Space Odyssey Book Novels & Stories

Matt took a swig of beer and went to the restroom. He was about to enter the men's restroom when Matt smelled something. It was so fragrant, intoxicating. A kind of smell that invigorated him. Matt didn't realize he was following that fragrance. He found himself standing outside the ladies' room door. He almost sniffed all the women coming out from inside. Several women had passed by, but none of them had the fragrance he was craving. Matt changed positions. He leaned against the other wall, opposite the angle of the door. He could smell that fragrance more strongly there, as if it was giving him new strength.

Liam's voice is tight. Aldara doesn't answer immediately. She moves to another shelf. Pulls down a different text. Reads faster. "Aldara," Marcus says. "What did you find?" She looks up. Her ancient eyes are wide. Afraid. "The Dormant Luna isn't just a bridge between species," she says slowly. "She's a key." "A key to what?" I ask. Aldara sets the book down on the pedestal beside the lunar stone. Points to a passage written in larger script.

Zane murmured, his chin resting on top of my head, his silver eyes tracking the receding ship. "No," I said softly, watching the silver sail catch the mid-morning sun, blazing like a localized star on the horizon. "They aren't taking it. They are sharing it." I looked down the line of the Vanguard. Cord was watching his iron glide peacefully over the waves. Kaden and Lyra were reading the momentum, their faces reflecting absolute, unadulterated hope. Isra was holding the heavy leather-bound ledger, already outlining the chapters of a world that was no longer confined to a single continent.

He just pushed the throttle forward. The ship lurched, tearing away from the Sea of Tranquility. Through the rear viewport, the lunar surface began to shrink. The obsidian spire stood like a lonely needle in the dark. And at its base, a single, tiny point of white light stood alone, glowing against the infinite black of space. "He’s still there," Elodie whispered, her forehead pressed against the cold glass. "He’s still there." "He’s the lock, El," Victor said, his eyes fixed on the blue planet growing in the distance. "And we’re the ones who have to live with the key."

The air inside smelled different—not of old paper, but of ozone, dried lavender, and something sharp, like the air right before a lightning strike. As the door clicked shut behind us, the stairs led us down into a circular room filled with floating crystals and books that didn't sit on shelves, but hovered in mid-air, their pages turning slowly as if reading themselves. "Aella, look," Sol said, pointing to a pedestal in the center. Resting on it was a single, leather-bound volume. It wasn't ancient like the others. It looked newer, and the scent coming off it made my heart stop. It smelled like the mountain wildflowers of the Silver Pack lands. It smelled like home.

Even in such a solemn moment, the little silver wolf refused to let despair linger for long. Mercy suddenly looked toward the blank Book of Origins. "It is time." The book floated into the air. Though every page had been empty moments before, words slowly began appearing—not glowing silver, not crimson, but golden. The handwriting was elegant and ancient. The Moon Goddess looked surprised. "I never wrote this." Mercy smiled knowingly. "No. You didn't." Aiden carefully read the first lines aloud: > *When the Book becomes empty...* > *Its author has finished speaking.*

Forever. End of book 36

Switching the hand holding the lid, she felt along the spines, divining by the width and the feel of the binding which one she wanted. She set the book on the floor beside her as she eased her head out from the trunk then closed it carefully. Getting her feet beneath her, she reached for her book, then gave a terrified scream seeing a man’s shoes standing just beyond it. Scrambling to her feet, Evelyn crashed against the wall of the baggage car. “Well, I do sthay, what have we here?” Daniel Prince’s tawny eyes skimmed her slowly and he shuffled another step closer, kicking her book aside.