December, 2031

Gabe swung the maul high, then let it fall of its own weight, guiding it to the center of the lodgepole pine round. He grunted with satisfaction as the maul split the chunk in two. Then he bent over to turn one of the halves upright and split it again. Once he divided the other half, he picked up the pieces and tossed them into the wheelbarrow, then eyed the growing pile. About three-quarters finished.

There would be plenty of wood for the furnace on Christmas Eve tonight—even enough to have a bright fire in the living room woodstove for the family gift exchange. If there was one change Gabe was proud of during his two years of hiding out on the Double R Ranch owned by his girlfriend Ruby’s aging grandparents, it was that Ron and Ruth Ryder no longer needed to huddle in the kitchen for warmth during the winter. Between the advice of his friends Monty Montgomery and Craig Yellowhawk, and a lot of research, Gabe had figured out how to operate and maintain the cranky, ancient wood-fired boiler system so it was as efficient as it could get.

His third Christmas on the Double R. So different from the privileged upbringing he had experienced as Gabriel Martiniere, proud scion of the powerful and wealthy Martiniere Family, descended from nobility. Now he was nothing more than Gabe Ramirez, perennially broke ranch hand hiding out from bounty hunters seeking to force him into indenture to pay off his huge college and gambling debts.

Or so his cover story went.

In reality, his powerful uncle Philip was seeking vengeance for Gabe’s testimony in the US vs Martiniere Group trial. Gabe had hoped to stop Philip’s abuse of indentured Martiniere Group workers, forcing them to undergo the secretive Martiniere mind control programming which could turn them into—what?

Gabe had done what he could to stop it—and provoked Philip’s rage. As a result, he was on the run.

He rolled another round into place.

This ranch life agreed with him. Yeah, it was living tight. He had dropped twenty pounds due to hard work and restricted diet, would probably lose five or ten more before spring. But he was in the best condition of his life.

Even better, Ron Ryder no longer suspected his advice about ranch planning. Ruth Ryder, while fading from the cancer eating away at her, still petted and spoiled Gabe with little treats meant to put some weight on you, boy. Gabe suspected that he served as a surrogate for their sons Brandon and Edward, killed in action while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Best of all, he shared this life with his love. Ruby Barkley, Ron and Ruth’s only grandchild, brilliant and beautiful. And she had been in the top ten finalists for Miss Rodeo America just a few weeks ago.

Should have been her title.

And if he had been Gabriel Martiniere, not Gabe Ramirez, maybe it would have happened. Or not.

But her not winning that title, much as he regretted it, opened up a lot of possibilities for their future. Something he needed to consider.

As if his thoughts had summoned Ruby, he heard the happy nicker of her rodeo queen horse, Sunshine, as the screen door slammed on the back porch. Gabe straightened up, grinning as Ruby trudged through the snow to meet Sunshine at the horse pasture fence. It was one of his favorite sights, redheaded woman and her golden horse.

The rest of the horse herd wandered toward Ruby and Sunshine, hoping for treats. The palomino mare pinned her ears and tossed her head.

Gabe left his wood splitting to join Ruby. Her bright red hair glowed in the sunlight as she scratched Sunshine’s forehead. For once she had left it down and unbraided.

“Hey.” He slipped the glove off his right hand and ran his fingers through her hair—another of his private joys was feeling the flow of her hair in his hands. Leaving his hand in Ruby’s hair, he bent to kiss her.

She chuckled softly against his lips and reached around to pull him close to her.

“Gotta be careful,” he murmured. “Might need to take a break upstairs.”

Ruby made a face at him. “Shower first. Not into sweaty and sawdust. Especially cold weather clammy sweat.”

“Awww.”

He did his best to look sad, but it didn’t work because she laughed and tapped his nose. “Down, boy. There’ll be time later. And Granma is making a special treat for lunch. You need to hurry up and finish with the wood, then feed.”

“Almost done with the wood now.”

That teasing chuckle again as she pulled him close. “One form of wood, anyway. Hurry up.”

“You’ve inspired me.”

She laughed, kissed him, and went back to the house. Gabe watched her, grinning, then returned to the woodshed. Once he got finished with this and hauled hay to the horses and cattle, the chores for the day would be finished. Christmas Eve at the Double R was special. Not as flamboyant as it would be at the Hôtel Martiniere in Paris for Family Christmas, but without the tensions that went along with the Family.

No, after he was done with chores, he would shower, then pull on the nice Christmas sweater Ruby had gotten him last year, along with the last pair of black dress slacks from his previous life. They were way too big anymore, but the buckle he had won in saddle bronc riding last summer at Thunder County Days was on a belt that fit, and it would be appropriate. He would kindle a fire in the living room stove and the four of them would settle in to watch Christmas movies while nibbling on charcuterie that Ruby and Ruth prepared. They’d sip cocoa—spiked with Monty Montgomery’s home brew—until dark, then exchange simple gifts.

Then, once Ron and Ruth were safely in bed, he and Ruby would go to their upstairs bedroom and make love.

Much simpler and quiet than his Martiniere life had been.

There were times when he wondered if this life was enough of a challenge for him. But not on Christmas. Not—usually.

A low chuckle startled him as he split another round. “Getting a little complacent, aren’t we?”

“What the fuck?” Gabe jumped and looked around.

That sounded like me! And it was so close an echo of his thoughts—

But it came from a shadowy figure who looked too damn much like his uncle for Gabe’s comfort.

“Who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?” Gabe raised the maul.

The figure raised his hands. “Easy, easy. Call me a shadow of what could be. I’m a variant of you. A digital thought clone from a different universe.”

Gabe slid his hands up the handle of the maul, taking a defensive stance. This had to be a hallucination of some sort. But how? What?

The digital thought clone—if that’s what he was—rolled his eyes. “I know what you were thinking at this point in time. You haven’t diverged from my life yet.”

“What. Do. You. Want?” Could he do something to harm whatever this was if it proved to be a threat?

The other him became more solid. Older than Philip, with gray-streaked hair and lined face. Heavier. Definitely a more mature version of himself.

“I—we—are locked into a war across the multiverse right now, with a particularly toxic version of our fucking father Philip.”

“Philip’s my uncle.”

Other him shook his head. “He’s your father. You were conceived via IVF, meant to stop a battle between the man you think is your father and Philip. There’s only one world where that worked—sort of. We know that there’s a positive version of Philip in one of these universes. We just don’t know which one yet.”

“Prove it.”

Another shape shimmered into being beside other him. Gabe gasped at the sight of an older Ruby. Still fit, still trim, but her hair was mostly gray with faded red streaks.

All right, maybe there was something to this.

“Gabe, was telling him about Philip a good idea?”

“Hiding the information hasn’t worked yet, Ruby. It’s worth the gamble in this world.”

“Maybe he’ll accept it better from me, then.” She faced him. “So far, we know that one of the keys about success or failure depends on when you tell me who you really are. But it’s touchy. Things went really bad in the universe where your family never died and you learned about Philip at sixteen. In our world, you didn’t tell me and Philip forced us to divorce using mind control techniques on both of us. I didn’t learn who you really were for twenty-one years. Those are the extremes.”

Gabe winced. “I don’t want that to happen.”

And yes, this Ruby knew him pretty damn well.

“Our deep love for Ruby is a constant across the worlds,” Other him said. “That’s why when you tell her who you are is important. You need to do it. Soon.”

He lowered the maul. “Is there a good time for me to tell her?”

The others looked at each other, and Gabe recognized that silent communication using expressions and body language that he and Ruby were only now starting to develop. Monty Montgomery had called it uncanny—well, he could see what Monty meant.

Other Ruby finally spoke. “We’re trying to figure it out. You’re the first Gabe that we’ve tried to tell about the multiverse so that you can make an informed choice about what does and doesn’t work. We get hints about that different Philip but we can’t catch a clear image of him or where he comes from. We think he’s hiding from that toxic version of himself.”

“And this is all digital thought clones?”

Other him smiled, briefly. “We call ourselves digis—and yes.”

Gabe set the maul down. “So how is this going to work? You gonna beam this information into my head, do I dream it, or what? I have things to do and—is this a real-life Christmas Carol?”

Other him smirked knowingly. “I know you have things to do. Too damn well. It’ll be snippets during your down time.” The smirk faded. “I’ll tell you about one universe now, because it’s traumatic as hell, and the toxic version of Philip uses it against our living selves, eventually. You need to be prepared.”

Gabe braced himself. “All right. Hit me with it.”

“Short version. You and Ruby marry and have a son. You participate in a game show called the AgInnovator in order to raise funds to build a lab. Things go really wrong in the second year—you’re required to show growth for ten years in order to keep the funds rolling in. Philip finds you during that second-year show. You get away, but Philip demands you meet. Ruby finds out who you are when you’re on your way to meet him and begs you to turn back. When you turn back, Philip’s minions force you into a crash. Then Philip shoots you, execution-style.”

Gabe flinched.

Other him nodded. “It gets worse. My death in that world was the point of divergence from my universe. But I dreamed this, and when I tried to tell others about it—Philip’s digi appeared and shot me. Repeatedly, until it caused my physical death at seventy-one, on the thirteenth anniversary of Ruby and my remarriage. Luckily, I had been collaborating with our daughter from that universe where I died, and I had created the foundation for my digi by then.”

“His digi has that ability?” Oh, this was getting worse and worse. He was already twitching at the thought of a digital Philip being able to kill him.

“Yes,” Other Ruby said. “There is a risk that you having this information may attract his attention.”

“But you’re younger than I was. It took multiple occurrences for Philip to kill me, and I had a multitude of health problems by then.” A pause, then other him continued. “We’ll try to keep watch, including our daughter—Gaby. Gabrielle. Ruby named her that because she was born after my death.”

“Okay. What should I expect?”

“Brief snippets of the points of divergence and the spreading consequences,” other him said.

“And if digi Philip is around?”

“Oh, you’ll know.” Other him rolled his eyes. “He likes to monologue, so keep him distracted until one of us can show up. We’ll do something. And now—we’d better go.”

The digis disappeared.

Gabe exhaled.

Well, this was definitely something different.

He returned to chopping wood, thoughtful.

The flashes came when Gabe did minor chores and tasks. Not when he was feeding or anything handling heavy equipment.

But while he washed dishes, he saw what happened in that world where he met Ruby as Gabriel Martiniere from the beginning. At first it seemed to go well, and then—it twisted, a few years after Philip’s assassination attempt in that world went awry, resulting in Philip’s death. Gabe shuddered at that version of himself. That Gabe had endured much, much more than he had. That dark side of himself, however—

Never run for office, Gabriel, he decided.

Another flash while he was showering. In that world, he told Ruby, Ron, and Ruth who he was during his first Christmas at the Double R. Slowly slipped back into his own identity, until a confrontation with Philip at the Miss Rodeo America competition ended in Ruby’s death.

Other flashes while they watched Christmas shows. Different universes, different versions of himself. All went wrong.

Except for one that came to him when he cleaned off the steps and sidewalk from a late afternoon snowfall. He revealed himself when Ruby became pregnant, and directly confronted Philip as part of a negotiation around the future of the Martiniere Group. But that thread ended suddenly, along with the sensation of something malign behind him.

Gabe turned slowly. The world narrowed around him in a transparent bubble, so that he couldn’t see anything other than the snow falling around him. And then a digital form appeared—definitely Philip.

Digi Philip sneered at him. “You’re messing with things you don’t understand, ignorant sprog.”

That was never an epithet that his Philip had used. Promising. “Why don’t you explain it to me, if you think I’m so ignorant?”

The digi puffed up—again, not the Philip that Gabe knew. “I am going to wipe out all of you. Then I will rule the world.”

“And if there’s more than one world to consider?”

“It will all be one because I will reunite the universes! I will rule all—”

Other him appeared, along with other Ruby and a younger redhead who looked a little bit like him, a little bit like Ruby. They charged toward digi Philip and he fled.

The unfamiliar digi—Gabrielle?—turned toward Gabe and flashed him a grin. “See you later, Papa. Make the right choices.”

And then the bubble faded away. Gabe stood there, snow shovel in hand, thinking. Very carefully, considering the other selves he had observed, especially that last one.

He resumed shoveling snow.

Later that night, after the gift exchange and making love to Ruby, Gabe crept out of their room and went to his office. He switched on his computer, and stared at it, considering options.

He hadn’t told Ruby, Ron, and Ruth who he was yet.

Tomorrow, over breakfast.

He thought some more about his other selves, his other lives, and what digital Philip had said at the end. Considered what he knew from that last, interrupted vision where he and Philip actually sat down and talked, united against a common foe.

Then Gabe took a deep breath and opened his email. Typed in an address he thought he would never use again.

Dear Philip,

I know the truth. You are my biological father. I accept that reality.

The dispute between us endangers the future of the Family and the Martiniere Group. We need to work together. I disagree with your choice to expand mind control beyond the Family, and fear it will lead to the destruction of both the Family and the Group. That is my major concern with your actions.

I do not desire power, including the power of mind control, for myself. My current life, only with my funds available to me and as my real self, is sufficient. I want to see the Family and the Group survive for more generations. For myself, time to develop new biobot technologies with the woman I love is more important than leading the Family and the Group.

We need to talk, as soon as possible, for the good of the Family and the Group. I vow your safety, on my honor as a Martiniere.

Gabriel.

He stared at the words for a while, then pressed send.

Would Philip see this as capitulation and exploit it, or would he accept Gabe’s offer in good faith?

The answer came sooner than he expected.

Gabriel.

Circumstances force me to agree with you. Like you, I see threats to the safety and security of the Family and the Group. One—unusual—threat in particular is quite dire, and completely changes the situation. It threatens our very existence.

I am glad you have found a woman who has the intellectual ability to match yours.

We need to work together. I stand ready to meet at a place of your choice, with the witnesses of your choice. I vow your safety, on my honor as a Martiniere.

Philip.

Gabe raised his brows.

If ever there was a Christmas miracle—

He began to make plans.

THE END

This is not the world of the upcoming The Cost of Power serial, but it’s a decent introduction. There may be two worlds where Gabe and Philip end up with a different relationship. We shall see…

Meanwhile, the ebook version of The Enduring Legacy (book version of Repairing the Legacy) is available on Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo for $2.99 through the end of December. Click on the name of your preferred ebook store to go to it.

Also—The Enduring Legacy and everything else I’ve written is part of the Smashwords 2022 End of Year Sale! Find your next favorite book this month at https://smashwords.com/shelves/promos/ and follow @smashwords for more promos like this!

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