Minutes later, as the cars sped south on Highway 39 in search of a house on a lake, Michael struggled with a new sensation. Not only was he going to die, but he handed a death sentence to the best friend he ever knew.
17
4:40 a.m.
W HEN JAMIE RACED from the cellar upstairs toward the kitchen of the lake house, he planned to give everyone a piece of his mind. They were lunatics, all of them. He’d laugh at them. Spit in their faces. Yet just before he stepped into the kitchen, reality smacked him upside the head like a two-by-four with well-positioned nails. He heard Walt.
“We need to extract answers from Arlene before she leaves us. Grace and Samantha are tending to her wounds. Once she’s conscious, we need to learn what the others are planning.”
“Good luck,” Ben said. “I don’t think she’s in a confessing mood. She made her choice. Either way, she has no future, and she knows it.”
Jamie felt a jolt as he heard Sammie.
“Daddy, it’s not good. Mom’s trying to slow the bleeding, but she’s not optimistic.”
“I know, Pumpkin. All we need is to stabilize her for a short spell. Long enough to talk. Wash those rags quickly.”
Jamie steeled himself and entered the kitchen. Ben turned away, and Jamie saw shame in his brother’s features. Jamie still wasn’t ready to accept the truth until he saw Sammie standing behind the sink, a bloody rag in her hand, the sweet innocence gone from her blue eyes, and a pistol behind her belt.
Ben grabbed him, pulled open the sliding door, and forced Jamie through. He stumbled onto the deck overlooking Lake Vernon. He paid no mind to the sweet mixture of gentle lake breeze and fragrance of cedar. Instead, he tried to level another fist at Ben. This time, Ben blocked him.
“Get a grip,” Ben said in a hushed tone. “I know this is too much to take, but you’ve got to hear me out.” Ben closed the sliding door. Inside, Walt wrapped an arm around Sammie, and they disappeared from the kitchen. “There’s more you have to know, but not in front of them. Trust is in very short supply.”
“I’m supposed to stand here and believe a dude who’s wearing booze like a Sunday suit?”
“No. You believe me because you know it in your heart. Nobody could make this up if they tried.”
Jamie supported himself against the railing. The world wasn’t spinning so much as punching him like an invisible boxer.
“You knew all along,” he told Ben. “You knew these whackos were coming for me, so you took off to get yourself plastered.”
“No. We did not expect it to happen tonight. If it did, I expected Ignatius to bring you here without any problems.”
Jamie laughed. “Great plan, bro. Worked to perfection. Why’s this happening to me, you bastard?”
“I’m sorry, J. I won’t bother with a history lesson; I think the Mentor has already explained how we got to this point. The bottom line is … I love you. I’ve done everything I could to keep this from happening.”
Jamie backed away for fear of unleashing his temper again.
“I ain’t seen love from you since Mom and Dad died. My life has been hell every day for two years, and all you’ve done is soak up the booze and sleep around with them damned whores. Only good thing you did was put me up in that sorry apartment without AC. I was leaving, Ben. On my way out of this shithole tonight. Broke into Ol’ Jack’s. Did you know that? Had the cash and a gun. I was ready. Then Iggy …” He held firm to the railing. “Why, Ben? Why do the others want me dead?” He pointed inside. “What about the Hugginses? Sammie was … who are these people?”
“Calm down. I think you already know the answer. We’re all Chancellors. We came here as an extra layer of protection for you. That’s why our families were always close, why …”
Jamie raced through the incomprehensible slew of back story Lydia provided in the cellar, and he reached a quick conclusion.
“Dude. Give me a break. We weren’t close. Walt and Grace wouldn’t say two words to me if they could avoid it. They put up with me because of Sammie. And you can’t stand them. I almost never saw them over at our house, even when Mom and Dad were alive.” He heard water lapping against the deck; he used to love that sound – it would carry him to sleep. “Look, let’s say I believe this story. Maybe everything about the other universe and these whacked Chancellors and this – thing – inside me … maybe it’s all true.” He trembled and held fast to the railing. “Just answer one question. Please, Ben. How do I get out of this?”
Water clustered in Ben’s eyes; his shoulders sagged. “You don’t, J. No matter what happens, you’ll die at 9:56. Sooner if we can’t protect you from the others. I’ve got a theory for a third option. It’s hope, but it’s a long shot and won’t stop the inevitable. All the Mentor told you is gospel. I only wish it hadn’t waited until tonight. You would’ve been ready.”
Jamie laughed even as tears streamed down his cheeks. “Ready? What? To die? When I’m 17? Who’s ready for that? 9:56? Why then? Tell me everything.”
Ben threw up his hands. “If this will give you some comfort, I’ll answer your questions best I can. But it’s a reality we’ve all had to live with for fifteen years. I guarantee, knowledge won’t change the outcome.”
“Because I got what … something like five hours to live?”
Ben nodded as he looked at his watch. “And nine minutes.”
Jamie faced the lake. He felt much older, but none the wiser. He listened with little patience as Ben verified what Lydia told him about the Jewel’s incubation, how it received Caryllan Wave energy, and was resequencing his DNA. At the end of eight hours, he would die, replaced by a new personality primed as a Berserker.
“We’ll be able to return the hybrid to our people on the other side of the fold.” Ben touched Jamie on the shoulder. “What they do next, I have no idea. There was talk of an army of prototypes, but it’s been years. Plans might have changed. The Chancellors behind the program might have lost power to The United Green. Jamie, do you really want me to keep going?”
“Why the hell not?” His voice faded. He shrugged. “I mean, if I only got five hours until I become a nuke - if this is all I got, then better now than later. Right? Hell, Ben, maybe I’m just one of them pricks that’s gotta know every little detail. Or maybe, dammit, you owe me.”
Ben wanted a drink. “That’s what our parents said about a month after we arrived. ‘You owe him,’ they said. ‘Be the best brother you can.’” He paused, staring out across the dark lake. A few distant house lights speckled the shoreline. “Yeah, so I owe you. You want to know about the fold and how we got to this point? You really want to know?”
“Yeah, bro. I really do.”
Ben sighed. “These folds do not appear at fixed points in space. Like Earth, every solar system, every galaxy, they are constantly moving. If the rotation of this Earth and the other were identical, the fold rift would be easy to find. But the rotations and revolutions vary by seconds, and that’s enough - especially over a period of years. Without Chancellory tech, without Caryllan energy, the rifts are almost impossible to track. It’s like walking through a hall of mirrors and never finding your way out. Dammit, Jamie, you have no idea what we sacrificed to reach this day.”
Jamie’s head began to hurt. “Here we go. Now the pity party. I’m the one’s gonna die, but this whole mission hurt you, too. Whatever, bro. So, let me guess: Your mission didn’t go as planned, huh?”
Ben’s eyes drifted toward the stars. “I was 8. You got no idea what it was like; I gave up so much.” He coughed. “Mom and Dad said we were going on a great adventure. They said studying a primitive culture would enlighten me.
“The observers brought a small transmitter that allowed us to maintain the lock on the fold rift. We used it long enough to upgrade local tech in order to detect a Caryllan pulse. First, we used pagers. Recently, we turned our phones into receivers.
“I lost the most important fifteen years of my life, J. Everything a Chancellor might become is
determined by the age of 14. If I went back now, I wouldn’t know how to fit in.”
Jamie tried to push everything he was hearing into the far, hidden depths of his consciousness.
“I don’t give a shit about how you’ve you lost fifteen years on account of me. The one time I’m actually the center of attention, and you still try to turn it all back on yourself. Unreal.”
Ben reached out to Jamie, who recoiled. “I know, J. Trust me, I know. But you have to understand: They took me from my home. The Earth I left behind … you wouldn’t recognize it. Think if you lived in the Dark Ages and suddenly you were thrust into the 21st century. Your mind couldn’t conceive it. So how about the 54th century? The difference is beyond comprehension. It was stunning, it was exciting, it was dangerous. But it was my home.”
“Home?” Jamie couldn’t look Ben in the eyes. “Is there where I break out the violin?”
“Please. Let’s focus on the time we have left together. You are going to start to feel changes the closer you get to the rebirth. Have you been seeing or hearing anything unusual? Experiencing distortions in reality?”
The sounds of a million crickets and shattering of glass remained fresh in his memory, but he couldn’t bring himself to talk about it.
“Unusual? You mean like my neighbors trying to waste me? Lydia told me that Rand and Queen Bee are trying to kill me because they decided the rebirth is a bad idea for everyone. What about you and the Hugginses?”
“We believe the same as Mom and Dad. You deserved to have a full life, and we tried to give you as much of one as we could. But we can’t stop the program.”
Jamie let go of the railing and started for the sliding door.
“Full life? Dude, my whole life’s been a lie. Mom and Dad were the worst. You know how much I loved them? You know how much I missed them? Now they ain’t worth my tears. None of you people.”
Jamie grabbed the sliding door and yanked it open. Ben raced after and grabbed him by the shoulder, but Jamie swiped him away.
“J, there’s a third option. It may give you a chance at that full life.”
“What? You already said that ain’t gonna happen.”
“No, I can’t prevent you from dying. But there may be another way, if you’ll just …”
Jamie sped through the kitchen. He listened for voices and took a hard left into the front hallway past the den toward the bedrooms. He saw Sammie standing in a doorway staring inside. When Sammie saw him, she started toward him, her arms extended.
“Jamie, stop. You can’t …”
He brushed her aside and swept through the doorway.
“You people think I’m just gonna do what you want and die in a few hours, but …”
Jamie’s rage subsided as Walt and Grace parted to reveal a familiar woman on the bed, her chest covered in blood, her eyes drooping and her face awash in sweat. “What are you people doing?”
He recognized Arlene Winters, a waitress at the Denny’s a few miles outside of town, right near the interstate. His parents used to take him there for breakfast. He couldn’t get enough of the pancakes, and Arlene always made sure to provide him with an extra stack.
Walt dropped his bloody rag, firmed his left hand, and smacked Jamie across the cheek. The sickly wallop almost knocked Jamie off his feet, but he remained standing long enough for Walt to grab him by his ponytail with one hand, beneath his armpit with the other, and proceed to fling the boy across the room, slamming face-first into the wall beneath a clock that read 4:56. Jamie crumpled to the floor. Sammie yelled in protest, and Ben rushed in dismayed.
“Sheridan, contain your brother, or he’ll spend his remaining hours in the cellar. Understood? We have important work to do.”
18
J AMIE SHOOK OFF his dizziness, gathered himself to his feet, and prepared to go after the biggest target in the room. He reached for a side-table lamp, its base replicating a Grecian urn. He would have tested it against Walt’s head had Ben not come between Jamie and additional pain.
“You won’t solve anything this way,” Ben mumbled as he dragged Jamie away from the bed, where Arlene Winters offered a slight but steady moan. “Come on. We can’t stay here.”
Walt cocked his pistol. “Son, you have the slightest idea what a bullet can do to a man’s kneecap? How about both?”
“Daddy,” Sammie said. “You wouldn’t …”
“Pumpkin, this is not your concern. I won’t kill you, James. The program will take care of that. But a man can lose both his kneecaps and survive long enough for my needs.”
Grace, who was patting Arlene’s forehead with a clean rag, intervened. “That’s more than enough, sweetheart. We can’t afford to bicker. Our mission has already been compromised.”
Sammie stepped forward. “Let me talk to Jamie alone.” She didn’t make eye contact with her would-be boyfriend. “Jamie needs a friend.” Her voice cracked. “He knows he can trust me.”
Jamie’s instant, bellowing laugh bounced off the walls. Sammie’s cheeks turned red, but she didn’t back away. “There are things we need to talk about while there’s still time. Daddy, I won’t let anything happen.”
Jamie caught their knowing glance as she placed a hand near the gun behind her belt. Jamie couldn’t imagine how he’d been fooled into believing she was so sweet, awkward, and shy.
“Yeah,” Jamie mocked. “Reckon I won’t jump her, even if this is my last chance to get laid.”
Walt grumbled as he turned to his daughter. “All right, Pumpkin. Take him to your room but leave the door open. Keep him at a distance.”
Neither spoke nor made eye contact once in her bedroom, and the door stayed open. Sammie sat on the corner of her bed, her cheeks a dark cherry. She slumped her shoulders and rubbed her hands back and forth against her thighs, a nervous tick reminiscent of the girl Jamie once knew.
“I’m sure you hate me,” she said. “It’s understandable.”
Jamie wanted to rail against Sammie, yet something happened when he twisted about in fury and saw her long strands of hair falling over her shoulders, cloaking her face. Jamie’s heart sank.
“Hate?” He said. “I been so mad the last two years, I didn’t know how to get through the day unless I was freaking pissed. I don’t hate you. I feel like a chump.”
Sammie’s gaze glistened as water pooled in her eyes.
“Jamie, I never really thought it would come to this.”
“No? Tell me something. All them weekends you and your folks went to Texas and Louisiana, were they training you for this?”
“In a way.”
“What does that mean?”
“We knew there might be enemies.”
“Huh. Looks like ol’ Daddy guessed right.”
“No, Jamie. No, he didn’t. This is the worst possible ending. We thought we might have to face enemies coming through the fold. We never expected to be fighting each other.” Sammie paused. “I won’t lie to you, not now. I’m fully trained on a variety of weapons. Pistols, shotguns, rifles, automatics, rocket-propelled grenades. But so are we all, including the people who are after you.”
“Sure. Why not? So … Queen Bee is a regular Rambo?”
Sammie broke a smile. “If she wanted to be. Fact is, we’re all Chancellors … you’ve been told about us?” Jamie nodded. “Most Chancellors go through military service. If I were living in the Collectorate, I’d be a soldier in the Unification Guard.”
Jamie snapped his fingers. “Reality check, colonel. We’re living in the sticks of Alabama, and we’re in high school. We don’t get to go around playing GI Joe till we’re 18.”
“Mom and Daddy wanted me to be prepared for when we return.”
“Oh, yeah. That fold. After I get all Berserker on you. Right?”
“My parents said when we returned, a lot would be expected of me. They said I would be considered weak if I went through the fold lacking the necessary maturity. They only wanted the best for me.”
Jamie’s head was s
pinning. “You know, I think most folks that do right by their kids give them nice clothes or send them to really good schools. Maybe even buy them an Xbox. But they ain’t hauling them off down to the freaking bayou to train them to be soldiers.”
He walked to the window and peered through the curtains. The urge to run bounded through this blood. Those thoughts barely had time to gestate before he heard the bedroom door close. He swung about. Sammie leaned against the door, as if listening to make sure her mother hadn’t caught on to what she’d done.
“They told me the truth when I was old enough to understand,” she said. “It was so hard, Jamie. I wanted to tell you a thousand times. I thought maybe if there was one person in the whole world who might believe in me …” She dropped her head back against the door and sighed. “But I had to be careful. Don’t you see? Even if I joked about who I really was and you didn’t pay it any mind, Daddy would go ballistic. He wouldn’t let me anywhere near you. And you were the only friend I had.” Her lips quivered, but Jamie’s heart felt cold and impassive.
“OK. So … you were what? A spy for big ol’ Daddy?”
“No, Jamie. Never. I just wanted a friend. You don’t know how hard it is to pretend to be the kind of person you’re not. I was born five months after my parents came through the fold. I’ve lived my entire life in the wrong universe. I just wanted a friend. I wanted you, Jamie.”
“There’s a newsflash. So, why didn’t you just fess up a couple hours ago when I was in your bedroom? You knew all about what was going on.”
“Not true. I knew the resequencing began, but everyone had voted to protect you to the end. I think Daddy suspected he would be betrayed, but he had no proof. When you showed up at my window, I’d been sitting on my bed wondering if I’d ever get a chance to tell you how I really felt. I didn’t know what to feel or say. Jamie, I …”
The Impossible Future: Complete set Page 8
