The Fall of Endurance
Under a New Sun Book 1
by R.L. Blalock
Genre: SciFi Adventure
Publication Date: September 30, 2019
A starship’s sirens scream into the void. Can a highly trained protector fight for peace on an unfamiliar world?
It’s elite soldier Laure’s duty to protect the last of humanity. Four hundred years after Earth fell to alien invaders, she’s only known life on a colonization ship searching through space. But when the vessel is forced to crash land for emergency repairs, Laure comes face to face with a new breed of enemy.
Struggling both to battle aliens and rescue her colonists, Laure never expects to find her other half on the strange planet. As her telepathic and physical bond with the alien grows, she’s horrified to discover the people she’s sworn to protect turn on her and consider her inhuman.
Torn between two species, can Laure defend humankind from extinction?
The Fall of Endurance is the first book in the futuristic Under a New Sun science fiction series. If you like alien encounters, high-stakes action, and strong heroines, then you’ll love R. L. Blalock’s riveting saga.
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Pain blossomed in my head as a shudder ran through the torpor tube that encased me. My eyes were heavy, and I had to fight to open them against the grogginess of hibernation. The tube shook violently again. A cold sweat broke out across my skin, and I gasped for air. What was happening?
My hands trembled as I carefully tugged at the thin plastic tube in my nose that would deliver the hibernation serum straight to my brain. I gagged as the tube slowly slid free, like a worm wriggling inside my head. There was a soft hiss of air as my tube popped open.
“Whoa! Whoa! Slow down, Laure.” A firm hand grabbed ahold of me as I went to pry off the other tubes and wires that were attached to my body. Sirens assaulted my ears, causing me to wince and draw away from the voice as I tried to retreat to the safety of my tube.
“Wha-What’s going on?” My voice cracked as I spoke, dry and weak from lack of use.
As my body sagged, the hands helped guide me onto the floor. I always hated waking up. It was the worst part of the cycle. Though I had been in hibernation for six months, I felt as though I had been awake for days on end. My muscles protested every movement. My mind begged for sleep.
When I tried to open my eyes again, the lights stung. Something wasn’t right. Cautiously, I cracked one eye open. Red lights flashed through the long corridor-like room. Before I could glimpse much more, the burning in my eyes became overwhelming, and I closed them again. With every bit of strength I had, I pried them back open. They darted around the room, trying to take in as much detail as they could before I was forced to close them again. Others were being helped out of their tubes.
“What is going on?” This wasn’t how we were supposed to be woken up. The lights weren’t right. We weren’t all woken up at once. “How long has it been?”
“There has been an… incident. You’re being woken up early.”
“Incident? What do you mean? How early?” My head swam as I tried to sit up, the ground beneath me shifting unsteadily. My stomach flip-flopped, giving me only a moment’s notice before the bile rose in my throat.
“Critical system failure. All personnel report to the bridge,” a calm, computerized voice stated as I coughed and spat the bile onto the floor.
I was grateful that I had finally learned to pull my ash-blonde mane back into a ponytail before entering hibernation. Squeezing my eyes shut, I willed the world to stop spinning beneath me, to right itself so I could stand up.
“Critical system failure. All personnel report to the bridge.”
“What happened?” I demanded, finally looking up at the woman who hovered over me. Her face was tight and her mouth set into a grim line.
“The ship needs to go planetside. Now.”
All I could do was blink back at the woman as my mind tried to process what she had just told me. Planetside? Had they finally found a planet?
“What do you mean now?” I shook my head and instantly regretted the movement.
“Pull yourself together,” she said curtly. “Commander Nash of the forty-eighth cycle wants your cycle on the bridge sooner rather than later.”
Taking a few deep breaths, I gripped the torpor tube and pulled myself to my feet. The ship shuddered again. I closed my eyes as the rocking threatened to dissolve what little stability I had mustered. Hisses punctuated the wailing of the sirens as more tubes popped open around me.
“Critical system failure. All personnel report to the bridge.”
I looked around the room for others from my cycle. Some were already on their feet, though shaky as I was. Others were on the ground, struggling through the haze of hibernation. Some tubes were still unopened. Six tubes down and across the aisle, Cern was pulling himself to his feet. Short, fuzzy jet-black hair covered his head. Before each hibernation cycle, he would shave his head and face like many of the other male colonists. He always awoke with a bit of fuzzy hair, but he didn’t have to worry about it becoming brittle like I did. Sometimes, I envied him for that. His usually tan skin was pale as he struggled to his feet. Our eyes met, and I smiled weakly at him. He nodded back before falling to the ground and puking.
I pushed myself away from my tube toward Cern. “Come on.” I patted his back encouragingly, not looking at him for fear that my own stomach would join in sympathy. “We have to get going.”
“What is going on?” Cern wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “This is a shitty wake-up call.”
“I don’t know.” I managed to stop myself before I shook my head again.
“Come on,” a man bellowed from near the door. “Let’s get to the bridge. The commander is waiting.”
I wrapped an arm around Cern, and he wrapped an arm around me. Others were pulling themselves up and helping to support each other as well. Together, we moved through the large doors that led out to the rest of the ship. The door separated in the center and slid into the wall as we approached. As we stepped out, the ship shuddered once again, sending Cern and me sprawling to the floor. We pushed ourselves back up, and together, we followed the man through the long corridors to the bridge.
The crewmembers of cycle ten clung to each other for support as they helped each other toward the bridge. No one groaned. No one complained. We were the last. The last of humanity. If the ship was lost, then so was our species.
The journey to the bridge was grueling on legs fresh out of hibernation. I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep. But this wasn’t the time.
As we poured into the bridge, anxious eyes turned to stare at us. I self-consciously patted down my hair and smoothed a hand over my hibernation suit as we stood before the entirety of another cycle. We, the tenth cycle, were supposed to be the strongest humanity had to offer. Bred to fight and survive in unfamiliar terrains, we were the ones who would first set foot on any new planet. Yet we looked no better than death warmed over. Hibernation didn’t care who we were. It rendered us as weak as anyone else.
“Good. You’re all here.” A woman gave our group a curt nod, stepping forward. A gold oak leaf glimmered on her lapel.
“Commander Nash,” their escort addressed the stern woman, “these are the colonists from cycle ten, as you requested.” The woman’s icy-blue stare swept over the two hundred new faces before her.
“Thank you.” She dismissed the man with a wave before she spun on her heel to address the crowd before her. Suddenly, her shoulder slumped. The strong, intimidating woman from seconds before looked tired and afraid.
“Three days ago, cycle forty-eight found a planet. One that seemed perfect and habitable. The one.” She paused, her eyes dancing back and forth as she ran through the events of the last few days. “Thirty-seven minutes ago, Iotova’s largest moon was struck by an asteroid roughly sixty kilometers in diameter. The collision sent out a cloud of debris several hundred miles wide. Being so close to the impact, the ship quickly entered the debris field.” The commander’s gaze fell to the floor, her shoulders slumping. “We have sustained heavy damage. Probably the worst of which is that our radiation shielding has been punctured…in numerous places.”
A murmur rippled through the crowd. My grip on Cern’s arm tightened, and he squeezed my hand. Without radiation shielding, we were as good as dead. However, death wouldn’t come quickly. We would all live long enough to get sick. We would struggle for weeks or months in excruciating pain before death welcomed us, and there would be nowhere we could escape.
“To those of cycle ten,” the commander’s words cut through the crowd, “we are not entirely without hope. You are here because it is time for you to fulfill your duties. For the last seven days, we have been orbiting Iotova.” A sad, hesitant smile crept to her lips. “It is everything we have been searching for. A planet we can call home again.”
“A planet.” Cern breathed the word, his voice shaking. I shifted, trying to get a better view of the commander as excitement invigorated my tired muscles.
The Burden of Endurance
Under a New Sun Book 2
Publication Date: October 18, 2019
They survived the fall, but can they adapt to life on an unknown planet?
After a human and alien form a telepathic link, the commanders of the Endurance have a special mission for Laure and Kuna: Create an elite class of warriors connected with the alien Chroins.
They must lead a group of volunteers into the primeval forests of an unexplored planet as they search for beasts like Kuna that are strong, fast, and lethal.
But the Chroin aren’t the only threat. Not all colonists want to welcome them, and some will stop at nothing to get rid of them.
Can Laure and Kuna bring their two species together? Or will they tear each other apart?
The Burden of Endurance is the second book in the futuristic Under a New Sun science fiction series. If you like alien encounters, high-stakes action, and strong heroines, then you’ll love R. L. Blalock’s riveting saga.
The Strength of Endurance
Under A New Sun Book 3
Publication Date: November 6, 2019
The bond that made them more than human will become their death sentence.
An unlikely pair. Laure, an elite soldier trained to protect the last vestige of humanity. Kuna, an alien hybrid akin to a wild animal. Telepathically linked and confused about what they’ve become, they must hunt for answers about their origins.
However, knowledge can be more damning than ignorance. As forces work to create distrust between the aliens and colonists, an “accident” is all they need for tensions to boil over.
On the run for their lives, Laure and Kuna must find a way to create peace between their people or be hunted down and executed.
The Strength of Endurance is the third book in the futuristic Under a New Sun science fiction series. If you like alien encounters, high-stakes action, and strong heroines, then you’ll love R. L. Blalock’s riveting saga.
The Peril of Endurance
Under A New Sun Book 4
Publication Date: November 26, 2019
Humanity is not alone on its new home world.
The creators disappeared from the planet long ago, abandoning cities and deserting their protege. Commander Laure Higgins and her bonded Chroin, Kuna, are sent on a special mission to investigate the ruins and learn more about Iotova's inhabitants.
Not everything is as it appears. As mysteries unravel around them, Laure and Kuna find themselves in a frightening spiral as they try to escape the creations left behind.
Can Laure and Kuna uncover the origin of the Chroin and protect the remnants of humanity?
The Peril of Endurance is the fourth book in the futuristic Under a New Sun science fiction series. If you like alien encounters, high-stakes action, and strong heroines, then you’ll love R. L. Blalock’s riveting saga.
The Edict of Endurance
Under A New Sun Book 5
Publication Date: December 30, 2019
Publication Date: December 30, 2019
A
battle for the Endurance will threaten all of humanity.
One
by one the Chroin’s allies are dying. With colonists flocking to
her cause, Corline finally seizes control of the Endurance and
plunges the colony into chaos.
Laure
and Kuna must find their people and protect them as Corline rampages
through the sprawl. As the death toll rises, they are running out of
time. Everything that humanity has worked centuries for is in peril.
Including its future.
Can
Laure save the colony and humanity? Or will Corline purge the Chroin
from the Endurance once and for all?
R. L. Blalock's love of reading started young, but her love of zombies started later in life. In 2008, when R. L. Blalock first watched the remake of Dawn of the Dead she instantly fell in love with the genre.
Born and raised in Sacramento, California, R. L. Blalock now lives in St. Louis, Missouri with her loving husband, precocious three-year-old daughter, two dogs, and a bird.
Stay connected with R. L. Blalock at rlblalock.com and receive a free prequel short story called The World Eater when you subscribe to her newsletter!!
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