Shield [New World Book 1] Read Online Free

nothingness. The lights flickered off and they were flying blind. The entire shuttle was enveloped in darkness.
    Grace stretched her seatbelt over to fit the both of them. She struggled to click it together, but her fumbling was successful. Both women clung to one another. The shuttle was spinning in the air. Once more it became hard to breathe. People were screaming.
    With a bounce they exploded from the black hole. The engines kicked on for a moment. A planet appeared and they hit the atmosphere. It felt like being shoved down by a large wave. The engines whined and groaned and once again shut down. They were jerked from side to side.
    Grace had never been fond of amusement rides; this was like the roller coaster from hell. An explosion sounded and Grace screamed when a jagged blue flame seared a crack in the hull.
    The captain was shouting at everyone to put their heads down.
    “Our force field has been breached! There’s nothing to stop the hull from being crushed!” the captain bellowed.
    “Kiss your ass goodbye, Grace. It was nice knowing you!” Stacie yelled.
    The vessel slammed into something and spun around. Something large sent it reeling in another direction.
    Grace screamed when the vessel snapped almost in half. One entire section was propelled away from them and flew off in the distance taking half the passengers. Grace could see daylight, and very tall, massive trees. The shuttle hit the ground and bounced. Stacie crashed into her side. Grace gasped for breath. The shuttle rolled again and again until it finally teetered, groaned, then settled. Grace remained head down, with her arms clasped over her head.
    “Are we dead?” Stacie whispered.
    “I don’t think so because your bony hip is digging into me,” Grace whispered back.
    Stacie clicked open the safety belt.
    Grace rose to shaky feet. On wobbly legs the women stood at the side of the open shuttle gaping. Huge trees with long vines stretched before them. The dust was settling to reveal lush green, purple and red vegetation. It was like nothing Grace had ever seen before. The colors were so incredibly vibrant she was in awe. Earth had been so gray the last year, Grace had seen only bleakness. This was breathtaking.
    “I can breathe this air,” Grace said excitedly. “Have you ever smelt anything so incredibly fresh?”
    Both women ventured forward. They were followed by a few others. The ground beneath their feet was spongy and soft, almost bouncy. It was no wonder their vessel hadn’t just broken into pieces on impact. The air was clear and neither warm nor cold. The sky was a darker blue than Grace was used to, but it was bright outside. She understood why when she saw two suns and the outline of four close moons. She moved forward and touched a tree. The bark was as smooth as velvet and soft like the ground. She pushed into the tree bark. It was like foam except after a few inches it became very hard underneath.
    All around her the others were gaping and exclamations of wonder were heard.
    “Everyone stay together. There could be danger out here,” the captain’s booming voice stilled everyone’s motion.
    It was hard to imagine anything evil in this picturesque place.
    Adams came out from the shuttle looking grim. “We lost two stowaways. Two of the men who weren’t wearing seatbelts. They must have been ejected when the ship split. They’re both face down on the other side of the shuttle. From the window I could see they suffered too much damage to be alive. I don’t know about the others. I don’t see their bodies.”
    Grace looked around. Dustin was still with them; he had apparently settled himself beside one of the passenger women. Their number was eight. Three women, five men. The others must have been in the other part of the vessel that broke off. Grace wondered at their fate. The captain was also looking at Dustin and Grace was remembering what Adams had said. When the captain’s gaze settled onto the man with narrowed