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

“Then truce it is. Do you have anything else to add, Ms. Pynn?”

“No.”

Cardamone rose, followed by Drake and Lastrobe.

“Then we’ll leave in peace,” she said. “Ms. Pynn, I wish you good fortune, as I suspect you will need every ounce of it. Should you ever extricate yourself from this obscene web, don’t return to Earth. I doubt you’ll survive a day.”

Sam knew she was right. The instant she agreed to carry out this task, Sam wrote off ever seeing Earth again. All she could do now was protect it at great distance. And hope against hope that someday …

No, she wasn’t going there. Even to mention his name.

Drake and Lastrobe offered no final words and turned their back on her as quickly as Cardamone. They disappeared into the docking umbilical, and Miguel raised the cascade barrier. He retreated to the navigation cylinder and monitored the uncoupling. Rosa brought Sam a small bottle of water, about the size she received in her cell.

“You did an outstanding job,” Rosa said. “Brother James will be so pleased. The next time …”

“You think there will be a next time, Rosa?”

“Why, yes. We just started negotiations today.”

“I meant a next time for me.”

The girl lowered her eyes. “You don’t think …”

“I’m a Chancellor. We saw what happened on the landing bay. Didn’t Brother James say he was going to kill all the Chancellors in the fleet?”

“Yes, but they aren’t like you. He made you Ambassador to Earth.”

“And I want to serve him, Rosa. I do. He showed me his light, and it’s beautiful. When you report back, you’ll tell him how good I was?”

“I will.” Her face lit up. “We both will.” She turned to Miguel, who left the navigation cylinder. “Won’t we, Col. Lennox?”

Miguel took no pleasure in the moment. Sam saw the hollow stare of a man whose worst fears were realized.

“You accomplished your mission, Samantha,” he said. “And now we know the truth.”

Sam felt a new unease. “What do you mean?”

“They accepted the truce too easily. Admiral Valentin said no high-ranking member of the Chancellory would agree to a truce with terrorists. He said if our dialogue finished in less than an hour, and they acceded to our terms, then this would prove they are planning to move against us. And soon.”

Sam and Rosa responded with a simultaneous, “What?”

“I watched them closely. Admiral Valentin has trained me on the nuances of Chancellor body language. They came here as scripted as you, Samantha. They played us, just as our intelligence predicted. They don’t think we’ll suspect their true motives.”

Sam dared to ask. “Which are what?”

“To attack us. Full on. They have figured out a way around the blockade. They just need more time to marshal their resources.”

“But how?” Rosa asked.

“We’ll know soon enough. We have allies everywhere. We’ll strike at them first. Count on it.”

Sam felt a burning wave through her chest.

“So, all of this was theater? Brother James never cared about a truce. He sent us in to be spies.”

“More specifically, he and Admiral Valentin sent in me. When I report back, they’ll escalate the next phase in our operation.”

“To do what?”

“First, win the hearts and minds of the colonists. Second, end the Chancellory for good.”

Suddenly, Rayna’s last message returned with a fiery stamp:

When task is done, you will be done.

12

O N FINAL APPROACH TO LIONESS, Sam broke the silence that dominated the return trip. She called out to Miguel, who lowered the cascade barrier. He pivoted inside the navigation cylinder when she made her request.

“Will you speak up for me when you see Brother James?”

Miguel offered a tentative nod. “I’ll try, but he will not be in a generous mood when he hears my report.”

“I understand. Tell him how much I can offer Salvation.”

“Two problems. I don’t think he actually wants an Ambassador to Earth. And he’s paranoid about having Chancellors among our people. Ever since the incident with Ophelia Tomelin, he’s been increasingly hostile, even to Chancellors who do essential work. He …”

Ophelia Tomelin. The name triggered her memory. Sam needed a moment cut through the fog of her life on Earth.

“Ophelia? I knew her for a few days after I crossed the fold. After SkyTower, I never heard anything. Miguel, what happened?”

He sighed. “She turned on us. Tried to escape and take a hostage. Sister Ursula. One of the Jewels. I was there. We laid a trap, but it got away from us. Ursula was killed in the crossfire. Ophelia and the other traitors were executed on the landing bay.

“It tore the Triumvirate apart. Ursula was one of the original ten hybrids, and Ophelia was there from the beginning. She transitioned every liberated immortal, including Rosa and me. Brother James marks that day by making sure every Chancellor we vent is standing in the same spot on the landing bay. The only reason we haven’t exterminated them all? The rest of us are stretched too thin settling the planet, protecting the system, and building alliances on the colonies. They’ll all be dead in a few weeks.” Miguel lowered his eyes. “I’ll do what I can, Samantha, but Brother James does not welcome unsolicited advice.”

Miguel returned to his duties. Rosa laid a comforting hand on Sam and offered a beatific smile.

“It’s not his fault,” the girl said. “He’s afraid of Brother James. We all are at times. But James blamed everyone who took part in trapping Dr. Tomelin. He made sure Miguel stayed in the fleet when most of the immortals rotated down to the planet.”

“I thought Admiral Valentin deployed the immortals.”

Rosa studied her with the sympathy of an older, wiser sister.

“Who do you think ran the operation?”

Sam didn’t need further explanation. Though she spent little time with James