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

five system-class transports. Private luxury carriers. I’ll arrange a pilot in advance – CTP is crawling with colonial free agents looking for contract hires. The ship has no arsenal, but it will take us to the Fulcrum, and that’s all we need.”

“Good plan,” James said. “The second issue?”

“Weapons. We need more than these to have a chance.” He motioned to his side-arm. “The soldiers guarding the Scramjet aren’t wearing bodysuits, so they’re vulnerable.”

“I saw this,” Rayna said. “Why do they not wear ugly red skin?”

“Those are called combat bodysuits. They aren’t wearing them for the same reason James and I changed after Seneca. If we came here in full armor, it would be considered a military siege. They’re creating the illusion we came by invitation rather than invasion. Walks a fine line but stays within Earth law.”

“You are very confusing people,” she said. “I wish to have biggest gun. My shashka is only good when close.”

“We have an armory for our security teams,” Valentin said. “One level down.” He pointed to a hovering, three-dimensional schematic. “My UG status gives me access.” He grabbed at the room and threw it open to visual surveillance. No one stood outside.

“What models?” James asked.

“Everything you‘ve already used, brother. Top military grade.”

“Good. After we break in, we’ll be exposed. If it’s this easy to watch the facility, they’ll send everyone after us. We need armor.”

“That’s where you come in. You learn entire systems through keywords. I have a ReCon tube in my bedroom. Standard civilian model. If I showed you into the customizer algorithm, how quickly could you access the programs for military bodysuits?”

“As long as I don’t stop to look around? Seconds.”

“We must move fast. If they,” he said, pointing to the soldiers on the platform, “get wind too early, they’ll go inside and hit those ReCons. If they match armor for armor, we’ll have a problem.”

“Understood. You said earlier there were three issues?”

Valentin hesitated, making James uncomfortable.

“Third might be the most complicated. We need to know where the others like you are being taken. Without it, we’d be searching the Collectorate blind. There are five people in SkyTower who have that intelligence. Only one will be motivated to give it up.”

James’s shock wore off. His brother was making sense.

“Perrone. He knows he’s finished, but he still has leverage. We offer him a way out. Just a matter of where they’re holding him. Teach me the security basics, brother, and I’ll do the rest.”

Valentin nodded, but he appeared to have an upset stomach.

“There’s something else. If we succeed, you and Rayna will discover where your people are. I want to find the others like me. James, I am almost fifteen. He must have created thousands of us by now. But I have no access to the R&D datastream. They have never allowed me above Level 8. I wouldn’t know how to lead you in. The proof could be anywhere.”

After an awkward pause, Rayna spoke up.

“I know where it is.” She waited as they looked at her in shock. “Is true. When Admiral was taking us on tour, he was talking to awful people. I called them fools. He tried to send me away, but I heard him. He said in next laboratory was greatest single threat to Chancellory. He said it was your father’s most stunning treachery. When doors opened, they took him. Must be place.”

Valentin showed a spark. “Do you remember the level?”

“Was Level 10. I ignored corridors and names of divisions. I heard only bioengineering. Dr. Tomelin knows. She was not surprised. I think she worked on project, too.”

Valentin walked into the giant schematic and flashed his hands at key locations in the facility: The armory on Level 5, the landing platforms on Levels 6 and 9, and the nondescript quarter of Level 10 designated for bioengineering.

“Once you determine Perrone’s location,” he told James, “we can build a strategy. If we can’t include Level 10, I will understand.”

James felt the same thrill of the moment that overtook him in the woods near Lake Vernon; again during the firefight outside the IDF; as he fought his brother to the death; and as he descended from a Scramjet to Seneca, his blast rifle blazing. He heard the call of the dark and felt driven to show his enemies what they most feared.

Rayna spoke for him.

“All will be good, Valentin. We will find our people. You will find yours. We will kill these assholes with our big guns, but there is more. We can do more. Da, James? We can make these fools remember us forever. Those who live will tell stories. We will be free. And I will have babies with James. New family is good.”

James wanted to kiss her right then. And more.

He knew better.

“Planning ahead,” Valentin said. “Good goal. Father told me I would be a proud uncle.”

“Before I can be a proud dad,” James said, “we have work to do. They’ll be coming soon. We can’t be here when they arrive. Let’s start with the security for … Valentin?”

His brother stared into the void, as if transfixed by a ghost or demon. His lips moved, but James couldn’t make out the syllables. After a moment, Valentin snapped out of it.

“It’s worse than we thought,” he said.

54

O PHELIA WENT FOR A SWIM. Only after Emil made the proposal, did Ophelia recall why she used to love the pool in the residence. Exercise and stress relief had nothing to do with it.

She recalled the first time: A few casual laps offered as reward for a vital research breakthrough. Even then, she sensed Emil was softening her, preparing for the day when she would become more than a mere employee. She never allowed such a disgusting thing to come to pass, but she always