The Impossible Future: Complete set Frank Kennedy (freenovel24 .TXT) 📖

He was ecstatic when told he might explore the city in relative safety. Ophelia Tomelin put on hold plans to retrieve the Ukrainian Jewel and Jamie after the Ukrainian vanished. She had no idea on a new timetable, leading Michael to make demands.

At his insistence, Ophelia ordered Brey to take Michael to the shuttle and hook him up to a Tier 1 Educate amp after breakfast. The program allowed Michael to digest fundamentals about Earth, its history, politics, economics, and social structure. He joked with Sammie, suggesting he’d be getting the Wikipedia overview of another universe.

“I have a feeling it’s going to make Wikipedia look like a little kid’s picture book,” she replied.

She was correct. Michael emerged after two hours overwhelmed, as if he crammed five years of school into one class.

“Holy crap,” he said upon his return. “That’s the way to learn! How many years did I lose in that boring damn school? No wonder you people are off fighting wars and making fortunes by the time you’re fourteen.”

The information organized itself and became easily retrievable rather than falling into endless fragments of names, places, and terms. He saw the data, as if it were floating in a holocube. He sorted through, finding the most remarkable bits and couldn’t stop talking about them, before the walk and during.

“Did you know there are only two hundred forty cities on the planet?” He rattled off facts to Sammie a few blocks after suspicious eyes stopped turning their way. “Almost everybody lives in these urban areas, and the rest of the world… hell, the Chancellors just gave it back to nature centuries ago.”

“Yes. My parents told me…”

“About a thousand years ago, this Earth was… well, our old Earth. Crowded, polluted. A big damn mess. So, after the migrations to the colonies cleared off ninety percent, the Chancellors moved to a few cities and let nature take over everywhere else. Saved the planet.”

“Yes, I heard. Daddy said…”

“Who knew? Chancellors are hard-core tree huggers.”

“It’s our planet, Michael. We earned it, so we have to protect it. No different than on any of the colonies.”

“Hmm. Wonder if they’re doing as good? Didn’t learn anything about them in the program.”

“Probably best to go one planet at a time.”

“Yeah. It’s a big damn Collectorate. Brey told me the program was for five-year-olds. It’s the start of their schooling. Go figure. Can you imagine how much more there is to learn?”

Sammie pointed to a bench that looked inviting.

“I can,” she said, taking a seat. “And that scares me, Michael.”

“Hold the phone. You… scared?”

“My parents did their best, but it was all verbal. They wrote nothing. Instead, they simplified concepts and dumbed-down history. They wanted me to feel like a true Chancellor in the making, but they always assumed they’d return here with me.”

Michael nodded. “I get it. They figured they’d be here to hold your hand as you learned.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, I reckon they did a mighty good job because you ain’t shown the first sign of hesitation since we arrived. All that yapping you and Brey had about how the fold causes earthquakes? And then Ophelia taking you under her wing?”

“I’ve been lucky, Michael. I know those sciences because the laws of physics are the same. Daddy checked out books from the library, and we read them together. But this…” She took a deep breath as she gazed at the city’s wonders. “I can’t fake it forever, Michael.”

“Just take the courses. You’ll have everything you need.”

She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

“I love you, Michael. You’re so funny even when you don’t try.”

“Excuse me? What’s the joke?”

“Look at us.” She pointed to their clothes. “I’m a Chancellor. You’re not. Different expectations. Surviving in the Chancellory isn’t about knowledge, it’s about manipulation. It’s about strategy and self-preservation. Daddy didn’t teach me how to kill people because he wanted me to be a peacekeeper. He taught me because the strongest Chancellors put themselves ahead of everyone else. They treat each other like commodities to buy and sell. They separate themselves from weaknesses like empathy and compassion.”

Her words landed as a gut punch, but they also made perfect sense. Michael remembered the moment his terror began: Waking up to a pistol in his mouth and Christian Bidwell standing over him, taunting, his mother Agatha watching.

“Sounds right. The Chancellors aren’t a bunch of loons. They’re… oh, what’s the word…?”

“Sociopaths?”

“Yeah, that one.” He looked away from Sammie. “Great. A whole race of dangerous assholes. How many?”

“I think about 800 million, give or take. If it makes you feel any better, most of us live off-world.”

He looked back, caught a wry smile. “Did you just make a joke, Sammie? Cause that’s some dark shit, right there.”

“I don’t tell jokes. Daddy wasn’t into humor.”

Michael thought of a witty response, but he canned it. Instead, he grabbed her hand and lifted her up.

“What say we go visit the ocean? I never got to the Atlantic back home. Went to the gulf a few times. Maybe it’s the same?”

She nodded. When they began walking, Michael did not release her hand. She cautioned against it, scanning for suspicious eyes.

“Screw those people,” he told her. “If they got a problem with me, I’ll just tell them to back off or they’ll feel my proto-African fire. Get my speed?”

They held hands all the way to the beach. Michael wasn’t sure he was comforting Sammie, but escorting a girl three inches taller, with greater status than he, a girl he knew as everything from Wonder Woman to GI Jane, settled Michael’s nerves. No one attacked them, most eyes looked away, and no one suspected he was an alien. Not bad, all things considered.

When he stood with her at the ocean’s edge and allowed the brisk salt air and gentle breeze