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

night,” Ignatius told them, “but you despise them. A bunch of men telling venal jokes and interviewing vacuous celebrities. Your words, Tom. A celebration of depraved, mindless culture. Your words, Marlena. Yet here you are, after thirteen years. Admit it. You’ll miss them when you’re gone.”

Marlena grabbed the remote and muted the set. “How dare you waltz in here like you have a run of the place?”

Tom jumped in. “Did something happen to Ben?”

Ignatius raised the double-barrel shotgun he’d been dangling.

“That was quick, Tom. I thought Jamie was the make-or-break son. Marlena, toss the remote to the foot of the bed. Thanks. Both of you, settle down. I promise not to drag this out.”

Marlena sneered. “Whatever you plan to do, Ignatius, think carefully. The others will know. You will not survive the week.”

Ignatius shrugged. “I’ll be fine. But my reckoning will come, if it makes you feel better. I’m overdue.”

Tom laid back and wrapped his arms over his chest. “I know what this is. You talked to Benjamin, and now you want to terrorize us into forgiving him. I assume he shared his crackpot theories. He will not be a part of Jamie’s life, or what’s left of it.”

Ignatius scratched an inch on his neck where he shaved too close.

“Tomorrow, he’ll be Jamie’s guardian. It will be tough on them both, of course. Ben will be fighting his guilt and, as you may have noticed of late, a growing fondness for alcohol. Jamie will be devastated. And in his uneven state, I am concerned. The school psychologist diagnosed him with anger management issues, lack of empathy, possible criminal tendencies. Yes, a difficult time. But I’ll be close by, keeping a watch.”

“Did you rehearse this intimidation?” Marlena said. “You are far and away the best actor among us. Enough with the dramatics, Iggy.”

He saw indignance in her eyes. She did not believe death was possible. Ignatius realized this wasn’t going to be so difficult after all.

“What has always bothered me about Chancellors,” he told the Sheridans, “is their abject refusal to accept anything that might work against their narrative. Take Benjamin’s theories, for example. He proposes a link between human souls and Caryllan energy. If he’s correct, an entirely different life force exists in each of us. He imagines what might happen if we tap into that energy at the point between life and death. What might we become? How might we evolve? Instead of being prisoners to the inevitable, might we find the answer to eternal life? Or to godlike powers beyond our conception? I would think curious minds would jump on these questions and pursue them to their logical end. But not Chancellors. Stubborn, intractable, insecure Chancellors.”

Tom grabbed Marlena’s hand and they shared a knowing glance. Ignatius saw the sudden rise in genuine fear.

“You’re insane,” Tom said. “Just like Benjamin. He can’t accept Jamie’s fate because he got too close to the boy. Now, he’s pulling at wild strings.”

Ignatius nodded. “True. His emotions are colored by love, but who forced him into that role? I reviewed all his evidence. He has been sharing it for months. His case is compelling. Flawed, but compelling. Enough to give Jamie a third option when the time comes. Ben and I will make sure of it.”

Marlena wasn’t having it. “The plan for Jamie was set thirteen years ago. We have sacrificed everything for that tiresome child. If he does not emerge as a compliant new entity, then the mission failed. But we will not allow you to change the equation at the last moment.”

“It seems to me,” Ignatius said, “his brother’s plan may be the only viable one left on the table. Clearly, the Mentor has not arrived. Jamie would be at peace if he’d been receiving guidance from within. Instead, he is breaking down. He carries an anger he does not understand; he isolates himself from all but two friends. I have kept him out of jail. He is walking a needle, and the two of you have been no help at all.”

Tom raged. “You have no children, Ignatius. No understanding of our struggle let alone the science of assimilating human DNA with Jewel energy. You came onto this mission late for reasons none of us understood. And now, you have the audacity to suggest …”

Ignatius reached for the remote and turned up the volume.

“Correction. I do have children, but they live among the indigos. They’ll never know me. As for the Jewel? I spent a year in Special Services Division before joining this team. I know exactly what Jewel energy can do. Probably more than you. I spent time with a retired general, Aldo Cabrise. He was there at the fall of Hiebimini, when everything came undone for the Chancellory. He saw it happen. Most of the vids from that day were scrambled afterward or redistributed by our propagandists. The reports were rewritten, the true data stowed behind Admiralty firewalls.

“Five Jewels acted as one that day. They remade an entire planet. If I didn’t know better, I might have called it an Act of God. Half of us in Special Services saw the Jewels as the key to salvation, and the other half as the key to damnation. There’s a reason why a blockade was instituted around Hiebimini after the last natives were evacuated.

“Regens like you believe the hybrids will form an army and reproduce new, sustainable Chancellors. What if there’s a greater destiny at play? What if Ben tapped into a secret even our best researchers missed? When we eliminated deity worship, we eliminated articles of faith. Ben rediscovered that faith in the people of this Earth. He wants to believe in Jamie, and I intend to give him that chance.”

Tom threw back the covers. “I have damn well had enough of this. Put your rifle away and go home. Walt Huggins and I …”

“Had an