Morning Song: A Seeders Universe Novel (6 page)

After a far too short time period, they were done.

They both wiped down the counters last, talking about how great it would be to have a home base like this one.

“Tomorrow morning then,” he said, smiling at her and holding her gaze.

She stepped up to him and kissed him for just an instant. Then she stepped back.

She could feel her breath short and she knew she was blushing, but she didn’t care. It had been wonderful, even though she completely surprised him.

He also had the decency to be blushing as well.

“What was that, Chairman Boone?” he asked, smiling slightly.

“A promise for the future,” she said, smiling back. “Until tomorrow.”

And she transported back to her ship before she couldn’t hold herself back and jumped him.

Or before he made a move to kiss her.

She had a hunch that neither of them would get anything done if that happened.

It took her a good half hour in the gym working off the excitement of being with Roscoe before she went back to a meeting with her team.

Two hours later they had worked out a computer generated list of a few million standard entrance codes that an old Seeder ship might use for its landing deck, if there was a landing deck.

They were all convinced there was, and that it would be large enough to hold just about any ship.

After that she had a small lunch and then went back to the gym to try to get Roscoe from her mind. Even a hard workout didn’t do it.

It had been just too damned long since she had been with a man. And she had a hunch, the way she was feeling, she had never been with anyone like Roscoe.

Ever.

TEN

THE NEXT MORNING at breakfast, Maria was cheerful and smiling. He had worried about her kiss and how she would react today. All fine in that department. He had worried for nothing. She was as stunning and alluring as ever.

And even more friendly.

He had thought about her the entire day yesterday, trying to keep as busy as he could to cut down the time daydreaming of her.

It had worked a little, but not much. He pretty much had everything in place and ready to go.

About halfway through breakfast, Chairman Ray asked them about all their progress.

Maria told him how her crew had come up with a few million codes that might open the docking area if there was one like most Seeder ships. Then she said she and her crew were as ready as they ever would be.

Roscoe reported that
The Huntington
was ready and the other four warships were also in position and standing by. He was ready as well.

Callie and Fisher then reported that their team had figured out a way to get limited scans inside trans-tunnel flight, and had worked out exactly how to match the speed inside the trans-tunnel of the big ship.

The ship would only be in trans-tunnel flight for two hours starting tomorrow, then be in regular flight for fourteen days.

Fisher looked at Chairman Ray. “We’re ready now if you want us to try to get a scan.”

Chairman Ray nodded. Then he turned to Roscoe. “I want you and four of your best team on Chairman Fisher’s ship.”

Roscoe nodded, surprised, but it made sense in case something went wrong.

Ray turned to Maria. “I need you and four of your best scientists on the ship as well.”

She nodded and said nothing, clearly understanding what Ray was doing.

Ray then turned to Fisher. “Only take the crew you need to get the scans. Leave all your data and most of your crew in one of the other science ships.”

Fisher nodded as well. “We’ll just need five also.”

Roscoe was impressed. Chairman Ray had decided to move, but had reduced the risk down to painful, but not disastrous levels if something went wrong.

“We’ll need to depart in one hour,” Fisher said, “to be in position and at speed for the big ship’s jump.”

Roscoe nodded to Ray and stood. “Thanks once again for the great breakfast,” he said to Fisher. “I’ll be glad to do the dishes when we get back.”

Ray laughed. “You all go. Tacita and I are not too old to do dishes.”

“Thank you, dear,” Tacita said, smiling at her husband.

They all laughed.

“My people will be ready and on board your ship in forty-five minutes,” Maria said to Fisher.

Then she vanished.

“As will my people,” Roscoe said.

Then he left, jumping back to his ship to get to Jonas and his command crew. He planned on taking the four of his top command crew, leaving
The Huntington
in the hands of Red and Mattie until they got back.

They were going to scan a very old and very advanced ship. There was going to be no telling what they would find or trigger.

And that had him both scared to death and excited at the same time.

ELEVEN

MARIA LIKED WORKING with Roscoe and felt comfortable with him. He and his top command crew were in a secondary control room on Fisher’s small ship called
The Lady
.

His crew stood against the back bulkhead, armed and ready to go. The room was a high-ceilinged room that Fisher said had been used as an exercise room. He had converted it for this mission, along with other rooms.

His ship had a very comfortable feel and she had liked it the moment she stepped on board. The carpet in the hallways and rooms was soft, but not thick. Colors were tan and all chairs were form-fitting.

Fisher and Callie had decorated the hallway walls with various paintings and images from different planets. Often the images were changing, showing fantastic beauty from varied worlds. Maria bet that if she asked Fisher and Callie, each image and painting would have a story from the last three hundred years they had been together.

Fisher had said that most of the time the ship was on one of the big landing decks of his large Seeder research science ship. But he and Callie lived on this ship as their own personal apartment and always kept it at the top performance and with top equipment for all tasks.

Maria’s crew stood near her on her right, watching the big image screen on the wall and the heads-up displays in front of Fisher’s three crew members.

She and Roscoe stood side-by-side. At one point she had moved so that he almost touched her left arm. She wanted him a lot closer than that at some point.

They had talked a bit while boarding about how excited they were for the coming mission. Now, as they waited in the last few seconds, she shifted from foot to foot, but he stood rock still. How he could do that was impossible for her to grasp in this situation. This was too exciting to not move.

The large screen on the wall kept them all informed as to what Callie and Fisher were doing in the small ship’s Command Center.

The big screen also showed the huge old Seeder ship flashing through space at near light speed.

The big Seeder ship was so large, no perspective was possible. It was impossible for her to grasp that someone had built something that big.

“Matching speed now,” Fisher said.

She also found it hard to believe that this ship could move this fast. Nothing she knew of had near-light speed.

“Jump to trans-tunnel flight with the big ship in ten seconds,” Callie reported.

“Here we go,” Roscoe said, glancing at her and smiling.

She smiled at him. He seemed so cool under pressure situations. She wanted to just clutch something. She liked more and more about him, she had to admit. She forced herself to go back to watching the monitors. She couldn’t let herself get distracted at this moment by his incredible looks and dark eyes. She was tempted to reach out and hold his hand, but she didn’t.

“Two, one,” Fisher said from the control room and the small ship jumped to trans-tunnel.

The stars streaked and everything on the screen went from clear to gray as it always did in fast trans-tunnel flight.

The big ship was right beside them, also in trans-tunnel flight.

Fisher had matched the jump perfectly. Amazing. She didn’t know this was possible either, for two ships to be inside the same trans-tunnel flight.

Wow, Fisher and his team were really something.

“Ready for scans,” Callie said.

In front of Maria, the three crew members from Fisher’s team worked their boards quickly. On the big screen, and on the heads-up displays, was where they all hoped the scan results would start appearing.

“Nothing seeming to block the scans,” Fisher reported from the Command Center.

Maria now wanted to jump up and down she was so excited. She was about to see inside a million-year-old Seeder ship. Beside her Roscoe didn’t even move. He had some amazing control.

“Ready,” Fisher said.

“Now,” Callie said.

Nothing.

Screens showed the same image of the big ship in trans-tunnel flight.

Maria was disappointed for a moment, then suddenly everything changed.

The trans-tunnel streaks and grayness vanished.

And what appeared on the screen was something Maria couldn’t comprehend in the slightest.

Fisher’s ship now sat like a tiny dot on a vast plain of decking of some sort. Distant ceiling lights illuminated the vast space that looked like it could easily cover a large city.

The ceiling was so far overhead, it almost couldn’t be seen.

“Oh, shit,” Jonas said from behind her. “We triggered something.”

Beside her, Roscoe snapped around. “Full alert. Jonas, to the control room.”

Without looking around, Maria knew Roscoe’s military crew snapped instantly into action, weapons at the ready as each took up a position near assigned members of the other two teams.

Roscoe had his pulse rifle off his shoulder and ready, standing beside her, his attention now on the screens as well as everyone in the room.

She glanced at him and then took a deep breath to calm herself and get back to thinking, just as Roscoe was doing.

“Seems we are inside the big ship,” Fisher said from the control room, his voice sounding impossibly calm.

“It would seem that way,” Maria said, shaking her head. Then she said to Fisher with more authority. “Can we get a signal out to Chairman Ray?”

A moment later Ray’s face came on the screen.

She was never so happy to see a face in her life. She released the breath that she had been holding.

“We are inside the big ship,” Fisher reported to Ray. “Our scans triggered a transport of some sort.”

Ray just nodded. The man had ice in his veins just as Roscoe. “Everyone safe?”

“We are, and still scanning,” Fisher said. “Transmitting data to you now as it comes in.”

Ray glanced to his right for a moment, then nodded. “Continue as long as you can.”

Maria was even more excited that Ray was getting their scans. That was a very, very good sign.

“I’m assuming,” Fisher said, “that if we are still here when the ship drops out of trans-tunnel in an hour or so and goes behind its screens, our transmissions will be cut off.”

“Understood,” Ray said, nodding.

“Suggestions?” Fisher asked.

Ray stood silent for a moment, then shrugged slightly, his long gray hair bouncing on his shoulders. “Find a way to turn or stop that ship before it destroys those planets,” Ray said.

“Understood,” Fisher said.

Then Ray said simply into the camera. “Roscoe, take care of those people in there.”

“Understand, Chairman,” Roscoe said from beside her. “We will.”

“Good luck,” Ray said and cut off.

“Scanning data still pouring out and being received,” Fisher said. “Chairman Mundy, Chairman Boone, meet me in the kitchen.”

“Understood,” Maria said.

Beside her Roscoe nodded and then followed her out of the secondary Command Center and down the short hall toward the small ship’s kitchen.

She was inside an ancient and more than likely very deadly Seeder ship.

A dream come true for her life’s work.

And a nightmare at the same time.

Section Two:

THE PAST CONTROLS

TWELVE

ROSCOE HAD BEEN worried right from the start about their scans triggering a defense mechanism. They had prepared Fisher’s ship with supplies and other needed items for just this contingency. And everyone on board had brought a week’s worth of clothes that could be washed if needed. From the looks of it, Fisher’s wash machine was going to get a workout before this was all settled.

But so far, nothing seemed deadly.

So far.

But he was going to take no chances that didn’t need to be taken.