Read Online Morning Song: A Seeders Universe Novel by Dean Wesley Smith - Free Book Online Page B

Ray.
    “Receiving,” Ray said after a moment. “And you got the language figured out I see.”
    “We do, Chairman,” Fisher said. “But we will need to access the big ship’s command systems and other systems to figure out the Morning Song’s mission. We will be doing that next unless your data bring up something we have not yet discovered.”
    Maria watched as Chairman Ray shook his head, his long gray hair moving on his shoulders as he did. “We have found, in searching carefully everything you sent us at first, no real threats from the ship itself.”
    “Besides getting lost,” Fisher said.
    Ray laughed. “There is that. That ship is impossible for most to comprehend the size.”
    “It is,” Fisher said.
    “So, I assume Chairman Mundy and Chairman Boone are on this link,” Ray asked.
    “Everyone on the ship is listening and on the link,” Fisher said. “We seem to all be in the belly of this beast together.”
    Ray nodded. “Chairman Mundy,” Ray asked Roscoe, “Do you see any obvious dangers in exploring?”
    “Nothing, Chairman,” Roscoe said, “after two days of scanning, it seems clear.”
    “Chairman Boone?” he asked.
    “No dangers that my team has found, Chairman,” Maria said, agreeing with Roscoe. In two days she and her team had found nothing that seemed even slightly dangerous.
    Ray nodded, then asked Maria, “Do you think this is still a Seeder ship?”
    “I do,” Maria said, her stomach twisting in excitement. “I’m convinced this is a Seeder Mother Ship and the mission of this ship is to find a large crew and leave the Milky Way in a different direction from Andromeda and the path of the current leading edge of seeding that is going on in Andromeda.”
    Chairman Ray nodded. “We have come to that same conclusion.”
    Maria felt her heart race. These Mother Ships had only been a distant and faint myth of Seeders. Now she found herself inside one.
    Then Chairman Ray’s face became very serious. “We have exactly 161 days before the big ship plows into a populated system and takes out a moon and a number of other bases. We might be able to get those evacuated in time and have started that preparation now.”
    “Good,” Roscoe said softly beside her.
    Ray went on. “But the Morning Song plows into your home base world, Fisher and Callie, in 167 days and destroys it completely. We are mounting preparations for an emergency evacuation if it comes to that, but will only be able to get a few million out of the billion now on that world.”
    “We’ll get it stopped, Chairman,” Fisher said, and Maria found herself nodding in agreement.
    “Your timeline is much shorter, you understand,” Chairman Ray said.
    “Twenty-two days and four hours,” Fisher said. “We will stop it, turn it, or destroy it in that amount of time.”
    Maria again felt her stomach twist. This ship was the greatest treasure from the history of the Seeders. They had to stop it, she understood that, but if she had anything to say about it, they would do it without destroying it. They flat had to.
    “Get started and dump data with each trans-tunnel flight,” Chairman Ray said. “We’ll do what we can in helping from this side.”
    “Thank you, Chairman,” Fisher said.
    “Good luck,” Chairman Ray said and the screen went blank.
    Maria did her best to just let herself breathe.
    “Chairmen Boone and Mundy to the kitchen,” Fisher said. “Five minutes.”
    Roscoe smiled at her as she stood. “Looks like we get to go exploring very soon.”
    At that she actually smiled, pushing back the ticking clock and letting the excitement of exploring an ancient ship the size of a large moon come forward.
    “I love exploring new places,” she said, smiling at him.
    “Actually,” he said, “so do I.” Then he smiled and raised one eyebrow.
    She wasn’t at all sure what he meant exactly, but she liked the idea either way.
    She laughed and said, “Why does that not surprise