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

truth. She was a Colonel. Blood soaked her chest, starting from a hole at the base of her throat. An exit gash on a similar line protruded from the base of her skull. Michael needed no detective work to predict what sort of weapon did this.

A baby lay still in the red-soaked cloth.

“Fuck me.”

He followed a trail of blood north another block. A second Guardsman, a Lieutenant, took three flash pegs to the face and a blade to the gut. But he did not possess a baby.

Michael looked south and double-checked the tracker for the Jewel composite energy. Nothing. The hybrid dies, the Jewel dies. That’s helpful to know.

The blood continued. He aimed his rifle at the corner of the next street. The tracker detected a strong signal as he crossed into the open. Joy, rage, hope bundled into one excruciating moment.

Rayna sat against the building. She cradled her other daughter.

The knife was still there, exactly where Sam delivered it. Two holes in her chest bore the signs of laser searing. She bled from her mouth.

Michael didn’t see a weapon, but he took no chances.

“Where is she?” He said. “Where is Sam?”

She gazed as if she didn’t remember him or care any longer. Michael retracted his helmet.

“You are still here? Go away, Michael Cooper.”

“Where is Sam?”

“I killed Samantha Pynn, you idiot.”

“No, Rayna, you didn’t kill her because you can’t. Sam is an immortal.” He threw in a smile for the hell of it. “Surprise!”

She tried to laugh but coughed blood instead.

“Ah. Is good joke on Rayna. No?”

“What happened here?”

“These soldiers try to take my babies. They came to take my babies to Earth, but they will not do this now.”

Fucking Chancellors. He tried not to have sympathy for this monster. She was bleeding out, and he couldn’t tell whether the child was alive.

“You’re dying, Rayna, and you know it. Where is Sam?”

“Michael Cooper, you are stubborn asshole.”

“Yes, I am. But you know where your husband is, and I’m sure he knows where Sam is. If you tell me, I’ll try to protect your sons.”

For an instant, he saw the light of recognition in her eyes.

“You will never be able to kill James. He is not like rest of us. Jewels protect him. They tricked me.”

“What are you saying?”

“They told me you would come. I saw Samantha Pynn die at my feet and Michael Cooper die in my husband’s breath. But this thing did not happen. They wanted me to die. They set me up. They wanted James for themselves. Very selfish, these Jewels. Very bad.”

Her voice faded, her eyes rolling around in her head.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll kill James and save your sons. Just tell me where he is.”

The vacant stare said everything. Rayna Tsukanova would never speak again.

“Shit.”

He had to know; Michael couldn’t leave the child if it was alive.

Michael pulled back the cloth and winced.

He didn’t need to take a pulse.

Michael spit in Rayna’s face. “You were the worst fucking mother in the universe. I hope Hell is the real deal.”

Echoes of intense rifle fire still cascaded through the streets but appeared more scattered now. The railguns were active, their beams chasing a few attack ships. He didn’t see showers of energy slews bombarding JaRa like earlier. Michael sensed the battle turning in the right direction but wasn’t about to let down his guard. His diversion with Rayna took him off-mission.

Five blocks to go. Where are you?

Two blocks from the hybrid sector, Michael encountered a cluster of fighters wearing the red and gray and most of the remaining hybrids. Few bodies were intact. At least six children. The habitat domes facing south on the side street showed significant black scarring.

He theorized what happened. A Guard unit broke through the lines and waylaid the hybrids. At least one tried to hold them off with a Berserker but was shot before releasing the full nuclear storm. Michael did not move on until he checked the bodies. He had to make sure.

No Sam. No James.

The picture was clearing. James appeared to be the only hybrid able to absorb flash pegs. Was Rayna correct? Did the Jewels favor him above the others of his kind? Michael couldn’t answer those questions, and he doubted the Jewels would admit to playing deadly games with all these lives.

On the tenth block, Michael detected no composite energy signs. What choice did he have but to search house to house? He leaped into the closest dome, anticipating a holed-up hybrid with an ornery disposition. The dome was quiet but not empty.

“Jesus H. Christ,” he said, admiring luxurious accommodations resembling a penthouse suite. “For terrorists and lunatics, they were living right. I’ll give them that.”

Two more domes. Nothing.

Up the side street to the northern edge of the city. Nothing.

The hybrid sector spanned two blocks. The instant Michael turned west onto block eleven, he came within a millisecond of killing one of the most important people in his life.

“Maya?”

She lowered her laser pistol, breathing heavily. She knew death almost took her.

“Michael! I wasn’t sure what happened to you.”

“What are you doing here? Have you seen Sam?”

“No, but I have an idea. Come with me,” she said, pointing to the closest dome. “There’s something important you need to hear.”

“The only thing I need right now is Sam.”

“Michael, he doesn’t have long. You need to hear him out.”

“Who?”

“Maj. Nilsson.”

Michael forgot about his tense exchange with Nilsson once the ceremony began and Sam appeared. Now, his memory cleared.

“Damn, Maya. I’m sorry I didn’t check back in. Everything went insane. What happened?”

“Nilsson was on a special operation. He was supposed to retrieve live hybrid specimens to be sent for study back home. He was …”