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

Sam didn’t side-step the truth: This was an enormous relief.

“I apologize to you both. My life has been chaotic since Vasily.  After Michael fled, I haven’t focused on anything but rescuing him and preventing a war. I do wish we had more time together.”

She tapped Brayllen’s shoulder. When he turned about, she saw rivers of tears. He fell into her.

“Please don’t send us away.” He sobbed. “You have to stay here with us. Please, Samantha.”

How could she explain? I’m no mother. We’re no family. I brought you here out of guilt. She wiped Brayllen’s tears and kissed him.

“I want you to be happy again, Brayllen. In time, you will be. But not with me and Michael. You said you wanted to live on G’hladi one day. If you go to the right family, you’ll have enough credits to book passage wherever you wish.”

She pulled away but did not hug Rosalyn, who resisted physical affection since her arrival. She seemed less interested in Sam’s outreach now. Instead, Sam started for the main house.

“Merton has made the arrangements. An uplift with an agency representative should be here soon.”

“No, Samantha,” Brayllen screamed. “This is a mistake. You are making a huge mistake. You can’t do this to us.”

Sam didn’t turn back, even as Brayllen’s rage echoed through the compound. This isn’t betrayal, she told herself. This is necessary. They’ll understand some day.

Sam hardened herself against self-recrimination. She made the best decision for the twins.

“I’ll give it all away,” she told Merton minutes later in his office.  “Every last credit. Whatever guarantees my future with Michael.”

“I fear nothing will buy guarantees in these unstable times,” Merton said, offering a kerchief for her tears. “If even half of what you plan to do succeeds, you’ll be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life. Chancellors have infinite memories.”

“That’s OK. If I have allies, at least they’ll be in my boat. If I don’t, then I won’t be around long enough for it to matter.”

Merton leaned back on his desk. “These choices will have consequences far beyond your estate.”

“Hasn’t that been my story since I crossed the fold? I can’t bring back the dead, Merton, but I can minimize the tragedy. It’s why I’m sending away the twins. And it’s why we need to part ways before I leave the compound with those mercenaries.”

He bounced up. “What? You wish to dissolve our contract?”

“For your sake, Merton. For your family.”

“Out of the question.”

“If we separate before I commit hostile action against the Chancellory, your name stays clean. You have other properties.”

“All of which are far less interesting than yours. Besides, anyone wishing to discredit me could do so, even if I walk out the front door this minute. I stuck my neck into far too many dark corners to find those mercs. I am, as they say, a known quantity.”

She never appreciated Merton until these last few weeks. He was always the accountant, the financial manager, the household director. An executive who did his work outside her daily orbit while Patricia Wylehan provided a shield. Merton was ten years older than her father at his death, the type of man Walter would have considered expendable.

Yet now, as she saw fear replace the confident twinkle in his eye, Sam understood at last.

He cared. Deeply.

Like a father.

“Are you certain about this, Merton?”

“My only certainty is in numbers because I can make them balance. Life, on the other hand, is a colorful intersection between wildcards and infinite probabilities. Fuzzy math, at best.”

She was speechless. He displayed more courage than her “allies” who went dark after the disastrous meeting at the GPM.

They hugged. “I have to do this, Merton. If I don’t go with them, I’ll be afraid the rest of my life.”

“Hmmph.” He kissed her cheek. “We can’t have that.”

“Will you do me a favor?”

“Anything, Samantha.”

“Make sure the twins pack and are ready to go. I’ll say goodbye when it’s time, but I have too much to do.”

They separated. “Of course. When do you expect to leave?”

“I think right before sunset. You’re sure the intel from the Moss compound is up to date?”

“To the hour. Our informant dropped the latest details on my stack ten minutes ago. No changes in status.”

“And no confirmed sighting of Finnegan Moss?”

“No. Still the same vague reports about Scandinavia.”

“It doesn’t mean he’s betrayed us.”

“True. But you need to pressure the Americus Presidium. Ezekiel Mollett and Lucinda Blanche must stand with you on this move. They are your keys to the Vancouver and Coronado Presidiums. My sources say they are still flexible, but they are frightened. Worse yet, they are pragmatists. They will not move easily.”

“They think Celia Marsche is in a league by herself.”

Merton scratched his nose. “She is. For now. Best to form your own competitive league, and hurry along about it.”

Which is exactly what Sam did. In the following hours, she met with her mercenary team and its newly appointed leadership to hash out attack plans. She oversaw the arrival of her final supplies, including a late-model Scramjet equipped with three Recon tubes. She came face-to-face with nervous Lucinda Blanche on a holocube.

Sam lost herself in preparations and negotiations and realized, too late, what she forgot. The twins were headed to a new home.

Tossing guilt aside, Sam suited up as the soldier her father trained her to be.

41

Appalachian Mountains

M ICHAEL DIPPED INTO THE COLD, stoic portion of his soul. Like every other time, the transition to assassin felt alarmingly natural. The weapons completed him: Ingmar Pulse Gun, standard-issue laser pistol, Mark 8 blast rifle. This time, at Maya Fontaine’s recommendation, he brought along a knife with a serrated, six-inch blade. He wasn’t comfortable with the idea