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

Sam saw nothing recognizable in him. Fifteen years, she grew up with him in a small town. And now, after two years apart? Nothing. Just a sadistic monster with eyes of flames.

Don’t show your fear. Don’t make him think he’s won.

Sam could not, however, hide her tremors.

“Thank you, Ulrich,” James said. “Please report to the command bridge and speak with Major Kane.” He pointed toward the planet. “What do you think, Samantha? An amazing achievement, isn’t it?”

“You …” The words came out through stumbles and bumbles. Sam never felt so inferior, so helpless. “You killed millions of people. Innocent people.”

“Millions? Yes. Innocent? Not so much. They were like you, Samantha. Chancellors who wanted my kind to be their servant monsters. They brought this on themselves.”

“You’re wrong. You’re …”

“If you dare to call my husband insane,” Rayna said, “I will leave most painful marks on you.”

“It’s fine, Rayna,” James said. “Samantha has had a long trip and she’s tired. Why don’t you and my brother attend to matters on the command bridge? I’ll need a few minutes.”

Rayna spit at Sam’s feet as she passed, but Valentin shot an impatient glance at his brother then offered Sam a comforting hand on her shoulder before he left the stage.

James smirked. “I don’t believe my wife likes you. That’s OK. Give her time and space. She’s pregnant with my third and fourth children. She was always moody during the first pregnancy. Please, Sam. Come. Join me.”

He beckoned her to center stage. When Sam didn’t move, he wagged a finger.

“As if you have anywhere else to go? Come.”

She did as instructed, remembering Ulrich’s warning.

“It’s been a long time,” he said as she drew close. “I always knew this moment would happen, but seeing you in person is as remarkable as it must be to you.”

“No, James. Remarkable isn’t the right word. Sickening is better.”

“Ah, yes. The eyes. They take some getting used to. You will.”

“The last time we spoke, you told Michael and me you were a killer and that you needed to kill. That’s all you’ve been doing ever since.”

“Mostly, yes. But I’ve also been communing with the Jewels of Eternity, understanding the distant past and seeing the future. I’ve built new technology and freed whole worlds from enslavement. I think that’s a busy two years. Yes?”

Sam was seething. “And you used those children … those poor twins. I don’t know what you did to them, but you killed their parents and turned them into monsters like you.”

“You misunderstand. I simply directed them with a manipulation of Jewel energy and a few other techniques I’ve learned. Those are Chancellor children. They aren’t immortals and they aren’t hybrids. They served their purpose. They’ll be vented into space.”

The sheer scope of the man’s cruelty did not come into total focus until that instant. Sam fell to her knees. James bent down beside her.

“Hiebimini is reserved for my kind, those who worship me as their god, and for you, Samantha. My personal servant monster. The last of your family, and the bitch who lied to me all my childhood. You are mine now, and you will be until your last breath. And best yet, you will serve me willingly.”

“No. Not a chance. I’ll kill myself before that happens.”

“You might try,” he said. “But if you succeed, know this. I will kill Michael. I will kill everyone who helped you end the war on Earth. And then, I will wrap Earth in a noose of the same weapons I used to destroy the Ark Carriers. And since this Earth is so closely tied to the one where we grew up, I suspect the impact will extend through those interdimensional folds.”

Sam now understood. This was her punishment.

“Why, James? Why do you need me? I’m nothing.”

“On the contrary, Samantha. You’re brilliant. Once we are settled on the planet, we will establish trading partners and political relations with the new sovereign governments. You will be my ambassador to Earth. They will need a familiar face as they struggle to survive all alone in the galaxy.”

“No, James. Never.”

“Yes. And you will do this willingly. Gleefully. Allow me to show you my light.”

He placed his titanic hands over her cheeks. Islands of blue escaped his fingers and burned inside her. A wave of warmth coursed through her blood and deep inside her mind. She tried to resist, but Sam had no defense.

He buried his lips in her with a violent passion.

When next Sam opened her eyes, she no longer saw a monster.

She saw Jamie Sheridan, and her heart was full.

77

Hinton Station, Philadelphia Redux, NAC

Tier 17, Platform B

Fourteen standard days later

G OODBYE. IT WAS THE ONLY WORD Michael wanted to say. Short, sweet, uncompromising. Goodbye to the few friends he found on second Earth. Goodbye to the illusion of wealth and privilege. Goodbye to anyone who made the mistake of putting their faith in him.

He did not sleep more than three hours any day since losing Sam. The constant refrain never let him rest. You should have known. You should have known. The guilt – and the time needed to arrange this expedition – ate up his waking hours.

At first, Supreme Admiral Poussard thought it a foolhardy venture and rejected his request for soldiers, supplies, and munitions. The Ark Carriers retreated from the colonies within the required seven-day window, and she did not want to risk sending a large contingent of peacekeepers back into a colonial system. Yet on the tenth day of the withdrawal, she reversed course.

“There may be another way in.”

That’s all she said while agreeing to supplies, munitions, proprietary Guard tech, and a small team of special operations soldiers. It was good enough for Michael.

The ship was another matter. Five Presidiums quietly