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

a good man. James, you’re not gonna do this to us again.”

He let go of Sam and started toward the creature.

He holstered his rifle.

James pivoted toward Michael. No tears, no remorse, no soul.

Michael did not believe a word he said would make a difference. This creature was going to unleash a Berserker out of sheer spite. The Jewels glowed beneath his skin, just as they did in the amphitheater as he absorbed the energy of dozens of flash pegs.

“We began together,” James said. “We end together.”

The creature balled his fists. His eyes burned like the sun.

Michael stood close enough to smell his putrid breath. Michael flashed his right hand in a solitary maneuver.

The Lin’taava sword pushed into the creature’s chest, driving through its target until nothing but the hilt remained visible.

“How fast can the Jewels eat steel, motherfucker?”

Michael locked on the eyes until their color dissipated, the sun fading into the night, and not even the pistils remained.

Blood dribbled from the creature’s mouth.

“It was always going to be you,” James said.

Michael backed away, leaving the sword embedded.

The creature dropped to his knees and bowed his head.

Michael turned. He and Sam stared in disbelief. Was it real? Was it over? He wasn’t going to press his luck. Michael lifted Sam into his arms and made for the door.

“I love you so much,” he said. “Goddamn, I love you so much.”

73

M ICHAEL WAS CARRYING SAM DOWN A LONG street in pursuit of medical help when the Jewels of Eternity arrived to finish the day’s business. Red gridlines filled the sky, covering the region under a dome. They dispensed thousands of flares which fell to the surface and did their job in seconds. They pulverized the bodies of Guard soldiers and hybrids.

They worked with remarkable efficiency, cleansing JaRa of its enemies in minutes. The flares retreated, the dome vanished, and all weapons fire ceased.

Michael shook his head. It was another in a ridiculous list of miraculous twists. He was also irritated.

“Imagine that shit,” he told Sam. “We do all the heavy lifting, then these clowns roll in for mop-up duty. Why wait so damn long?”

Sam grinned with that ‘you-have-to-ask?’ certainty.

“Yeah, OK, babe. I reckon they needed to know we were serious about wiping out all the hybrids, including the head asshole.”

“The older brother,” she said. “I think the J’Hai feared him right to the end.”

“Whatever it was, I just hope we’ve seen the last of them. They got their revenge. Imagine that shit? Sitting around for a million years stewing over a grudge? One thing I don’t understand is those towers. The Guard destroyed them. How did the Jewels …?”

“I don’t think they ever needed the towers, Michael. They were probably just giant props. The Jewels rebuilt this whole planet. Maybe they just have a thing for towers.”

“Me? I’ve had enough of towers. Nothing good ever happens around those suckers.”

One day, after peace was secured and the business of charting a new future was underway, they’d sit down and talk about their visions of the J’Hai. They’d wonder why the Jewels chose them as emissaries. There would be many conversations about the past five months, some of them painful but necessary. For now, Michael and Sam agreed, it was time to put talk of “why” and “how” to bed.

“I’ll always be yours,” Michael said later as he and an immortal teenager named Rosa Marteen placed Sam in a medpod.

“If I’m not here when you wake up, don’t worry. I’m probably right outside having a smoke.”

Her burns were far more extensive than she first let on. Michael couldn’t imagine how she found the strength to stand. Sam was burned over half her body. She would recover with time. The medpod would stabilize her systems; her immortality would kick in to regenerate the tissue. A part of Michael said James prevented the injuries from being worse by removing her from the amphitheater. The instinct may have been right, but he refused to give James credit for anything.

“She won’t need many days,” Rosa told him outside the dome. “A friend of ours, Col. Lennox, was burned even worse than her, and he’s recovering well on Lioness. Or so I’ve been told.”

“A friend?” Michael said. “So, Sam has friends here?”

“Many. More than she knows. And she was only here a week or so.”

“What do they like about her?”

“It’s strange. She was frightened the first few days and she didn’t leave her habitat. But once she did, she blended in. She’s older than the rest of us, but she seemed like she wanted to be one of us. We talked about it – the other kids and me. We didn’t understand at first.

“I heard what happened today, Michael. I know she’s like us. She’s immortal. I guess that explains it.”

“Maybe, Rosa. Or maybe you see how Sam has a very big heart.”

“Michael, are you like us, too?”

“I am.”

He sensed her relief. “So, will you stay here and help us?”

“Don’t have any other plans.”

“Good. The others will be happy to know. Michael, we haven’t heard anything official from Admiral Valentin since he told the troops to stand down, but there have been many rumors. I heard a crazy one, but I have to ask. Did you walk across the stars to save us?”

OK, here we go.

“No, Rosa. Of course not. I’m a lot of things, but I’m damn well not a god. I think we’ve had our fill of gods around here. OK?”

For a moment, Michael had flashbacks to middle school, where learning took a back seat to gossip.

“I understand. Michael, I have to check in at food production. Part of our storage facility was destroyed, and we’re calculating how many weeks of work we lost. Can you