“Take good care of him,” she added, addressing both Nicholas and Yasmin. “We saw what he was doing here. He’s a special kid. A brave one.”

  “He definitely is,” the layer’s Yasmin agreed.

  Yasmin hurried back to the group. Nicholas spotted her wet cheeks through her visor. The series of events had left her emotions in knots, just like they had his.

  “I wish we could take him with us,” she whispered through the comm.

  “Me too,” Nicholas agreed.

  The Knights made their way back to Foresight. All around them, Marines continued killing the stunned trife, unable to retreat without their queen to give them orders.

  “Jennifer, we’re on our way back,” Nicholas said as they approached the ship.

  “Where to, Captain?” she replied with a quivering voice. Of course, she had heard everything over the comms.

  “We need to get out of this layer before we destabilize.”

  “Cap’n, what about Briar?” Macey asked. “Don’t you think she should be buried here on Earth?”

  “This isn’t her Earth,” Nicholas answered. He paused. “Max, do you have the coordinates to my origin layer?”

  “Affirmation. You cannot slip successfully without the start and end coordinates. Question. Why do you ask?”

  “Give Yasmin the coordinates so she can enter them into the slip drive. Briar’s going home.”

  Chapter 44

  Nicholas’ legs, despite the augmented strength of his combat armor, felt like lead weights as he climbed the ramp into Foresight. He wanted to be elated that they had saved Luke.

  But the cost was still too damn high.

  Maybe not for this layer. They would go forward with Luke and all his friends alive, to whatever future Max insisted would come to pass. At least, assuming Koth didn’t make his way here to alter anything else. The possibility seemed like a loophole in the fabric of existence. Maybe the Relyeh Ancient couldn’t reverse Luke’s survival here and now, but he could theoretically use his Scry to follow their trail, show up here a day or two from now and cause some other form of trouble that would result in Luke’s death. What if he sent a second huge slick of trife to the Pilgrim launch site?

  He understood that potential future damage had to be tempered by the desire not to spin the narrative out of control. That seemed like a weak thread to hang a universe on.

  Like Max had said earlier, they didn’t make the rules. He was also starting to understand why someone had to play the game.

  But why him?

  Why Briar?

  It was never supposed to be her, or Scott, or any of the others besides Caleb Card and the real Vultures. Except he could immediately call to mind all the instances where his ragtag group of civilians had used their different skills to survive where all the Vultures, except Calab, had died. Maybe Caleb and his Vultures were the warriors Max had wanted, but the Knights were the crew he needed.

  The hatch closed behind Nicholas once he entered the hold. Scott had placed Briar on the Doc medibot and was in the process of removing her helmet. The others flanked the device, helmets off and held in the crooks of their arms, following Caleb’s lead.

  “Jen, we’re all on board. Lift us off. Gently.”

  “Copy that,” Jennifer replied. “I wish I could be down there with you.”

  “Pass the stick to Frank once we’re over thirty-thousand feet. Then you can be.”

  “Copy.”

  They remained in place and silent until Jennifer was able to join them, climbing down the ramp and immediately going to Briar’s side. She looked down at her friend, smoothed the backs of her fingers down her still sweaty cheek and cried.

  “In the Vultures, when we lose someone, if we can we keep a twenty-four hour honor guard at their side,” Caleb said. “Sometimes duty or circumstance don’t allow it. But I think it would be a fitting tribute to her, for as long as we’re out here before we can get her home.”

  “I’ll stay,” Scott said.

  “Me too,” Jennifer added.

  “I’ll stay too,” Macey said. “No offense to the rest of you, but she was my favorite person on this ship.”

  “None taken,” Yasmin said.

  The trio took up position around Briar, standing at attention. Nicholas, Yasmin and Caleb helped one another out of their combat armor before joining Max in the main compartment.

  “Perfection,” Max said. “Sadness. It is negative to lose a companion. But we did complete our mission.”

  “Don’t you think that was...I don’t know...Briar notwithstanding, a little too easy?” Yasmin asked.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Nicholas agreed.

  “The only thing that seemed too easy to me was hitting the right layer on the first try,” Caleb added. “And at almost the perfect time. Or just in time, maybe. The queen already had a bead on Luke.”

  “But that’s not where she killed him in our layer,” Yasmin said.

  “Reminder. Echoes create minor differences across layers,” Max said.

  “And it wouldn’t have been as easy without the microspear,” Caleb continued. “We didn’t have to shoot her down. All we had to do was stab her. And it certainly wasn’t flawless.”

  “True,” Nicholas agreed. “There is one thing though, Max. This layer’s version of me and Aaron Grimmel just met our Caleb. What happens when and if he meets his Caleb and mentions meeting him here. That Caleb will have no idea what he’s talking about.”

  “Consideration. I spoke internally to Aaron Grimmel. To myself. Caleb Card will not be on this layer’s Foresight. Only Aaron Grimmel will be on board. This Foresight will vanish, never to be seen again. Hahahaha. Hahahaha. Haha.”

  “Isn’t that going to screw up the timeline?” Caleb asked.

  “Negation. It is what needs to happen. This Caleb has another role to play.”

  “So where do we go after we take Briar home?”

  “The Place.”

  “What is it, and what are we supposed to do there?” Nicholas asked.

  “Information. It is The Place. It is where we will prepare our trap for Koth.”

  “That’s kind of vague.”

  “Hahahahaha. Hahaha. Haha.”

  Nicholas shook his head. “Do you always have to be so obtuse, Max?”

  “Reparation. Some things are easier to see than explain.”

  “You’re asking us to put a lot of trust in you.”

  “Affirmation. Have I failed to earn it?”

  “No offense, Max,” Caleb said. “But it’s hard to fully trust an AI built by an alien race to do what’s best for humankind.”

  “Understanding. Agreement. Max is a friend to humans. Consideration. What is best for the Axon, or for Max, may concurrently be what’s best for humankind.”

  “So you’re not wholly benevolent?”

  “Question. If the outcome is the same, does the motivation matter?”

  Caleb shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out.”

  “Captain Shepherd,” Frank said over the ship’s comm. “Orbit successfully reached. Awaiting further orders.”

  “That was faster than I expected,” Nicholas said. “I didn’t feel a thing.”

  “You’re welcome,” Yasmin said, taking credit for the dampener.

  “Let’s get the coordinates into the slip drive so we can get Briar home. I’ll be on the flight deck. Let me know when we’re ready to execute the slip.”

  “Yes, sir,” Yasmin said. She paused. “Nick...I—”

  “I think I know what you’re going to say. We can talk about it later. We can’t stay in this layer indefinitely.”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  “Do you mind if I join you on the flight deck?” Caleb asked.

  Nicholas smiled, glad to see Caleb finally take the initiative to integrate himself more fully into the crew. “You’re welcome anytime, Cal.”

  He and Caleb crossed to the flight deck while Yasmin took her usual seat at one of the terminals, Max stood over her to recite the slip drive settings. Sitting in the pilot’s seat, Nicholas looked at the forward surround, taking in the damaged blue marble below.

  This Luke survived. Which meant most of the other Lukes would survive too. And even if he didn’t know what, he was certain something good would come from it.

  “Worth saving, Nick,” Caleb said, sitting down in the co-pilot’s seat.

  “Definitely,” Nicholas agreed, though he wasn’t sure if Caleb meant Luke or Earth. The answer remained the same either way. “Even if we have to fight through time and space to do it.”

  “Nick, the coordinates are primed,” Yasmin said. “The drive is ready for activation.”

  “Copy that. Executing in five...four...three...two...one…”

  Nicholas tapped his nav pad to activate the slip. The power went out, leaving them in suddenly weightless darkness. He counted the seconds in his head, surprised when the power didn’t return at five.

  Or at ten.

  “Max?” he said, confused.

  The power returned just shy of fifteen seconds. The forward display came back on.

  “Max?” he repeated, heart rate spiking. A fiery orange and brown sphere sat beneath them. “What the hell is going on? That isn’t Earth.”

  “Negation. Hahahaha. Hahaha. Haha.”

  Thank you so much for reading Formation, the second book in the Forgotten Space series. Looking for the next-in-series? Please head over to mrforbes.com/forgottenspace3 for more information.

  Thank you again!

  Thank you you for reading Formation, the second book in the Forgotten Space series.

  I really hope you’ve enjoyed the book, and that you’ll be back for book three.

  If you weren’t aware, while Forgotten Space can be read as a standalone experience, it’s also one of a series-of-series set within the Forgotten Universe, a growing collection of interconnected stories in the vein of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you’d like to learn more about those books, you can browse the entire catalog of titles at mrforbes.com/forgottenuniverse

  If you’re all caught up in the Forgotten Universe… AWESOME! Thank you so much!

  Cheers,

  Michael.

  Other Books By M.R Forbes

  Want more M.R. Forbes? Of course you do!

  View my complete catalog here

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  Forgotten (The Forgotten)

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  Complete series box set:

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  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 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.

  Earth Unknown (Forgotten Earth)

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  Centurion Space Force pilot Nathan Stacker didn't expect to return home to find his wife dead. He didn't expect the murderer to look just like him, and he definitely didn't expect to be the one to take the blame.

  But his wife had control of a powerful secret. A secret that stretches across the light years between two worlds and could lead to the end of both.

  Now that secret is in Nathan's hands, and he's about to make the most desperate evasive maneuver of his life -- stealing a starship and setting a course for Earth.

  He thinks he'll be safe there.

  He's wrong. Very wrong.

  Earth is nothing like what he expected. Not even close. What he doesn't know is not only likely to kill him, it's eager to kill him, and even if it doesn't?

  The Sheriff will.

  Deliverance (Forgotten Colony)

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  Complete series box set:

  The war is over. Earth is lost. Running is the only option.

  It may already be too late.

  Caleb is a former Marine Raider and commander of the Vultures, a search and rescue team that's spent the last two years pulling high-value targets out of alien-ravaged cities and shipping them off-world.

  When his new orders call for him to join forty-thousand survivors aboard the last starship out, he thinks his days of fighting are over. The Deliverance represents a fresh start and a chance to leave the war behind for good.

  Except the war won't be as easy to escape as he thought.

  And the colony will need a man like Caleb more than he ever imagined...

  Starship Eternal (War Eternal)

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  Complete series box set:

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  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.

  Man of War (Rebellion)

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  Complete series box set:

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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.

  Hell’s Rejects (Chaos of the Covenant)

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  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 Marines 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.

  About the Author

  M.R. Forbes is the mind behind a growing number of Amazon best-selling science fiction series. He currently resides with his family and friends on the west cost of the United States, including a cat who thinks she’s a dog and a dog who thinks she’s a cat.

  He maintains a true appreciation for his readers and is always happy to hear from them.

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