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

The red glow in the corners of his eyes sharpened, and Brother James constricted his jaw.

“It is, and still you object to this mission.”

“Why will you not tell me Tamarind’s importance? Give me a reason to justify the risk.”

“Does our long-term survival seem like reason enough? Brother, all I can tell you is Tamarind has something our enemies will want when they have no other options. If the Mongol and Chinese tribes are united behind Salvation, they’ll prevent the enemy from using Tamarind against us.”

“James, I don’t pretend to understand how the Jewel reveals itself, but you talk in puzzles. I cannot be an effective Admiral with inadequate information.”

“I say all you need.” He wrapped a hand behind Valentin’s neck and leaned in. “Brother, I don’t do this to play games. I know I was an asshole in the executive quarters yesterday. But I’m an asshole everywhere. Ask my wife.” James forced a smile. “I am processing all of space and time while trying to love my wife and my boys. Some days, I leave myself.”

“So, yesterday was one of those times?”

James nodded. “Brother, this is my journey. If I don’t follow their design, I’m afraid I’ll leave and never come back. Sometimes, I think it’s too much for me. Do you understand?”

“I do, brother. Which is why I haven’t killed you.”

James laughed, a deep and guttural response while holding his lips shut tight.

“We’d have been a hell of a pair growing up together.”

“No. I doubt our parents would have given us the chance.”

“Emil and Frances? Probably not.” James sighed. “So, I trust you’ll have everything under control after I leave. The other matter is being handled?”

Valentin tensed. “It is, brother. I don’t agree with everything we’re doing, but I like your endgame. It will send a message.”

“Loyalty, brother. Nothing else comes close. That’s why I have to return to Tamarind. Those indigos cannot split their loyalty between Salvation and the Chancellory.”

Valentin looked across the landing bay to the Scramjet manned by a combination of immortal soldiers and rogue peacekeepers.

“They’ll give you everything they’ve got if there’s trouble. I should be with them.”

“You know our agreement. My wife won’t be back for another few hours, not until the last of the refractors are installed.” Rayna left an hour earlier aboard Scramjet Beta, destined for five different star systems. “We need our Admiral to secure the fleet.”

“I’ll see it done, brother.”

Valentin meant those words, though he hated what lay behind them. If there was even one miscalculation – on Lioness, on Tamarind, on Scram Beta – all else might unravel before the final move. He doubted the necessity of today’s maneuvers. Hadn’t they installed enough refractors to make their point? Hadn’t James, Rayna, and Valentin earned absolute fealty after boldly leading months of dangerous missions rather than sending their followers into the maelstrom? Would anything about today improve their calculus?

Minutes later, after the uplift and Scramjet departed, Valentin studied the quiet docking bay, his nephews at his side.

“Uncle Valentin,” said Benjamin. “What’s the best place to rule? In space or on the ground?”

He didn’t see that one coming. “Interesting question, Ben. Tricky answer.” But Valentin didn’t need to think about it. “The best place to rule is where you have the least chance to die.”

Benjamin scowled. “No fair. You didn’t answer the question.”

“Didn’t I?”

He led them across the docking bay toward the lift. Ahead of them, one of the triple doors slipped open. The man inside remained there until the Admiral and his nephews arrived.

The man and his white eyepatch nodded in deference.

Valentin followed James’s orders and ignored Harrison Malwood.

59

Mandewatt Valley

Tamarind

S PEARHEAD LEAPED FROM THE WORMHOLE aperture into sheets of rain sporting a pink glow. Lightning flashes and rolling thunder pushed the transport side to side. Ulrich compensated to counter the usual gravitational turbulence, but the storm caught him off-guard. Intelligence insisted the Stratospheric Storm Cycle would not extend this far west for another six months. He dared not lose his composure, not with Brother James buckled in behind him.

With deft hands, he double-checked the numbers and exhaled. His calculations, as always, were perfect. They arrived at the predesignated coordinates, twenty kilometers from the rendezvous point. Another ship blasted into form: The Scramjet escort appeared two kilometers ahead, scanning for any potential opposition – ground or otherwise. If they provided the all-clear, they were ordered to jump back into Slope and maintain a high-orbital status, watching for global Guard deployments.

“Any problems, Ulrich?”

“No, Brother James. In fact, take a look at this.”

He threw open the forward viewport, which flooded with the soupy yellow rays of one of Tamarind’s binary suns. It was low in the western sky, perhaps two hours of light remaining, but its light danced in electric shock waves off the thinning rain.

“We’re clearing the storm front. It’s a whopper. Thirty miles high.”

“Is it moving on Mandewatt?”

“Negative.” He studied new meteorological data. “Slow pattern, taking it north. Mandewatt shouldn’t feel its force for three days.”

“Good.” James laughed. “For a second there, I heard my brother saying, ‘I told you so.’ I’ve always hated when he’s right.”

“That’s the problem with younger brothers. They’re always trying to find your weakness.”

“And you know this how?”

Ulrich didn’t understand why he opened his mouth. He spent months trying to put Lleyton out of his mind.

“Did I never tell you, James? I had a brother in my first life. I only remember what the compliance program didn’t erase, but he was a good boy. Very headstrong. Died before I could tell him the truth.”

“Hmm. Probably best he never knew. The one I used to call brother did not handle the truth well. In fact, he died for it.”

Ulrich heard the stories about Ben Sheridan many times and why