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

bomber was Lt. June Santos, a fifteen-year-old immortal who showed a flair for weapons systems. She sat at the forward holodeck, an array of schematics floating around her.

Their new battle armor glistened midnight black, with bronze outlines at the joints, over the breast, at the torso, and alongside the thighs. Their built-in helmets, with a system James believed surpassed the Guard’s DR29 units, wrapped over their heads like the horns of a ram. It was his own personal modification to a design crafted by the Jewels’ long-dead Creators.

James realized what also changed since his last combat: He would complete this mission without another hybrid. Initially, Valentin suggested Ulrich Rahm, who was a brilliant Slope navigator and saved James by releasing his Berserker last year on Tamarind.

“No,” James told Valentin. “No more than one hybrid per assault. Our job is to level the surface after your soldiers end the resistance. They can die; we can’t. Our numbers are still too small.”

The argument played into Valentin’s hand.

“You are too exposed, even given the potential rewards,” Valentin said. “This evidence came too easily, too conveniently. Again, I advise you to cancel this mission.”

The elder brother prevailed, so Valentin adjusted. He designated Ulrich for the Tamarind strike, which consisted of two ships. The research station’s design inside the mountain next to the Void concerned James. It was reinforced and would be difficult enough to penetrate with a ground assault.

“Before you level it,” James told Ulrich, “establish distance. If you can avoid direct nuclear contact with the Void, do so. The Jewels have never told me what it is. Perhaps even they don’t know.”

He reviewed the Jewels’ million-year history and did not believe they terraformed Tamarind.

“What if,” Ulrich said, “the fight goes poorly, and some immortals become trapped inside without hope of quick rescue?”

“Do what you can, but don’t linger. If some are lost, we’ll grieve for them and liberate more from the colonies.”

He would gladly sacrifice them all if today’s strikes ended the Guard threat for years to come. The squad leaders on Scramjet Gamma and the two vessels attacking Tamarind – Spearhead and Scramjet Beta – received bicomms to connect them to live holograms of Admiral Valentin.

The younger Bouchet, stationed on the Lioness command bridge for these missions, appeared on Gamma and whispered into James’s ear: “One last time, brother. We can call this off.”

James didn’t need to say a word. Valentin understood.

The Admiral expanded his hologram to all three ships.

“Today,” Valentin told his troops, “we fire the first shots of an interplanetary war against the Chancellory. We will remind them why they retreated to Earth four months ago. You are prepared. We chose you because you are the best. Today, you defend your home world and every immortal who will join you there. What do we say?”

In unison, voices rose from the three cabins:

“We see the first day and the last day. We rise as they fall. We are The Promised Few.”

James took pleasure in the moment. As he conferred with his brother, James held tight on the image of his father. I’m coming, you bastard. You won’t escape.

“Slope time to Euphrates,” Valentin said. “Nineteen minutes, forty-three seconds. Slope time to Tamarind, twenty-one minutes, nine seconds. Navigators, initiate sequence to open Slope aperture.”

James breathed in the exhilaration. “See you soon, brother. I’ll say hello to Mother and Father. And Ulrich,” he said across ships, “don’t leave Tamarind before you slaughter Michael Cooper.”

36

Ericsson Research Station

Tamarind

 

M ICHAEL WAS READY. He all but cleaned out his weapons rack, stocking his Guard uniform with every tool he thought reasonable, including a second blast rifle. He tested the DR29’s long-range mapping and sensor gradients, programs he did not need on Tamarind. He activated the bodysuit’s water reclamation system, which might become vital if he spent days on foot to reach the Salvation settlement. All this assumed the pattern sleeve actually sent him to the correct planet – or any planet, for that matter.

Percy Muldoon intercepted him in the doorway to their quarters.

“Off to fight a war by yourself, Cooper?”

“Feels like it.”

“Look, Cooper, I’m sorry I betrayed you. I had orders.”

“Dude, everybody has a master. I’ve sure as shit learned that lesson. Did you know what Nilsson was planning?”

“Not then. Broadman and I are the only ones who know about the sleeve. If the others got wind, the Major would be in the shitter and you wouldn’t get off this rock. Broadman went along because she’s all about the promotion, and she enjoyed your cock. With you gone, maybe I’ll finally draw a spark. What do you think?”

Michael appreciated the banter. “A word of advice, Muldoon. She doesn’t have a soft side. You strip the sheets with her, she’ll leave bruises. Maybe some internal bleeding.”

Saying the words out loud reinforced Michael’s betrayal. Every time he satisfied his own needs with Rachel, he wondered whether Sam would forgive him. Would she understand his choice to become a Chancellor in every way but genetics, solely to find his way back to her? His parents would be ashamed of the man he’d become, but they didn’t know this universe. Sam did. His actions hinged on that simple reality. Yet if she ever asked, he wouldn’t deny what he felt. The sex was violent, but he enjoyed it. The killing was ritualistic, but he enjoyed it.

If she rejected what he became, Michael vowed to understand, so as long as he knew she was free to live and love again.

“Look, Muldoon, I don’t know how this ends. Maybe I’ll be a dead man soon as I step through the field. Whatever the case, please know I won’t forget. You’ve been my brother despite everything.”

“And I still am until you’re off this base. So, I give you this heads-up. Carver is stationed outside the Anchor