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

James allowed Admiral Valentin to send more rescue missions across the colonies. Since realignment, we have liberated two hundred immortals. They’re on the planet training with the army. The admiral says we still have another seventeen hundred to rescue. We’ve all been so very busy. So, that future you saw? It will be miraculous.”

Sam did not hear most of Rosa’s chatty monologue. Her ears clutched onto the mention of Sister Rayna, and a blistering cold wave unnerved her. The echoes of that deep-throated Ukrainian voice. The woman’s hand on the back of her neck, the fingernails scraping deep and drawing blood. But worse, the ever-present smile with teeth exposed like daggers.

“He loved you once,” Rayna told Sam an hour after their first encounter in stellar dome months ago. “But he loves me now, and we have many babies. Do not think he showed you his light because he cares. No. You are tool. My husband will call when he needs you.”

Sam did not understand at the time, trapped between the revulsion of her circumstance and the joy produced by James’s kiss. But soon, Rayna made herself clear. She escorted Sam to a remote section of Lioness and entered a chamber all in white.

Padded walls. A cold, barren floor.

“He gives me two rules,” Rayna said. “I must not kill you, and I must not harm your face. These are only rules.”

“What are you saying, Rayna?”

An immortal brought in a chair, and Rayna demanded Sam sit.

“Your hair is beautiful, but you do not deserve it.”

Suddenly, a soldier buckled each arm against the chair. The joy of James’s light dissolved in a moment of terror. A hand grabbed her hair from behind and pulled it into a long, tight clump.

“What? Rayna, why?”

“My husband admires you. This must end.”

Rayna twisted her eyes, blistering orange in their recesses, and nodded to the soldier. The clippers did their work.

Sam dissolved into a crying, withering heap as Rayna watched through the cutting and then the close shaving. Not until the last hair was gone did Rayna change her expression. She displayed her teeth.

“Release her.”

Sam stood, trembling. “What have I ever done to you, Rayna?”

“Is not past that worries me. You are stronger woman than you seem. I cannot have this.” She turned her palms upward in a gesture of reflection. “I can destroy whole city, but I cannot kill you. I will do next best thing. No?”

She nodded to the immortals, who were both boys. They surrounded Sam.

“Take it all,” Rayna said.

Sam tried to put up a fight, but she never had a chance. After they stripped her naked, she fell to her knees and sobbed, arms wrapped tight over her chest.

“Take the chair,” Rayna ordered, “but leave hair scattered. She must be left with something of her own.”

Rayna drove her fingernails into the back of Sam’s neck.

“This will be your room. Is big, no? But do not be afraid, Samantha. I will visit from time to time.”

Sam tried to beg, but she couldn’t form the words.

When Rayna closed the door, the light vanished.

Sam did not see it again for three months.

10

Diplomatic rendezvous point

530,000 kilometers from Mars

 

S AM PULLED HERSELF TOGETHER by the time the Scramjet exited the wormhole aperture and Miguel Lennox brought down the cascade barrier. After Rosa unbuckled her, Miguel scanned her with a diagnostic holotool.

“How do you feel?” He asked.

“I’m ready, Miguel.”

“Good. Rosa and I will set up the conference table. After we’re done, I want you to run through the entire script.”

“Certainly, Miguel. We will have enough time?”

“Yes. The other ship is seventy-five thousand kilometers out. I want the words to be fresh in your mind. In the meantime,” he pointed toward the bulkhead to her right. “Water dispensary. Drink enough to settle your nerves.”

The dress rehearsal went perfectly. Sam’s diction and tone matched expectation, and her ability to answer extemporaneous questions was spot-on. This did not surprise her; Sam did little else between meals and sleep the past two weeks.

“Perfect execution,” Miguel said at the conclusion.

Sam had an epiphany. “You two were never there for the practice sessions. How long were you observing me?”

“Three days,” Miguel said. “Once Admiral Valentin appointed us, we were told to learn every word. We must account for all variables.”

“Valentin appointed you? Not James?”

“In our chain of command, Admiral Valentin leads the immortals. Brother James may request our duty, but the admiral deploys us.”

This surprised Sam. She thought James and Rayna lorded over all.

“Don’t misunderstand,” Rosa intervened. “As much as we adore the admiral because he is an immortal like us, we worship Brother James. We will follow him on any path, no matter how dangerous.”

Sam nodded. “And you should. There’s no one like him in the universe. James sees the beginning and the end.”

“He does,” Miguel concurred. “But it’s good he defers military matters to his brother. No one man can be expected to make all the decisions. Even a living god is …” Miguel paused, his tone loosened. “Sometimes wrong.”

Rosa gasped. “Miguel, what are you …?”

“I want to tell you something, Samantha, but only because we are hundreds of light-years from Hiebimini.” Sam saw the torture in his eyes. He wasn’t sure about his next words. “I know what they did to you. I don’t agree with any of it. One does not torture a potential ally for three months. You deserved better, even if you are a Chancellor.”

“Thank you, Miguel. It was challenging, but I’m here now, and I’m ready to serve.”

“Good. We won’t speak of this again.” He turned to Rosa. “Will we?”

Rosa picked up her jaw. “No, Col. Lennox. Never.”

A part of her wanted to hug Miguel. She never expected any sympathy, let alone for anyone to mention