Read Online The Ascension: A Super Human Clash by Michael Carroll - Free Book Online

mean.”
    â€œHe’s your brother’s best friend, Rosalyn.” She reached out and placed her hand on Roz’s forehead. “Your temperature seems normal…. You’re sure you’re not feeling sick?”
    Roz gently pushed the agent’s hand away. “I’m OK. Just tell me about the Chancellor.”
    â€œHe and Max worked together…. You know this, Rosalyn! They reconstructed the government, set up the country’s defenses. If it wasn’t for them, America would have fallen to its enemies a long time ago. But we’re prospering now, we’re stronger than we’ve been in a hundred years. And it’s all thanks to your brother and Chancellor Krodin.”
    The name struck Roz like an electric shock. She collapsed to the floor, her stomach heaving. Clear bile spilled from her mouth. Then she felt Agent Paquette’s hand patting her gently on the shoulder, heard the woman’s voice say, “You’re OK, Rosalyn. You’ll be fine. It’s just the Cataxia. The Chancellor’s going to want to see you himself, I think. You know how fond he is of you and your brothers. You’re practically the only family he has.”
    Â 
    Lance spent the next hour wandering through the house, looking at things, picking them up and putting them down again. He knew that his parents thought there was something wrong with him, but he didn’t care. Somehow they were alive again.
    And so was Krodin.
    The past has been changed. At first, he thought that perhaps Pyrokine’s blast had sent Krodin back to his own time, but he quickly realized that couldn’t be the case: If Krodin had ruled for a further four-and-a-half-thousand years, the world would be a lot different. As it was, the differences—so far—were relatively small.
    On the sitting-room shelves he found a few books and movies he’d never seen before, none of which were more than five years old.
    In his bedroom, Lance flicked through his schoolbooks. It appeared that in this world he was a more conscientious student than he had been back home: His notebooks showed that he had made considerable effort to complete the work. They also showed a reasonably high level of concentration—for the most part his notes were neat and concise. Lance was more used to seeing his notebooks filled with barely coherent notes and hundreds of half-finished doodles.
    His social studies textbook was the most unsettling. There was a whole chapter on Krodin’s rise to power, and it was heavily biased toward presenting the Chancellor as a loyal citizen who wanted nothing more than to see his country “reclaim its rightful place in the world.”
    The photos of Krodin showed a tall, well-built man wearing an ordinary black suit. His hair had been cut short, and his beard neatly trimmed. But his eyes were the same: they had a look of dark animal cunning and strength.
    So Krodin was sent back in time five or six years. Without anyone to stand against him, he worked his way into a position of power. Or maybe he just fought his way to the top.
    Lance realized that his mother was calling him. “Coming!”
    He went down to the kitchen, where he found his parents giving him the “now you’re in trouble” look.
    â€œSo you lied to us,” his father said. “Again. There was no fire drill. Your principal just phoned. You didn’t show up for chemistry. And they found your backpack just lying in the middle of the corridor. So what happened?”
    â€œI think I have that bug that’s been going around.” Lance felt that he was probably on safe ground with that excuse: There was always a bug going around. “I didn’t want to say anything because I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
    â€œYou don’t look sick,” his mother said, her eyes narrow with suspicion. “What are your symptoms?”
    â€œI feel a bit queasy. Kinda dizzy too. I didn’t