The Impossible Future: Complete set by Frank Kennedy (e novels to read online TXT) 📗

taller, with longer lives and invincible military – and they made sure the Hokkis never forgot. They also possessed supreme technological artistry, always willing to dispense their knowledge for a price.

The Freelanders, however, turned inward as colonization from Earth became little more than an asterisk in history. We cannot rebel against the Chancellory, they argued, but we can forge our own way without their guiding hand. We will be like our ancestors, who once dominated Earth’s Korean Peninsula, and forge a culture based on harmony with the land. Although many Modernists dismissed these ideas and even claimed the original Koreans were rapacious industrialists, the schism deepened. The continent developed a Freelander mentality, while The Lagos and other nations of the Greater Oceania saw the relationship with the Chancellory for its true benefits.

“We have contracts with the Carrier fleet,” Perr Syung told the continental negotiator, “as well as distribution to five other colonies. We have committed our supply lines to four billion customers. Our profits benefit all Hokkaido. If we reallocate product to Hokkis, wealth will be diminished, as will our reputation among our clients. I suggest agro-production will accelerate if you bring Chancellor science teams into the equation.”

The negotiator expressed his disgust at the notion but also pointed out what everyone under the gazebo understood all too well. Hokkaido’s true wealth did not lie in fish and its many ancillary products; rather, the greatest profits orbited the planet in quadrillions of rocks, large and small. For centuries, the Chancellors exploited the acenomite mining operations in the Kye-Do rings, taking increasingly larger percentages of the profits in exchange for providing help from their military, the Unification Guard, when called upon. The deal was similar to most of the thirty-nine colonies: Mineral rights were shared, and the Chancellors provided free law enforcement at the end of Mark 10 blast rifles.

“If they see the Hokki people as desperate,” the negotiator said, “the Chancellors will always consider us children. Even if they lose interest in acenomite, they will not leave us alone. They have dominated the human race for three thousand years. Nothing angers a Chancellor more than to see arrogant indigos try to survive on their own. Why can the Hokki people not work together to build wealth and prosperity without Chancellor intervention?”

“If we were capable,” Perr said, “we would have done so centuries before now.”

It was his last word on the matter, but Perr did not leave the negotiator without some hope. Using a well-honed technique, Perr promised to appeal to the boards of Nantou and Hotai to plateau price increases for the next six months and increase production of Kohlna meal by two percent. He assured the visitor this would be achieved with patience and discipline.

Kara saw the twinkle in her father’s eyes: He wasn’t making a concession. The offset in profits would be recovered another way. She wondered which clients would feel the next gut punch.

Sometimes, ten-year-old Kara lingered in the bullabast tree to contemplate what she heard, deciding which of her many questions might be answered when she confronted her brothers later on. Lang and Dae, twelve and thirteen years old, resented her queries, suggesting she was too young to understand complicated matters of the seamasters. Besides, they argued, she’d never stand on the executive board of Nantou when she grew up, so what concern were these issues to her? Leave the future to us, they said.

Only years later did Kara resent their condescension. She also knew much more history and held a firmer grasp of the economics and delicate politics involved. More important, perhaps, she began to appreciate the Freelanders’ ideology as her own interest in the land and environment expanded. She set her sights on a firm role inside Nantou, but not in the business sector.

Three weeks before she turned sixteen in Standard Year 5357, Kara announced over breakfast her life objective: To join Nantou’s Bioresearch and Engineering Division. Perr and Li-Ann shaded suspicious glances, while Lang and Dae rolled their eyes.

“Is this what you think of me?” Kara said to a silent table. She focused her glare on her brothers. “Nantou is our family legacy. Why is my ambition any less acceptable than yours?”

Lang pretended to stab himself in the heart then laughed.

“No one said you couldn’t work for Nantou, but everybody knows you’re best suited for the marketing division.”

“We do?” Dae asked with a touch of snark.

“Enough,” their father said. He took a slow drink from a tall glass of infused mango juice. “Kara, you have never expressed these interests before today. In addition, you placed midway through the first tier on the Science Regimens. Do you realize the alchemy required by all those employed within BRED?”

Here we go, she thought. Time for the family bubblehead to lower her expectations.

“What I know, Honorable Father, is the importance of working to ensure a better tomorrow for our world. This is the stated mission of BRED. As for my test results, are you as well-versed in Lang’s Linguistic Appropriations scores? Or Dae’s Integrated Mathematics Regimen? If not, I’m sure they’d be willing to shine some light on their mediocrity.”

She spotted her mother’s silent applause when Li-Ann raised her napkin to her lips to conceal an obvious smile of satisfaction.

“Enough, Daughter,” Perr said. “I used the Regimens as an example of a larger trendline. You lack the overall discipline for such work. And for the record, I have already voiced my considerable displeasure to your brothers for their disgraceful outcomes. However, those skillsets will not be essential to their success at Nantou. They will not become accountants or analysts. They will be training for corporate leadership. You, on the other hand, have time to reconsider your options. I suggest you put aside these notions.”

After breakfast, her father and brothers left the estate in the corporate Scram, joining the UpWay en route from the exclusive Haansu District to