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

materialize, but she wasn’t built to process so much so fast. And none could be reproduced as physical proof. At the very least, Valentin hesitated before he replied.

“Why you?” He asked. “If the Jewels are behind this, why anoint you as the messenger? You and an old man who shouldn’t exist.”

An easy one. “Who else would you believe? Valentin, you told me I was being sent down here instead of vented into space, because James said I was ‘essential to the future,’ whatever that means. I think about it every day. He’s your conduit to the Jewels. Yes?”

“He is.”

“What if he allowed me down here because the Jewels planted the idea in his mind? What if they knew this was coming? What if they decided to make me a conduit to the younger brother? Maybe all this was a chance to test you and the immortals to see where you stood when given the choice. This cannot be a coincidence.”

Valentin held his hands to his hips, a sign that gave Sam hope. At least he was contemplating the possibility.

“My brother is arrogant and at times, irrational. But he led us here, and he knows his empire will not happen without me and the immortal army. He would never do what you suggest.”

Now she understood. The poor J’Hai who led her into the skyscraper and tried to negotiate with a Berserker wasn’t pleading with just anyone. They spoke of their mother and father.

“It happened before, Valentin. A million years ago. The same betrayal. The J’Hai people sent him to negotiate with the leader of the Berserkers – his own brother.”

“And what happened?”

“His brother didn’t listen. Didn’t even care anymore. Slaughtered him then turned his army on the rest of the immortal J’Hai. Every time I see it, I want to cry and scream. They’ve been seeking vengeance all this time. They brought us here to create a type of crucible, and they’re giving us a chance to choose.”

Valentin’s jaw stiffened. “My heart wants to believe you. After all I’ve experienced the past three years, nothing seems beyond the pale. But I have a brain, and it asks too many questions I can’t answer. Are you suggesting I kill my brother before he kills me?”

“Like I said, we have to choose. I’m not sure that’s your path, Valentin. Someone else will be here soon.”

“Who?”

“The old man said, ‘He is coming. Wait for him.’” She held off the tears. “I can’t say his name because I don’t see how it’s possible. I want it to be true more than my life, but I can’t …”

“No. Samantha, if you’re thinking of Michael Cooper, no.”

“But why not?”

“James was obsessed with finding him. We recently discovered Michael Cooper’s location. A base on Tamarind. But Samantha, I’m sorry to say the base was destroyed. There were no survivors.”

A cold knife, long and jagged, ripped into her gut and twisted.

“You’re wrong.”

The words dropped with ease. The news should have destroyed her. Yet Sam refused to bear it.

“I wish I were,” Valentin said. “We lost fifty of our best.”

“But not Michael. Either way, nothing changes if you …”

Col. Joosten, who Valentin left in charge, burst into the room.

“Admiral, we have a breach.”

“Wait, what? By whom?”

Joosten paused to glance at Sam. “Unknown, sir. It just now happened at the NR7 installation. Six streams died simultaneously. I picked up an image from a drone vid.”

Valentin crowded beside Joosten and looked inside the officer’s holocube. The response was immediate.

“Who could do this? Have we detected the enemy?”

“No, Admiral. But look here. We are monitoring two rifters leaving the scene in different directions. This one is on a northwest heading, away from us. But here … south over the river.”

“How long?”

“Assuming current path and velocity, seven minutes to the falls, eight to JaRa. Your orders?”

Valentin stepped aside and grabbed Sam’s arm. He brought her close and showed the carnage at the installation site.

“Who did this? The old man couldn’t have ambushed all these soldiers. Who did this?”

His tone changed from near-acceptance of her story to blood-soaked rage. Sam didn’t blame him, but she dared not answer his question. Valentin was trembling when he leaned in.

“Your orders?” Joosten asked again.

Valentin hesitated, shifting between them both. Finally, he addressed Joosten.

“You’re Slope skilled?”

“I am, sir.”

“Prepare the reserve Scramjet. It seems our war has begun.”

57

T HE SUN PIERCED THE HORIZON AS a fiery hemisphere, opening Michael’s eyes to the wonder of a beautiful world. It felt new with possibilities, as he imagined Eden might have long ago. Yet he pushed forward with pounding heart and nerves on edge, the rifter skimming a few feet above the rapid rush of the Bengalese River. He was half a kilometer from the waterfall, time about to slip away, his thousand-to-one shot almost lost. Did he follow the signs correctly?

  The destruction of the J’Hai capital city replayed on a loop, each time with additional, granular details. The family that landed its organic ship at the base of the wide avenue came into clearer focus. They weren’t present at the apocalyptic moment by accident. This time, he felt the terror that brought them to the city. He heard their prayers for a peaceful resolution. They chose to be here; they refused to let him die alone.

Father. Wife. Grandchildren.

He had protected them for years; hid them away from someone who long ago slipped from their grasp and chose a different path: The first son.

These J’Hai could not bear for their beloved to sacrifice himself alone. Yet the city was huge; they did not know how to find him. So, they waited and hoped. Michael felt their desperation, their sense of inevitability.

When the thousands of J’Hai who filled the avenues and windows decayed