikard, to await delivery of the rendezvous coordinates and to calculate a new BFP. Patricia, to provide her newly hired squad with the go-ahead to meet at their staging area north of New Stockholm.

“We leave two hours before the confirmed rendezvous time,” she told them. “When you finish your duties, I’ll prepare a meal. A dose of sleep will be smart. We will likely leave in the middle of the night. We need our energy for what’s ahead. Agreed?”

Nobody brought up the admiral, which surprised Michael but also worried him. He did not hesitate to ask the question once they left him and Sammie alone with Ophelia.

“We do this,” he told her, “any chance Perrone will show his face again? He wants me dead.”

“You have nothing to worry about, Michael. We are taking every precaution. Protecting you is part of that plan.”

“Huh. No offense, cause I’m sure you’re the top cat at whatever it is you do, but I figure your precautions didn’t do anyone a shitload of good back at the fold.”

Sammie shot Michael a cold glance, but Ophelia nodded.

“I deserve your mockery. Not only did another faction ambush my team, but Augustus Perrone swept in. Trust me, Michael, I want nothing more than to put that humiliation behind me and learn from it going forward. I have taken steps to do just that.”

She placed a finger over her lips and pointed to the landing’s balcony. Ophelia led the two outside. She closed the door behind them and tapped her amp. A cascade barrier blocked the view of the city, similar to the one that barricaded the shuttle parking bay. Michael’s stomach tightened. What now?

“I initiated a sound lock. We are alone.” She took a deep breath. “I have information for your ears only, and it cannot leave this balcony under any circumstances. Once you hear me out, you might reconsider going forward with us.”

Michael nodded. “My heart says you’d best get on with it.”

“Fine. We have a traitor among us, working for Augustus Perrone.”

Sammie took a step back. “What? How?”

“When we met for the first time in the tunnel, you remember how I initiated my stream? Others were watching the historic moment. Some members of my team, plus allies elsewhere. Perrone was not one of them. At least, he was not supposed to be. When he arrived at the fold to ‘save’ us, I realized he had an inside informant. Someone capable of breaking him into my circastream without leaving a signature. It requires a special skillset. Only today, while you were touring the city, did I learn the identity.”

“Who?” Michael demanded.

“No, Michael. No names. If the spy suspects you know, we will be in danger, and my source will be exposed. We need to play this card carefully. It’s more important you realize the threat.”

“Seriously? One of them three is trying to screw us in the ass, and I get to be paranoid about the whole lot of them because why?”

“Because the information the spy provided Perrone has already compromised our next mission. I have a plan in place to protect us. I have no guarantee it will work, but you will have to trust that confronting the spy now will cost lives—including your own.”

“Beautiful.” Michael pulled back on the rage, even as Sammie grabbed his hand and held tight. “So why even tell us?”

“Because you have a choice. Go with us on this mission, and wherever it takes us, or stay on Earth under Samantha’s protection.”

Sammie seemed more shocked than he.

“My protection?” She said. “Are you saying…?”

“Your descendency claim has gone through. Under the Collectorate Ex-Patriot Clause, your full rights as Chancellor have been established. Your gene sweep was conclusive. Access to all Pynn inheritance holdings will be expedited after a final hearing. You will be treated like anyone who has spent her life on an Ark Carrier but returns to Earth. Difference being, you’re already here. I can arrange for your instream ID, amp installation, presidium briefings, property reclamation claims, private tutor programs to bring you up to date on presidium bylaws, and also give you proprietor status.”

“Which means what?” Sammie asked.

“The power to hire your first Solomon.”

Michael was dumbstruck. “Hold the phone right there!”

Sammie held on to Michael even as he tried to push away.

“You said this would take days, at least.”

“I have allies,” Ophelia said. “Almost all outside the military’s power structure. The UG has no jurisdiction in Chancellory citizenship and property administration.”

“Property administration?” Those hairs on the back of his neck reached critical. “Property… like me? Proto-African boy?”

“Michael, please contain yourself. I am presenting you with an option. Samantha is about to become a full-fledged member of the Chancellory. She will become a significant property owner with presidium status. That may mean little to you now, but it might also shield you from the danger you face. If you become a Solomon on her payroll, you can live a comfortable lifestyle.”

“Hold on. You told me I’d probably die if I stayed on Earth. The Chief said about the same thing. What gives?”

“That was before I conceived this plan. You meant nothing to me at the time.” She softened her features. “But Samantha gave me a new insight into you. She knows