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

do, Brey. Trust me. I am constantly reminded. And usually, I’m good at keeping my mouth shut. But two days ago, I made a new friend. Poor bastard didn’t know what sorry business he was walking into when he crossed the fold. I’m curious, Brey. Have you talked much to Michael Cooper?”

“No. Why?”

“He’s very spirited. Refreshing. And probably far wiser than he knows. I hope he survives whatever is about to happen. I want him to be happy. He deserves it.”

Brey nodded. “Everyone deserves to be happy.”

Rikard waited no more. He removed his left hand from behind his back, certain Brey had missed the earlier move. He cupped a flash laser in his hand, aiming it at Brey’s heart.

“A nice sentiment,” Rikard said as Brey stepped back. “I know he ordered you to kill Michael Cooper.” Brey started to protest but Rikard shut him down. “No. Don’t even try. I know every inch of this ship. I know how you end-ran the stream to contact him. I also know you hacked Ophelia’s circastream at the fold to bring Perrone into the mix. He might have been our savior, but that was a side-effect of the plan. Not the intent. You want to deny any of this?”

Brey didn’t take his eye off the weapon, a small but deadly creation capable of single, explosive flash bursts.

“Yes. Sure. Perrone, he makes deals. Everything I was responsible for, my family’s shame, all of it. He was going to erase it. The part about Michael came later, after he knew what happened to his boy. I didn’t want to do it. He was adding conditions. But… but there’s no compromise with Perrone. You play his game, or you’re dead.”

Rikard nodded. The shaking in his trigger hand lessened.

“That’s ninety-nine percent of every Chancellor I’ve ever met.” The picture cleared. “Ophelia found out. Didn’t she? That’s why Michael isn’t with us now. She’s hedging her bets. She knew you’d kill him as soon he returned to New Stockholm and let his guard down. Yes? She has another play in mind.”

Brey looked away—all the confirmation Rikard needed.

“I’m tired of you people. All of you. Time’s up.”

Brey raised his hands. “Wait. What? Rikard, you have to…”

Rikard shot him through the heart. A red rose blossomed where Brey grabbed his tunic. He fell at Rikard’s feet, his eyes locked open.

Rikard nudged the safety on and lowered the weapon.

“Not so hard.”

He took a seat in the navigation cylinder and entered a deep-breathing exercise. Then he tapped his amp and fingered the ensuing cube. He waited two minutes before a picture from the other end emerged. As he expected, Matthias was groggy.

“Hello, my love,” Rickard told his husband.

“And hello to you. What time is it?”

“Apologies. I wouldn’t stream now unless it was important. I just wanted to tell you… my business with Ophelia Tomelin is done.”

Matthias rubbed his eyes and perked up. “The results? Were they as good you hoped?”

“Better, by light-years. Matty, everything has changed. We’re on the edge of something that will break the Chancellory. I won’t be surprised if they’re in all-out civil war within weeks.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“It’s worse than we feared, but also the best news for us. All those generations of Solomons waited for a chance to turn the tide. We’ll be the first. Thank your contacts for the breakthroughs on bleeder tech. Couldn’t have done it without them.”

He raised his right hand, balled a fist and turned up his thumb. Then he pivoted his thumb on its side. Matthias was wide awake.

“You plan to contact the others?” Matthias asked.

“When it’s safe. I’d tell you more, but best in person.”

“Can you come to Hong Kong?”

“Yes. I’ll be safer on the other side of the world. What’s coming could get ugly very fast.”

Matthias blew a kiss. “I’ll see you soon. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Rikard disconnected the stream. The excitement of sharing a bed with his husband and watching the fall of the Chancellory thrilled him. But the distraction ended when he looked at Brey.

Rikard unlocked the safety seals on the starboard entry doors. They opened. He grabbed Brey’s body and dragged it to the edge, then fed Perrone’s spy to the Atlantic.

 

PART THREE FAMILIES

I was once told there were no evil men. The quote went something like this: “Nobody wakes up in the morning and decides over eggs and bacon to be evil that day.”

One of my teachers even said the word ‘evil’ was a matter of perspective, and everyone – even insane people – thought their actions were in the right.

If true, I can justify every thousand people I kill by pointing to the new and better future I am creating. I can say these people were obstacles on a necessary path. Then I can look forward in hopes of scaring away the next thousand in my way.

Better yet, if I ever have a moment of weakness, all I have to do is listen as she whispers in my ear. My mind will calm, and my nerves will settle. I will not think of myself as a psychopath because when I look at her, I will know love.

Can a psychopath love?

41

J AMES FELT TENSION SNAKE THROUGH the Scramjet, intensifying as they ventured farther from Seneca – even though few people spoke above a whisper.

Michael and Sammie didn’t know what to make of him; he saw it in their searching, baffled eyes. He understood why. To save them, he slaughtered the enemy with ruthless efficiency, but he also stood over a defeated man and murdered him. It was the way of the peacekeeper; he expected Sammie to value his cold-blooded skillset. He doubted she took pity on the men she pursued during Dacha training.

He