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

and destruction. We shifted the power dynamic of the Collectorate. And all along, we thought of ourselves as heroes. Champions to the oppressed. As you call them, The Promised Few. But we aren’t, James. And this is my point.

“Between us, we have killed five million people. How many of them fought for our enemies? And how many were simply trying to get out of the way? In your case, how many never saw it coming? How many families? How many children?

“It does not matter how our crusades were formed. The Jewels are irrelevant. We made choices. We did have free will. We chose the blood of the innocent. There’s no coming back from this, James. Tomorrow, I die. Soon, you die. Where the universe goes from there? Who cares? New choices. New crusades. But neither of us deserves to see any of it.” Hadeed leaned over to James. “Here are your plates back.”

James grabbed them, leaped off the log, and hurled them discus-style into the lake. They splashed in the darkness.

“Go out how you want, old man. I have a life to lead.”

“Such as it is. Any final questions, James? Nagging concerns?”

“Just one. You said you had an idea who would try to kill me. Give me the name.”

Hadeed threw up his arms as if the whole business had been a miserable failure.

“Did I say try? Oh, Brother James. I hope you’ll reflect properly during the long walk back to Benjamin and Peter. As for the one who will kill you, I see two potential prospects, but only one who seems made for the purpose. Think on it, James. You’ll know who. Not that it will make a difference. Good night, James, and don’t bother thanking me for the fish. My pleasure.”

22

J AMES DIDN’T STICK AROUND TO KILL Hadeed. Incineration was too easy. If this Hiebim wanted to drown himself, he was welcome. The old man was not going to have the satisfaction of seeing James at his most furious.

Nonetheless, rage consumed James as he started back, fists clinched to his sides and the ground warming under each footstep. From time to time, the closest foliage sparked and transfigured into ash without direct contact.

I am not a pawn. I am a god. I am their salvation.

He had no reason to doubt Hadeed’s own life story, and only the Jewels could have made him privy to James’s childhood details. But the old man’s motives appeared obvious. He used his connection through the Jewels to exact revenge. His last act was to terrorize the man who was introducing a new civilization to a better version of Hiebimini. All those years listening to Jewels, Hadeed must have found a connection through the white forest.

The forest is a construct, James told himself. It’s probably visible in every being touched by a Jewel. He knew about every iteration of Ignatius Horne. He knew how to lure me out here. One final jab.

Twice, James stopped and turned around. Did he really want to give Hadeed the benefit of a final sunrise? Both times, he checked his rage and pushed forward toward the campsite.

Focus on the most urgent issue. Focus and be ready.

He contemplated Hadeed’s every word, especially the details not emphasized. The clues emerged as he approached the camp. James grabbed his bicomm and telegraphed his destination. In seconds, he had full view of the Lioness command bridge.

“Admiral Kane,” he said.

“Yes, sir.”

“Add another layer to your intel sweep. Focus on the four colonies but look for this name: Michael Cooper. We know he left Earth months ago, but our agents lost track. Examine every communication stream. Wherever Cooper is, that’s where the new weapon is being made.”

Kane grimaced. “How do you know, sir?”

“Because he’ll go to any length to rescue Samantha Pynn.”

“If we locate him, sir?”

“Assemble a strike force to include a hybrid. We’ll use a ground assault to kill Cooper first. We’ll finish off the rest with a Berserker.”

“Very good, sir. I’ll send instructions to our agents at once.”

James felt slightly less tense, but no more comfortable. “Soon,” he said. What is “soon?”

He saw a light fifty meters ahead, where he left his boys. James paused, closed his eyes, and searched the hybrid collective mind. He pushed aside a wide range of thoughts and emotions until he found his wife and grabbed hold. He hid them away in a synapse inaccessible to the others.

“You seem nervous, husband,” she said.

“No, Rayna. Not nervous. Awakened. We need to change our tactics before it’s too late.”

“Why?”

He looked again to make sure no one else was listening.

“My brother plans to kill me.”

PART FOUR THE IMPOSSIBLE FUTURE

To no one’s surprise, Aeterna has not been the paradise promised by its founders. The word paradise is itself a subjective construct. The decisions made in the aftermath of what has become known as The Last Day’s War assured a future for Aeterna that did not sit well with all pilgrims. Nonetheless, its transformational beauty has brought peace to many and a form of cultural homogeneity that has lasted far longer than most experts would have predicted. Many critics say my assessment is biased given my personal connection. On the contrary. I have studied Aeterna for two hundred years, long after my grandfather’s disappearance. Though I am immortal, I am first and foremost an historian. Who better to record the truth of history than those who are forever present to witness it?

-          Edward Faust

-          Annotation 1057-J

-          The Fall of the Collectorate, Volume 4

23

Ericsson Research Station

Tamarind

 

T HIRD LIEUTENANT MICHAEL COOPER tried without success to switch off disposal duty, but he found no takers. His team refused to give him a break despite his continued lead in documented kills. He added four bodies