Morning Song: A Seeders Universe Novel (3 page)

He forced himself to take a deep breath, clear that thought, and turn his attention to Chairman Ray and his black-haired wife Tacita. She had done a quick look of the lodge and nodded, then moved over to the couch and sat down, saying nothing.

Roscoe knew her reputation as being cold and brilliant. It was rumored that she and Chairman Ray had been a team for over a hundred thousand years. He couldn’t imagine being with one woman for that long. He couldn’t imagine living that long, actually. In fact, that number just sort of numbed him, it was so large.

As they all got seated, Roscoe kept his attention on Chairman Ray, but noticed out of the corner of his eye that the redheaded woman had now noticed him and was staring at him. He didn’t dare let himself look at her.

He wanted to, but he didn’t dare.

“This is our command team,” Chairman Ray said. “Welcome. You’ve all been briefed on what we face, so first let me do some introductions and reasons why I have asked you to be part of this.”

He turned to Fisher. “Chairman Vardis Fisher and his partner and wife, Callie Sheridan. Both of them are more educated than most anyone you will ever meet. They will run the science part of this mission, from mathematics to the social sciences. We have no idea what we might find when we get inside that ship, so we need to be ready for anything and they have two of the most diverse and nimble minds I have had the pleasure to meet.”

Both Fisher and Callie nodded to that, clearly slightly embarrassed.

Chairman Ray went on. “Their ship and two other scientific ships will be support and they will lead the scientists.”

Then Chairman Ray turned to the redhead. “This is Chairman Maria Boone.”

Roscoe looked at her, but she had her golden eyes focused on Chairman Ray.

“Chairman Boone is the leading authority on the history of the original Seeders,” Ray said, “and she and her ship cut a tracking research trip short and returned from the edge of the Local Group boundary to help. Since that old ship is an ancient Seeders’ ship, we’re going to need her entire crew of experts to unravel what we find.”

Then Chairman Ray turned to Roscoe. “This is Roscoe Mundy who doesn’t know it yet, but has become Chairman Mundy of a ship called
The Huntington
. It has just reached orbit above us.”

Roscoe managed to not jerk from surprise, but instead nodded a thank-you to Chairman Ray.

Roscoe had had no intention of becoming a Chairman of his own ship this soon. In a few hundred years of more experience, maybe, but not yet. But it seemed he was being given a gift for the moment. He just hoped he was up for the task.

“The Huntington
is the heaviest-armed Seeder ship ever built. It was recently finished and stored in the First Sector, waiting for a moment when it would be needed. So Chairman Mundy will be in charge of all military and security forces we might need going into that large ship. He is one of the clearest-thinking military brains we have.”

Roscoe nodded to that. He had been briefed on that part of the mission, just not being a Chairman of his own ship. Nor had he expected the compliments coming from Chairman Ray.

“Four other Seeder military ships will be joining us from the Andromeda Galaxy,” Ray said, “as soon as they can get here, which will be in about two weeks.”

Roscoe nodded, suddenly totally overwhelmed. He had no doubt he was going to have to recruit a few mortals from Sector Justice into the Seeders, with permission, of course, to help on his ship. He had no idea how to do any of that.

Seeders Justice was a fairly new policing organization that had formed in the Milky Way Galaxy. It had a lot of great people in it, experienced people he could trust.

Chairman Ray then patted the leg of his wife. “Tacita and I will be in overall command of this 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 from this lodge. That sounded heavenly after the year she had just spent onboard her ship.

Chairman Ray and Tacita stood, forcing all of them to their feet out of respect.

“We meet back here tomorrow for breakfast at 8 a.m. planet time,” Ray said. “That is sixteen hours from now exactly.”

Maria nodded, as did everyone else.

“Keep your ships shielded and cloaked,” he said. “The locals on this planet will detect it otherwise.”

Then Ray turned to Roscoe. “Chairman Mundy, come with me and I’ll give you a tour of your new command.”

With a quick nod, Roscoe smiled at her and then the three of them vanished.

That smile almost took her breath away. Wow, he was something.

Maria turned to Fisher and Callie. “Thank you for your hospitality. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“You are more than welcome,” Callie said. “This is our home we’re trying to save so glad this is being taken so seriously.”

Maria nodded. “We’ll save it.”

With that she transported back to her ship, hoping that they actually could.

And hoping beyond hope that she could find time with Chairman Mundy. Private time.

FOUR

ROSCOE FINISHED THE quick tour of his ship in the Command Center of
The Huntington
. The big Command Center felt at home to him instantly and scared him to death at the same time.

The ship was huge and had firepower that could take down an entire planet if it needed to. Roscoe hoped it would never come to that.

Ever.

But from what he had seen of the big ship coming into the galaxy, nothing
The Huntington
had in firepower would even dent it.

The ship already had a full engineering crew and some basic officers who had gotten it here, but they were not as trained as he would like.

“I have dinner to eat, and you have some core crew in the mess,” Ray said, smiling, after he gave him the quick rundown of the Command Center. “They all will head certain areas of your ship and one is your second-in-command. Might want to go meet them to help you get started.”

Then smiling, Ray vanished, leaving Roscoe stunned at not only being in charge of such an amazing warship, but that he already had some command crew. He knew the ship needed a basic crew of a hundred to just limp along, which it had now, mostly in engineering and communications, but three hundred would be better.

He had a couple of weeks to get that many in place and no idea how to do that. Now it sounded like he had some help.

He took a deep breath and looked around at the three-level Command Center. His station was in the center of the second level. One entire wall was a giant screen in front of his station. It didn’t feel right to go sit in the chair just yet. Maybe tomorrow.

So instead, he took a deep breath and transported to the mess.

Four people were sitting there on the far side of the huge room, around a table near the kitchen door. They were all eating and laughing. Two were men, two women.

The place smelled wonderfully of hamburgers and fries. And they all seemed to have milkshakes in front of them. Clearly the ship had some kitchen crew already. One more detail to not worry about.

Roscoe’s stomach rumbled, making him realize he needed to try to eat as well.

He started through the sea of empty tables toward the group of four when he suddenly realized he knew one of them. He would know that shaved head and long nose anywhere.

Jonas Craig, his second-in-command at Sector Justice, the police force that watched over different parts of the Milky Way, sector by sector. Sector Justice knew nothing about Seeders being in their midst. They still believed that all Seeders had done their work and just moved on. Which was mostly true, but not completely.

Jonas was one of the best fighters Sector Justice had and could kill a man with a single finger. They had worked together now for ten years and Roscoe had trusted him with his life. How was that possible that Jonas was a Seeder as well?

“Jonas, you’re kidding me, right?” Roscoe said as he moved toward them.

Jonas turned from the others, staring and clearly stunned, his mouth open showing a half-chewed hamburger. Then Jonas blinked twice and closed his mouth.

So Jonas hadn’t known Roscoe was a Seeder either. Amazing.

The other three turned and Roscoe recognized them all, even though he didn’t know their names. All were from different branches of the Sector Justice force.

It seemed the Seeders were in just about everything when it came to keeping the peace and making sure human populations they had planted progressed in a peaceful way.

Jonas finally gathered himself enough to finish chewing, stand and face Roscoe. “Damn, I’m glad to see you,” he said, smiling.

“Not half as much as I am to see you,” Roscoe said, smiling. “I didn’t know you were a Seeder.”

Jonas laughed. “I didn’t know the same about you. Go figure.”

They both laughed.

The others stood to greet him and with that, Jonas turned to introduce him to the other three. And he started with “Folks, this is Chairman Mundy.”

And that once again just shocked Roscoe more than he wanted to admit.