Escape from Desperation

Here is the first chapter of a book I am writing, collaborating with another writer.

Escape from Desperation

Chapter 1

  Ash steered his one-man craft closer to the mouth of the volcano, the red Portal-detector light on the console blinking. Heat crept into the cockpit, burning into his makeshift flightsuit. A fountain of fire spurted from the center of the mountain, and a spear of molten lava lanced toward his ship, the Avenger. He swerved, just missing it.

"You okay up there?" said his friend Lace through the com. "Never better. I just hope the Portal detector works."

"It should—you built it." The console beeping intensified. Ahead, all Ash could see was smoke, red-hot lava, and the shimmer of heat. Wait. Not just a shimmer. A Portal.

"I've got one!" Lace let out a yell of triumph, and he joined her, raising a fist in the air with victory.

He wasn't home yet, though. He still had to find a way through the next world to his homeworld, if there was a way at all. Even if they could never find a Portal back to City Magnificent, anything was better than this volcano-ridden, reptile-infested planet.

He plunged his ship toward the Portal in the center of the volcano. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he said. "With a bigger ship to take everyone off this rock. And tell Mom I'll be back, I promise."

"I will!

"And Ash—" she said.

"What?"

"Be caref-"

The com cut off as a bolt of molten lava smashed into the Avenger. Ash struggled to keep it from plummeting into the mouth of the volcano. It nosedived, but he pulled onto the controls with all his strength. The craft rose up into the wormhole.

The volcano disappeared, along with the rocking of the ship. A hush filled the cockpit. All around, darkness encompassed him. Just a faint shade of blue, and a creak of the hull. He realized he was in water. He forced the craft to rise, fighting for every inch. He'd carefully constructed it over two years from scavenged scraps and metal he'd forged himself. Of course, he'd had to improvise, and there was no guarantee it would hold out underwater for very long.

Come on, he told it. I didn't name you the Avenger for nothing.

No matter what, he wouldn't leave his family stranded where they'd been marooned fifteen years ago, through no fault of their own.

Another crack. The hull burst open, water pouring in a curtain over his helmet and arms. Water rose on the floor, over his boots. Faint light appeared above him.

Snap-crack! The craft split in two. Ash kicked toward the crack, water devouring him. Debris scraped his arm, his back—the broken craft threatened to drag him down with it. He thrashed and kicked, gasping for what little air was left in his helmet.

Finally, he bobbed to the surface. Tore off his helmet, inhaling air into his aching lungs. He hefted himself onto a piece of wreckage floating by, exhausted. And ventured a look around. No land as far as he could see. Only ocean, stretching to the horizon. And above, a crescent moon, and endless stars spreading across an infinite sky.