Ripple (Breakthrough, #4)

by Michael C. Grumley

“We can’t force the world to change, Ali. All we can do is give it a chance.” Clay knew the odds were against them. But he also knew that one day each of them would be gone. Laid to rest just like everyone else. And it would be forever. On the grand evolutionary timeline, their lives were little more than the blink of an eye. Everyone would be gone eventually, and all that would matter then would be what they had stood for. A truth he had just recently become acutely aware of.

There was something extraordinarily peaceful about seeing nothing but water around him. Something inexplicable. Just the breeze and the lapping of the waves against the hull reminded him there was a certain peace in the world that humans seemed to forget too easily. Nature provided its own pace as a means for nurturing the human soul.

“Believe me when I tell you––all of your differences, your cultures, your laws, and your pride. They are merely barriers. Politics and favors and corruption are not unique to your world. They are present, in some form or another, in every species with any intelligence. These attributes are deeply ingrained and closely related to an individual’s survival. Nothing more.”

“Human nature changes when it must change, John Clay. Never sooner. And nothing will change it more than when the survival of an individual group is surpassed by the survival of one’s entire species. When your entire human race is threatened with extinction, politics and fighting no longer matter.