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

Can’t trust a goddamn one of these assholes.

Michael didn’t take his eyes off Carver.

“Why wait until he left, Broadman?”

“It’s cleaner this way. When the order came down today, Nilsson foisted the job off on me. First dibs after he left.”

“So, that shit you said about my cave hunter was …”

“All true, Cooper. In fact, I declined the job. Maybe I’m a little too soft after all that PA cock up my ass.”

Carver aimed his weapon. “I don’t have the same problem.”

How did he overlook this setup? Percy must have known what he was sending Michael into. Was his message a warning?

“Carver, this is a mistake,” Maya said, moving in front of Michael.

“I don’t have a beef with you, Fontaine,” Carver said. “But I’ll kill you both, and I sure as cud will not miss from this range.”

“Why, Carver?” Michael said, calculating his next move.

“You know why, you indigo piece of shit. They might have turned you into a passable soldier, but you’re just a prop until the Guard exterminates your best friend.”

“My best …?”

“You crossed with James Bouchet. They should have killed you and Samantha Pynn on day one.” Carver launched into a rant Michael heard before, especially on Earth.

Think. Understand the geometry. Be flexible. Play the odds.

Broadman spoke over Carver, whose rage seemed likely to unload the blast rifle within seconds.

“Here’s how we play this, Cooper. Drop your weapons then hand over the pattern sleeve to Fontaine. She hands it to me.”

“And then?”

“Then you have a date with the Void. Or maybe I’ll let Carver blow your head off before he tosses you over.”

Be fast as the wind, dumbass. Confuse them. You can do this.

In his heart, Michael knew his odds. But his brain told him something neither Carver nor Broadman realized: He wasn’t the only assassin they were prepared to kill.

He didn’t have to say a word. She saved his life once before.

Michael threw Maya out of the way, lifted his Ingmar, and pivoted. His free hand tapped his collar brace and snagged a blast rifle. The first round of flash pegs tore through the corridor, but none erupted from Michael’s weapon.

37

F.N. Hossaini Industrial Complex

Euphrates

T EN SECONDS AFTER SCRAMJET Gamma exited Slope, Col. Miguel Lennox confirmed their position from inside the navigation cylinder. He gave the order himself. Lt. June Santos, surrounded by holowindows, fired the first volley of energy slews. James watched with pride as the southern security perimeter of this otherwise gloomy, aging facility exploded in flame. A series of holowindows tracked the interior for life signs, the exterior for potential escape vehicles, and both to determine where best to stage the ground assault.

Lennox followed the plan with precision, bringing down the Scramjet ahead of the encroaching flames. The twenty immortal soldiers released themselves from still-seats and hurried out in their black and bronze body armor, weapons chest high.

James unbuckled and turned to his brother on bicomm.

“I have this,” James insisted. “I’ll restore the link when I find Emil.”

Valentin didn’t have time to object before James disconnected the bicomm and tossed it into a pouch in his armor. He pivoted to Lennox and Santos.

“Finish your job on the northern perimeter. No one escapes.”

The Hossaini factory was centuries old, using systems outdated almost everywhere in the Collectorate. It stretched half a kilometer, its old fueling stations located at the base of a mountain range that used to be heavily mined. Salvation’s agents said most of the northern facility was inactive, although trams were seen crossing into the mountains. The agents pinpointed where production was brisk and ran day/night. The immortal soldiers were rushing inside now. The sun set behind the mountains; the light cast a burnt red and violet glow.

James jumped from the Scramjet as it hovered several feet above the ground. A volley of weapons fire from his soldiers guided James’s path. Behind him, Gamma pulled away, surging toward the far end of the facility.

Rarely did James enter battle with his face hidden inside a full helmet. Tonight, he made an exception. The Salvation-1 Convex Tracking Gradient allowed him to see his troops no matter how far away, to pierce the walls of this facility, and to see the movement of every desperate Chancellor and indigo collaborator. If anyone dared to approach from his flanks or his rear, the gradient detected them, analyzed for weapons threats, and mapped defensive maneuvers in less than a second.

He studied the facility as if it were midday. The AI contained Emil Bouchet’s physical profile. His soldiers possessed it as well; he didn’t have to remind them to capture but not kill his father.

Like the other designs he stole from the Jewels’ Creators, James took special pride in knowing his tech surpassed the mighty Unification Guard. The DR29 he once thought so remarkable paled against this combat AI. If he had a few thousand more soldiers, he could defeat armies numbering in the millions.

For now, he settled on the conspirators inside this factory and the flesh of his father.

As instructed, the soldiers broke into four attack teams once they entered the facility’s offices and production bays. Soon after, James heard return fire. He knew the rhythmic beat of a Mark 10 blast rifle. The agents were right: Unification Guard security was present.

He trained the gradient on the zones of most intense fire. His young ones were advancing; the peacekeepers retreating. Few fell, a product of stubborn body armor on both sides. But the immortals were nimbler. Valentin taught them how to counteract Guard strategies but made sure their own offensive maneuvers belonged to a new playbook bound to confuse the enemy.

James wondered what these Chancellor fools might do if they realized the most valuable target in the universe –