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

The laser fire cut into Nell Kusugak, burning a hole in his head and throwing his body against the Scram.

Michael didn’t know who screamed or who returned fire. What he did know was that half of Nell’s head was gone, and the enemy had been waiting.

“It’s a setup,” he shouted. “Follow me. Now.”

He raced, head down, into the city, knowing full well every direction might be lined with snipers. The concert continued to blare, but panicked shouts also rose from the crowd now farther behind them. The hum of uplifts became distinct, and convoluted spotlights showered Michael’s escape route.

Then the laser fire resumed, cracking the night air.

Again, one of his crew returned fire, which was a waste. They couldn’t see their targets; stopping to shoot took away vital seconds. He should have known.

Stupid, stupid dumbass, he berated himself as he ran, laser blasts embedding around him and zinging over his head. Land in a cavern so they can pick you off. That’s your strategy? What the hell’s wrong with you, Cooper?

Why didn’t he see it? The pursuers on that Scramjet must have coordinated with their people in Harrisboro after Michael changed course. That’s how they were ready.

All he could do now was run and hope that whenever they found cover, eight other Solomons would arrive with him.

They crossed a narrow avenue at the base of a glass tower perhaps fifty levels high, its windows glowing in pearlescent shades of yellow, orange, and sky blue. Alarms triggered from inside the building, and shouts filled the night from residents on detachable balconies.

Michael learned enough about standard structures like this from his time in Philadelphia Redux and Boston. The ground level opened into an atrium, providing access to offices, restaurants, and best of all, the subterranean support levels. From there, they could access the sewers, which offered them passage through and, if necessary, out of the city proper.

It was another shot in the dark, but he saw no option. If the Solomon force in Harrisboro had been compromised by the enemy, then the city was never more than bait. And we’re just the damn rats.

They were meters away from temporary safety when the spotlights converged on their position. To either flank, uplifts bathed them in a midday light. It was an instant in his life when Michael hoped, once again, that maybe the past two years were the most insane dream a boy could have. That he’d wake up in his bed in Albion, Alabama.

Laser fire descended but it never hit Michael or his comrades. Just as they leaped for cover, Michael heard something unexpected. It was not the brisk whiz of lasers or the efficient rotating grunt of a blast rifle. This was the turbulent scream of a rocket. Just as he prepared to enter the tower, Michael looked up.

Both uplifts opened fire on the sniper positions. The side portal of each uplift was open, a dark figure standing at the edge. A gaseous stream tailed the rockets as they bore into the tower.

Glass shattered, and a rosette of yellow/orange flame lit up the night. For the first time, the drifting opera had competition in the noise department, and Michael thought they might yet have hope.

The first uplift dropped like a rock and swung into position feet away from Michael’s crew. A man carrying a blast rifle in one hand and a rocket launcher in the other shouted from inside.

“Five of you, right now! Move, move, move.”

Michael didn’t hesitate. He knew what even a second might cost.

“Go,” he told the first five brothers and sisters he saw. “We’ll catch up.” At least, he assumed the other uplift would come for them. “Run, goddamn it.”

They did. Amid the torrent of screams from above and out beyond in the park, Michael stood with Carlos Rivera, Maya Fontaine, and Xi Lan Pao. Not until then did he realize everyone survived the snipers after they ran. Nonetheless, they held their weapons high, at the ready. For a moment, the high-ground sniper fire halted.

The second uplift arrived to scoop them inside. Even as he saw panicked citizens running in different directions, Michael recognized DayWatch officers crossing the park, weapons hot. His choices gone, Michael leaped onboard with his team.

The portal pixelated behind, and the uplift jerked as it surged skyward. They had no time to take seats and buckle in. Instead, they grabbed whatever support they could find.

“No time to explain,” the man who rescued them announced. “It’s all gone to shit. They got inside. If we hadn’t been listening in on a traitor, you’d be dead, Michael.”

In the madness of the moment, Michael was thrown for a loop.

“You know who I am?” He asked.

“Sure, Michael. Every Solomon knows who you are. You’re a hero. You know that. Right?”

He wasn’t going there. “What’s the plan? And you are?”

“Hans Bricker. We’re just trying to stay ahead of the assholes as long as we can. We’ve got a …”

The pilot interrupted. She was a small woman Michael’s age.

“Scramjet, Hans. He’s locked on.”

Oh, shit, Michael thought. He’d almost forgotten about them.

“Hold on to your business,” Hans told his new comrades. “Dana, do it like I know you can, sweetheart.”

What she did was all but roll the ship. The uplift banked at obscene angles to dodge the pursuing enemy. No rollercoaster Michael ever rode prepared him for these stomach-hurling maneuvers. Seconds passed but felt like minutes.

Michael caught the terror in Maya’s eyes. This woman, who inflicted nightmares on others but appeared stoic, even at peace the rest of the time, could not contain herself. Carlos fell against a seat and vomited as the uplift buckled violently.

“Incoming,” the pilot said. “Energy slews. I don’t think I can …”

Michael’s assumption proved wrong: These bastards would fire slews on a Chancellor city.