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

Patricia closed in and blocked the view.

“They’re doing everything. I promise. Do you remember it?”

“Just … we were happy. I was about to tell her something important. It was … Yeah. I was gonna say I loved her.”

“Good for you, Michael. Anything positive to come out of this day! OK, OK. So, here’s the situation, and I need you to listen carefully. Remain calm. The machines are healing you, but you’re not clear of danger. Understand?”

He nodded. Michael wanted to know what was happening to Sammie, but he saw stark terror on the face of a woman who spent years in the thick of deadly combat.

“You were both shot by a flash laser. It was an assassination.”

“What? How? I …” The lightbulb flashed on. “Perrone.”

“Not Perrone. Worse. Look, Michael, there’s so much to tell you, and everything has been falling apart. We don’t have long to talk.”

“You’re scared shitless, Chief. What’s going on?”

Patricia took a deep breath. “Things have happened since you went down. The city is being evacuated. We must leave here soon. They’re going to bring in stasis mods for both of you. Keep you stable during travel.”

“The city? Philadelphia Redux? Why?”

“Because it’s more or less the end of the world.”

“Holy … sorry, what?”

“Calm down, Michael. You’re fragile. I shouldn’t be talking to you. Look, I was being dramatic, but this day will change everything.”

“How does this … Chief, this is nuts. How long have we been here? How the hell are you even here?”

Panicked voices echoed from the hallways. Patricia darted her eyes back and forth.

“You were shot three hours ago. Michael, I’m here because I was looking for you and Sammie. I was trying to save you, and essentially I failed.”

“Back up. Seriously. Tell me what happened.”

“Michael, everything we thought was going down on Seneca was a lie. It wasn’t about picking up the Ukrainian. It was about setting up Perrone. This thing was bigger than we imagined. Ophelia was in on it, and so was Emil Bouchet.”

“J’s father? I don’t get it.”

“I don’t have the details. They took down Perrone in SkyTower, but everything went south. I don’t have any news about your friend. It’s madness. Just listen, Michael. OK?” He nodded. “The people running this game wanted to make sure they silenced all the loose threads. That meant everyone who took part in the operation on Seneca and at the interdimensional fold. I should be dead. You and Sammie gone. Plus, our pilot Rikard, the observers for the Ukrainian, and anybody who violated the lockdown at Heinlein Outpost.

“We’re alive because Ophelia Tomelin drew a line. I knew she was ambitious, even more ruthless than people gave her credit for. But she has a heart. We can be thankful. She sent a message to my stream stack after leaving Seneca. She said Perrone gave his peacekeepers orders to execute me and my team over the Atlantic. We were onboard the shuttle by then. We commandeered it before they could act. I persuaded most of them these were illegal orders to commit murder. Two of them stayed loyal to Perrone and fought us. I lost one of my team, but we killed two of theirs.”

“I’m sorry. That bastard put you through the blender.”

“I’ll be fine, Michael. I’m an old soldier.”

He feared the next part. “So, how did you find us? If Perrone wasn’t trying to kill me then …?”

“Turns out, Perrone didn’t give up his vengeance. Ophelia sent a message to Rikard’s stream stack, too. She revealed the spy’s identity. Same guy Perrone commissioned to kill you. Brey Grinderson.”

“How did …?”

“Rikard took him out. Brey is shark food by now. And Rikard, there’s more to him than meets the eye. At any rate, when you landed at Redux, Ophelia sent me another message. She said you two weren’t under her protection anymore. She begged me to find you. Explained where you’d be. You were with one of her associates?”

“Yeah. Dr. Langdon.”

“That’s the one. He didn’t want any of part of this business.”

“Explains why he got the hell out of town so fast.”

“I just landed in New Stockholm when I received her message. One of my team came along. We hired a private uplift, but we missed Sammie’s hearing. Fortunately, you were assigned TransComs, and there aren’t many of those around. We homed in on TransCom signatures and narrowed down possibilities. We detected you in the park, seconds before you were shot. We knew it was you when you saw your signatures collapse. The shooter came out of hiding to make sure of his work. My associate is a trained sniper. He took out the bastard. Another few seconds …”

Michael didn’t want to think about it. All this, just minutes after Sammie asked him if he wanted to go home. After reminding him how dangerous this world was.

“Thank you, Chief. You saved us.”

“No, don’t thank me, Michael. There’s other business at play here. Neither one of you should have survived those wounds. When I jumped out of the uplift, I was sure you were both dead. The pond was already stained with your blood, and Sammie … she all but bled out by the time we got here. Michael, I’ve seen nasty wounds in battle. Things that take down peacekeepers. The shooter didn’t miss. Your wounds should have been fatal. Nobody can explain why you’re alive; but for whatever reason, the tissues and blood vessels within the wounds tried to regenerate. Not enough to heal but enough to keep you alive at a minimum. It was as if your body was buying time.”

All the dots connected.

“Jamie. It was Jamie.”

“What, Michael?”

“Before we crossed the fold, they shot me in the back. Jamie healed me. His touch brought me back. Sammie, too. She took a bullet in the gut.