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

- Do you like to kill? He asked her.

She was resisting Misha’s effort to put her in a ReCon tube to change into Chancellor clothes. Without looking at James, she responded.

- Is despicable act always, but I find satisfaction. Humans are stupid creatures. They often deserve death.

- Yes. But when you kill, do you feel stronger and happier?

- I am happy those who earned death are gone. For myself, I am angrier. I wish to kill again.

- Why?

- I do not know. It is perhaps what I am.

- What WE are.

- Da.

He severed his connection with Rayna and studied Michael. His oldest, dearest friend sat slumped in a chair, the weight of this new world tearing at him. Sammie sat beside Michael, holding his hand, whispering to him. He saw a tenderness she used to reserve only for Jamie Sheridan and for her precious Daddy. However, she held a stern, conspiratorial expression as her eyes darted between Ophelia, who was conferencing with Perrone, and the new addition to the Jewel contingent. She appeared to avoid the three crimson peacekeepers, who stood together at attention as ordered.

Valentin captured the moment when he leaned over to James.

“You were right, brother. Your friends do not appreciate what you have become. I will be glad to speak on your behalf.”

“I appreciate it, Valentin. But they don’t know you like I do.”

“Or what we’ve been through.” Valentin swallowed. “Sometimes, I taste the metal of the blade you jammed in my throat.”

James nodded. “Yeah, well, they don’t need to know those sorts of details. They saw me burn a man alive, so maybe they won’t be as freaked as I think.”

Valentin sighed. “That is not what troubles you. Yes?”

“What do you mean?”

“It is what you have to tell them about our choices – you and I.”

His brother was right. “I brought them here. It was always going to be the three of us. Now …”

“You know what will happen if they follow us into this fight.”

He did. “I made a promise, Valentin.”

“We all make promises. But they are just words. They’ll understand. Or not. By then, none of it will matter.”

“Either way, they’ll be alive. That’s got to count for something.”

The admiral cut them off. He broke away from consultation with Ophelia and summoned everyone to attention. Rayna continued to resist Misha’s request.

“Rayna,” Perrone said. “I hope we have the pleasure to become more acquainted. In the meantime, however, I need your focus here. Afterward, you will change clothes. There will be no compromise on that point. You no longer live in Ukraine. Yes?”

Rayna bared teeth. “Da. But in Ukraine, we dress with pride. Here, you dress as if ready for bed. You look ridiculous.”

She had at least one ally. James saw Michael crack a smile.

“With all cultures,” Perrone said, “dress is a matter of both functionality and tradition. In time, you will come to understand our ways, Rayna. Despite your upbringing, you were born a Chancellor.”

“And then I became different.” She faced James. “We became different. I will wear your idiotic dress, but my way.” She tipped her head, and James reciprocated. He dropped inside her mind.

- Don’t make enemies, Rayna. Our future depends on what happens today.

She angled to Perrone without responding.

“Good,” he said. “Now, with trivialities aside, we must discuss our next step.” He gestured to the Chancellors who flew Rayna’s rescue shuttle. “Dr. Langdon, Ms. Myerson, we are grateful for your courage in bringing the Jewel to us. Ophelia will process a substantial stipend for you, with help from the UG. You will disembark at Redux. Understood?”

Judging by their bewilderment, they did not. When one of them objected, Perrone said:

“Your skillsets offer no benefit for our next operation. If conditions change, Ophelia will notify you. Yes?”

He insisted they enter the tubes. He ordered Specialist Holland to place them in stasis mode – in effect, putting them to sleep until arrival. James understood the technique well. Once they were shuttered away, Perrone continued.

“I will come to the point. I, along with my three peacekeepers, our latest arrival,” he pointed to Rayna, “and Ophelia will enter the residence of Emil and Frances Bouchet. For those unfamiliar, the Bouchets own sixteen levels of SkyTower two miles above the surface. Less than an hour ago, we commandeered their residence in direct violation of numerous Chancellory bylaws.”

He tapped his personal holocube and threw out a huge, three-dimensional graphic illustrating the Bouchet compound. The interface revealed a city-sized cylinder of facilities and residences a mile in diameter. Running down the center of it was the Transport Core, which connected the surface to the upper reach of SkyTower in low Earth orbit. The compound was a beehive of movement both lateral and vertical, but the distinctive focal points were yellow flashers, most of them stationary. James estimated a hundred.

“We have taken the Bouchets’ compound to prove a conspiracy that threatens to destroy the Chancellory as we know it. Over the past several years, I have placed my people in a variety of key roles throughout the compound, waiting for this opportunity. Many of my most devoted investigators debased themselves to pose as Solomons.” He paused, as if choked up. “When this is done, they will earn the greatest recognition.

“Our elaborate strategy to lure away Bouchet’s primary security agents gave us the opening to land the additional UG forces needed to take the compound. Maj. Sexton Marshall is in command, and we have nullified stream capability for the Bouchets and their associates. However, this mission contains a certain element of risk, in the event the Bouchets have contingencies in place. Therefore, no one other than those mentioned will be asked to come.”

He turned to Misha, who stood beside Rayna.

“Admiral, I gave away the last fifteen years