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

turn to magma. It surged into gaseous form and congested inside his throat. All he had to do was exhale and push the gases forward.

“To expose the lie,” James said.

Valentin was never going to admit anything. He was too clever by half. He would stand his ground, even if he knew what was coming. James was a fool for thinking Valentin might crack.

“And what is the lie, brother?”

Valentin’s right eye winked twice. James was incensed.

“How dare you, Valentin! I told you to nullify your amp. Have you been recording our conversation?”

Valentin tapped his forehead. “Brother, no. I kept my amp streaming because I expected to hear important news. Right after talking with you, Admiral Kane contacted me. He said they were receiving new intel from our agents. The additional colonial sweep you asked for.”

James stepped back. “You violated our private code.”

“I thought the timing might not be a coincidence. You said we were being deceived, and our agents have been narrowing the search for the Chancellory’s new weapon. Kane is waiting. Should I receive him?”

Clarity before calamity.

“Yes, brother. Speak to him.”

He double-tapped his temple. “Kane, what do you have?”

Valentin listened for a few seconds before raising a brow.

“Kane, stop where you are. My brother is with me. He needs to hear this. James, I’m going to open a cube.”

Valentin showed neither fear nor joy. James recognized shock because it was so rare. Valentin threw up a holocube. Admiral Rafael Kane stared back from the Lioness command bridge.

“Brother James, we used your suggestions to narrow the search. We were more successful than we imagined possible.”

“That sounds like a victory, Admiral. Tell me more.”

“Our agents inside a Mandewatt Convocation on Tamarind made startling discoveries. A faction there has been funneling materiel to a rogue group of Mongols who claim this zone,” he said, throwing open a narrow geographical map, “as their own. They have been attempting to slaughter a scientific research team at the Void. The Ericsson Research Station. They’ve had no success because of the facility’s security team. Moments ago, the agent updated her report via bicomm. The Mongol village was decimated by energy slews, believed to have been delivered by a single craft during the night. Its origin has not been traced, but it did not launch from the base. She says no craft has been detected there in weeks.

“However, the picture becomes clearer because it ties in with another report I received earlier today. Our agent who is an expert at decrypting proprietary Guard streams unraveled a pair of ship-to-ground streams from a science vessel called the Praxis to the research station. These were military, not civilian.”

Clarity. “And what did they say?”

“Not enough to reveal the nature of the weapon, but enough to make clear: They are on the brink of success. You also asked us to search transmissions for a particular name.”

“Yes. Michael Cooper.”

“Sir, we found him. He was mentioned once as an afterthought. Third Lieutenant Michael Cooper. But you said Cooper was not a Chancellor. It’s possible the Guard was referring to someone else.”

Clarity. Certainty. James felt a rising hunger.

“No, Admiral. That would be my Michael Cooper. He cheated death so often on first and second Earth, he’d be clever enough to claw his way into the Guard if it meant he’d find a path to Samantha.”

“I’ve already begun to assemble names for a strike team.”

“Excellent. As I said before, I want a hybrid with them. Verify Cooper is dead, determine the nature of the weapon then destroy the facility with a Berserker.”

“The team will need to be large. The base is well fortified.”

James thought this a good opportunity to test their army’s mettle.

“Send at least fifty immortals. Overwhelming numbers. Your people,” he told the Admirals, “can die in batches and return to battle in short order. We’ll put our new body armor to the test.”

“Kane has more to tell you. We may have a bigger problem.”

James did not like the sound of that.

“Go ahead, Kane.”

“Sir, we’ve been investigating an industrial facility on Euphrates. It was dormant for several years and restarted six months ago. Reports cited unusual activity in a nearby mining sector and unusual security around the facility’s perimeter.

“Our agents failed to penetrate it, but they have produced surveillance images and CVids. I was reviewing them when I came across someone who looked familiar. But it seemed improbable.”

Kane hesitated and James grew impatient.

“Out with it, Kane.”

“For this image, sir, please know I’ve made a positive match through the Collectorate historical database. There’s no disputing the identity.”

The man in question was tall, elegant, refined, well-coiffed and dressed like one would expect of the elite. James didn’t want to believe it, so he pivoted to Valentin.

“You knew him for a few hours,” Valentin said. “I knew him my whole life, James. It’s him. Emil Bouchet. Our father.”

Bastard. I killed you and my bitch mother. I claimed the Bouchet line was dead.

“How is this possible? How did he survive?”

Why didn’t I know he was alive? Why didn’t I see any of it? The operation on Euphrates? The Void? What are they building?

“I don’t have the answer,” Kane said. “But a man as widely known as your father must have had powerful help.”

James felt a hand on his shoulder. Valentin drew close.

“If he’s alive,” Valentin said, “Mother must be as well.”

“Brother, they’ve been out there as long as we have.”

Valentin nodded. “If they’ve been working against us all this time, protected by the Chancellory, they might know how to beat us.”

Clarity became a luxury item. James’s mind fogged over as he reconsidered Hadeed’s message: “I see two potential prospects, but only one who seems made for the purpose.”

Maybe Rayna was right after all. Maybe he wasn’t a god.