Star Mist

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by Smith, Dean Wesley


  What they were going to try to do was in essence take the pressure of empty space away by opening not just one, but thousands of holes in it all at once. Just as firefighters did to a burning structure under pressure. They opened many outlets instead of just one.

  The scientists a few years back had determined exactly what strange gravitational force was holding empty space together like a bubble, allowing a ship to enter and leave, yet holding the space together.

  And once they had determined that force, they knew how to puncture the force to not so much let empty space out, but to let regular space and time flood in.

  The entire bubble should, the scientists had told West, just vanish as if it had never existed.

  West could only hope.

  “Report status,” West said to all the ships around the bubble ready to send a hundred probes each to open up holes.

  A moment later Korgan looked up at him and nodded. “All eighty ships report green, Chairman.”

  West nodded, staring at the big screen in front of him showing nothing but empty space.

  “Mission go,” West said.

  West knew that once he said that, a computer program from Rescue One would launch all probes at the exact same moment from all ships.

  West had been told that the probes would have a small charge when they hit the membrane, so it would look like eight thousand tiny lights flashing at the same time in a sphere shape in open space.

  “Five seconds,” Korgan said.

  Intense, heavy silence filled the bridge of the ship.

  West had no doubt not one word was being said anywhere in the large fleet of ships surrounding the empty space bubble.

  West could not for a second take his gaze away from the massive screen in front of him.

  Suddenly, there was a white flash of light from what looked like the surface of a sphere.

  Then a moment later, the massive mother ship Dreaming Large appeared.

  Cheering erupted around the bridge.

  West just stood there grinning, staring at the screen, knowing that finally, after sixteen years, he would finally get to see his wife’s face again. And maybe a little later actually hug her and kiss her.

  After a moment, Korgan, a smile almost splitting his face, turned to West. “I have the two chairmen of the Dreaming Large asking just what the hell is going on.”

  West just smiled right back at Korgan. “Tell them to contact Chairman Ray and let him explain.”

  Then, for seemingly the first time in sixteen years, he went and sat down in his chairman’s chair.

  And then on a private channel he said to Rescue One, “Please contact my wife on Dreaming Large and put her through to my personal screen here.”

  “I will be glad to, Chairman,” Rescue One said.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  And then, for the first time in sixteen years, he took a deep breath and relaxed.

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  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 several 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, a superhero series starring Poker Boy, and a mystery series featuring the retired detectives of the Cold Poker Gang.

  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 and sign up for his newsletter.

  Look for These Other Titles from Dean Wesley Smith

  Seeders Universe:

  Against Time

  Sector Justice

  Morning Song

  The High Edge

  Star Mist

  Star Rain

  Thunder Mountain Series:

  Thunder Mountain

  Monumental Summit

  Avalanche Creek

  The Edwards Mansion

  Lake Roosevelt

  Warm Springs

  Melody Ridge

  Grapevine Springs

  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

  Copyright Information

  Star Mist

  Copyright © 2016 by Dean Wesley Smith

  Published in a different form in Smith’s Monthly #25, October, 2015

  Published by WMG Publishing

  Cover and Layout copyright © 2016 by WMG Publishing

  Cover design by Allyson Longueira/WMG Publishing

  Cover art copyright © Philcold/Dreamstime

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  SECTION ONE

  PROLOGUE

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SECTION TWO

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY-ONE

  TWENTY-TWO

  TWENTY-THREE

  TWENTY-FOUR

  SECTION THREE

  TWENTY-FIVE

  TWENTY-SIX

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  TWENTY-NINE

  THIRTY

  SECTION FOUR

  THIRTY-ONE

  THIRTY-TWO

  THIRTY-THREE

  THIRTY-FOUR

  THIRTY-FIVE

  THIRTY-SIX

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  THIRTY-NINE

  Star Rain sample

  Newsletter Signup

  About the Author

  Look for These Other Titles from
Dean Wesley Smith

  Copyright Information

 

 

 


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