The sheriff 3 a post apo.., p.32
The Sheriff 3: A post-apocalyptic sci-fi western (Sheriff Duke),
p.32
“You have Zorro.”
He smiled. “That I do.”
“So,” Vazquez said as they turned and walked through the bunker together.. “When do we leave for New Eden?”
“Whenever you’re ready. I just need a few minutes to say my goodbyes.”
“Fairy and her crew are all in the mess, eating as much of Ruger’s supplies as they can before they hit the road.”
“Did Paul make it in?”
“He sure did.”
“And they’re still planning to head out?”
“For now. I think they’ll miss the easy access to three squares a day once they’re back in the wilds, but Fairy’s convinced they can do good out there.”
“I’m sure they can.”
“What about you, Hayden? What’s your plan?”
“You mean after we get to New Eden? I’ll probably lay low for a little while, until the lingering pains fade away. Then I’ll be back out there, same as Fairy I guess. Looking to help folks where I can.”
“And hunting for the Grand Custodian?”
Hayden shrugged. “If the opportunity presents itself. But I’m not going out of my way unless he starts another ruckus I can’t ignore.” They reached the door to the mess, and Hayden turned to face Vazquez. “Can you find Ruger and tell him to meet us outside if he still wants to go see about some new augments?”
Vazquez smiled. “Sure, Hayden.”
She headed down the passageway while Hayden pushed the door to the mess open, all eyes turning to him as he walked through.
“Sheriff Duke!” Fairy said, jumping from her seat and running over to him.
“Hey kiddo,” he said, taking her in his arms and hugging her. He looked past her to the rest of the people at the table, which was covered in meal bar wrappers. Klev, Jojo and Paul were all getting to their feet to greet him. “You’re building up quite a posse here.”
She pulled away from him, smiling. “We could come with you, Sheriff. We’d make good deputies.”
“I’m sure you would,” Hayden replied. “And I appreciate the offer. I’ve got some other things to do back in New Eden you wouldn’t find all too interesting.”
“Well, if you change your mind, you know how to find us.”
“Sure do.” He turned to the rest of the group, shaking hands with each one of them. “It’s good to see you all made it here in one piece. You did better than me.”
“Did you really kill a goliath?” Jojo asked. “I heard stories about them. I didn’t think they were even real.”
“They’re real,” Fairy said. “I saw it myself.”
“I didn’t want to kill it. They were our protectors once. So Paul, how are you holding up?”
“I’m okay, Sheriff,” Paul replied. “It’s hard to think about right now, but I know they’re in a better place.”
“They sure are,” Hayden agreed.
“Are you hungry, Sheriff?” Klev asked. “We’ve got a few meal bars left. Have you ever tried them? I think Thanksgiving Dinner is the best.”
Hayden laughed. “I’ve had a few in my time. I prefer Salmon Mania, but to each their own.”
“Salmon?” Fairy said. “Yuck.”
“Anyway, I’m good,” Hayden continued. “I just came by to say goodbye. I promised Maya I would see about getting her a ride back to Proxima from New Eden. And I need to follow through with my promise to Ruger too.”
“You really have to leave already?” Fairy asked, sounding disappointed.
“Pozz. But I’ll be around. I don’t think this is the last we’ll see each other.”
“Well, if it is, it’s been an honor being your deputy, Sheriff Duke.”
“The honor is mine, Fehrizad.” He looked at the others. “You all take care of each other, pozz?”
“Pozz,” they replied.
Hayden waved as he left the mess. He made his way to the elevator, up to the surface and back outside, crossing the training field to the Osprey. The recruits paused to watch him go, getting one last look at the famed Sheriff.
He waited outside the aircraft for a few minutes, leaning against the fuselage and watching as Vazquez and Ruger reached the field and crossed to him.
“Sheriff Duke,” Ruger said. “It’s good to see you back on your feet.”
“It’s good to be back on my feet,” Hayden replied. “Did you find someone to take care of all of this while you’re gone?”
Ruger laughed. “You’d never guess who.”
“Jackie?” Haden ventured, surprising the other man.
“How’d you figure that out?”
“Just a hunch.”
“Well, you’re spot on. I guess that’s why you are who you are. The way things are changing around here, I figure I need to let the old ways die before I do.”
“It’s the right decision,” Hayden agreed, turning to Maya. “We need to make a stop in Natch City to pick up Zorro. and then we’ll be on our way.”
“Copy that, Sheriff,” Vazquez replied.
They boarded the Osprey. Ruger took a place in one of the jump seats while Hayden and Vazquez moved forward to the cockpit. He settled into the co-pilot’s seat as she started the aircraft’s turbines, spinning up the rotors and lifting off.
The Osprey rotated east, rotors shifting to horizontal as it vanished into the orange hue of the rising sun.
Thank you so much for reading The Sheriff 3. For more information about the next installment, please visit mrforbes.com/thesheriff4.
Did you know there are more Sheriff Duke books already available?
Forgotten, The Complete Trilogy - mrforbes.com/theforgottentrilogy
This is Sheriff Duke’s origin story. It contains adult language and more graphic violence than The Sheriff.
Earth Unknown (Forgotten Earth, Book 1) - mrforbes.com/earthunknown
The most popular and highest rated Sheriff Duke series. Again, contains some adult language. Violence is less graphic.
No Planet For Good Men: A Sheriff Duke Story (Forgotten Fallout, Book 1) - mrforbes.com/forgotten-fallout
The series most like The Sheriff - less adult language, but it’s still in there.
Invasion (Forgotten Vengeance, Book 1) - mrforbes.com/invasion
Not recommended to read this one without at least reading No Planet For Good Men, unless you really hate cussing in books.
There are two other spin-off series in the Forgotten Universe, if you like the universe and want something a little different.
Deliverance (Forgotten Colony, Book 1) - mrforbes.com/deliverance
Exodus (Forgotten Starship, Book 1) - mrforbes.com/exodus
Other Books By M.R Forbes
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Forgotten, The Complete Trilogy
mrforbes.com/theforgottentrilogy
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)
mrforbes.com/earthunknown
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)
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...
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:
mrforbes.com/rebellion-web
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)
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.
M.R. Forbes, The Sheriff 3: A post-apocalyptic sci-fi western (Sheriff Duke)
