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

“Its rage became my rage. I passed the test. Afterward, it closed off my memory. I spent the next twenty-seven months in darkness living as a sad, lonely loser in the ass-crack of America. My only regret is the time lost. I wouldn’t expect you to understand what it’s like to be gifted qualities never before seen. I am the single most consequential being to walk among the stars in a million years.”

Sam didn’t even try to react. How could she? How could anyone? But she knew what happened a million years ago because she was there, if only as a brief witness. She assumed the J’Hai who betrayed his younger brother and launched an apocalyptic war might have declared the same messianic nonsense. More history full circle.

You’re so lost. I am not even sorry anymore.

If it was meant to be, Sam was willing to accept her fate. But she hoped for a chance to see James die first.

63

70 minutes earlier

M ICHAEL LOVED THE NEW BODY ARMOR. It molded to his every contour, just like the Guard version, but it took comfort and breathability to a new level. It was more than thick fabric capable of absorbing energy weapons and dulling the impact of projectiles. The black and bronze organic casing expanded and shrank in isolated regions depending upon the soldier’s needs. Its water reclamation canals converted perspiration and urine to potable water ten times faster than Guard fabric. Its synthetic nerve receptors allowed full touch sensation despite covering the fingers, a clear upgrade.

Best of all, Michael loved being able to customize his weapons pouches. Valentin showed him how to use a three-fingered press to grow a pouch. The organic skin wrapped around the weapon and hid all but the outer handle (or hilt, in the case of Michael’s Lin’taava sword) for ease of access. He ran through a series of quick moves, retrieving and stowing weapons. He was so excited, Michael asked:

“I could live in this for months, right?”

Valentin, racing through a holocube to bring this armor online to the Salvation network and link Michael’s stream amp, nodded.

“Only if you’re not interested in sexual intercourse.”

“That’s a glitch. Hey, what about?” He pointed south and behind.

“Three fingers,” Valentin said with rolled eyes, as if he’d answered the question a few hundred times already.

“Outstanding. Yet another upgrade. Who designed this?”

“My brother takes credit,” Valentin said without losing focus on the data package. “But it’s a Jewel design. James borrowed the architecture for all our best tools from the Jewels’ Creators. The J’Hai, as you call them. Slope travel, bicomms, refractors, railgun camouflage. A long list. We collaborated on the color scheme for the armor.” He backed off. “OK, good. You have full access.”

“Whoa, wait a minute. You have railguns? Those are cool.”

“Test your helmet.”

Michael tapped his collar by instinct. Nothing happened.

Valentin grinned. “Your amp is linked to the armor. You activate and retract the helmet with a thought. Visualize. The organic construct will scan your cranial region and encase in nine-tenths of a second. Three times faster than the latest Guard model.”

“So, if I think it, I’ll command it to happen?”

“Yes.” Valentin blinked, and his helmet instantly wrapped around his head and bonded to the armor at neck level. “Try it.”

He did. Helmet on. In a flash, Michael was living inside a bubble of virtual tools and a convex gradient which created a roomy, three-dimensional construct. He felt claustrophobic his first time inside a DR29. Here, the helmet seemed more like a living space.

“The S-1 Tracking Gradient will require some adjustment,” Valentin said, “but the principles of interactivity and weapons control are similar. We have ten-year-olds who mastered it in an hour.”

Helmet off. “Ten? That young for combat?”

Valentin dropped his helmet. “They have no reason to fear death, and they’re committed. Many will not face combat, but they should be prepared if called upon.”

“I don’t know. It’s just … they’re so small.” He nodded outside the Scramjet, where the six immortals he killed were now recovering and washing their hair in the river. “Guard soldiers are …”

“Not much older. Bigger, yes. More skilled in combat. Yes. But not as devoted. And, as you now see, wearing inferior armor. What did my soldiers do to your team on Tamarind? They also wiped out a Guard squadron on Euphrates.”

Michael was pushing the edge of hypocrisy. He spent months slaughtering hopelessly outgunned Mongols. At this point, debating the ethics of child soldiering was not going to bolster his new alliance. The armor and helmet were remarkable, perfect against a Guard with superior numbers. Moreover, Valentin cared for these children; after they awakened, he preached discipline, not rage against their attacker. It didn’t make Michael’s apology while dressed in Guard colors any less awkward, but Valentin made them see the bigger picture.

Michael was fortunate this Scramjet model contained a Recon tube. Valentin dared not bring him into JaRa wearing Guard armor. Even disguised as a Salvation immortal, his presence would be problematic.

“You’re not as tall as me,” Valentin said as they considered logistics. “But you are as muscular. For that reason alone, you will stand out, even with your face hidden. If word got back to the hybrids …”

“I get it. Look, I’ve been doing a lot of ‘standing out’ the past three years. At least you didn’t play the proto-African card. OK. How do we pull this off?”

“We’ll drop you outside the city and guide you to a location where you’re needed. Once the attack begins, no one will think twice about your identity. I’ll take care of matters in JaRa. I know where to assign those six. And I trust Col. Joosten.” They pivoted to the pilot, who watched Michael’s transition in silence, focusing his attention on intracity communications.

“But I must say,” Valentin continued, “there