The Elemental Crossing

By Robert Appleton

One woman. One man. A daring voyage across an alien ocean.

After their hard-won escape from the perils of the desert, Kate and Jason are faced with their most difficult challenge yet on Kratos - crossing a vast ocean on just an improvised raft. Their relationship grows as hope dwindles. Procuring food, water, and a safe course across stretches their survival expertise to its limits. Despite help from an unexpected ally, what lurks beneath the surface of this alien sea?

Intimate character reflections weave through the epic scale of this second installment in the thrilling romantic survival series.

Book Two of The Eleven Hour Fall trilogy. Newly revised 2013 edition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Appleton
• Release date: Dec 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311212429

Robert Appleton

Robert Appleton is a British science fiction and adventure author who specializes in tales of survival in far-flung locations. Many of his sci-fi books share the same universe as his popular Alien Safari series, though tend to feature standalone storylines. His rebellious characters range from an orphaned grifter on Mars to a lone woman gate-crashing the war in her biotech suit. His sci-fi readers regularly earn enough frequent flyer miles to qualify for a cross-galaxy voyage of their choosing. His publishers include Harlequin Carina Press, and he also ghost-writes novels in other genres. In his free time he hikes, plays soccer, and kayaks whenever he can. The night sky is his inspiration. He has won awards for both fiction and book cover design.

Book preview

Book Two

The Elemental Crossing

Robert Appleton

Copyright 2013 Robert Appleton

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Table of Contents

Title Page

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

About the Author

Chapter One

A New Mode of Travel

Keep that line taut. Jason yanked his own rope back to straighten the sail.

As the wind picked up, they skimmed over shallow sand drifts, the keel of their craft barely touching the ground. The faster they went, the farther back Jason had to lean in order to keep them upright. His control of the ‘sand yacht’ was by two ropes, one in each hand, which tilted the sail accordingly. It required not only every muscle, but an incredible concentration at all times.

I said keep that line taut! he snarled.

Shout at me one more time, I dare you, Kate screamed back. But he didn’t seem to hear, so wholeheartedly was he at the reins of his contraption.

Boys and their toys. And it had been his dumbass idea…

The wind speed had grown almost cyclonic since those first kick-starting gusts. Jason’s ingenious creation—the beak and rigor-mortised wing of a dead giant eagle, lashed together, rigged with ropes—shot across the desert. Kate’s whole body now shook with the strain and the bitter cold.

How long has it been now? Half an hour? he shouted, teeth bared in the throes of exhilaration. I’m telling you…this is amazing, bloody amazing.

Her daredevil partner had adapted so quickly to the steering that Kate wondered if there really was genius at work, or whether he’d simply done this before...maybe on Fourmyle?

Either way, he was too damn reckless.

That’s it, he yelled down to her through the wind. You’ve got it, Kate. Hold that line. Now is this awesome or what? I’m telling you.

She shifted position to raise her butt for the next big impact. Thud! The keel slammed into a steep dune, gouged its way up and then ricocheted over a bed of pebbles down the other side.

He’s out of control. If he crashes us, it won’t be the impact that kills him…so help me.

The giant stiff wing dragged them across a mile-long, level plateau, scraping their keel over a bed of tiny, sharp rocks, all the while picking up speed. Its ragged skin caught every gust; Jason seemed to tilt the rig intuitively for optimal propulsion.

How fast now? Thirty, forty miles-an-hour? Crazy.

They hurtled toward a sandy incline at the far edge of the plain. It was only shallow but continued to rise and rise—exactly how high, she couldn’t tell. Its peak obscured the entire desert beyond.

Alright, you can stop us any time now, she yelled up.

No answer. Jason leaned farther back, wrapping the two ropes around his white knuckles. The yacht slowed for a moment, before a punch of wind hit diagonally from behind, flexing the sail’s leathery skin. Kate elbowed his shin and screamed, Stop. Now. What the hell are you doing?

Leaning forward, she made ready to jump off, but something held her back. He needed her, damn it. If she could hold on just a bit longer…

Kate’s stomach did its elastic catapult thing as they accelerated up the slope. The ground fell away without warning, revealing a wind-whipped, rolling surface fifty feet below. No time to prepare. Rocketing through mid-air caused her to grip the ropes with every ounce of strength. The two halves of the giant beak chattered. The sail dipped sharply, jerking them forward, and then shot up, wrenching them back. Kate’s heart floundered as she realised her man had no control at all over the sand yacht.

After so long without reprieve, Jason’s right arm went spastic under the strain. The wind eased momentarily, causing them to plummet. At about twenty feet, however, a powerful gust wheeled the sail through forty-five degrees, tipping the yacht. The tendrils holding Jason’s feet tore loose. He had to let go of his left-hand rope. Now flapping through the air at the end of a single line, his whole body creased under sickening shockwaves, as though he was the tip of a whip enduring crack after crack.

Let go! Jesus! She tried to figure out a way to work him loose, cut him loose, but the mad hombre chose to cling.

At that moment the sand yacht rolled over into a final diving spin.

We’re going…going…shit. Jason!

Letting go of the stay rope, she wrenched her feet free from the tendril straps and flung herself at him. The impact knocked the wind out of her, but was enough to break Jason’s hold on the wild line. They landed in a tangle ten feet below, on the crest of a windswept dune. Jason watched in horror as his great invention veered sharply, corkscrewed, and then crash-landed into a nearby trough. The wing-tip stabbed the sand again and again. Its beak stood upended at its side, lashed jaws pointing skyward, and looked remarkably like a bird corpse half buried in the desert.

That could’ve easily been us. She gave Jason’s arm a firm punch. I hope you’re satisfied.

Too right, he replied, still shaking with adrenaline. That was unbelievable. Un-fricking-be-lievable! How about another go?

Kate let herself collapse into a slide down the dune, and saw in his sparkling gaze watching her that he meant it. She shook her head.

Men.

* * * *

While they dragged the sand yacht to the summit of a large slope, another sandstorm hit from the east. Visibility shrank to just a few metres, but the wind wasn’t especially fierce. Kate tromped on for the ocean.

The longer we wait for this thing to clear, the more dehydrated we’ll be, she said, stepping into her survival suit for the umpteenth time on Kratos.

Jason had stopped trying to second-guess her. Though she offered him the democratic veto on most decisions, Kate Borrowdale was the most qualified, the fittest, the most intuitive terrain scout he’d ever come across.

That’s a decent marker, he thought, glancing back to their giant wing wedged high on the peak. Good thinking, Kate. They’d be able to find it again in no time.

Their belts tied together with a twenty-foot rope, they shielded their faces to trudge through a swirling semi-dusk. The desert surface morphed all about them. The occasional coarse gust stung his ears and tried to unstitch a wound on his chin; by the time the winds eased, both were red raw. The sky, too, bled reddish purple between blue clouds.

Bruised in the aftermath.

Jason suddenly scooped her off her feet from behind and, holding her close, pressed his cheek against hers.

We’ve made it, he said. The only sand from now on is beachfront property.

Swept up by the man of her dreams, her lift was physical, spiritual, vital. A week ago, in the desert, Kate had started a survival cycle for two; here, on the mysterious shore of a green-blue ocean, the cycle had come full circle. Jason Remington…Jason and I. Though fate had raised its skull and crossbones more than once on Kratos—most tragically to destroy the Fair Monique—Kate had in fact won everything she’d wanted: her man, her life, and a chance to explore a hidden world. But in the bargain, just as many questions, if not more. Their journey to the ocean was now complete…

But in a survival cycle, nothing was ever complete.

The seascape tantrumed into an elemental brew, a dark green wilderness

Reviews for The Elemental Crossing

[tometender · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What an incredible imagination to create a world that is so different, fascinating and so descriptive. The Elemental Crossing is just such a creation from pure imagination. This is a short novella and it sucked you into a world beyond anything you’ve ever known. My only complaint was it was slightly confusing ( oops, I read book 2 before book 1 which would explain my confusion) and ended too abruptly…still what a radical picture show of the mind. 4 1/2 stars.