In that direction was a storm.A very large, very unusual storm.It was part dust, part something he’d never seen before.Color flashed in its heart, like lightning, but more somber and, well, weird.And the landscape, yes it was desert, but it looked almost gray.
Ness leaned back in her seat, her eyes still wide with shock and fear.
Alice came up, crouching between them.She touched Ty’s arm and then gripped Ness’s.
“We’re still alive,” she told her.
“But where are we?”The girl’s voice quavered.
Alice glanced at Ty and he knew what she was thinking.Whenwere they?
Mel opened her eyes and blinked several times, trying to figure out where she was.She knew she wasn’t in bed.She moved her legs, then her arms.When she tried to shift her body, she realized she was strapped in…to theRay.
Right.She remembered now.
They’d been transiting—a rough one before it felt like they hit a wall.TheRayhad begun to twist and spin and then…she didn’t remember anything after that.
She looked at Jack, wincing at the bigger movement.Yeah, she probably had a bit of whip lash.Not a shock.
Jack was slumped over the controls, but he was starting to stir.She undid her straps—that was a mistake when she almost fell onto the dashboard—she braced and leaned toward him.
“Jack?”
He groaned.“Where are we?”
She shifted and lifted herself up so she could look outside.
TheRayappeared to be lodged in a ravine or something.Apparently the desert wasn’t completely flat.
“We appear to be stuck in a ravine in the desert,” she told him.
He groaned again, then slowly straightened, extending his limbs, presumably to check for damage.
“Anything broken?”she asked.At least they weren’t dead.And she hoped that was the good news.
Since she wasn’t the pilot, she didn’t know if the ship was damaged or just offline.
But she was pretty sure they were hosed.
She knew a lot about being hosed.
It was way too late for it, but she muttered it anyway.“Uncle.”
“What’s that?”Ness’s voice broke into Alice’s concentration.
Where ever they were, they had no access to any kind of satellite or WiFi.Alice looked up and the camper slowed.
“It looks…” Ty’s voice trailed off.He pulled the camper to the side of the road, which didn’t really get it out of the way.It was a narrow road, but there was no traffic in sight.
Alice rose and went to peer out in the direction Ness pointed.Now she understood why Ty hadn’t finished his sentence.
It was theRay.Or a craft very like it.The tail protruded from the ravine it had landed in.
Ty opened the door and climbed out, heading toward it as fast as he could on the visibly rough terrain.
Alice opened the sliding door, jumped out and went after him.Was it Con and Rita in the crashed ship?
The hatch popped open and a hand appeared, then a head.
