by M. R. Forbes
Mitchell turned his head, this discomfort of the sound disrupting his otherwise restful sleep.
"Mitchell."
His name, repeated. He tried to ignore it, closing his eyes tighter. He wasn't ready to wake up yet.
"Come on, Mitch. It's time to rejoin the universe."
He gave up, letting his eyes open. His vision was blurry, having spent too much time without use. He blinked a few times, giving them a chance to focus.
"Steven," he said, looking at his brother, who was standing at the edge of the bed. "What the frig happened to me?"
"What do you think happens to a badass Space Marine," Steven said. "You were wounded and emergency evaced back to Liberty."
"Wounded?"
"A nasty hit on the head. The doctors said you wouldn't remember most of it. Mitch, you're lucky to be alive."
Mitchell relaxed, trying to recall the events leading up to his injury. He was drawing a blank. He fixed his attention on his brother instead. Steven's expression was curious. Concerned, relieved, but at the same time, not worried at all.
"What are you doing all the way out here?" Mitchell asked. "Shouldn't you be closer to Earth?"
"They sent me out to be part of the honor guard for the Alliance Cabinet, part of our negotiations with the Federation for a treaty. A landmark occasion, actually."
"Treaty? If I wasn't hurt in combat against the Federation, how the hell did I get hurt?"
Steven hesitated. "Bandits from the Rim," he said, without going into detail. "Not everyone wants the Alliance and the Federation to join forces. A unified galaxy? That's terrifying to people on the wrong side of the laws."
"Unified? What about New Terra?"
"They're here, too, believe it or not, and I'm glad they aren't hostile. Their tech is years beyond anything we've come up with."
Mitchell could barely believe it. How had he forgotten so much? He tried to access his p-rat, to get some news of his own, discovering that it was offline.
"My interface," he said.
"Was damaged, too. We've got a new one on order, but it hasn't been inserted yet. You're a hero, Mitch. Command wasn't sure if you wanted to go back out there, or if you'd rather finally settle down and go home with your wife, have a family of your own, and let us young guys have a chance at being the heroes for once. You know, be normal for a while? Detox and unwind."
Wife? Mitchell thought about it for a moment. How had he forgotten about her? He was lucky to be alive.
"Is Kate here?" he asked.
"Yes. By the way, she already accepted the retirement package and the honorable discharge."
"She did?"
Steven laughed. "You two have spent enough time apart, don't you think?"
"Yeah. You're probably right. Do I have any clothes in here?"
"I'll take care of it. Just hang out for a minute."
Steven headed for the door, glancing back once as he reached it and exited. Mitchell creased his brow at the look. He didn't know how to describe it, but it felt off.
He waited, alone, for a few minutes, taking the time to try to get his mind back in order. He remembered Greylock. He remembered the Battle for Liberty. He remembered Ella. The two of them were the only survivors. She had gone on to be a figurehead for the Alliance, while he had moved on to lead another company. What was their name again? The Riggers. That was right. Special ops. He wondered if they were okay?
The hatch slid open. He looked up, smiling as Kate walked in, holding a bundle of clothes in her arms.
"Hey, Colonel," she said, approaching him.
"Kate," he said. "Damn. I missed you."
She sat on the bed beside him, and he sat up, taking her in his arms and kissing her, then backing up and stroking her face with his hand, staring into her eyes. She was just as he remembered her, and it gave him instant comfort.
"My mind's a little frigged, but I would never forget you," he said.
"You better not. Steven told me you're going to accept the discharge."
"Only because he told me you already did."
"We should have some time, don't you think?"
Time. Mitchell closed his eyes, a voice reaching across his subconscious, seemingly coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once.
"I am the last, Mitchell. I have confirmed it," Origin said. "Katherine and I will take care of setting things right. Know that I will always be here, guarding the universe against a re-emergence of the Tetron and protecting humankind from itself. You have done your part. You deserve this. Live your new life. Enjoy the time you have."
He opened his eyes, the voice, and the words, fading from his memory almost as quickly as they had come, but leaving him with a new, eternal peace.
"Yeah. We do deserve some time. Maybe we can start a family?"
"Maybe," Kate said, returning his smile. "There's no harm in trying."
"How many kids do you think you'd want?"
"I don't know," Kate said. "Seven? Eight?"
Mitchell laughed. "Sounds good to me."
He leaned forward again, taking her in his arms and holding her close.
Time to rest. Time to relax. Time to be normal. Time to just be.
It all sounded good.
THE END.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading The Edge of Infinity, and the War Eternal series. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I just wanted to add a quick possible spoiler for anyone who may have been slightly confused by the ending. If you want it, read the next line, otherwise, feel free to skip ahead:
Origin survived and reconstituted both Mitchell and Kate with the data she received from Teegin. She made a few modifications so that Mitchell would have no memory of the war against the Tetron. She also manipulated some other data stores to make reality line up with his new memories. Of course, he would hear about the Tetron from others eventually, but he would never know his full role in it. She also took over as the head of New Terra, to use them to prevent the Tetron from ever being recreated.
By the way - reviews are greatly appreciated!!! If you enjoyed the book, please, please, please consider leaving one. Authors like myself rely on reviewers like you to prove to other readers who may not have tried us before that we don't suck :). Here's a link to make it really easy for you: mrforbes.com/edgeofinfinityreview. It SHOULD redirect you to the correct Amazon site based on your location. My apologies if that isn't where you actually purchased.
Thank you so much. And again, thank you for reading the series. I've got a lot more new sci-fi coming in the future, and I hope you'll continue to take the ride with me.
Cheers,
Michael.
New sci-fi coming in February, 2017:
Hell's Rejects, a military space opera.
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More Books By M.R. Forbes:
M.R. Forbes on Amazon
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Man of War (Rebellion)
http://www.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.
Dead of Night (Ghosts & Magic)
http://mrforbes.com/deadofnight
For Conor Night, the world's only surviving necromancer, staying alive is an expensive proposition. So when the promise of a big payout for a small bit of thievery presents itself, Conor is all in. But nothing comes easy in the world of ghosts and magic, and it isn't long before Conor is caught up in the machination
s of the most powerful wizards on Earth and left with only two ways out:
Finish the job, or be finished himself.
Balance (The Divine)
http://mrforbes.com/balancethedivine
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.
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?"
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Silence.
"Where'd you go?" I ask. "Well, I'll just leave this here, in case you change your mind."
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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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