“There are billions of stars in this galaxy. Many billions.”
He nodded, looking out at the stars.
“If this planet was represented by one speck of dust here on the coffee table,” she said. “Using that scale of this planet as a speck of dust, this galaxy would be far, far, far bigger than this planet.”
“And there are a lot of galaxies?” he asked, trying to even pretend to grasp that much distance.
“Billions,” she said.
And once again he couldn’t imagine the size and scale. “I think I’m going to need one of your learning programs to actually understand any of this. Sorry I asked.”
She laughed, moved the popcorn bowl to the table and came over and leaned against him, putting her head against his chest and stretching out on the couch.
Damn that felt good.
And it felt right.
And tomorrow when he woke up he knew what decision he was going to make.
He was joining this beautiful woman. In every way he could.
CHAPTER FORTY
GINA AWOKE THE next morning to the smell of bacon and toast cooking.
The sun was just coming up over the city and the sky was a deep blue. The water around the island looked calm and a dark gray, contrasting with the metal and steel and stone of the giant structures around them.
This city was a beautiful place, of that there was no doubt. She could see why Benny loved it so much.
Last night she and Benny had tried to watch a movie, but both of them had fallen asleep.
Benny woke her up after a short time and got her headed to her own bed in her apartment. She had made some groggy mention that she would like to sleep with him and he had said they both needed the sleep. And if she slept with him, neither of them would sleep.
She had known he was right.
And now, after sleeping, she did feel rested.
A moment later there was a knock on her door.
“Come in,” she said, sitting up in bed and working to straighten out her bed hair. She had slept in a t-shirt and a pair of running shorts.
“Breakfast in ten minutes,” he said, smiling at her.
Her heart damn near beat out of her chest. He was more attractive than before, if that was possible, standing there in his jeans, dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a yellow plastic spatula in one hand.
“Smells wonderful,” she said.
“Do you drink coffee?” he asked.
“I do,” she said. “Black. Do I have time for a quick shower?”
“Make it real quick if you want warm eggs and toast,” he said, smiling.
Then he turned away and headed back to the kitchen.
Eleven minutes later, showered and wearing jeans and a thin blue blouse with a sports bra under it, she padded into his kitchen with her shoes and socks in hand.
He was just serving up two eggs, light toast, and a slice of ham for each plate. He also had what looked to be orange juice in glasses at the table.
“I told the professor we were going to have breakfast up here,” he said as she took her seat and he slid the plate in front of her.
The food smelled heavenly and she dug into the slice of ham, letting the slightly salty taste melt in her mouth.
He sat across from her, eating as well, and they didn’t speak for a few minutes until finally he said, “I’ve decided to join up. I can see no reason not to and about a thousand reasons to join.”
She smiled, then stood and went around the table and kissed him, long and hard.
Just about the point where neither of them were going to finish their breakfasts, she pulled away and went back to her side of the table. She barely made it back. She really just wanted to make love to him right there.
He was smiling and she could feel that she was as well.
“How long will this training take?” he asked.
“Not a clue,” she said. She pointed out over the city. “We don’t have a lot of time for some of the people out there.”
“I was thinking that,” he said. “So after breakfast let’s ask and then get to work.”
“We’ll do it from my office in the ship first,” she said, “find the person who needs the most help soonest and get there.”
“I was going to suggest the same thing,” he said.
He finished his breakfast and pushed the plate away, taking one last sip of orange juice.
She did the same and they stood together.
“Door is still locked,” he said, “and the professor won’t be expecting us down there for a good hour or two.”
She nodded. “Let’s go find out what this training is all about.”
She reached out and took his hand and he held it, his grasp firm in her hand, his skin wonderful against hers.
“Chairman Carson, would you contact Chairman Ray? Benny and I are ready to go.”
“Wonderful,” Chairman Carson said after a moment. “My office.”
“You ready?” she asked Benny.”
“Scared to death and I have a ton of doubts,” he said. “Sort of like climbing on the old roller coaster on Coney Island back in the day. So why not?”
She nodded and squeezed his hand, not really knowing what he meant.
“I’m worried as well, but not scared of what’s coming. I know it can only be good if we do it together.”
“Now that I agree with,” he said.
She again squeezed his hand and said, “Two to transport aboard.”
Then a moment later she had them standing in Chairman Carson’s office facing a smiling Chairman Wade Ray.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
BENNY SMILED AT the man with the long, gray hair and the broad smile.
“I’m ready to go, Chairman,” Benny said. He indicated Gina. “We both are. Together.”
Ray nodded. “That is fantastic to hear.”
“How long is this training going to take?” Gina asked. “We have a lot of hurting people in that city below we need to get to and rescue.”
Ray smiled, but his eyes were serious and Benny could tell that saving people was important to Ray. “Twenty minutes for the training, maybe another hour for me to answer your basic questions.”
Benny nodded. They could take that time. It would be more than worth it, he had a hunch.
“We can do that,” Gina said.
“We’ll need to go to my ship in this galaxy first and pick up my wife Tacita,” Ray said. “Then we will jump to another ship for the training.”
Benny had no idea exactly what Ray meant, but he had a hunch he would in an hour or so.
Gina nodded. “Let’s get started.”
Chairman Ray glanced at the silent Chairman Carson. “We will return in an hour or so.”
Carson only nodded.
A moment later Benny found himself standing on what looked like a conference room in a building. It had no windows and only a long table surrounded by leather chairs that were pushed in. There were photos on the wall of various stars and beautiful images of colored clouds in space.
A woman with long black hair appeared next to Ray.
Ray said, “My wife, Chairman Tacita.”
“An honor to meet you,” Gina said, bowing slightly.
“Yes, an honor,” Benny said, nodding toward the woman with the dark eyes and a slight smile.
Ray took Tacita’s hand and a moment later they were standing on a massive control area of a ship. A good dozen people manned stations around the room the size of a small gym. And two white chairs molded together and facing front were down two levels.
Benny couldn’t hear a thing. Everyone worked in silence at their stations, not even noticing that four people had arrived.
“Where are we?” Gina asked.
“This is the control bridge of our main ship,” Ray said. “We are, at the moment, about seventy galaxies away from the Milky Way Galaxy.”
Gina staggered a little and Benny put out his arm to hold her. She clearly understood distances. May
be it was better, for the moment, that he didn’t really understand just how far they had jumped in that instant of time.
“I’ve never seen a ship this size,” Gina said after a moment.
“There are none this size in the Milky Way,” Tacita said, her voice flat and matter-of-fact, “and won’t be for another three hundred years.”
“But two are on their way there now,” Ray said.
Benny had no idea what any of this meant, but he had to admit that if this was just the control room of a ship, how huge was the ship itself? He didn’t figure they would have time for a tour, since all this was only supposed to take just over an hour.
Ray led them over to two chairs against a far wall facing two large screens and indicated that they should sit.
Gina did and Benny found himself only hesitating for a moment before sitting down as well.
The chair looked like a hard plastic, but it molded around him and supported his back perfectly as he sat down. Nice invention.
“Please put both hands on the surface in front of you,” Ray said.
Benny did at the same time Gina did beside him.
And that was the last thing he remembered about being in that large bridge until Chairman Ray said that they could sit back.
He felt like he had just had every bit of information in the New York City Library forced into his brain, organized, and stored.
And so, so much more.
He knew that now he was a Seeder. In all respects.
He stood and Gina slowly stood beside him, her hand on his arm for support.
Then Benny looked up into the eyes of Chairman Ray and Chairman Tacita and bowed slightly. He knew them, he knew that they were much, much older than even rumored, that this ship they were on was the first Seeder Mother Ship, and so much more.
“Thank you for this honor,” Benny said. And he meant it. More than he had ever meant anything in his life.
“Yes, thank you,” Gina said, and she also bowed slightly.
A moment later the four of them were in a very comfortable lounge with four chairs and light crackers and cheeses and glasses of water on a wooden coffee table in the center. Each chair was an overstuffed brown leather chair and as Benny sat, again the chair formed comfortably around him.
After all four of them were seated, Chairman Ray said, “That process took exactly twenty-one minutes. You have been gone now from Chairman Carson’s ship for just under thirty minutes. I know time is of the essence to you at this point in the rescue, but I hope you will take this next hour to ask us any question you feel is necessary.”
Benny looked over at Gina and she nodded.
“We can take the time,” he said.
Benny now understood exactly how far they were from his New York City and the Milky Way Galaxy. He just understood it. He wasn’t sure how, but he understood it now and was impressed. But he had one question he still didn’t understand.
“All Seeders have a Seeder gene,” Benny said. “What makes the one we have so special? Does it give us extra powers?”
Ray smiled. “Not so much, but in a way, yes. You can remember things over centuries better than others and you both have the ability to transport vast distances, far greater distances than any normal Seeder.”
“But the biggest factor is that the gene,” Tacita said, “gives you the ability to chairman with a partner one of these mother ships.”
“Oh,” Benny said, sitting back. In his mind the size of a Seeder mother ship was clear. They were as large as most moons. And could carry millions of people.
“Wow,” Gina said.
They talked for another thirty minutes, Benny just confirming basic knowledge he had in his mind more than anything else.
Finally he said something that had been bothering him, because he knew that Seeders, especially Seeders like Ray and Tacita, never did much of anything without a plan.
“So with me and Gina now working on my home world, that makes six of us there, four you saved from the disaster twice.”
“Actually,” Ray said, “Since yesterday we found yet another who survived. And another showed up just after the last wave hit from another local planet. They have teamed up and both are being recruited.”
“So eight there,” Benny said. “What is it, the water?”
“We honestly don’t know,” Tacita said.
“So what is your plan for all of us?”
“We want you all to help save the population of your planet first and foremost,” Ray said, “along with thousands of other Seeders helping out around your planet.”
“But after that is stable?” Benny asked, leaning forward.
Ray smiled. “We hope you and Gina in a few years will recruit the other four.”
“We can do that,” Benny said. “And then what?”
“If we could see into the future,” Tacita said, “we would.”
“But we can’t,” Ray said smiling.
Benny nodded. He knew that, for the moment, Ray and Tacita didn’t want to talk about any possible plans. And that honestly made sense to Benny. He and Gina needed to concentrate on saving lives.
And finding a new way for people on his Earth to live going forward.
Benny stood and Gina did as well, slightly ahead of Ray and Tacita.
“It’s time we get started,” Benny said.
“I agree,” Ray said.
Ray reached over and took Tacita’s hand and an instant later they were back in Chairman Carson’s office.
Carson jumped to his feet and bowed slightly to all of them.
“I’m glad you have joined us,” Ray said to Benny. “Good luck in this coming battle.”
“Yes,” Tacita said. “Best success.”
And with that they were both gone.
Benny glanced at the startled face of Chairman Carson. “Thank you, Chairman, for the use of your office.”
“Yes, thank you,” Gina said.
“Any time,” Carson said.
“Shall we go to work?” Benny asked Gina.
“Let’s do it,” she said, giving him that smile he was coming to love more than anything.
A moment later, side-by-side, they were bent over a screen in her apartment office, their shoulders touching as they studied the green dots and the notes Gina had made about each person.
Even though Benny now understood the vast expanse of human worlds out there in the stars, even though this was his first day as a Seeder, his only focus was on his home city, his home planet, and saving as many people as he could as quickly as he could.
There would be time later to really think about what had happened. And what he had agreed to.
The larger Seeders Universe would take time for him to understand. But many people out there in his home city amid all the death didn’t have time.
So he was focused.
And he knew that the woman of his dreams beside him felt exactly the same way.
They needed to quickly find survivors.
And then together rescue them.
After all, saving human life, human cultures, was what Seeders did.
He was now a Seeder. And that felt exactly right.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, USA Today bestselling writer Dean Wesley Smith published far more than a hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds of short stories across many genres.
At the moment he produces novels in four major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the Old West, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, and a superhero series starring Poker Boy.
His monthly magazine, Smith’s Monthly, which consists of only his own fiction, premiered in October 2013 and offers readers more than 70,000 words per issue, including a new and original novel every month.
During his career, Dean also wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus
novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, he wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.
He wrote novels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of almost a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown.
Dean also worked as a fiction editor off and on, starting at Pulphouse Publishing, then at VB Tech Journal, then Pocket Books, and now at WMG Publishing, where he and Kristine Kathryn Rusch serve as series editors for the acclaimed Fiction River anthology series.
For more information about Dean’s books and ongoing projects, please visit his website at www.deanwesleysmith.com.
Look for These Other Titles from Dean Wesley Smith
Seeders Universe:
Against Time
Sector Justice
Morning Song
The High Edge
Thunder Mountain Series:
Thunder Mountain
Monumental Summit
Avalanche Creek
The Edwards Mansion
Lake Roosevelt
Warm Springs
Melody Ridge
Earth Protection League:
Life of a Dream
Sign up for the WMG Publishing newsletter to receive updates about new releases, bonus content and more at wmgpublishing.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Disaster
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
The Rescue
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
High Edge: A Seeders Universe Novel Page 12
