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

out soon. In the meantime, Michael, it appears you’ve done an outstanding job of following the signs. One test remains, but you and Samantha have created a great opportunity.”

Michael gasped. “Fuck. It’s you. Valentin said Sam was visited by some kind of agent. Are you working for the Jewels?”

“One does not work for the Jewels. One simply abides. I was tasked, at the end of my miserable life, to make contact with the three-winged beast of an impossible future. You are the last.

“You have one more test, Michael. If the algorithm is correct, you will succeed if you understand key principles. Grief blinds more than rage. Rage burns away reason. Reason lives inside discipline. The disciplined man binds grief and rage inside reason. Yes?”

Michael wasn’t expecting a dollar-store philosopher.

“Sure. Absolutely, old man. And your name is?”

Aldo spit. “You cudfrucker. Trayem Hadeed. How?”

“Wait a minute,” Michael said. “You know this dude?”

“Trayem Hadeed is a war criminal. He’s responsible for the deaths of two and a half million Hiebim. Nine years of a war he started. I beat him at the Battle of Messalina. Dropped a barrage of slews from my Carrier. Wiped out ninety-five percent of his forces, but not this bastard. He was on trial when it happened. The Fall of Hiebimini.

“In all the confusion, he got away. We assumed he died somewhere in the desert. How? How did you do it?”

Hadeed licked his lips. “That’s not the story you want to hear, Admiral. And it’s not why I’m here. This is what you want to hear:

“I am going to die today. And good riddance to me. Yes? I’ve wanted it for years. I deserve it, of course. Every kind of pain you wish upon me, I have already suffered. And I won’t be the only monster to leave this beautiful new world. They hoped you would fulfill your dream to return here, Admiral. Allow my miserable death to provide you some measure of comfort.”

“No. You have to pay for your crimes, Hadeed. The right way.”

Hadeed seemed amused. “My home world disappeared thirty-eight years ago. It was replaced, and I was sentenced to watch. Trust me, I have paid the right way. Good luck to you both.”

The man threw on his hood and swung about face. Aldo stepped forward to grab him, but Michael intervened. He felt it in his soul: Hadeed had to fulfill his purpose without interference.

The algorithm. Always the algorithm.

As Hadeed disappeared through the reeds, Michael said:

“All this shit we’ve seen and done? What he did? Aldo, this is fucking judgment day. Forget about laws and trials. It’s time to put on our big-boy pants and walk into the damn fire. We’re dancing with gods, and they’re trying to teach us the steps, so we won’t fuck it up.”

Aldo pushed Michael away. “Cooper, do you ever listen to what comes out of that hole on your face?”

Michael stifled a laugh. “Yeah, I’m not big on filters.”

“I’m not sure if you’re the most original or most insufferable …”

Michael tapped his amp when a signal arrived and opened a cube.

“Cooper,” Valentin said.

“Here,” Michael replied. “Tell Sam the good news?”

“Working on it. We have a complication. What’s your status?”

“Holding pattern.”

“And the other one?”

Michael laughed. “Still grumbling, but he’ll do what we need.”

“Good. I sent the data. Anticipate rendezvous. Be careful. I have a feeling we won’t be in control much longer. Valentin out.”

Michael closed the cube and took a breath. He remembered Trayem Hadeed’s words about reason and discipline.

“A ‘complication.’ Huh. I’m sure it’s being handled.”

“I’m sure, Michael.”

They said nothing until a white flash followed by thunder signaled the arrival of a Scramjet via wormhole. It hovered twenty feet in front of them. The door pixelated. No one was waiting.

“Look, Aldo. Be good. All right? We need your expertise.”

“I’ll play my part, Michael. If we don’t see each other again …”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. It’s been a helluva ride.”

“Not what I was going to say, Michael, but it’s usually more interesting when you have the last word.”

Michael didn’t add a thing as Aldo limped to the ship and hopped onboard. The door regenerated before he turned to wave. The Scramjet vanished in another violent blast seconds later.

Michael jumped on the rifter and flexed his hands before gripping the steering arms. He transferred his target coordinates into the guidance web and talked to the rifter:

“Here we go, new friend. End of the road.”

 

PART FIVE REQUIEM

Though many people believe the Systems Treaty of SY 5360 laid the foundation for half a century of interplanetary war, there are others who say the controversial agreement saved billions of lives and propped up economies that collapsed in the wake of the Collectorate’s fall. Aeterna’s role in supporting this treaty cannot be understated. We must never forget: Without the aggressive action and wise counsel of my grandfather, who became an immensely popular figure, a threat far more catastrophic than the Chancellory would have targeted all the worlds of the former Collectorate. We live in relative peace and prosperity today because of the seeds he planted.

-          Edward Faust

-          Annotation 1073-N

-          The Fall of the Collectorate, Volume 4

65

A S MICHAEL APPROACHED JARA from the southeast, Maj. Aiden Nilsson arrived to its north. He folded space to within eighteen inches of the surface and set down with a soft touch. His team members held his flanks. The ground, covered in thick moss, descended forty degrees beneath a tall canopy. He opened his DR29 and surveilled the landscape.

Everything about the settlement, less than one hundred meters south, shocked him.

“Cudfrucker. They have a city. How do they have a city?”

To his left, also inside her helmet, Col. Nyssa Marlowe expanded on his