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

Forsythe wagged a finger. “You two know what they’re like.”

“Who?”

“The Admiralty. They hand down orders, which we obey, even as they sit in the GPM playing other games.” Forsythe pointed to Doltrice. “You left the Guard years ago because of this madness. If not for Cooper, you wouldn’t have returned. Yes?”

“Speak plainly, sir.”

“Fair enough, Colonel. Two months ago, Supreme Admiral Poussard and her allies ordered a shadow op designed to lure the terrorists into a series of traps. She thought if we captured any of their people – and especially one of their wormhole-capable ships – we would gather invaluable intel prior to the invasion.”

“Right,” Nilsson said. “We’ve been trying that strategy since the Bouchet brothers came onto the scene. They were too elusive.”

“Which is why we needed to tempt them with a prize they could never resist. If they realized we were developing technology to work around their system blockade, they would try to destroy it. Our contacts on both Tamarind and Euphrates knew who was working for Salvation. The shadow op was designed to lure the terrorists, but only once the prototypes were no longer essential and we shipped out all the necessary Void energy to operate the jumpgate.”

Nilsson realized his role. “The energy compactors. I brought up the last of them two days ago.”

“Yes. And with the parts and scientific expertise currently onboard Praxis, we have everything we need to finish the gate.”

“I don’t understand,” Nilsson said. “Why sacrifice our people?”

“That wasn’t Poussard’s aim, but it was deemed an acceptable option. They fed Salvation’s agents overwhelming evidence of ongoing, heavily fortified, and well-manned operations. We had to convince them to take a risk. They also had to believe their own forces could knock out the facilities without a high risk of casualties.

“Part of the shadow op included the dispatch of four Scramjets, retrofitted and running stealth. A limited crew. Elite troops. They entered the Tamarind and Euphrates systems on silent running weeks ago. I had no idea about them or the op until after the Anchor test. What’s happening on Tamarind now is not just a slaughter of our own people. It’s a slaughter of theirs.

“At this juncture, I doubt much effort will be made to take prisoners or study the tech. Poussard wants to sow fear and panic in their ranks before we invade. Agents have destroyed the two prototypes on Euphrates, but we ran into trouble on Tamarind. I have sent a switcher bomb through our Anchor to detonate on arrival. No one leaves Ericsson. I’m sorry. These are my orders.”

Out of the stunned silence, Nilsson reached for his sidearm.

“You’re a criminal,” he told Forsythe. “You slaughtered my team. You don’t deserve the stripes.”

“No, I don’t. And when all this is done, I’ll retire. But before you think of killing your commanding officer, think about this, Major. We are less than one day from the gate. A day later, we invade. We wipe out the terrorists. We learn the truth about Hiebimini. And maybe, we give our descendants a chance to carry on our legacy. You have two children. Will they ever be capable of giving you grandchildren? This is about survival, Major. We’re Chancellors. We survive. Victory is morality.”

Nilsson recited that motto all his life. Until this moment, it gave him structure and purpose. Victory? He wished he died with his team. There’s no victory here. Damn well no morality.

42

F.N. Hossaini Industrial Complex

Euphrates

T HE BATTLE ENDED, BUT THIS was no victory, despite the enthusiasm of the soldiers in black and bronze. Moments earlier, James pivoted from the ashes of his father and saw a second Scramjet closing in fast. Salvation’s ship, piloted by Col. Miguel Lennox, exploded when it crashed a hundred meters north of James.

As the enemy unleashed a barrage of energy slews at his location, James summoned a second, more powerful Berserker. It consumed the slews, atomized the Scramjet, and ripped through the facility, leaving scorched earth across half a kilometer and deep into the mountains.

He dropped to one knee. James hadn’t felt so vulnerable since the moment three years ago when Jamie Sheridan gave up on life and allowed Agatha Bidwell to riddle him with bullets. Releasing two Berserkers, one right after the other, diminished his strength. His eight-foot, four hundred-pound body cried out to lie down and rest. It was a sensation he never thought to experience again: Exhaustion.

Yet he fought it off. Others would come before long. If he couldn’t fight back, if he lost his army … what then?

He restored his helmet and scanned the facility. He saw no enemy movement, but his heart lifted when he counted eighteen immortal soldiers. Most were moving in his direction, while others approached the remains of Scramjet Gamma.

What would Valentin do? His brother was a bicomm away, but James hesitated. The assault on Tamarind was ongoing. To distract him now? Redirect one of those ships, and they’d be here in less than five minutes via Slope. And yet, he hesitated.

The first unit of immortals arrived, giving thanks Brother James lived. They celebrated crushing the Guard’s forces yet seemed oblivious to their dire predicament. He told them to quiet down.

“Who is the ranking officer behind Col. Lennox?”

A blond-haired girl about Valentin’s age raised her hand.

“Lt. Enya Vennee, sir.”

“Good. Lt. Vennee, I have ordered our rescue craft, but we are vulnerable until it arrives. Have your people find defensible cover inside the structure that still stands. Also, my gradient detects eighteen life signs. We’ve lost four, pending Lennox and Santos in the crash. What about the other two? Marquis and Nujuk?”

Vennee’s smile disappeared. “Brother James, they took a direct hit from an energy slew. What’s left of them can’t be recovered.”

That was the phrase immortals used for those devastated beyond bodily reconstruction.