Onward (Blackout Book 6) by Daniel Young

Author:Daniel Young [Young, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2021-11-01T16:00:00+00:00

8

Roy scowled down at his instruments. “I don’t get it. How did this happen?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Quort snarled behind him. “The Blackout has been destroyed.”

“It can’t be. I can’t believe that.”

“You humans will believe anything as long as it conflicts with reality. If I’ve learned anything about humans in twenty years on this dustbin of a planet, it’s that.”

Roy tinkered with the controls again. “There must be some other explanation.”

“There is no other explanation. Your beloved captain isn’t coming to rescue us. We have to rescue ourselves. We’re on our own out here.”

“Don’t say that!” Roy exclaimed. “We’re a continent away from anyone who can help us. We have nothing but this one little Skeeter, and nowhere near enough supplies for all of us. Forget about having enough space to transport us all.”

Quort peered through the hatch. From here, he could see across the canyonlands and deserts of the Barbarians’ territory. Deep fissures sliced downward from this clifftop, but he couldn’t see into them. “We have to find a way out of here. If we can’t fly, we’ll have to travel some other way.”

“How?” Roy demanded. “Do you want to swim?”

“I say we fly the Skeeter back to Lulin—or somewhere like that.”

“Who’s we? This Skeeter only holds five people, at most.”

“By we, I mean you and me. The other Urvals will be safer here until we can transport them out. When we get close to a populated area, we can use the Skeeter’s scanners to locate the Blackout—if it still exists at all.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Roy asked. “If we don’t find the ship, what will we do?”

“We’ll scan for the Kalichi or the Grocit,” Quort answered. “We’ll get our other friends to uplift the Urvals from the Barbarians’ territory. If we truly have lost Jackson and the Blackout, we may abort our assault on the Krakzid altogether. We’ll have to assess that once we get over there.”

Roy turned around. “I see. You want you and me to take the Skeeter on a scouting trip to find any of our friends who can help pick up the rest of the Urvals.”

“Precisely.”

Roy nodded. “It’s as good a plan as any.”

“I’m going down to the camp to explain the situation to my people. Ogul can take charge while I’m gone.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Roy left the Skeeter’s hatch open. No one around here would take the little craft. The Barbarians in the camp were the only people around, and they never left the canyons.

Benedict fell in behind Roy on their way back to the camp. The creature had doubled in size since he’d started walking upright. Now Benedict lumbered along, as big and cumbersome as any other adult Grocit.

Roy didn’t like to admit that Quort might be right about the Blackout being destroyed. Why didn’t the ship respond to the Skeeter’s emergency beacon? Hadn’t Captain Keogh said he would bring the Blackout back as soon as the Urvals needed it?

Down at the Barbarians’ camp, most of the inhabitants huddled around their fires. They

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