Phoenix Arise: YA Sci-fi Thriller (From the Ashes Book 1) Read online

  “Damn. Won’t open.” He slammed his fist against it, generating a dull thud. “I know the code’s right, but the latch must have jammed in the crash.”

  “Let me at it.” Trey stomped forward, a big stick in his hands. Hefting it like a club, he swung it in a circle, almost falling. He looked like a Neanderthal on the hunt. He climbed up beside Malik. Leaning forward, he smacked the stick on the latch, his ponytail swaying with the movement. The stick crumpled, but a click rang out.

  Malik moved around him and fiddled some more with the latch.

  The cover plunged down and creaked back and forth.

  A thick cloud of soot dumped from the opening.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Trey and Malik leaped off the wheel, their boots sinking into the sand. They gazed up like excited boys.

  I nudged Malik’s side. “Who says you need fancy tools to get a job done?”

  He grinned and handed me his gun. “Trey, give me a boost, would ‘ya?”

  Trey made a cup with his hands and heaved Malik up. Malik grabbed the lip of the open pod, and his feet scrambled air before he pulled himself inside. He peered into the room. “Wow.”

  “What do you see?” I asked.

  “Pretty damaged in here.” Malik’s voice filtered down to us as he moved away. “I’ll try to get the hatch to the upper compartment open and check things out up there.”

  Tiff came over and wrapped her arm around my waist. “What’s going on?”

  “Mandy remembered the access panel,” I said, my voice tight. I shifted away from her, uneasy because of how she’d acted with Riley earlier. “Malik’s inside.”

  “Excellent.” She rubbed her belly and winced. “I’m famished. We split up the bars and water. It’s a shame so few of us thought to bring food. I saved a bar for you and Malik to share. Joe has your portion of water.” Smiling, she gave me a hug. “I’m watching out for you ‘cause that’s what friends do. You and me. Friends forever, right?”

  I tried, but couldn’t drum up the expected reply, forever. Something between us had changed, and while I couldn’t name what it was, I didn’t like it. “How could you support Riley against Malik?”

  She pulled away, and a soft laugh slipped from her lips. “He’s a team leader. Makes sense he’d lead, right?”

  “But he—”

  She lifted her hand, and her eyes darted from mine. “Just let it go, would you? I…I can’t talk about this right now. But soon…”

  Before I could speak further, she strode back to sit with Joe and Mandy and started in on another story. Irritation swept through my brain. Why was she avoiding me? Something was going on here, something she didn’t want me to know about, and I was determined to find out what it was.

  But I didn’t want to stress my brother any more than he already was. If she could help him escape this nightmare for even ten minutes, I was grateful.

  Malik appeared at the opening with a scorched box in his hands. “Durasuits.”

  We couldn’t eat clothing, but I wasn’t complaining. I set his gun on the wheel and stood on tiptoe to take it from him.

  “Hey, Trey,” I said as I returned and stared up at the ship. “Boost me, would you? I’m going inside, too.”

  “Sure.” He cupped his hands for me to step on. I grabbed onto the lip of the hatch and maneuvered myself inside. Metal beams thrust from the scorched floor above, indicating I wouldn’t be able to stand upright while I searched.

  Muted sunlight reached inside, soon swallowed by darkness. Smoke drifted through this section, strong enough to sting my sinuses. I resisted the urge to sneeze as I moved forward, careful to place my feet on what I hoped were stable parts of the subfloor.

  I lifted my voice. “Malik?”

  “Hey,” he called out from further ahead of me. Something banged, and he swore.

  “You okay? I’m inside, too.”

  “Just smacked my arm on something. Hold on, and I’ll come to you.” He soon jumped down from a second, smaller entrance hatch in the ceiling to my left, and eased his way over to me through the wreckage. Soot covered his face and his arms where he’d rolled up his sleeves. His durasuit didn’t look much better. But his soft smile trickled through me, making my heart skip a beat.

  “Finding much?” I squinted around, hoping my flaming face wouldn’t give away the fact I’d been checking him out.

  “A few things. It’s a mess up there. They strapped things down but the straps either broke or burned, and the containers were thrown around when we crashed.”

  “Anywhere I should focus my search?”

  “How about the front of the ship?” He nudged his head in that direction.

  If I remembered correctly, they’d stored large equipment there back on Earth, as well as cases of miscellaneous supplies for the colony. Tools. Engineered seeds. Energy generation equipment. Hopefully, medical supplies. I’d love to replenish my kit.

  My biggest problem would be getting there. To reach the door, I’d have to crawl through a graveyard of beams, collapsed stasis units, boxes no longer tied down and if I was unlucky, bodies.

  “Be careful.” His gaze narrowed on my face. He lifted his hand, paused, and then settled it on my shoulder to squeeze.

  I nodded.

  With a click, I turned my glolight on and stepped forward, placing my feet carefully before fully trusting. Something groaned and shifted underneath me, but nothing suggested this section wouldn’t bear my weight.

  Ducked down, I crept under a stasis unit jutting from the ceiling, purposefully avoiding looking inside the glass chamber that hadn’t opened. I wove through a jungle of curved metal bars stabbing like enormous spears from the ceiling, plus bunches of scorched, dangling wires. After holding my breath so I could squeeze between a series of steel boxes larger than beds, I arrived at the entrance to the forward hold. The door had slid open a crack, wide enough for me to wedge myself through.

  I poked my head inside and flashed my light around.

  Heavier equipment had been strapped to the floor during transit, but the metal bracing hadn’t endured the crash. Everything had broken free and plowed forward, leaving a mass of mangled hovercraft, solar machinery and who knew what else.

  My shoulders sagged, because it was doubtful I’d find anything worth salvaging inside.

  “See anything?” Malik called from behind me.

  “Not sure. Most everything was destroyed in the crash. The fire finished it off.”

  Turned sideways, I squeezed through the opening, finding barely enough room to stand without brushing my shoulders against the rubble. To make sure I didn’t miss anything, I’d need to climb the pile resembling a demented kid’s playground, all while praying I wouldn’t fall through.

  I grabbed onto a bar that jutted from the ceiling and used it to help pull myself up a tower of stacked boxes. They rocked but didn’t give way. Once I’d reached the top of the mound, I crawled forward, edging around, and peered through the wreckage.

  Something moved underneath me, and a piece of equipment to my right slid sideways.

  My body plunged downward.

  Heart in my throat, I scrambled to find purchase. My hip hit something solid, jarring my spine, and I grunted. Sliding through debris on my butt, I snagged a pipe as I passed, wrenching my shoulder when I ground to a halt. Legs dangling into the open air, I swung. My breathing chugged faster than a hovercraft in high gear.

  “Whoa.” Dust swirled around me.

  Shit, I’d dropped my glolight. It lay beneath me on a flat metal box, its beam shooting into the rubble.

  Could I reach it? The only light we had until Dad and the colonists arrived, I’d have to retrieve it.

  Shimmying further along the pole, I made my way at an angle downward, using boxes and bars to support my weight. Eventually, I stood on the flat metal box where I lifted and swung my glolight around. While Trey or Malik might find some tools scattered around helpful, there wasn’t anything worth risking my neck for.

&nbs
p; Except for a small box marked medical—gauze and tape—and the case I stood on. Rectangular, and about the length of my arm and half an arms-length wide, it looked military-issued. Since the lock didn’t give when I tested it, I had no idea what was inside. There was no tag for identification.

  I stuffed rolls of gauze and tape into my pockets and top until they bulged, and then hefted the military case up onto a piece of equipment that looked like it might come in handy if I was a farmer, although that was a guess on my part. The box teetered but remained in place. I followed, slowly making my way up the pile, hauling the case behind me. When I reached the top, my limbs shook from spent adrenalin. I paused to wipe sweat from my forehead with my sleeve.

  After catching my breath, I inched along the top of the mound, worming around rubble until I reached the part of the compartment where I’d started. Hoping whatever was in the case had been packed well, I let it slide down the pile. It clanged when it hit the floor, but looked no worse for wear.

  Lowering my legs over the side, I used boxes as handholds to make my way back to the floor. I stood there after, trembling. My heart pounded in my chest, but exhilaration also filled me. I’d made it and without causing too much damage.

  And I’d found…something.

  I hefted the case and worked my way back to the hatch. From the shuffling coming from above, Malik must still be searching.

  “Take this, would you?” I said to Trey, who stood underneath the hull. Sitting on the lip, I pivoted around until I could lower myself to dangle from my hands. Letting go, I dropped to the ground.

  “Phew.” I wiped my face again with my sleeve. “That was something else.”

  Trey nudged his head toward the black case. “What’s in there?”

  “A mystery I hope Malik can solve. There’s not much inside worth salvaging otherwise.” Pulling the packages of gauze and tape from my pockets, I set them beside the boxes Malik had found.

  By the time Malik finished his search, we had a good-sized mound on the sand. Everything was singed, but I imagined we’d find something useful inside.

  Jumping down, Malik came over and stood beside me. “Things are looking up.” He winked. “I think you’ll be pleased with what I found.”

  My insides warmed up. There was something about this flirtatious Malik I couldn’t resist.

  “Give me a lift,” Trey said. “I want to check out the computers.”

  After, I followed Malik to the stack of goods.

  Just because I was behind him, I was not checking out his well-molded butt as he stooped down.

  Or his thighs as they flexed.

  Not at all.

  In addition to my tiny first aid kit, we now had a larger one Malik had located, filled with bandages, tubes of ointment, and a good selection of splints and wraps.

  Malik sorted through a bunch of tools and tucked some into his backpack. As if he sensed me staring at him, he twisted his neck to look up at me. His eyes danced. “Need something?”

  My face heated at the suggestions rising in my mind, and I dragged my attention away. I needed to make myself useful. Striding over to two charred boxes, I tapped one with my tred. “Barbequed MRBs.” Even the peanut ones, my least favorite flavor, sounded extra yummy right now.

  Mandy and Joe came over and opened the box, digging in. I smiled at their chocolate-smeared faces as I unwrapped and took a bite of a coconut bar. The rich flavors melted on my tongue, and I closed my eyes. My stomach thundered in anticipation.

  Malik jumped up. “Guys, don’t eat those.”

  “Why?” I mumbled around a hunk.

  “You’re hungry. I get it,” he said, his face grim. “But what if no one comes for us? This is all we have. There’s nothing else left inside the ship but broken equipment. Everything else I found was burned or melted.”

  The piece I’d bit off slid down my throat like a clump of feathers. He was right. Two cases might have to last us longer than a few days. “No more,” I told Mandy and Joe. I resealed the one I’d bitten and handed it to Malik. “Take it. Put it aside for later.”

  “It’s okay.” He pushed it my way, his expression softening. “Really. Finish it. I think we can each have one, but we need to save the rest.”

  Belly sinking, I opened the package and took another bite, but the bar tasted like dirt now that my fear of the unknown had taken root.

  Malik sifted through the rest of the stuff. “I found water pouches, too.” Each bag held a liter, but they wouldn’t last long with thirteen people, especially in this heat. Fortunately, no one had gotten into them yet, and we still had a full case.

  I stooped down in front of a box of durasuits and pawed through them. Seeing there were enough for each of us to take a couple, I picked a yellow and a teal. Lifting the latter, I shook off the sand. Bonus points for a front zip and rounded collar.

  Flipping them over my arm, I went over to watch Malik sort through everything else.

  “Survival blankets.” He split the box’s seal with a screwdriver and pulled the top open. “They’ll reflect the sun during the day and hold in body heat at night.”

  Just in time. I’d spent most of last night shivering.

  “Fifteen,” Malik said. “Enough for each of us to have one with a few spares. We could double up if we slept together.” His cheeks brightened. “Couples. Or, -err…Like you and…Joe do, for instance.”

  Totally practical. Why then did I imagine us conserving heat instead of me and my brother?

  Malik coughed, dragging my attention up from his chest to his face.

  Ripping the plastic on one of the packages, I fingered the thin blanket inside. “Think this will do much? Feels flimsy to me.”

  “They’re supposed to hold body temp well below freezing.” He kicked the box. “That’s what the side says.”

  The plastic crackled as he carefully slit one of the packages and slid the blanket onto his hand. Folding the package, he tucked it into his pocket. He did the same with three more, tossing the blankets back into the box after. He must not be big on littering. Not that I knocked the idea. Humans had ruined our first world. Why do the same with another?

  “We’ll find out how they work tonight,” he said.

  “Tonight.” I shook my head. “You think the colonists won’t come for us before then.” Where was Dad? Worry ate at my spine like a plague.

  “Sure, they will. But I’m preparing for any option.” He nudged his chin toward the other survivors. “During the day, we can stretch blankets between bushes like tarps for shade. Or lay on them, for as long as we stay here.”

  I stared at the thin silver sheath in my hands, wondering how something this delicate would shield anything.

  Stooped in front of the durasuits, Malik sorted through the options.

  Trey jumped down from the hatch and came over to stand beside us.

  “Anything?” Malik asked.

  “Nah.” Trey wiped the back of his neck, and his hand came away blacker than his face. “Everything’s toast. I’ll go back inside and take the panels off later. See if I can salvage some hardware.” He strolled over to Tiff and shared the dismal news about the computers.

  “One more thing.” Malik laid the durasuits over his arm and smiled up at me from where he knelt in the sand. “We scored this.” He leaned forward and rifled through the supplies and held up an overly large cup. It looked like a mixing bowl, with a handle on each side. Bright orange.

  “While I love the color, I don’t see the point. You taking up baking?” I asked.

  He stood, and I poked his shoulder, letting my fingers linger.

  “All I found was a few medical supplies and this.” I nudged the flat metal carton with my foot.

  Malik barely gave the box a glance. His fingertips tickled down my arm, and he squeezed my hand.

  Everything inside me overheated.

  His fawn eyes mesmerized me, sparkling with life and laughter. Unable to resist his lure, I shifted toward him until only a sliver of air sepa
rated us, my limbs seeking a taste of more.

  His eyes centered on my lips. Intent. Unbelievably exciting.

  I stood on tiptoe and cupped his shoulders. Malik leaned closer, and—

  “This is it?” Riley loomed behind Malik with a glare riding his face. Talk about ruining a burgeoning moment. “There has to be more stuff on the ship.” Riley flung his arm toward the hatch. “They filled the hold back on Earth.”

  Malik’s eyes gleamed with our shared humor. Barely holding back my snicker, I let my lips curve in welcome.

  “Malik?” Riley’s eyes narrowed on me stroking Malik’s shoulders.

  I clung to him, and damn, it felt good. So, Riley, you’re not my dad, calling in my curfew. Get lost so I can kiss Malik.

  “You should be collecting stuff from the ship, not doing that.” Riley’s eyes slashed between us. “You can’t have her.”

  I sputtered. “What? You don’t own me.”

  Riley took a deep breath. “I…”

  Not this again. I jutted my jaw forward. “You, what? Spit it out.”

  He clenched his teeth together and growled. “Nothing.”

  Heaving a sigh, I released Malik and stepped backward. Disconnecting from him felt worse than losing part of myself.

  Malik’s lips curved up on one side. Damn wonderful tell he had there.

  Riley’s mouth twisted, and his gaze took in Malik. “Did you leave anything else conveniently inside so you could come out here and stalk m—a girl instead?”

  As far as I was concerned, stalking girls was Riley’s occupation in life, not Malik’s. Hell, Malik had barely touched me. I was the one doing the touching. His shoulders with my hands. His butt with my eyes. But, damn that Riley. He sure knew how to poke the bear.

  Malik started toward him, lifting his white-knuckled fists, his face aflame. He shuddered to a stop. “Fuck. Give me my gun.” The threat in Malik’s voice could level an army.