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

On that day, Tom and Marlena Sheridan reclined on a sofa as Ben placed a file folder between them and slapped his clammy hands together.

“Ever since last year,” he told them, “I’ve been searching for answers to why I felt so disconnected from everyone and everything. I looked in unexpected places, maybe some places you’d never want me to go.” Ben shifted his seat and took a deep breath. “I never set out to harm you or interfere with our mission. But what I found was so … profound. Mom. Dad. It’s going to change everything. It will be our salvation.”

Tom and Marlena shared a short, cold chuckle. Ben was undeterred.

“What I discovered is beyond me, beyond any of us. It’s something the Chancellors have refuted for centuries. Without it, we’re cold, empty people. We’re focused only on power and control and …”

Ben realized he made the mistake of belittling his own kind.

Tom uncrossed his legs and sat up. “Excuse me, Benjamin. I’m quite sure I don’t care for the direction this is going. This conversation is …”

“Dad, please. I know you don’t like the man I’ve become. But I did as you demanded. I gave everything I could to Jamie. So you owe me this chance to explain. About six months ago, I attended a church service. I know you warned me for years to stay away, but my curiosity was too strong. The preacher’s sermon went on forever, but two words connected. Ever since, I’ve been putting together the pieces of the puzzle. Studying everything I’ve been taught about Caryllan energy. All my research is in this folder. It will change everything the Chancellors believe.”

“And those two words were?” Tom asked.

The answer stumbled across his lips. “Eternal life.”

Ben knew he failed. The cold, sweeping emptiness of an immovable Chancellor appeared in his father’s eyes. He rushed headlong into an explanation, detailing his revelation, insisting his folder contained ample proof of how to counteract the Jewel’s effect, that Jamie could be saved and guaranteed long life. In the process, usher in new promise for Chancellors.

“Your interest in Jamie is admirable at a sentimental level,” Marlena said, “but also wholly irrelevant. You ended your contractual responsibilities toward him when you moved out. Frankly, I fail to see why you maintain a vested interest at all.”

They escorted him to the front door. His father leaned into Ben with a hot breath and said, “If you ever try to see Jamie, I’ll kill you where you stand.” Ben saw a clear, silent message through those impenetrable eyes: Ben signed his own death warrant.

He hopped into his pickup and drove around for an hour. And then, after no alternative arose, he called Ignatius.

“I’m out of time,” he said. “I need you to fix this.”

He spurned the echoes of rifle blasts.

Walt spoke with great confidence. “You see, Sheridan, you and I are both men of secrets. We do what is required to survive while also preserving the natural order, and as a consequence we must bear the burden of our actions in silence. I made accommodations whenever our mission was in danger. Some I made without consulting the others. I make no apologies. You, however …”

“Killed them. Yes. And I’ll always have their blood on my hands. But Dad would have made me disappear. Nobody would have ever found my body, and Jamie wouldn’t have been given another chance at life.”

“And how has that plan worked out for you, Sheridan?”

Ben seethed. “When I was a kid, I was always scared of you, but I was told you were someone I could trust.” Walt didn’t blink as Ben continued. “I don’t think trust is even part of your equation. You’re battle-hardened, determined to fulfill a mission, and God help the little people who get in your way. Those observers who came with you weren’t just colleagues. There were three children. Another one growing inside your wife. You ruined all their lives. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“You were only eight years old when we left. You lacked the maturity to understand the central tenet of the Chancellor code. The familial bond is an asset, but it cannot be allowed to become an emotional distraction. Preservation of the Chancellory and its core philosophy is the sole priority of each member of our caste. Grace understood this. Samantha was taught it years ago and has obeyed. Victory is morality!”

Ben summoned his courage. “I can barely remember what home looks like. So here’s your victory, Walt.” He grabbed his gun and swung the weapon across his body to within an inch of Walt’s right temple. “Pull over.”

The huge Chancellor’s right eye rolled slightly to its side. Ben saw a deep, soulless well of arrogance, a resolute belief that death was a fate reserved only for indigos and Chancellors who lacked a spine. Ben told himself to pull the trigger.

“Pull over, or I’m going to make Sammie an orphan,” he said.

“You’re a dead man,” Walt said in a full voice.

“You got that right.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Ben saw flashing blue lights approaching from the opposite direction. Walt hit the gas, throwing Ben backward. An arm came free of the wheel and flew into Ben’s face. Ben pressed the trigger and heard a deafening pop followed by shattering glass.

The SUV surged into the other lane, and Ben stared into the headlights of a Vernon County Sheriff’s Department patrol car.

30

T HE SUV CLIPPED the front right corner of the patrol car, bounded along the highway’s gently sloping curb, swerved, and took out a green road sign at a rural intersection. As Ben regrouped, Walt grabbed the wheel and made a sharp left before correcting the car’s course along an unfamiliar side road, which sloped sharply downward.

Ben fired twice