Single Shot (Justice of the Covenant Book 3)

by M. R. Forbes

  “Good point,” Jil said. “Even if we fix the Hornet, it doesn’t have an FTL drive.”

  “There’s an entire fleet of starships up there,” Hayley replied. “And they lost their Venerant.”

  “I don’t know what that means,” Narrl said.

  “The Nephilim respond to power,” she said. “Zeus took a lot of it, but not all.”

  “So we take the gunship up there?” Bastion said. “If it will fly.”

  “No need,” Hayley said. “Gant, can you hear me?”

  “Aye, Witchy,” Gant replied.

  “It’s time for this copy of you to shut down. We’ll pick up the backup you left on the Chalandra.”

  “Aye, Witchy. See you on the other side.”

  “Roger that.” Hayley looked at the Riders. “You’ll have to come a little closer.”

  “Why?” Bastion asked.

  “A new trick I picked up. I still have some of myself on Thetan’s flagship.”

  “Whatever that means.”

  Hayley held her hands out wide, as though she was wrapping her team in a hug. Her naniates flowed around them like a cocoon.

  “This is going to feel weird,” Hayley said.

  “It tickles,” Tibor said. Less was already laughing at the sensation.

  When the cocoon fell away, they were standing on the bridge of Thetan’s flagship. The crew reacted with fear and surprise, rising at their stations and drawing their guns. Hayley reached out to them, calming their minds.

  “My name is Hayley Cage,” she said. “Thetan is dead. I defeated her in challenge. This ship is mine.”

  The Nephilim stared at her a moment. Then one of them approached and saluted.

  “Venerant Cage,” he said. “I am Honorant Koth. What are your orders, my Lady?”

  43

  “Are you sure this is what you want?” Bastion asked.

  “Yeah. You’re going to be missing a lot of fun,” Jil said.

  “And us, of course,” Narrl added.

  They were standing in the hangar of what had been Thetan’s flagship only a few days ago. Now it was the new ride for Quark’s Riders. All twenty of them, counting the Nephilim soldiers who had decided to stay on now that Thetan was gone. Hayley was at the base of the ramp leading into the Chalandra, with Tibor beside her and Less perched on his shoulders.

  “Yes,” Hayley said. “The one thing I’ve realized from all of this is that I’m not the soldier I always thought I wanted to be. I’m not a warrior like my mother, or like Quark. I want to help people, but not by hurting others. I’m a witch doctor, first. A healer.”

  “A healer who can’t go home,” Bastion said.

  “Not to Koosa, no,” Hayley said. “But that isn’t my real home anyway, and to be honest; I want to see Earth again.”

  She tapped below her eyes, smiling. She had been to a mirror and seen the way her Collective had covered her pupils, shimmering copper and purple and making her eyes literally dazzling.

  “I don’t blame you,” Bastion said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been back too. I’m afraid the Republic won’t treat me too kindly if I show up there.”

  “You are still on their most wanted list,” Hayley said.

  “Number three,” Bastion replied. “Can you believe that? I mean, fine, Abbie is number one. I get that. But Olus is second? Come on. That old fart? Seriously.” He paused, then looked at Less. “Maybe the Oracle can give us a direction before you leave?”

  Less opened her mouth to speak, but Hayley cut her off. “This Oracle is out of business. She’s going to Earth with me to live a normal life as a normal little girl. I know my Mother loved me, but her job kept her away so much of the time, I never knew her as well as I wanted to. I know I’m not your mom, Less, but I do care about you.”

  “I know,” Less said.

  “And we can’t afford to have a super-genius grow up maladjusted,” Bastion said. “That’s how super-villains are made.” He laughed. “What about Don Pallimo?”

  “What about him?”

  “He kind of screwed you, right?”

  “Yes, but he redeemed himself.”

  “Do you trust him?”

  “No. I don’t think I ever can or will. The Don's still a ghost of what he used to be, and he’s still going to be looking for a way to free himself from his binds.”

  “You could do it,” Less said. “You are the Collective. You could make him one, too.”

  Hayley shook her head. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.” She smiled and stepped forward, taking time to embrace each of them in turn. “If you need me, and I mean really, really, really need me, you know where to find me.”

  “Me too,” Tibor said.

  “Roger that,” Bastion said.

  “Gant,” Hayley said. “This is goodbye for now.”

  “I can’t believe you’re leaving me with him,” Gant replied through the battleship’s comm.

  “Pipe it, freak-monkey,” Bastion said. “It’s not like I asked for you to join us.”

  “How would you like it if I steer you into a star?” Gant replied.

  “Maybe I’ll go back to Earth with you,” Narrl said. “I’ve never been.”

  “Someone has to keep these two in line,” Hayley replied, laughing. “Take care of yourselves. All of you.”

  She turned and headed up the ramp and into the Chalandra with Tibor and Less. She waved to the Riders as the ramp closed and sealed, and they waved back.

  The three of them headed up to the bridge. Hayley took the command station, while Less buckled herself into navigation and Tibor took the controls.

  “Xolo, take us out,” Hayley said. “And try not to hit anything on the way.”

  “Very funny,” Tibor replied, starting the reactor. “And if we’re civilians now, you don’t need to call me Xolo anymore, right?”

  “I don’t have to. But it’s funny.”

  He laughed. “Very funny. Well, now that we’re retired, I think the final score was that I saved your life five times, and you saved mine four.”

  “What? I don’t think so. I saved your life more often than you saved mine.”

  “You did not.”

  “I did too. I saved your life three times just on Genesia.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  “Once when the Collective wanted to blast you. Once when I healed you from the wounds Thetan gave you. Once when I got you off the planet.”

  “She’s right,” Less agreed.

  Tibor turned back to Less and wrinkled his face. “Traitor.”

  “No way. I’m on Mom’s side.”

  “Mom?” Hayley said. The title took her by surprise.

  “Families aren’t always who you’re born to, silly-head,” Less said. “Families can be made anytime. You don’t want me to call you Mom?”

  “No. It’s okay if you want to. I’d be happy for you to call me that.”

  “Good,” Less said. “Then it’s settled. We’re a family now.”

  “Roger that,” Hayley said.

  “Roger that,” Tibor said.

  Hayley leaned back in her seat. Despite everything that had happened, she was happier than she had been in a long, long time. She would still mourn Nibia and Quark, and she would still miss Abbie, but she would think of them fondly and proudly. Even if nobody else knew what they had done to try to keep the galaxy safe, she always would.

  She looked over at Less, and then at Tibor. She had always thought she wanted to be a Breaker like her Mother. A career soldier. She had learned that wasn’t what she wanted at all.

  This was all she wanted now.

  “Tibs, take us home.”

  THANK YOU FOR READING SINGLE SHOT!

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  Michael.

  Chaos of the Covenant

  Did you love Justice of the Covenant? Want to read about Hayley’s kick-ass mother and her team while you wait for the next installment?

  Hell’s Rejects (Chaos of the Covenant)

  mrforbes.com/hellsrejects

  The most powerful starships ever constructed are gone. Thousands are dead. A fleet is in ruins. The attackers are unknown. The orders are clear: Recover the ships. Bury the bastards who stole them.

  Lieutenant Abigail Cage never expected to find herself in Hell. As a Highly Specialized Operational Combatant, she was one of the most respected soldiers in the military. Now she's doing hard labor on the most miserable planet in the universe.

  Not for long.

  The Earth Republic is looking for the most dangerous individuals it can control. The best of the worst, and Abbey happens to be one of them. The deal is simple: Bring back the starships, earn your freedom. Try to run, you die. It's a suicide mission, but she has nothing to lose.

  The only problem? There's a new threat in the galaxy. One with a power unlike anything anyone has ever seen. One that's been waiting for this moment for a very, very, long time. And they want Abbey, too.

  Be careful what you wish for.

  They say Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. They have no idea.

  Other Books By M.R Forbes

  Browse my backlist:

  mrforbes.com/books

  Forgotten (The Forgotten)

  mrforbes.com/theforgotten

  Some things are better off FORGOTTEN.

  Sheriff Hayden Duke was born on the Pilgrim, and he expects to die on the Pilgrim, like his father, and his father before him.

  That's the way things are on a generation starship centuries from home. He's never questioned it. Never thought about it. And why bother? Access points to the ship's controls are sealed, the systems that guide her automated and out of reach. It isn't perfect, but he has all he needs to be content.

  Until a malfunction forces his Engineer wife to the edge of the habitable zone to inspect the damage.

  Until she contacts him, breathless and terrified, to tell him she found a body, and it doesn't belong to anyone on board.

  Until he arrives at the scene and discovers both his wife and the body are gone.

  The only clue? A bloody handprint beneath a hatch that hasn't opened in hundreds of years.

  Until now.

  Starship Eternal (War Eternal)

  mrforbes.com/starshipeternal

  A lost starship...

  A dire warning from futures past...

  A desperate search for salvation…

  Captain Mitchell “Ares” Williams is a Space Marine and the hero of the Battle for Liberty, whose Shot Heard ‘Round the Universe saved the planet from a nearly unstoppable war machine. He’s handsome, charismatic, and the perfect poster boy to help the military drive enlistment. Pulled from the war and thrown into the spotlight, he’s as efficient at charming the media and bedding beautiful celebrities as he was at shooting down enemy starfighters.

  After an assassination attempt leaves Mitchell critically wounded, he begins to suffer from strange hallucinations that carry a chilling and oddly familiar warning:

  They are coming. Find the Goliath or humankind will be destroyed.

  Convinced that the visions are a side-effect of his injuries, he tries to ignore them, only to learn that he may not be as crazy as he thinks. The enemy is real and closer than he imagined, and they’ll do whatever it takes to prevent him from rediscovering the centuries lost starship.

  Narrowly escaping capture, out of time and out of air, Mitchell lands at the mercy of the Riggers - a ragtag crew of former commandos who patrol the lawless outer reaches of the galaxy. Guided by a captain with a reputation for cold-blooded murder, they’re dangerous, immoral, and possibly insane.

  They may also be humanity’s last hope for survival in a war that has raged beyond eternity.

  (War Eternal is also available in a box set of the first three books here: mrforbes.com/wareternalbox)

  Man of War (Rebellion)

  mrforbes.com/manofwar

  In the year 2280, an alien fleet attacked the Earth.

  Their weapons were unstoppable, their defenses unbreakable.

  Our technology was inferior, our militaries overwhelmed.

  Only one starship escaped before civilization fell.

  Earth was lost.

  It was never forgotten.

  Fifty-two years have passed.

  A message from home has been received.

  The time to fight for what is ours has come.

  Welcome to the rebellion.

  Or maybe something completely different?

  Balance (The Divine)

  mrforbes.com/balance

  My name is Landon Hamilton. Once upon a time I was a twenty-three year old security guard, trying to regain my life after spending a year in prison for stealing people’s credit card numbers.

  Now, I’m dead.

  Okay, I was supposed to be dead. I got killed after all; but a funny thing happened after I had turned the mortal coil...

  I met Dante Alighieri - yeah, that Dante. He told me I was special, a diuscrucis. That’s what they call a perfect balance of human, demon, and angel. Apparently, I’m the only one of my kind.

  I also learned that there was a war raging on Earth between Heaven and Hell, and that I was the only one who could save the human race from annihilation. He asked me to help, and I was naive enough to agree.

  Sounds crazy, I know, but he wished me luck and sent me back to the mortal world. Oh yeah, he also gave me instructions on how to use my Divine "magic” to bend the universe to my will. The problem is, a sexy vampire crushed them while I was crushing on her.

  Now I have to somehow find my own way to stay alive in a world of angels, vampires, werewolves, and an assortment of other enemies that all want to kill me before I can mess up their plans for humanity’s future. If that isn’t enough, I also have to find the queen of all demons and recover the Holy Grail.

  It’s not like it’s the end of the world if I fail.

  Wait. It is.

  Tears of Blood (Books 1-3)

  mrforbes.com/tearsofblood

  One thousand years ago, the world was broken and reborn beneath the boot of a nameless, ageless tyrant. He erased all history of the time before, enslaving the people and hunting those with the power to unseat him.

  The power of magic.

  Eryn is such a girl. Born with the Curse, she fights to control and conceal it to protect those she loves. But when the truth is revealed, and his soldiers come, she is forced away from her home and into the company of Silas, a deadly fugitive tormented by a fractured past.

  Silas knows only that he is a murderer who once hunted the Cursed, and that he and his brothers butchered armies and innocents alike to keep the deep, dark secrets of the time before from ever coming to light.

  Secrets which could save the world.

  Or destroy it completely.

  About the Author

  M.R. Forbes is the creator of a growing catalog of science fiction and fantasy titles. He lives in the pacific northwest with his family, including a cat who thinks she's a dog, and a dog who thinks she's a cat. He eats too many donuts, and he's always happy to hear from readers.

  To learn more about M.R. Forbes or just say hello:

  Visit my website:

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