“What do you mean?” Natalia asked softly.

  “You know what I mean. About our little one.”

  “She isn’t yours.”

  “No? Are you sure of that, Natalia?”

  Ghost leaned in further, putting his face right in front of hers. His eyes burned into her. Accusing. She was shaking and numb. She had never been sure. Hayden had always accepted Hallia as his, and neither of them ever questioned it.

  “You’ve questioned it,” Ghost said. “When you look into her eyes. When you see me there. Look at my face, and then look at hers.”

  Natalia did, her eyes going from Ghost to Hallia. Hallia smiled back at her, amused by the look on her mother’s face because she didn’t understand it. The fear. The pain. The guilt.

  “Do you mind if I hold her?” Ghost said, backing up beside the carriage.

  “You don’t touch her,” Natalia hissed. “You don’t ever touch her.”

  Ghost smiled. “Come now, Natalia. You don’t think I would hurt her, do you?” He reached into the carriage, stroking the side of Hallia’s face. Hallia laughed in response.

  “You aren’t real,” Natalia said softly, trying to convince herself of what she already knew.

  “No? Then how does she feel my touch? Why is she laughing? Because she knows who her real daddy is.”

  “No!” Natalia cried.

  “Mom?”

  Natalia looked up, past Ghost to the small light that appeared ahead of the stairs.

  “Ginny,” Natalia said.

  “Mom, were you waiting here for me?” Ginny started toward her, too far away to see anything clearly. “The power went out, and I heard gunfire in the distance. I think there’s trouble. We need to get out of here.”

  “What?” Natalia whispered.

  “I came for the machine,” Ghost said.

  “You want to use it?” Natalia replied. “To end the Hunger?”

  “Mom, who are you talking to?” Ginny said.

  “No,” Ghost said. “I don’t want the Hunger to end. They’re the most powerful weapon ever created. Too good to waste. I want them under my control.”

  “Who are you?”

  “I told Hayden to make the right choice. He didn’t. This all could have been avoided.”

  “Is someone there?” Ginny asked, getting closer. Natalia heard the action of a gun being prepared for use.

  “Ginny stop,” Natalia said.

  She did. “What’s going on?”

  “You’re very intelligent for a human. Except when it comes to your baser nature.” Ghost put his hand around Hallia’s face, squeezing it lightly. “Hayden denied me. And then he challenged me. This was your worst mistake.” He let go of Hallia. “That will be his.”

  “Get the hell away from her,” Ginny said, moving closer, the light of her small flashlight joining with Natalia’s comm.

  Hallia started to cry.

  Natalia’s breath caught in her throat. There really was someone there. It wasn’t all a hallucination.

  “No. I don’t think I will.”

  Shots boomed in the darkness, the muzzle flash of the gun revealing Ginny’s tense face behind it. The rounds from the revolver hit Ghost in the side, blue flashes causing the projection to drop and the hallucination to fade.

  The Axon wasn’t like the others she had seen. It was larger and more alien in form, its featureless head a larger, more elongated shape, its hands ending in three fingers instead of four, its limbs longer and leaner. It turned away from her, raising its hand toward Ginny, who kept shooting it until the revolver clicked empty.

  “No!” Natalia shouted as a blast of blue energy launched from the Axon and into Ginny’s chest.

  She didn’t even have time to scream before collapsing to the floor.

  Natalia lunged at the Axon, raking at its face with her nails. She couldn’t damage its Skin. It reached up and grabbed her wrist, bending it until it threatened to break and pushing her to her knees.

  The Axon lifted its other hand over her head, a blue light forming in its palm.

  A bright flash and everything went black.

  Thank you for reading!

  Thank you for reading Invasion. I know there are a lot of options for great books out there, and I appreciate that you chose mine.

  I release new titles in a pretty consistent four to six week cycle, which means Isolation, the second book in Forgotten Vengeance series is coming soon!

  Want to know when it’s out? Sign up here.

  mrforbes.com/isolation

  New to the Forgotten Universe?

  Forgotten Vengeance is one of a growing number of series based in the Forgotten Universe, and contains characters whose origins are fleshed out in earlier novels. You can get a breakdown of series by chronological order, published order, and main character at mrforbes.com/forgottenuniverse.

  Want to know when my next book is out?

  If you’re enjoying Forgotten Vengeance, I’m sure there will be more to come that you’ll also enjoy. Sign up for my mailing list and be one of the first to know when I have a new book out (2 or more weeks before Amazon Followers are alerted). You’ll also have a chance to participate in giveaways, get discounted books, and continue to support my work.

  BONUS: get a free short story, exclusive to e-mail subscribers.

  mrforbes.com/notify

  Reviews

  Reviews are so important to us authors. We rely on readers like you to help provide social proof to other readers that our work is worth picking up (especially for the first book in a series). If you think I’ve earned a ‘tip’ for my work on Forgotten Vengeance, please consider dropping a review on Amazon for Invasion today.

  mrforbes.com/reviewinvasion

  Thank you again!

  Cheers,

  Michael.

  Forgotten Universe

  The Forgotten Universe is still growing! Whether this is your first series in the universe or your fourth, there may be more books featuring your favorite characters - Sheriff Duke, Caleb Card, John Washington, Nathan Stacker, and more that you haven’t met yet.

  mrforbes.com/forgottenuniverse

  Other Books By M.R Forbes

  M.R. Forbes on Amazon

  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.

  Deliverance (Forgotten Colony)

  mrforbes.com/deliverance

  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...

  Earth Unknown (Forgotten Earth)

  mrforbes.com/earthunknown

  A desperate escape to the most dangerous planet in the universe... Earth.

  Nathan's wife is murdered. The police believe he's the killer, and why wouldn't they? He's a disgraced Centurion Marine pilot, an ex-con, and an employee of the most powerful crime syndicate on Proxima.

  The evidence is damning. The truth, not as clear. If Nathan wants to prove his innocence and avenge his wife, he'll have to complete the most desperate evasive maneuver of his life:

  Steal a starship and escape to Earth.

  He thinks he'll be safe there. He's wrong.

  Very wrong.

  Earth isn't what he thinks. Not even close. What he doesn't know isn't only likely to kill him, it's eager to kill him.

  If it doesn't?

  The Sheriff will.

  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)

  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 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.

  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.

  About the Author

  M.R. Forbes is the mind behind a growing number of Amazon best-selling science fiction series including Rebellion, War Eternal, Chaos of the Covenant, and the Forgotten Universe novels. 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.

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

  Visit my website:

  mrforbes.com

  Send me an e-mail:

  michael@mrforbes.com

  Check out my Facebook page:

  facebook.com/mrforbes.author

  Chat with me on Facebook Messenger:

  https://m.me/mrforbes.author

 

 

  M R Forbes, Invasion

 

 

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