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

from the Chancellors, and now they know the Chancellors are not gods. They have the numbers. If they see a path, I think they’ll rise up. The Chancellors won’t be able to hold the planet without war.”

Perr slammed his fist and wagged a fiery finger at Kara.

“There will be no talk of insurgency or war in this household. Not today, or ever. I allowed you an opportunity to speak, but only in the spirit of conciliation. Your notions are perverse. If I ever hear you dispense such wild ideas again, the consequences will be dire. Am I understood, Daughter?”

Kara buried her anger and nodded with due subservience. Lang and Dae relished her upbraiding.

None of them, as it turned out, were right. But Kara came the closest. In the coming days, as new reports surfaced, there were whispers of the terrorists using a weapon capable of generating a singularity. It was said to have swallowed up each Ark Carrier, leaving little wreckage adrift in orbit. Soon, news arrived from many other colonies of similar strikes on the same standard day. More than two million Chancellors perished, and the terrorists made their boldest demand: All Ark Carriers must leave the colonies and return to Earth, or they would meet the same fate.

The mighty empire forged by the Chancellory was brought to its collective knees by a tiny enemy no one took seriously.

Kara’s family walked around in a daze. She rarely saw her parents. They did not leave the estate, but they were in constant conference with fellow seamasters and their Carrier contacts. She knew this only through the tried-and-true art of eavesdropping. Once, she walked by Dae’s suite and caught him balled up in the corner of his bedroom, crying like a baby.

These theatrics confused Kara. The Chancellors were suffering great loss, for sure, but not a single Hokki died in the attacks. The industrial engine of the seamasters was not slowing. Video bytes from New Seoul and Puratoon showed random celebrations in the streets. Moreover, the terrorists only attacked Chancellor targets, so why should her family fear? Two billion people still needed to be fed.

Then, without warning, the family’s fear made a strange kind of sense. Perr called them to his library and sat behind his commanding desk to deliver the news and an edict.

“They’ve left us,” he said. “The other twenty-two Carriers departed our system three hours ago.” His voice quivered, a stunning betrayal of his well-honed discipline. “Admiral Sussex insists they will return someday, but he was lying to himself and to me. The terrorists have achieved a fortified position and they are capable of striking any Collectorate target without warning. For now, we are alone.”

Her brothers shifted uneasily. She saw the secret in their eyes: They knew what Father was about to say. It terrified them.

“After today, we will leave the estate grounds and go about our business,” he said. “What we will not do is discuss any association with the Chancellory. The admiral’s name will never be uttered. All questions about our interests aboard the Carrier fleet will be deflected. All accusations will be flatly denied. Our family legacy and the stability of Nantou will take precedent, as these two are forever entwined. The coming weeks and months will pose considerable challenges, but I have initiated a plan, working with our closest allies. It will require sacrifice. Many of our friends may suffer along the way. But never forget: We are Syung-Low. We have earned our place; no one will rip it from us.”

Perr leaned back, as if his pronouncement required no further discussion. The brothers smiled through their tears. Li-Ann nodded her approval. Kara raised her hand, as if trying to catch the attention of a disinterested teacher.

“Sacrifice, Honorable Father? What do you mean?”

His shaded eyes shouted frustration.

“Those matters do not concern you, Daughter. Follow my instructions. I will handle the challenges ahead.”

“What challenges? If the Chancellors are gone, what difference does our association with them matter?”

Hearing the words cross her lips was all Kara needed. She dared not utter the answer. Why hadn’t she made the connection sooner?

“Choices were made for the benefit of our clan,” Perr said. “We made those choices during a time free of consequence. That time has ended. I will say no more on the matter, and you will inquire no further. Am I clear, Daughter?”

Li-Ann grabbed Kara’s hand and squeezed. Message understood.

“Yes, Father. I know my duty.”

That night, Kara was the one who cried like a baby.

Her memory assembled all the pieces into a coherent pattern. She tapped into the many times she eavesdropped from a comfortable loft in the bullabast trees. She found trends within the whispers of family, friends, and classmates; in the casual asides of Honorable Father’s Nantou associates during various revelries; and the reports of economic hardship on the continent. Kara focused on the many visits of trade negotiators who begged for price breaks on Kohlna – not to increase their profits, but to fill stomachs. And then there were the Freelanders, who outnumbered the Modernists two to one. Their time had arrived.

Oh, Honorable Father, what have you done?

Kara didn’t want to know the full extent of Nantou’s crimes, for they were likely too many and spread over too many years. Hokkaido’s gaping inequity, with the seamasters controlling most of the planet’s wealth on the islands of The Lagos, did not happen by a quirk of fate. And now, the seamasters’ greatest benefactors were gone.

In the following days, life on Pinchon cracked on with an air of normalcy – so long as one did not look at the sky or talk about the future. At school, Kara’s friends offered no hint of concern, but their smiles seemed staged, their attempts at humor or self-indulgence awkwardly timed. She found the greatest change in her instructors, all of whom appeared sullen, their eyes