by M. R. Forbes
"My apologies for the delay in quieting the others," Teegin said. "Watson set them into a loop. A recursion, if you will allow. Without his network connection, it required proximity to free them."
Katherine had no idea what it was talking about until she noticed the voices from below had silenced.
"You mean?"
"Yes," Mitchell said. "We did it. We won."
She should have been overjoyed. Instead, she felt a sudden panic. "Kathy? Michael?"
"They are as well as can be expected," Teegin said.
"We buzzed past the launch site on our way to you. They were holed up in the CIC and would have been in real trouble if we hadn't deactivated the slaves. Luckily, we got there in time."
Safe. They were both safe. She could relax.
"They'll have their work cut out for them," Mitchell said. "Watson's configurations have standing orders, which means the Tetron problem isn't going to just go away from this part of the timeline. She'll have to keep them in check."
"You captured Watson's core. You have the eternal engine. That's the important thing. You did it."
"You got the Goliath free," Mitchell said. "We did it together. All of us."
The shaking stopped. Katherine looked back toward the bow, letting herself smile at the sight of the speckled black ahead of her. Then she cursed as she began to rise from the deck.
"Katherine?" Mitchell said, hearing it.
She grabbed the edge of the command station, pulling herself to the controls.
"It's okay, Mitch," she said. "I forgot to activate the artificial gravity."
Mitchell laughed, and she laughed with him. She still wasn't sure what that feeling was, but she was happy she would have a chance to find out.
"We're coming in," Mitchell said, can you open the door?"
"Affirmative."
She found the hangar controls and opened the door, and then followed the strange fighter as it reached the hangar and slipped inside.
"You might want to activate the barrier and get us some atmosphere in here while you're adjusting the gravity," Mitchell said a moment later.
She had forgotten those details, too. She let herself continue to laugh at the situation while she completed the changes, sinking slowly back to the deck as the repulsor repulsors powered up.
"Better," Mitchell said. "I'll be up there in a few."
"What about all the people Watson brought on board?" she asked.
"We'll have to figure something out," he replied. "It's not like we can drop them back home."
"They aren't going to be happy."
"Some of them might. They get to go to space."
"Yes, sir. What are we going to do now?"
"We're going to meet up with an old friend. I'll apologize to you ahead of time. It's going to be a little bit awkward."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll see."
60
"We have arrived at the coordinates," Teegin announced through the Goliath's intercom.
"How long?" Mitchell asked.
"Thirty-four seconds," the Core replied.
Mitchell stared out at the empty expanse of space ahead of them. He could only hope he had made the right decision.
"Nervous?" he asked.
Katherine was standing beside him, her arms folded across her chest. She stared ahead, her expression intense.
"Wouldn't you be?" she replied.
"Probably."
There hadn't been much time to settle things once the Goliath had reached orbit around Earth. Teegin had immediately headed to the rear of the ship to begin his preparations, while Mitchell had been forced to deal with the forty-three soldiers who had gotten stranded on the ship. They were handling the situation well, all things considered, though they had a ton of confused questions about what had happened to them. Mitchell wished he had more time to give them answers. He thought he would until Teegin advised him there wasn't a direct correlation in the recursive loop. He had been forced to direct them to the berthing section of the Goliath for the time being and then had hurried to the bridge.
Katherine greeted him there, throwing her arms around him and embracing him tightly. He had done the same, grateful to see her again. Then he asked her to put the Goliath into hyperspace.
They had a date with destiny.
Now that destiny was only seconds away. He had no idea what to expect. He doubted anything like this had ever happened before.
"What do you think she's like?" Katherine asked, glancing over at him.
"If she's anything like you, she's strong, courageous, intelligent, independent, capable, and a damn good pilot."
Katherine smiled. "You're probably right."
"I am picking up the temporal distortion, Colonel," Teegin said.
"Here she comes," Katherine said.
The space in front of them seemed to fade, the stars winking out in the back of a sudden blackness that was darker than nothing itself. A blinding white light followed immediately behind it, forcing them both to look away.
A second later, it was over. The light was gone. The dark was gone.
Mitchell looked forward, clearing his throat, his own nerves making themselves known as his heart began to pound.
An eternity ago, Major Katherine Asher had helped bring the Dove into space, and with the assistance of an artificial intelligence named Origin had used a device known as an eternal engine to cross the boundaries of the infinite loop of time, and carry the starship into the future to continue the war against the Tetron.
A future that was now the present.
While Teegin had suggested the rendezvous with the Dove from the prior recursion, he had also been resistant to breaking the cycle that had been continuing for longer than any of them knew, where the launching Dove went to the next time loop while the prior Dove championed the current one. It was a huge risk to remain in the here and now instead of going forward. It was a risk Mitchell knew they had to take.
For the first time in an eternity they had a real chance to end the war forever, and the unique Tetron Core was the secret weapon that might make it possible.
Mitchell looked out at the starship that had appeared in front of them, a near perfect mirror image of the one he was standing in.
"Teegin, open a channel."
"Yes, Colonel."
Mitchell drew in a sharp breath. Slow. Steady.
"Crew of the U.E.A.S.S. Dove," he said. "My name is Colonel Mitchell Williams of the United Earth Alliance Space Marines. Welcome to tomorrow."
Thank you for reading Eternal Return!
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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.
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is caught up in the machinations of the most powerful wizards on Earth and left with only two ways out:
Finish the job, or be finished himself.
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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.
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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.
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Secrets which could save the world.
Or destroy it completely.
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About the Author
M.R. Forbes is the Creator of a growing catalog of speculative fiction titles, including the science-fiction War Eternal and Rebellion series, the epic fantasy Tears of Blood, 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.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
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About Eternal Return
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