Morning Song: A Seeders Universe Novel Read Online Free

mission. You all will report to me or Tacita.”
    All four of them nodded.
    Nodding right now was about all Roscoe could do. Mostly he kept his focus on the patterned carpet in front of his chair.
    “We’re going to have to work together if we’re going to save billions of lives,” Ray said. “The big ship will hit the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy in five months. It will destroy this planet in six months and ten days if we can’t stop it or alter its course.”
    “We have a very real ticking clock,” Fisher said.
    “Very real,” Chairman Ray said, his voice soft.
    No one said a word as the fire in the big stone fireplace crackled.

 
     
     
     
    THREE
     
     
    MARIA BOONE HAD almost melted in her chair when she stopped looking at the incredible lodge they were in and noticed Roscoe Mundy. She had never had a reaction to a man like that before and luckily she had had a few minutes to recover as Chairman Ray introduced them all and outlined their mission.
    And watching Mundy get surprised with his own command of a ship was amazing. He actually managed to stay calm, but she could tell from how he shifted twice when Ray wasn’t watching, he was trying his best to gather himself.
    He was cool and very smooth and stunningly handsome. Wow. Who knew she would be attracted to the military type. His long brown hair sure didn’t make him look military.
    Finally, it was Chairman Fisher who broke the silence after Ray’s announcement of how little time they had.
    “Any ideas how we are going to get inside that thing?” Fisher asked.
    Maria pulled her gaze from Roscoe, who was still managing to look at the floor in front of him as he gathered himself.
    “We have a few ideas,” she said, “from plans of other older Seeder ships that have come down through the centuries. But we’ll have to work with you to confirm our theories. And from what we can tell from the readings of the shield, teleporting inside isn’t an option.”
    “We have come to the same conclusion,” Ray said.
    “I am one hundred percent convinced,” Callie said, “that this is an old Seeder ship. But in all the records we have ever seen, there has been no real mention of building something this large. So this might be very old, or very new.”
    Ray nodded to her that she should go on. And Tacita looked up and focused her intense gaze on Maria.
    “New?” Roscoe asked, now clearly recovered.
    She looked at him and somehow managed to not just stare into those deep, dark eyes. He held her gaze, but he seemed as surprised as she was with the tension between them.
    And the attraction.
    “It’s a possibility,” she said, nodding, then pulling her gaze from Roscoe back to Ray and Tacita. “I’m not convinced that early Seeders had this kind of capability. I don’t think we do now unless there is something I don’t know.”
    Ray just nodded.
    Maria went on. “If the Seeders originated outside the Local Group of galaxies as many think, then their civilization now would be very old and capable of this kind of technology. And might still be using this older design.”
    Again, Ray and Tacita just nodded.
    “It seems there is a second problem in boarding the big ship,” Roscoe said. “It’s traveling faster than anything I know of when it drops out of trans-tunnel drive.”
    “With some modifications by my chief engineer, my personal jump ship can match that speed exactly,” Fisher said. “My jump ship is small, and can only hold about twenty comfortably, but it can match the speed without a problem.”
    Maria watched as Roscoe nodded.
    “I would like to attempt the first boarding in three weeks,” Chairman Ray said.
    He then turned to Fisher and Callie. “Thank you for the kind offer of the use of your wonderful lodge as we prepare.”
    “Feel free to come and go,” Callie said.
    “We have stocked the kitchen at the bottom of the stairs,” Fisher said. “Help yourself.”
    Maria loved the idea of spending the next weeks coming and going