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

“Possible, but doubtful. Chancellors are clumsy and arrogant. They will not see this coming.”

“Even if they escape detection, what James hopes to create here would be …”

“Impossible. Yes. Only achievable by a god.”

“A god with all the right algorithms.”

“I like you, Ulrich. You have a wit about you.”

Ulrich took the compliment as stunning praise. Rayna was not one to “like” others, their personalities, or their ideas. Ulrich suspected she hated playing third fiddle to James and Valentin.

“I have a question, Rayna, if you don’t mind the intrusion?”

“I don’t appear to be going anywhere.”

“Right. So, I’m curious. Why are you out here with me? Why not on the ground at Peshawan? This is a simple tag-and-run. You’re missing an opportunity to kill. I know you love it so.”

Rayna laughed. “My argument precisely. James felt his brother had more experience with public speaking. He said I do not possess subtlety of language. Plus, we did not dare risk too many assets in one place. We are opening three apertures and creating a show worthy of public discourse.”

Ulrich felt uneasy. “So, it’s true? The mission will be broadcast on open frequencies?”

“When we are ready. Yes. Time for the next phase, James says.”

“Seems like just yesterday I was born. Happening so fast. Los días son como segundos.”

“My husband knows what he is doing.” Her voice fell. “I think.”

Ulrich didn’t miss her tag-on, but he also didn’t want to go there. Ever since James and Rayna rescued the other hybrids, they’d gotten to know each other well. Their intimacy extended beyond their ties as a species. Ulrich had made love to six hybrids: The mother of his twins, due in a month, plus three other women and two men. James and Rayna encouraged the practice, insisting it would “unify” their small tribe. As far as Ulrich knew, this did not apply to James or Rayna, who were deemed exclusive to each other. Ulrich theorized, as did other hybrids, that Rayna might not like the arrangement.

“James never led us astray,” Ulrich said. “He knows what’s best.”

Rayna ignored him as she studied the Jeremiah Harrod. It was an impressive beast, Ulrich thought, so vast it appeared invincible. Three kilometers long, almost as wide, like a moon orbiting its home world. Thousands of lights flickered out of portals from stern to bow. A self-contained world, hundreds of years old, home to dozens of generations of Chancellors. Home to a UG fleet that far outnumbered Salvation yet lacked the tools to destroy it.

Their target was a small protuberance beneath the largest of the ship’s ion scoops. They needed to exit Slope less than ten meters from the target, eject the refractor, watch it clamp secure to the hull, and reopen the aperture in less than sixty seconds. They would time their arrival during the narrow window when UG patrols would not have direct eyes on the engine array. The greatest danger lay in the time needed to secure the Black Forest cloak. At best speed, Ulrich could not engage the cloak for nine-tenths of a second after exit, and it would fall a quarter-second before reentering the aperture. If the patrol ships detected any anomalies, they’d find the refractor.

“We will have our opportunity in thirty-five seconds,” Rayna said. “Can you confirm navcom is set?”

“Yes, Rayna. I have the code aligned. Catalyst drivers are spinning the magnetic field. Now infusing dark matter substrata. Slope aperture set to open in thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight …”

“Ulrich, I have a question for you.”

Her timing stunned him. “Sure. Twenty-two, twenty-one …”

“Almost all Jewels have used their Berserker skills at least once. Are you prepared to do this soon?”

Are you kidding me? You ask this NOW?

He gave the only answer Rayna would accept.

“Of course. If called upon, I will. Nine, eight, seven …”

“Good to know.”

This would be Ulrich’s thirty-second wormhole jump, but also the shortest: 9.68 seconds. This level of precision required extra finesse in monitoring navcom while prepping for reverse aperture.

They arrived within four inches of his projection. The Ark Carrier’s engine array dominated their field of vision, the uplift less than a blip by comparison. Rayna did fast work to program the uplift’s autoloader to aim and eject the refractor, an octagonal device a square foot in diameter with four-inch-thick glass and a magnetic bonding agent.

“Success,” she announced. “Time to leave, Ulrich.”

His hands flew through navcom’s streaming code. “Pivoting. Reverse aperture catalyzing. Drivers spinning the magnetic field. Dark matter substrata infusing. Eight, seven, six …”

They returned to their original position 1.6 AUs from Brahma and reentered Black Forest. Rayna studied the patrol patterns around the Jeremiah Harrod until satisfied they were not detected.

“Nice work, Ulrich. We are good team. No?”

“Considering it’s our first time, you bet.”

“I know what you wish to ask. Why did I ask about Berserker?”

“Timing was off, but yes. Rayna, I meant what I said. I am prepared if called upon. But I am curious. What is it like to unleash all that power?”

“It is like giving birth to millions of babies at once, but not as painful. Perhaps not the best analogy for you. It is primordial, Ulrich. It is moment of perfection, as if one’s soul calls upon the forces of creation itself. It is primary reason for our design. A Jewel who does not use this skill is not complete.”

“Point taken. I’m sure there will be opportunities for me to level a city or two. Yes?”

“At least. You may take us home now.”

Just when he thought he was making strides, Ulrich heard a sudden bitterness in Rayna’s tone. Her eyes fell low and dark, as he’d seen many times. If he didn’t know better, Ulrich might think the whole damn conversation was nothing more than a loyalty test.

Brother James had