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

was biding my time for greater opportunity.”

“Huh. Guess that opportunity came around.”

“I was fortunate. My family has powerful allies.”

“So, you heard about the Jewels being created?”

She shook her head. “More complicated than that, and a longer story than we have time for. Why are you interested, Michael?”

“Well, I guess I got some time to ask questions. Been running around like a chicken with my head chopped off the last few days. I just started wondering: Who are these people? If these Jewels are so damn important for the future, why are folks killing each other? Who the hell decided this was even a good idea?”

She sighed. “Chancellors are complicated people.”

“Uncomplicate for me.”

“Whatever I say now will only lead to more questions. You need time and experience, Michael.”

“Great. Two things I got none of. So just answer this: Why did you join the folks who created these Jewels?”

“Because I want my people to live on.”

“Yeah, I heard about the Chancellors having a dicey future. Sucks to be you, I reckon. But here’s what I don’t get. You people are smart. You travel across the galaxy. You live the high life. What kind of nutcase thought it was a cool idea to mix human DNA with some kind of crazy-ass energy thing to turn people into bombs?”

She looked around with careful eyes and lowered her voice.

“The Berserker feature was unintended. The creator of the program saw the Jewel energy as a way to repair our DNA and allow us to procreate new generations stronger than ever.”

“So, everything was rolling along fine till the news of these Berserkers got out? That’s when you turned against each other?”

Her brows furled. “Michael, it’s more complicated than that.”

“Right. And you don’t have time to tell me the whole story. How long you been in charge of bringing the Jewels out of hiding?”

“Three years.”

“And you knew when it was gonna be time to bring them back?”

“Yes. The Jewel program embedded in the DNA required fifteen years from insertion to reach maturity.”

“You mean, to take over.”

“No, Michael. To create evolved Chancellors who can save our future.”

“If you had this time to prepare, what happened? How did it turn into a big ol’ clusterfuck?”

He assumed she didn’t care for the tone; she’d probably never been spoken to that way by someone wearing a Solomon bodysuit. Yet Michael refused to let up. Eventually, she responded.

“Many Chancellor families have powerful allies. Sometimes, our allies consort with our rivals. It’s in our nature, Michael. We have always been a very ambitious people. I tried to keep my rivals from learning about the IDFs and our mission. As you’ve seen, I was not successful.”

“Sorry, Ophelia. I’m not trying to rub it in your face. I just want to know what we’re up against. You can’t fight an enemy if you don’t know shit about them.”

“Trust me, Michael. I know who we are fighting.”

“Right. The admiral. But who else? Yesterday, when Sammie and I were on the beach, we saw that space elevator… SkyTower. The Chief said the person who was causing this trouble lived there. She right?”

“Yes.”

“And this person is the reason for all these mercs?”

“Yes.”

“Let me guess. He’s the leader of that group I been hearing about… the United Green.”

She laughed. “No, his interest is very different.”

“And?”

“Michael, the man in SkyTower created the human-Jewel hybrids.”

Michael’s heart skipped a beat.

“Wait, what? That don’t make sense. Now he’s trying to kill them?”

“I can’t…” She released a long exhale. “He has other plans now, and he sees his creations as a danger to those plans.”

“Huh? What plans? Who is this guy?”

“I don’t know the shape of his agenda. I haven’t worked with him in almost six years. But we need to rescue the two Jewels on Earth and take them off-world, where he has far less influence.”

“Damn. If he and the admiral are on the same side, J don’t have a chance, does he?”

“As I told you before, Augustus Perrone will not harm James. That’s not his goal. I assure you, he and Emil Bouchet are not allies.”

“Bouchet? That’s the guy in SkyTower? That’s…”

In a light-bulb moment, everything clicked.

“Holy shit on a stick. Emil Bouchet. He’s…”

She nodded. “James’s birth father, creator, would-be destroyer.”

Michael realized he underestimated just how disgusting these Chancellors were.

“You mean, he sent those soldiers to kill J? His own son? The kid he sent off to another universe to hide with a fake family for fifteen years? Then soon as Jamie returns, he tries to whack his own kid?”

Ophelia looked away, so Michael switched to Sammie, standing to his right. He kept his voice low.

“I reckon you been hearing this?”

She shed a tear, but he wasn’t sure whom it was for. When she nodded, he said:

“Tell me you didn’t know about this.”

“Not about his father. I had asked about SkyTower, but she never told me a name.”

Michael cut himself off. He didn’t want anyone seeing where his paranoia was leading him. He followed Jamie across the fold on an insane mission to kill the other Jewels before they unleashed holy terror, in this universe or any other. Ironically, Jamie’s own father beat him to the idea. And now they were headed into a rendezvous with one of Emil Bouchet’s targets.

Minutes later, as Rikard announced the shuttle was on final approach to the Heinlein Outpost, Michael realized everyone onboard was a damn fool. If he and Sammie were going to survive this day, he needed to do something immensely stupid.

33

Heinlein Outpost, Isle of Seneca

 

A FTER THIRTY MINUTES ON LAND, MICHAEL CONCEDED to having walked into paradise. He stood with Sammie on the Level 4 viewing platform, where they were assigned. They watched the