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

He pivoted to James. “Brother?”

James felt time slipping away.

“You guarantee their safety, Ophelia? The other eight?”

“No, James, but I can lead you there. The ten of you deserve life and freedom away from …” She hesitated before resuming.

“Three years ago, Emil decided to kill the hybrids. He believed the immortals solved our future. He worked out a plan with Sexton to send agents across all ten folds, hunt you down, and kill you then recall the observers. I pleaded with Sexton. I made a military case for keeping you alive. Emil went along, but only if I took charge of the recovery and education programs. I will never put any of you at risk.”

James saw the truth in her eyes. One honest Chancellor – at least for today. He turned to his brother.

“Go with her. Make sure she’s safe. They just moved to Level 7. If they reach Level 9 before the ship arrives …”

“And you?”

“What we agreed might be necessary.” He shifted toward the hundreds of yellow tubes. “I can end it all, if that’s what you want.”

He nodded. “Will it be quick and painless?”

“I promise, brother. Take the ship. We’ll see you soon.”

57

R AYNA EXPECTED THEIR PLANS MIGHT come to this, but to see James give orders with such confidence electrified her soul. Even in the ugly red skin, he was the most beautiful man she ever saw, a commander in the making. The future father of her children. What these Chancellor assholes deserved. As the others ran from the lab, she jumped into his mind.

- You will do this for Valentin?

- I will do anything for my brother. Or you.

- What color eyes will our children have?

- Whatever we want them to be.

- True. We are not human.

“No,” James said aloud. “We’re better. We’re the future.”

He came to her with a savage aggression she long hoped for. He strapped his arms around her and kissed with a hunger of someone waiting decades for this moment. The Jewel’s undeniable heat rose in rhythmic waves, exchanging energy, intellect, and desire.

She saw it all. The little boy, Jamie. The older one named Ben, who pretended to be his brother. She saw the observers. She felt Sammie’s lingering desire for a boy she couldn’t have. And Michael, the fool at his side. She saw Jamie save them both from certain death and kill Sammie’s father. She felt the jealousy and rage of the Mentor Lydia, who trapped him and denied him the opportunity of the forever. She saw his rebirth, his confusion, and then his commitment. She touched the vast intellect hidden behind a curtain in his mind and witnessed the future he was devising for them all.

Then at last something else rose. A dark wave she felt every time she killed her enemies. The boy beside the Dnieper River. The traitor Kamily Doroshenko. Rayna confirmed what she always suspected but dared not say aloud or even to Mentor.

I am not a murderer. I am a warrior. I am a hero. My children will be heroes.

When their lips parted, she put her conflicts behind and looked to the path forward with this man who exceeded her dreams. Rayna did not understand joy until this moment.

“Time to be a god, my love,” she told him. “Do what you must for Valentin. Then we show them the future.”

His eyes cast love and darkness in union. He was prepared.

He placed his hand over the first tube on the lowest tier. She saw him grit his teeth and close his eyes as he summoned the half of him all humans should most fear.

The liquid inside the tube caught fire and eviscerated the fetus. The heat spread as a crackling black virus overrunning the nearest tubes, like lava from a raging volcano. He stepped away and grabbed Rayna’s hand. They stood together and watched as the conflagration incinerated tube after tube, from the smallest embryos around the opposite side forward to those nearing maturity.

When nothing remained but smoldering ash, Rayna studied James’s features. She saw neither the horror of what he did nor a lack of resolution to do it again. He was not weakened. Rather, his firm jaw and piercing eyes said he was ready to finish this.

The moment was quiet, without words verbal or interior.

She looked out the corner of her eye, however, and saw Mentor staring not at his pocket watch for a change. Rather, he appeared awestruck by the scene.

“Ah, my dearest,” Mentor said without looking at Rayna. “You will give me the heave-ho after this. Might I offer one parting word?”

“Speak quickly and to the point,” she said.

“I never knew a god who did not dissolve into mythology. And I was created by gods. Love your children, my dearest. They will be your salvation.” He pivoted to her. “If you find salvation at all.”

He wasn’t the same Mentor who first appeared in her life ten years ago. She heard the disappointment.

“You were a good friend, Mentor. I would not be here but for you. Yes. Time for you to go. I rescind our deal.”

She flicked her fingers, and he disappeared.

Rayna decided she must have no regrets. She pointed to the massive processing field in the center of the lab.

“Should we destroy the machines?”

“We will,” James said. “Soon enough.”

“There are thousands like your brother. Will he wish to search for them? What will he do if he finds them?”

“I have ideas, but we will have time to plan. We find our people first. Yes?”

He kissed her again, this time like a gentleman.

“Da. Ours first.”

He studied the DR29 surveillance. Ophelia and Valentin were entering the Level 9 platform. The Major’s forces were sitting at Level 8. They’d move any