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

It wasn’t possible, and yet it was the only truth that mattered. For reasons Sam did not comprehend, the Jewels decided she would be their messenger. They wanted her to change the equation.

“It’s happening again,” she whispered. “It won’t happen again.”

She dressed, dried her tears, and brushed her hair. Assuming this would work at all, she needed to appear confident.

When Sam left her dome, the first light of dawn crept over the highlands to the city’s east. She knew who to see but wasn’t certain where to find him. So, Sam did the only reasonable thing to move the process along: She approached armed immortals.

In the low light, they didn’t pay attention to her at first. Four of them – two boys, two girls, ages nine to eleven – huddled together, motivating each other. They didn’t need to be afraid. They would live forever and keep coming at the enemy, even if they died for a short while. She heard the terror in their tone, but it was vaunted by the naïve certainty of victory over superior forces.

“Excuse me,” she said. “Where might I find Admiral Valentin?”

They recognized her, of course, and even offered fleeting smiles. She recalled speaking to a couple of them in the food production line. But the young zealots in them took over. They grabbed their holstered blast rifles and aimed.

“What do you want with Admiral Valentin, Chancellor?”

“My name is Samantha Pynn, and I am your Ambassador to Earth. I have important information for the Admiral. Can you take me to him?”

The boy who first addressed her stepped forward in a provocative manner, his eyes probing and deeply cynical.

“You were a tool to use against the enemy. Everyone says so. How do we know you aren’t an agent for the Chancellors?” His eyes widened. “You’re probably giving them intelligence about our … oh! Are you an assassin?”

Sam directed her attention to an older girl who appeared to roll her eyes at the boy’s melodramatics.

“Henri, how can she be passing along intelligence?” The girl said. “She has no stream amp. She peeled potatoes with us yesterday.”

“A good disguise, Linnea. Don’t trust people who try to blend in.”

“OK, Henri. Fair enough. I propose we take her to Admiral Valentin. If she is trying to betray us, he’ll be thankful we arrested her.”

“But we have live-fire drills in twenty minutes. We can’t be late.”

Sam grinned. “Then let’s be quick. I’ll run if I have to.”

The idea of these children facing a Guard onslaught horrified Sam. Perhaps this new body armor would keep them intact for a while, but what reasonable chance did these kids have against battalions of peacekeepers?

Henri turned to his brothers and sisters.

“Linnea, you come with me to escort the prisoner. If Admiral Valentin is upset, we’re the ones who take the heat. Maren, Otto, report to the drills.” Though Henri was the smallest of the four, he apparently outranked them, as all three fell in line. “Come,” he told Sam. “If you cause trouble, I’ll blast you.”

She followed them at a jog. They entered the industrial sector and led her into Haven, the former UG troop transport used now for weapons production. Inside, a dozen immortals in their standard-issue bodysuit lined up at the Recon tubes to be fitted into their armor. Others, now looking like formidable albeit smallish soldiers, checked in at a weapons depot and armed themselves. At the center of it all, Admiral Valentin operated from a dais surrounded by holowindows. Henri and Linnea brought their prisoner to him.

“Admiral,” Henri announced. “Permission to speak, sir.”

Valentin, in full armor, seemed annoyed by the distraction.

“Quickly, Sergeant. What is it? You are due at drills.”

“Samantha Pynn, sir. We found her roaming the city. She demands to see you.”

Those words caught his full attention. Their eyes locked for a few seconds before Valentin turned to Sgt. Henri.

“Thank you, Sergeant. I’ll handle this. Both of you to drills. Now.”

Neither Henri nor Linnea said anything as they ran from Haven. Valentin stepped through the holowindows and lowered his voice, scanning in either direction.

“I thought you were confined to quarters,” he said. “I can’t guarantee your safety anymore, Samantha.”

“I know. They’re coming. And I realize you’re busy. Valentin, give me two minutes. You won’t hear anything more important all day. Maybe ever. Please.”

He gritted his teeth and looked to his right.

“Col. Joosten,” he shouted. A soldier Valentin’s age, and therefore one of the first in the line of immortals, rushed to the Admiral’s side.

“Colonel, the dais is yours. Monitor the installation crew at NR7 station. It’s the last one, Colonel. We need to fill the gap quickly.”

“I’m on it, sir,” Joosten said.

Valentin grabbed Sam by the arm and dragged her deep into the ship to a private office.

“You have two minutes,” he said. “Go.”

“I don’t have time to tell you all the details, but hear this, Valentin. I know the Guard is a powerful enemy and you’re fighting for survival. But even if you win, it might not matter. Valentin, you have a deadlier enemy than the Guard. At the first opportunity, they’re going to come for you. Then they’ll come for all your people. They’ll betray you because they don’t want to share this world with you.”

He tightened his jaw. “What are you rambling about?”

“I saw it the first day I arrived. You told me. Things aren’t right here. They aren’t right between you and your brother. You know what the hybrids really want. In your heart, you know this.”

“It’s none of your concern, Samantha. I tried to protect you from them. Why are you doing this?”

“What do you know about the Jewels of Eternity?”

“Wait, what?”

“Have they ever spoken to you?”

“No. James is their conduit.”

“So, you don’t know the