by M. R. Forbes
The hatch to the control room slid open behind him. He turned sharply, his instincts kicking in and sending him into a defensive posture.
"Don't hurt me," Singh said, her voice back to its usual flatness.
"Singh?" He couldn't help but smile. He didn't want to be the only living thing on this ship. "Are you okay?"
She shrugged. "I'm fine. It told me to head up here to you and let me go. It took me a few minutes to get here, there's some debris along the route. A hull breach that was sealed by the dendrites."
"You know what it is?"
"I heard your conversation. At least, I remember it like I heard it. I don't know what to say. This ship doesn't seem to need an engineer."
"You are wrong about that, Corporal Li Singh."
A new person joined them on the bridge. He bore a strong resemblance to Singh, but with a more masculine face and short hair. They would have been easy to pass as siblings.
"Origin?" Mitchell asked.
The man smiled. "As I said, I needed the formulation. The DNA, etcetera, to replicate the organism. You did well against it, Mitchell, but this is only the very beginning. We have many miles to go before we sleep."
"I don't understand," Singh said, taken aback at the sight of the Tetron.
"This is mankind's war," Origin said. "For your survival. Your existence. It does not fit for me to interact with you as a Tetron. It will make assimilation... difficult. I have replicated this form and linked it to my central unit, which you observed in the engine bay." He pointed to where the Alliance ships were arranged around them. "As we will be taking on allies, it is important that we begin preparing the Goliath to service a human crew once more. That will mean extensive work on the original subsystems, which have been languishing since the original crew of the ship died over three hundred years ago. It will certainly require the help of an engineer."
"What do you mean, died?" Mitchell asked. He hadn't even considered the astronauts who had taken the Goliath out for its maiden voyage.
"The average lifespan of a homo sapiens in the year twenty-sixty was ninety-four years," Origin said, "and there was a limited extended food supply on board for the initial engine test. Goliath has been hiding for much longer than that."
Mitchell swallowed and fought to hold back what was sure to be dry heaves. The Goliath crew - Yousefi, Bonnie, Katherine - they had come here and starved to death. Katherine had even known it was going to happen, that her fate was to die on this ship in an effort to win a war that wouldn't start for an untold number of years. How had anyone, or anything, convinced her of that?
"Are they still here? The bodies?" Singh asked.
"I have assimilated their resources," Origin said. His eye twitched, as though he was accessing a p-rat. "I have unblocked transmissions and am receiving an encoded signal. Do you wish to communicate?"
Mitchell glanced out at the dropship. "We can't do this alone," his vision of Christine had said. How were the Alliance forces going to react when they found out who was driving the Goliath? Would it matter? They had no FTL engines of their own.
"Open the channel," Mitchell said.
A tone sounded from somewhere in the control room.
"This is the Alliance dropship Valkyrie. Please respond. I repeat, please respond."
"This is Captain Mitchell Williams, Alliance Space Marines," he replied. "Of the starship Goliath."
There was a long pause.
"Did you say, Goliath?" the voice responded, followed by another pause. "Did you say Captain Mitchell Williams?"
"Yes," Mitchell said. He turned to Origin, remembering the other Alliance ship. "Where is the carrier?"
"Gone," Origin said. "The Tetron destroyed it."
The news washed over Mitchell. The casualties were growing, and he was sure the rate was only going to increase.
"You're supposed to be dead," the voice from the Valkyrie said.
"Goliath," a second voice said, the nerves obvious in their voice. "How could it be Goliath?"
"Who am I speaking to?" Mitchell asked.
"Major Aaron Long, Alliance Navy," the first voice replied. "Commander of the dropship Valkyrie. Captain I... I don't understand any of this. I don't even know how we got here."
"It's a long story, Major. The important part is that you're safe for now. The threat is neutralized."
"That ship. I've never seen anything like it. Was it the Federation?"
Origin chuckled.
"No," Mitchell replied. "Not quite. It's much, much worse than that."
"I don't understand," Major Long said.
"Mitchell," Origin said. "We must skip the platitudes. We cannot stay here long. Tetron communications occur in real-time, and I am certain more of my kind are already on the way to this location."
He didn't want to be there when they arrived. "Right. Open the hanger doors. Valkyrie, this is Goliath. I'm opening the hanger. You and your fighters have permission to come aboard as long as you promise to not try to kill me, arrest me, pull rank on me, or do anything else stupid after I just saved your life. I'll explain everything later."
There was a long pause. Mitchell could imagine the crew of the ship trying to decide if they should accept his offer. Finally, Major Long returned.
"Understood, and agreed, Captain Williams. I'd rather bed down with the devil I know than be stranded out here. Long out."
They thought he was a criminal, a liar, a rapist, maybe worse. They would figure out the truth soon enough, maybe. Did it even matter anymore?
"Hanger doors are opening," Origin said.
"What happens now?" Singh asked.
Origin looked at Mitchell. "You already know, don't you, Captain."
He did. In a way, he'd always known. He'd even made one attempt already, one that had left him with his tail between his legs. He wasn't eager to try again, but at least he would have the Goliath at his back this time.
"We need to go back to Liberty. We have to find Christine."
"Yes," Origin said. "The replica was supposed to stay close to you, to help you in any way she could. It would have been better if she had traveled with you, but I am certain that circumstances prevented it. A caution. She doesn't know what she is, or why she has positioned herself as your guardian. She won't until we are reunited."
"I still don't understand why she's so important?" Singh said.
"Two reasons, Corporal," Origin replied. "First, remember that she contains the bulk of my knowledge of this war and of the Tetron. I retained only enough to maintain my discovered individuality and be reinitialized. Until you retrieve her you are fighting an enemy whose motivations and capabilities you do not, and can not completely understand. As Sun Tzu stated many centuries ago - know your enemy." Origin's eyes twitched again. "The Alliance forces have gained the hanger. I have taken the liberty of shifting your fighter to a more optimal position, and sealed off the deck for the time being."
"Thank you," Mitchell said.
Origin nodded slightly. "Second," he continued, "prior to your arrival in the universe her alternate directive was to extrapolate the identity of the Creator."
"The Creator?" Mitchell asked. "God?"
Origin laughed. "Not your creator, Mitchell. Ours. We were not always Tetron. We know that we were made by man, though the answer of who made us has eluded us throughout the eons. It is not enough to destroy the Tetron who have used the eternal engine to travel here. To end the war, the Creator must also be killed before we can be conceived, and in that way break the cycle of our existence and your demise."
"And Christine knows who it is?"
"She may. She may not. It has proven to be a difficult answer to obtain. Perhaps the most difficult in all of eternity."
"If we have to figure it out, then we'll figure it out," Mitchell said. "The Alliance forces are aboard?"
"Yes," Origin said.
"We'll have time to plan our attack during the trip. You may not know, but Liberty has already been taken."
"
Yes. I am aware. Liberty has always been one of the first to fall. We must hope that she is still alive. If she isn't, this war has been lost again." His eyes twitched. "I am preparing to move us into hyperspace."
Mitchell turned and looked out at the vastness of space ahead of them. He turned until he found the asteroid belt, reaching up and putting his hand to his heart. He wished he could at least have something of Ilanka's, or Millie's. A medal or something personal to remember them by, the way they had done for the others.
"Riigg-aaah," he said, as loudly as his tired lungs would bear. One last call to send them on to wait for the next return.
"Riigg-aaah," Singh echoed softly beside him, joining him in his gaze out towards the stars.
He was about to turn, to look away, when he saw it: a speck appearing in the distance and sweeping out from the sea of space rock, its exterior glinting in the light of the nearby star. He didn't need his p-rat to identify the transport.
"Riigg-aaah," he said again, the smile spreading across his face.
He definitely wouldn't have to fight this war alone.
Thank you for reading Starship Eternal!
Reviews are AWESOME!!! Please consider leaving one.
https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?ie=UTF8&asin=B00S2D872U
More Books By M.R. Forbes:
M.R. Forbes on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/M.R.-Forbes/e/B00BBX2184/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1&tag=mrforbes-20
The End of Liberty (War Eternal, Book Two)
Want to be notified? http://books.mrforbes.com/notify.html
Dead of Night (Ghosts & Magic)
http://amzn.to/1kfpqnS
Small-time thief and hitman Conor Night thinks having terminal cancer is his worst problem. The illegal treatments keeping him alive are expensive, and the side effects a mixed bag:
Conor can raise the dead.
When a low-end hit points to a high-end job, Conor is suspicious, but it's an opportunity he can't afford to ignore. Armed with a set of soul-sucking ancient dice, a collection of corpses, and the estranged daughter of one of the most powerful wizards on Earth, it will take all of his wit, charm, and magic to navigate the treacherous world of the dominant Houses and either finish the job, or be finished himself.
He's got ninety-nine problems, and dying is only one.
Balance (The Divine)
http://amzn.to/10KdkJW
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.
His Dark Empire (Tears of Blood, Book One)
http://amzn.to/1e0T0tz
They told Eryn that he was a cruel and unfair man, that he hunted the magically gifted, and that he named them Cursed for the tears of blood they shed. They told her she needed to keep her power secret, or he would be coming for her next.
No one could say why he took the ones who stayed, or why he killed the ones who ran. No one knew why he forced innocent people into hard labor, or why he kept such a massive standing army. Nor did they know who he was, where he had come from, or where to find him. The only thing they were sure of was that he had been there when they had been born, and he would be there when they died.
Eryn didn't know why she ran, but she swore she would survive. She didn't know the dangers of his roads, or of the monsters that lurked in every shadow. And she would never, ever have guessed that she would find the greatest of allies in the form of a fugitive and murderer.
It could not have been foretold how his actions would change their lives, or how their lives would change the fate of the world.
For nothing was as it seemed in his dark empire.
Join the Mailing List!
"No," you cry. "I will not submit myself to even more inbox spam. I have quite enough garbage coming in from people and places that I care a lot more about than you."
"But," I reply, "if you sign up for my mailing list, you'll know when my next book is out. Don't you want to know when my next book is out?"
"Eh... I'll find it on Amazon."
"True enough, but you see, a mailing list is very valuable to an author, especially a meager self-published soul such as myself. I don't have a marketing team, and I don't have exposure in brick and mortar stores around the world to help improve my readership. All I have is you, my potential fans. How about a bribe?"
"Hmm... Keep talking."
"Picture this... giveaways, a chance at FREE books. There is a 10% chance* you could save at least three dollars per year!"
Silence.
"Where'd you go?" I ask. "Well, I'll just leave this here, in case you change your mind."
http://mrforbes.com/mailinglist
* For illustration only. Not an actual mathematical probability.
Thank You!
It is readers like you, who take a chance on self-published works that is what makes the very existence of such works possible. Thank you so very much for spending your hard-earned money, time, and energy on this work. It is my sincerest hope that you have enjoyed reading!
Independent authors could not continue to thrive without your support. If you have enjoyed this, or any other independently published work, please consider taking a moment to leave a review at the source of your purchase. Reviews have an immense impact on the overall commercial success of a given work, and your voice can help shape the future of the people whose efforts you have enjoyed.
Thank you again!
About the Author
M.R. Forbes is the creator of a growing catalog of speculative fiction titles, including the science-fiction War Eternal novels, the epic fantasy Tears of Blood series, the contemporary fantasy Divine series, and the world of Ghosts & Magic. He lives in the pacific northwest with his wife, 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.
Mailing List: http://bit.ly/XRbZ5n
Website: http://www.mrforbes.com/site/writing
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6912725.M_R_Forbes
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mrforbes.author
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mrforbes
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
About Starship Eternal
Dedication
XENO-1
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
&nb
sp; 18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
40 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 
50 
51 
52 
53 
54 
55 
56 
57 
Other Books
Join the Mailing List
Thank You
About the Author
