“No. Why?”
“He’s very spirited. Refreshing. And probably far wiser than he knows. I hope he survives whatever is about to happen. I want him to be happy. He deserves it.”
Brey nodded. “Everyone deserves to be happy.”
Rikard waited no more. He removed his left hand from behind his back, certain Brey had missed the earlier move. He cupped a flash laser in his hand, aiming it at Brey’s heart.
“A nice sentiment,” Rikard said as Brey stepped back. “I know he ordered you to kill Michael Cooper.” Brey started to protest but Rikard shut him down. “No. Don’t even try. I know every inch of this ship. I know how you end-ran the stream to contact him. I also know you hacked Ophelia’s circastream at the fold to bring Perrone into the mix. He might have been our savior, but that was a side-effect of the plan. Not the intent. You want to deny any of this?”
Brey didn’t take his eye off the weapon, a small but deadly creation capable of single, explosive flash bursts.
“Yes. Sure. Perrone, he makes deals. Everything I was responsible for, my family’s shame, all of it. He was going to erase it. The part about Michael came later, after he knew what happened to his boy. I didn’t want to do it. He was adding conditions. But… but there’s no compromise with Perrone. You play his game, or you’re dead.”
Rikard nodded. The shaking in his trigger hand lessened.
“That’s ninety-nine percent of every Chancellor I’ve ever met.” The picture cleared. “Ophelia found out. Didn’t she? That’s why Michael isn’t with us now. She’s hedging her bets. She knew you’d kill him as soon he returned to New Stockholm and let his guard down. Yes? She has another play in mind.”
Brey looked away—all the confirmation Rikard needed.
“I’m tired of you people. All of you. Time’s up.”
Brey raised his hands. “Wait. What? Rikard, you have to…”
Rikard shot him through the heart. A red rose blossomed where Brey grabbed his tunic. He fell at Rikard’s feet, his eyes locked open.
Rikard nudged the safety on and lowered the weapon.
“Not so hard.”
He took a seat in the navigation cylinder and entered a deep-breathing exercise. Then he tapped his amp and fingered the ensuing cube. He waited two minutes before a picture from the other end emerged. As he expected, Matthias was groggy.
“Hello, my love,” Rickard told his husband.
“And hello to you. What time is it?”
“Apologies. I wouldn’t stream now unless it was important. I just wanted to tell you… my business with Ophelia Tomelin is done.”
Matthias rubbed his eyes and perked up. “The results? Were they as good you hoped?”
“Better, by light-years. Matty, everything has changed. We’re on the edge of something that will break the Chancellory. I won’t be surprised if they’re in all-out civil war within weeks.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“It’s worse than we feared, but also the best news for us. All those generations of Solomons waited for a chance to turn the tide. We’ll be the first. Thank your contacts for the breakthroughs on bleeder tech. Couldn’t have done it without them.”
He raised his right hand, balled a fist and turned up his thumb. Then he pivoted his thumb on its side. Matthias was wide awake.
“You plan to contact the others?” Matthias asked.
“When it’s safe. I’d tell you more, but best in person.”
“Can you come to Hong Kong?”
“Yes. I’ll be safer on the other side of the world. What’s coming could get ugly very fast.”
Matthias blew a kiss. “I’ll see you soon. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Rikard disconnected the stream. The excitement of sharing a bed with his husband and watching the fall of the Chancellory thrilled him. But the distraction ended when he looked at Brey.
Rikard unlocked the safety seals on the starboard entry doors. They opened. He grabbed Brey’s body and dragged it to the edge, then fed Perrone’s spy to the Atlantic.
PART THREE
FAMILIES
I was once told there were no evil men. The quote went something like this: “Nobody wakes up in the morning and decides over eggs and bacon to be evil that day.”
One of my teachers even said the word ‘evil’ was a matter of perspective, and everyone – even insane people – thought their actions were in the right.
If true, I can justify every thousand people I kill by pointing to the new and better future I am creating. I can say these people were obstacles on a necessary path. Then I can look forward in hopes of scaring away the next thousand in my way.
Better yet, if I ever have a moment of weakness, all I have to do is listen as she whispers in my ear. My mind will calm, and my nerves will settle. I will not think of myself as a psychopath because when I look at her, I will know love.
Can a psychopath love?
41
J AMES FELT TENSION SNAKE THROUGH the Scramjet, intensifying as they ventured farther from Seneca – even though few people spoke above a whisper.
Michael and Sammie didn’t know what to make of him; he saw it in their searching, baffled eyes. He understood why. To save them, he slaughtered the enemy with ruthless efficiency, but he also stood over a defeated man and murdered him. It was the way of the peacekeeper; he expected Sammie to value his cold-blooded skillset. He doubted she took pity on the men she pursued during Dacha training.
He touched Rayna’s mind.
- Do you like to kill? He asked her.
She was resisting Misha’s effort to put her in a ReCon tube to change into Chancellor clothes. Without looking at James, she responded.
- Is despicable act always, but I find satisfaction. Humans are stupid creatures. They often deserve death.
- Yes. But when you kill, do you feel stronger and happier?
- I am happy those who earned death are gone. For myself, I am angrier. I wish to kill again.
- Why?
- I do not know. It is perhaps what I am.
- What WE are.
- Da.
He severed his connection with Rayna and studied Michael. His oldest, dearest friend sat slumped in a chair, the weight of this new world tearing at him. Sammie sat beside Michael, holding his hand, whispering to him. He saw a tenderness she used to reserve only for Jamie Sheridan and for her precious Daddy. However, she held a stern, conspiratorial expression as her eyes darted between Ophelia, who was conferencing with Perrone, and the new addition to the Jewel contingent. She appeared to avoid the three crimson peacekeepers, who stood together at attention as ordered.
Valentin captured the moment when he leaned over to James.
“You were right, brother. Your friends do not appreciate what you have become. I will be glad to speak on your behalf.”
“I appreciate it, Valentin. But they don’t know you like I do.”
“Or what we’ve been through.” Valentin swallowed. “Sometimes, I taste the metal of the blade you jammed in my throat.”
James nodded. “Yeah, well, they don’t need to know those sorts of details. They saw me burn a man alive, so maybe they won’t be as freaked as I think.”
Valentin sighed. “That is not what troubles you. Yes?”
“What do you mean?”
“It is what you have to tell them about our choices – you and I.”
His brother was right. “I brought them here. It was always going to be the three of us. Now …”
“You know what will happen if they follow us into this fight.”
He did. “I made a promise, Valentin.”
“We all make promises. But they are just words. They’ll understand. Or not. By then, none of it will matter.”
“Either way, they’ll be alive. That’s got to count for something.”
The admiral cut them off. He broke away from consultation with Ophelia and summoned everyone to attention. Rayna continued to resist Misha’s reque
st.
“Rayna,” Perrone said. “I hope we have the pleasure to become more acquainted. In the meantime, however, I need your focus here. Afterward, you will change clothes. There will be no compromise on that point. You no longer live in Ukraine. Yes?”
Rayna bared teeth. “Da. But in Ukraine, we dress with pride. Here, you dress as if ready for bed. You look ridiculous.”
She had at least one ally. James saw Michael crack a smile.
“With all cultures,” Perrone said, “dress is a matter of both functionality and tradition. In time, you will come to understand our ways, Rayna. Despite your upbringing, you were born a Chancellor.”
“And then I became different.” She faced James. “We became different. I will wear your idiotic dress, but my way.” She tipped her head, and James reciprocated. He dropped inside her mind.
- Don’t make enemies, Rayna. Our future depends on what happens today.
She angled to Perrone without responding.
“Good,” he said. “Now, with trivialities aside, we must discuss our next step.” He gestured to the Chancellors who flew Rayna’s rescue shuttle. “Dr. Langdon, Ms. Myerson, we are grateful for your courage in bringing the Jewel to us. Ophelia will process a substantial stipend for you, with help from the UG. You will disembark at Redux. Understood?”
Judging by their bewilderment, they did not. When one of them objected, Perrone said:
“Your skillsets offer no benefit for our next operation. If conditions change, Ophelia will notify you. Yes?”
He insisted they enter the tubes. He ordered Specialist Holland to place them in stasis mode – in effect, putting them to sleep until arrival. James understood the technique well. Once they were shuttered away, Perrone continued.
“I will come to the point. I, along with my three peacekeepers, our latest arrival,” he pointed to Rayna, “and Ophelia will enter the residence of Emil and Frances Bouchet. For those unfamiliar, the Bouchets own sixteen levels of SkyTower two miles above the surface. Less than an hour ago, we commandeered their residence in direct violation of numerous Chancellory bylaws.”
He tapped his personal holocube and threw out a huge, three-dimensional graphic illustrating the Bouchet compound. The interface revealed a city-sized cylinder of facilities and residences a mile in diameter. Running down the center of it was the Transport Core, which connected the surface to the upper reach of SkyTower in low Earth orbit. The compound was a beehive of movement both lateral and vertical, but the distinctive focal points were yellow flashers, most of them stationary. James estimated a hundred.
“We have taken the Bouchets’ compound to prove a conspiracy that threatens to destroy the Chancellory as we know it. Over the past several years, I have placed my people in a variety of key roles throughout the compound, waiting for this opportunity. Many of my most devoted investigators debased themselves to pose as Solomons.” He paused, as if choked up. “When this is done, they will earn the greatest recognition.
“Our elaborate strategy to lure away Bouchet’s primary security agents gave us the opening to land the additional UG forces needed to take the compound. Maj. Sexton Marshall is in command, and we have nullified stream capability for the Bouchets and their associates. However, this mission contains a certain element of risk, in the event the Bouchets have contingencies in place. Therefore, no one other than those mentioned will be asked to come.”
He turned to Misha, who stood beside Rayna.
“Admiral, I gave away the last fifteen years of my life to protect Rayna and see her become all she was engineered to be. I will not desert her on her first day back.”
Rayna smiled for the first time since she entered the Scramjet.
“Very good, Misha. New life, same mission. As for the two of you,” he said to Michael and Sammie. “You were not supposed to be here, and you offer no obvious skillsets to this mission.”
Sammie stood, letting go of Michael’s hand.
“Then why aren’t we already in the tubes like those others?”
“Because I had a willing partner in this affair, and I listened to her.”
He shifted to Ophelia, who stepped forward.
“I deceived both of you on the island,” she said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t give you credit for the strength you’ve shown since you crossed the fold. Most important, you came with James, and the three of you care for each other. Your goal was to reunite with him. Now that you have, I think you may offer skills we need.”
For the first time in a while, both his friends turned to James before refocusing on Ophelia.
“What skills?” Michael asked. “I just started Tier 1 yesterday.”
“Your skill, Michael, is to see what Chancellors overlook.” She laughed. “We’re arrogant people. We’ve belittled you since you arrived. Understandably, you care little for us. Michael, we are set in our ways. We’ve been undermining and betraying each other for centuries. You bring a fresh approach. Perhaps you might point out something we miss at the corner of our vision. Yes?”
Michael shared a suspicious glance with Sammie.
“Nice speech, I reckon. I just got to wonder, Ophelia. You wouldn’t be keeping me close cause you figure this guy,” he pointed to Perrone, “is gonna have me killed if you ain’t protecting me?”
Perrone chuckled. “Mr. Cooper, my vengeance has nothing to do with you. I think you are a speck. If you live to be an old man, you will die in anonymity. You are here because James and Ophelia wish you to be, and because,” he turned to Sammie, “Ms. Pynn stands to inherit a vast fortune in her family name. Therefore, Ophelia considers her an important ally.”
Sammie placed hands on her hips. “So, it’s about money I don’t even have yet? Why do you want it?”
“We don’t,” Ophelia said. “It’s not about numbers.”
Sammie nodded. “Leverage. Daddy always told me…”
“Yes. What money buys more than anything.”
“Enough,” Perrone interjected. “Time to decide. Do you come with us or do we leave you behind in Redux?”
James saw the torment in their eyes. They wanted to go with their hearts, but they realized the practical choice. As they turned to each other and then to James, he felt a scratch in his mind. Rayna was there.
- It is trap, she said. This admiral is worse fool than my father.
- What do you mean?
- Your father owns palace in sky. Never would he be defeated like this. He is too powerful. He is laying trap.
- How? He’s been captured. He has nowhere to go.
- And where do we go when we are trapped inside?
She left his mind. A second later, James heard words cross his lips he didn’t expect. Words they needed to hear, even if it broke their hearts.
“No,” he told Michael and Sammie. “Your answer is no. You’re not coming.”
42
J AMES STEADED HIMSELF. “ADMIRAL, MAY I SPEAK to them privately?”
Perrone frowned. “In my office, I assume?”
“Yes, sir.”
Perrone tapped his amp, and the cloak rose over the aft portion of the ship. “Be quick about it. We have a narrow timetable.”
James whispered to his brother, “I might need you.” He passed Rayna, who did not touch his mind but stiffened her shoulders. As he led his friends to the cloak, Rayna demanded Perrone show her the clothing options before she entered the ReCon tube.
James took a quick lay of the land when behind the cloak, which provided a sound-dampening barrier. Three chairs – one behind the desk, high-backed, cushioned, comfortable; the others small, built for subservience. James chose his strategy and spoke to Ignatius.
“They have to see our paths are separating. But I’m confused. How honest should I be?”
Ignatius, rubbing the remains of a pink child’s toy amid the nuked city, appeared amused by the question.
“What is the more painful truth? The one unvarnished, or the one designed to fulfill a function?”
“C
an’t they be the same?”
“Yes, but only one leaves additional revelations to play later.”
“This isn’t a game. They’re my only real friends.”
“Then your obligation to them supersedes any other aim.”
“An obligation to do what? To kick them out of my life?”
“If doing so ensures they don’t follow you down this path,” he pointed to the ashen city, “then you will say your goodbyes.” Ignatius studied the storm clouds passing overhead. “Unless, you want them to join you in this theater of madness and death.”
James blinked and asked his friends to take the seats across the desk from him. He perceived how this looked, so he leaned forward and placed his fists together on the desk, imitating the admiral.
“It’s the only way,” he began. “Look, I’m sorry. I am. We made promises to each other, but nothing’s gone how we expected. We can’t help each other like we used to.”
“Bullshit.” Michael said it as an afterthought. “What you’re saying is, you don’t need Sammie and me no more cause … look at you, dude. Seriously. You’re part Thor, part Hercules, part Schwarzenegger. After what you did on the island, you’re a badass. We get it. You don’t need a couple friends from the backwater tagging along. Feel my speed?”
“Michael, it’s so much more than …”
“Seriously, just don’t, J. Jamie … oh, sorry. James. James Bouchet.” He turned to Sammie. “Don’t wanna piss off this guy.”
“Michael, I’m sorry about what happened on the island. I was lost in the moment. I didn’t expect you and Sammie would be there. I was excited.”
“More like digging the whole scene, if you ask me.” Michael leaned in this time. “Dude, look, I saw you kill people before today, but it was always different. Self-defense, or maybe you were being controlled. But that shit back there was something else. You were in control and loving it.” He pleaded to Sammie: “You figure I’m going overboard right now because your folks trained you to be just like these mountains in red pajamas.”
Sammie cupped a hand over Michael’s lips.
The Impossible Future: Complete set Page 51
