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

“It’s OK,” Samantha Huggins said. “Just keep walking. We’ll be there any second, Coop.”

“Dude, I’m right behind you,” Jamie said.

“Sweet,” Michael said. “No. 1 has my back. Seriously, guys, I got doubts about these pistols. I mean, if one of them giant machine-monsters is waiting for us, we gotta bring out the big guns. Reckon that would be you, J. No pressure.”

“Shock units,” Jamie whispered.

He destroyed those walking mechanical nightmares ten hours ago, but he replayed the moment on a loop. He could not shake the nagging fear of having made a horrible mistake. Yes, the machines would have reduced Michael and Sammie to ash in seconds. Yes, his friends deserved better, a chance to salvage new lives. But was the cost too high? If Jamie remained dead, he would not have unleashed the Jewel’s power on the Shock Units – and everything else for miles.

Three lives saved. Countless more annihilated.

Though he did not remember everything that happened inside the maelstrom after his death, Jamie did hold onto Lydia’s warning. You do not understand what you will become. The dark will drown them.

He took a deep breath. Patience, he told himself. You can do this. Lydia is gone. You can protect them.

Jamie recalled the advice of his track coach: Steady, even breaths. Pace yourself. Listen to the rhythm of the feet. They’ll sing to the beat of your heart.

Ten hours earlier, Jamie shot that man in the face five times.

He wanted the echoes of Coach Arthur Tynes and the rest of Albion, Alabama to disappear. Anyone there who ever tried to uplift him in the slightest was dead — save for the two he brought on this foolish quest. The pistol he carried in his right hand was as light and natural now as when the Jewel consumed him and defended itself against its enemies.

At first, he accused the Jewel of being the killer, but Jamie knew the truth: All those bodies belonged to him, and they were not the last.

Patience. You can do this.

As the fog lessened, thunder rumbled like fireworks many miles away. Jamie tightened the grip on his weapon, but instinct told him the real threat lie closer, that the other side of the fold would defy his expectations. He saw the silhouettes of his friends and stepped closer.

“Don’t pull the trigger,” he whispered, “unless you got no choice.”

“What do you sense?” Sammie asked.

“Not who ought to be waiting for us.”

“Shit,” Michael said. “Then who?”

Before he replied, flashes of red and green broke through the haze, and rigid, metallic outlines took form.

“We’re here. Just stay close. Stay calm.”

They stepped into another universe.

A tight chill enveloped them; stark summer heat became a brisk fall evening. Jamie understood why as he scanned the new world.

They stood in a cavern, its ceiling twenty feet high and as wide, its walls reinforced by a complex metal lattice gleaming silver as if alive, creating enough artificial light for easy passage. The tunnel extended in this way perhaps fifty feet before reaching a sharp, rightward bend. Far above, the short volleys of thunder continued, and the rubberish floor beneath them vibrated. The sources of the red-green flashes revealed themselves as two fist-sized orbs that met them eye-to-eye. The orbs blanketed them in laser scans, never dipping beneath their necks.

“Guess they’re checking us out,” Michael said, turning to his friends. “So, I gotta say it, right?” He smiled for the orbs.

“We come in peace.”

Jamie wanted to chuckle, but he understood what the thunder far above meant. Peace was not in the equation today.

“They’re coming,” he said, just before the echoes of rapid footsteps swooped around the bend. “Let me do the talking.”

Sammie leaned in. “But Jamie, I’m a Chancellor. They’ll identify me from the records. I should be…”

“I was born on this side, and I’m the one they want.” He offered a brotherly hand on her shoulder. “You once told me Chancellors plan ten steps ahead. So have I. Follow my lead. Aim your guns, both of you. Right between their eyes.”

“Swell,” Michael said after a deep breath. “So much for peace talks, dude.”

Jamie moved ahead by three paces and stood firm, his gun resting at his side. Three people rushed up the tunnel, each seven feet tall. Two goateed men in white bodysuits bore silver weapons that seemed to be extensions of their arms. They flanked a woman whose scarlet hair fell beneath her shoulders and whose three-piece suit jacket blended neon tones of olive and magenta.

The men, with piercing jade eyes, extended their weapons as they entered the cavern’s chamber and planted an aggressive posture. The woman’s jaw dropped as she analyzed the teens.

“What am I to make of you?” Her voice carried an arrogance Jamie expected, but laced in fear. “And what are you wearing?”

These weren’t the first questions he expected, but Jamie understood how confused they must be. He assumed jeans with t-shirts wasn’t the fashion on this side of the fold. He opened his mouth, but Michael beat him to it.

“Summer casual,” he quipped before turning to Jamie. “Sorry, dude. It felt right.”

Jamie and Sammie shared a smile. He gestured to their greeters.

“You know who we are. Your drones scanned us.”

The woman hesitated. “Perhaps. But what of the African?”

Michael whistled. “Afri – what in the hell?”

“My friend,” Jamie said. “Someone you will never touch.”

“And why is that?”

“Because if you do, I’ll kill every one of you where you stand. I’ll be so quick, you won’t even notice it hurt.”

The greeters brought condescending smiles. The woman raised both hands, palms open.

“This is no moment for violence. We are making history today. My name is Dr. Ophelia Tomelin. I am mission leader. My colleagues are occupied elsewhere at the moment. If you