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

a bar stocked with beverages behind glass, two food kiosks, and a hemispheric sofa behind which a black monolith called a UNIFAC glowed in colors of the rainbow. On the near wall, images of Valentin’s peacekeeper history – from induction to combat to shore leave – flashed in sequence. A short set of carpeted stairs led up to what James assumed was a bedroom, its external walls decorated with artifacts. He wondered whether they too were stolen from the colonies. Jealousy made an appearance.

At first, James didn’t realize Valentin broke away as he and Rayna gawked at the spectacle. He caught Valentin fingering a cube to open a panel on the outer wall beyond the sauna. He surveyed several shelves and found a small, hand-held device. When he returned, Valentin displayed a green cube the size of a golf ball. He pressed it against a holo-window he threw open and analyzed the results. He sighed in relief when the results came back.

“We’re in the clear,” he told them and swiped away the window. “We can talk.”

“What were you looking for?”

“Bleeders. It’s UG tech. We can plant them on anyone by touch. They hide in the bloodstream. Everything you say or do, everything you see, is sent back to the monitor. They dissolve after two hours.”

“What made you suspicious?”

Valentin smiled. “Aside from my parents and the Major being, as you would say, raging dicks? They allowed us to leave the observatory too easily. No escort. I thought it over. Mother slapped you, but she touches no one other than Father. When I asked permission to leave, Father touched my hand. Perhaps he hoped I’d see it as him making an effort, but he could have planted a bleeder.”

Rayna laughed. “You have worst parents in history of humanity. Maybe for all Earths.”

“They may not be the best, but they gave me all this.”

“Pretty toys for boys with big muscles and big penis. You are proud of this? Da?”

“Yes,” he said. “I spent many happy days here. I wish they had given my brother the same chance.”

James intervened. “We don’t have time for this. Rayna, we are depending on each other. What we need now is a plan.”

“Yes,” Valentin said. “First, we need objectives. We must leave SkyTower, but where do we go?”

“As long as we stay on Earth, they’ll track us and kill us. But if we’re out there,” he pointed up, “we have a chance. There are eight other Jewels. I’m sure there’s a plan to bring them together. If we had that information, we’d have a destination.”

“Good, James. I have an idea how to acquire the details, but I’m not sure how long the task will take. Assuming we know the destination, we have a more immediate concern: Transportation.”

Valentin led them to the hemispheric sofa and spoke to the UNIFAC monolith, asking for surveillance of the compound’s landing platforms. Images of the three docks did not surprise him. Peacekeepers guarded Perrone’s Scramjet with blast rifles. Three levels higher, on the south side, another Scramjet sat quiet with a similar complement of soldiers. The third option – two levels below the residence – sat empty.

“Lots of security,” James said. “Worried we might try to leave?”

“Ship on 9 is the Major’s,” Valentin said. He pointed to the empty platform. “There’s our best bet. They won’t expect the move.”

“What do we do there? Jump?”

“My friends and I used to. Grav-mod boots. It’s not a huge drop to the observation platform above Stage 1. It would also give us access to the Transport Core.”

“Then to the surface. How long to Hinton Station from there?”

“By loop, less than a minute. The challenge will be booking passage on an intersystem transport. They come in and out all day. It’s an endless parade. But as soon as I enter my credentials, it goes into the public datastream. We’ll be discovered if they are looking.”

Rayna grabbed James’s hand. The uncommon warmth returned.

“Is too complicated. We have simple way out.” She pointed to Perrone’s Scramjet. “We kill those assholes and take ship.”

James and Valentin glowered at each other. She was right.

“It is the most direct way,” James told his brother.

“Yes, but they are not mercs. They are soldiers of the Guard. Like me and you. To murder a brother in arms is worse than treason.”

Rayna was having none of it. “You sound like scared child. Look at you. Giant warrior. Trained killer. You have no duty to these men. They are not brothers. They are your enemy. You kill enemy. Da?”

“She has a point,” James said. “These soldiers have orders. They will see of us as hostiles. Brother, the Guard has been your life. But not for me. The only reason Perrone inducted me was to keep me on his string. You don’t have to do this. I have no problem killing those men, or anyone else who gets in our way.”

Valentin leaned forward. “You’re right. If these soldiers are willing to kill me in my home, then I have no allegiance. And if I have no allegiance, I have no home.” He pointed to the surveillance image. “But if I do this, there’s no coming back. Even Father couldn’t fix this mess. All I ever wanted to do was serve the Chancellory. All I wanted to do today was get you two off-world. Can’t do both. If we make it out alive, we find a new home together. Yes?”

James patted him on the back. “Are you kidding? Always, brother. You’re willing to give up everything for us. Rayna?”

“New family is good. So, I will be sister?”

“Or more,” James said. He saw the twinkle. She understood.

Valentin took a deep breath.

“OK, we have three pressing issues. One, a Scramjet is not system-capable. Best option? Fly into orbit, rendezvous with Camellia Transfer Port. The Marks Presidium maintains