“Me, either.” With a shrug, she drifted forward. She only took a few steps before she swung back my way. “Whatever the feeling was, it’s gone now. I’ve got to go. I…have to go to him.” Without saying anything else, she strode underneath the hull.
I couldn’t fathom why she’d want him one minute but not the next but decided to let it go. The heat hit people in differing ways. There was no other explanation.
Continuing forward, I found thirteen-year-old Piper sitting on the stairs. She slouched over something on her lap, and her curtain of sandy hair covered her face. A few strands streamed out behind her, snagged by the hot breeze gliding across the desert floor. Her foot tapped out a beat on the step below.
I climbed the stairs and sat beside her. “Hi.”
She startled. Her small hands spread across the paper resting on her thighs, and her pencil fell from her fingers, tap-tap-tapping down the stairs to land in the sand.
I retrieved it and handed it to her. “Whatcha doing?”
“Nothing.” She flipped the paper over and stared toward the desert. “Well, I…I like to draw.” Easing back, she pressed her shoulder against the stair rail beside her.
“Show me?” It would be a good distraction from my worry about Jay.
“It’s nothing special.” She straightened her spine. “I hope to maybe be an artist someday.” She twirled a strand of her long hair around her finger and held the pad out to me. “I guess you can look if you want.” Lifting her knee, she propped her chin on her palm. “It’s not much. I had some lessons back home, but I’m not real good yet.”
I flipped through the pages filled with artwork. Some held multiple drawings, even tiny sketches along the sides. She’d used every millimeter since the paper was so expensive.
What a find. Grinning, I let out an awed sigh.
Color brightened her cheeks.
Turning the pages, I recognized some of her drawings from Earth. Sad faces stared back at me like those I’d seen on the streets of Boston. Intricate sketches of Eris plant life had been drawn between the faces, a stark contrast of new life to loss.
Piper’s shoulders curled toward her chest. “Like I said, I’m not great but I’m getting better.”
“You’re wrong.” I stroked one of the drawings with my fingertip. “These are excellent.” I pointed to one of a feral cat, a common creature in the Bunker. The animal looked poised to leap from the page. “The lines in the cat’s face as it stalks its prey…” I shivered. “It’s so lifelike.”
Her last drawing was of an older woman. Sharp lines covered her forehead and around her mouth, but her lips lifted in a sweet smile.
“Your mom?” I asked.
Piper focused on the page, and the weight of her sigh squeezed my chest tight. “That’s Grannie. Mom died when I was a kid. Grannie took care of me. She’s a…” She swallowed. “She was a Piper, too.” Her lips trembled. “I imagine she’s dead now. It’s been a long time, and she was sick.”
“Is the name Piper a family tradition?”
She shrugged. “It was just us, but I always figured if I had a daughter, I’d name her Piper, too.” She fiddled with the zipper on her blue durasuit. “You know, make it a…family tradition, like you called it.”
“That’s a great idea.”
Rising, she held out her hand for the sketch pad. “It’s hot. I’m gonna go lie down in the shade for a while. You coming?”
I waved her off. “I’ll hang out here.”
She started toward the ship with her treds dragging in the sand.
“Piper?” I called. “Thanks for showing me.”
She tossed a grin over her shoulder, and her steps lightened. “Anytime.”
Leaning back on a step, I took in the local wildlife at play in the desert while munching on leaves I’d collected. The air must have cooled off enough for the creatures to move around because they’d only come out once the sun drifted behind the ship. With bodies like gophers, they might have lived on a barren western plain in Earth’s history. I didn’t think I’d ever seen anything in nature that was this color before.
Malik emerged from under the ship and the animals disappeared into their holes as if they’d never been here. He hauled himself up the stairs and sat on the one above me, denting his cheek against the railing.
“Watch.” I pointed toward the desert.
One face appeared, and before I could blink, it crept from a hole. Others joined their cousin. Eris had a florescent pink meerkat infestation.
“They’re so bright,” I whispered. “How can they survive long enough to multiply? Might as well hang out an eat me sign for the local beast pack.”
More crept from their holes until we had a multigenerational family spread in front of us, some the size of Joe’s mouse, others as big as a feral cat.
I rested my back against the step by Malik’s knee and looked up at him. “What do you think they are?”
“No idea.” His fingertips teased the end of my braid while a slow smile highlighted his cheekbones. Without razors, our guys would soon have beards, but the light growth glistening in the late-day sun suited him. His hand traveled up and down my back, giving me a massage.
I groaned and closed my eyes. “That feels wonderful. You can keep on doing it forever if you want.”
“I’d give you just about anything you wanted, Lesha.”
Anything? I opened my eyes to find he’d leaned forward.
“Because you’re awesome,” he whispered before his lips met mine.
Warmth greater than the sun traveled through me, weakening my limbs. I rose onto my knees and turned into his arms, gripping the front of his durasuit to hold on.
“Lesha,” someone yelled.
Gasping, I pulled away from Malik and slumped back onto my step. My fingertips twitched as I smoothed my hair and my durasuit.
Joe bolted from around the front of the ship, his face pinched and his red durasuit cape fluttering behind him. His steps slowed when he reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Whoa.” Malik pressed his back against the rail, his face scrunching. “What’s that smell?”
Joe climbed up and sat beside me. He leaned into my side. “Sorry.”
My eyes stung. On Earth, I’d stepped on something in an alley once that smelled like this. Goo and maggots had squished out. I groaned. “What did you get into?”
Malik eased up a step and coughed.
Joe’s shoulders slumped. “I wanted to pet one of the little pink things. They’re so cute.”
“You thought you could grab one? What if they bite?”
“It sprayed me with its tail when it ran into its hole.” He sniffled.
“You need be careful,” I said. “These things are wild. You could catch rabies or some weird disease.” Or get bitten and fall sick, like Jay.
Joe traced a finger along the stair tred between his feet. “I was careful. I watched them forever. I thought I could keep it. I miss my mouse.”
Even though it made my sinuses cry betrayal, I pulled him into a hug. Unable to bear close contact for long though, I released him and climbed the steps to sit beside Malik. His arm slid around to rest behind my back, and the corner of his lips lifted. That tell again. It sucked me in every time.
Joe’s lower lip trembled, and his eyes filled.
“The best thing to do is get out of that durasuit,” I said. “There are clean ones left in the box, and I’m sure there were some in your size. Grab one and change.”
“Okay.” Joe sounded so forlorn I wanted to hug him again. My lungs thanked me when I didn’t. Rising, he hopped down the stairs. He created dust clouds with his feet as he stomped under the ship.
“This a good time to learn how to use your new weapon?” Malik asked.
“Sure.” I climbed down the stairs and hopped off the bottom step, creating my own dust cloud. “Let me check on Jay first?”
“I’ll meet you back here.”
“How’s he doing?” I asked Tiff when I d
ucked underneath the ship.
She’d spread out a deck of cards in the sand and was playing solitaire beside Jay. “The same. He’s just been sleeping.”
I scraped my tred along the sand, creating a shallow groove. “Tiff? About earlier…”
She glanced up, then away. “Can we not talk about it? It won’t matter soon.” Getting up, she rested her forehead against mine and stared into my eyes. “Trust me this once, would you? It’s gonna be okay.”
How could I? She’d given me every reason not to. “It’s wrong. Riley’s—”
She stepped away from me. “Look, I need to go ask Trey something.” Before I could say anything else, she strode away.
I stared after her, tension scraping tunnels beneath my skin.
Since Jay was still sleeping, I told Joe where I was going and stopped by Nikolai. “If the colonists come, we won’t be far.” I pointed in the general direction I expected we’d travel.
“I will send someone for you right away,” he said.
“Thanks.”
I rejoined Malik, who’d retrieved my weapon from Tiff, plus the composite box the durasuits came in. As we trudged through the sand, I pulled out the metal clip imprinted with a bright yellow sun and a green Earth that I’d removed from a stasis unit. “You must have seen these on the ship.”
Malik reached into his pocket and placed its match on my palm. “Every unit but Captain Blackmine’s had one.”
My fingers tightened on them to the point of pain. “ReGreen.” I squinted up at him. “How could they do this to us?” The words choked from me, filled with pain. They’d been responsible for my mom’s death, and now all those people on the ship.
He shrugged. “Who understands hate?”
I did. Hate for them and their actions filled me, swirling together with my newfound hate for Riley.
“Letting anger rule does you no good.” He said it like he could read my mind. “And beating yourself up for something you can’t fix eats through your insides.” He grimaced and stared toward the mountains. “Believe me, I know too much about it. Let it go, or it’ll haunt you 24/7.”
There was history there. I was tempted to ask what he meant, but I had no right to pry open his secrets. “How do you let go of anger?”
A hot breeze stirred his durasuit collar. “Time. And patience.”
Chapter Fifteen
Since we didn’t want to accidentally shoot someone, and we couldn’t risk losing our precious crossbow bolts in the sand, Malik and I sought a rocky location some distance from the ship. Not that I expected Malik to hit anything but the target—he was military and all that. But there was no telling with me.
“What weapons are you comfortable with?” he asked as we crested a dune and slid down the other side.
“Not many. I practiced with laser sims on Earth like everyone else.” My shoulders slumped. “If only I’d done more than the basic requirement.” At the time, it made sense to focus on medical studies. I planned to heal people. Who’d have thought I’d need to defend myself instead?
“It’s okay. That’s why we’re doing this.” His fingers traveled down my arm to take my hand.
At the base of a hillside, he moved ahead of me to place the box for our target. “This should do.” He strolled back to where I waited. “You ready?”
I fiddled with my durasuit zipper and nodded.
“Let’s pretend you don’t know anything and go from there.”
“Sure.” My breath whistled out. “Pretty easy, since it’s true.”
He tugged on the nylatec cord that spanned the crossbow. “These bad boys are damn accurate, just like those used thousands of years ago on Earth. That’s why we have them.”
The sun shining behind him outlined his head and shoulders. His dark hair gleamed almost silver. I let my gaze drift down his body, enjoying what I saw. What was it with me and Malik? He was talking business, and I couldn’t stop staring at him.
He set the weapon in the sand and stepped close to me. His warm palms slid around my waist, tugging me against him. “I’ve been dying to do this again.”
I tipped my head back as our lips met in a kiss. Moaning, I stroked his shoulders. I gave in to my urge to run my fingertips across his soft-scratchy hair.
“Mmmhmm.” Malik deepened our kiss, smoothing his mouth along mine. His tongue parted my lips and darted inside, pulling an ache from deep inside me.
I stood on tip-toe, pressing into his chest, matching his stokes with mine.
He slowly lifted his head. “Wow,” he said against my lips.
I laughed. “Yeah. Definitely wow.”
“I just…I’m glad I got assigned to Eris.”
“Me, too.”
Suddenly shy, I backed out of his embrace. “I, uh, guess we should do something with this crossbow, huh?” I fiddled with the end of my braid.
“You’re probably right.” Cupping my face, he gave me a quick kiss. “I think I could get used to this.”
I ached to get used to it. “Me, too.”
Chuckling, he hugged me then stepped back. “Crossbow?”
“Crossbow.”
“Okay.” He bent over to pick up the weapon which gave me a nice view of his butt. When he stood, his eyes smoldered, and I knew he’d caught me in the act, but the light in them told me he was okay with it. Hell, he probably checked out my butt every now and then, too. I hoped he did. “Let’s get to work.”
“Right.”
“Where was I? Oh, yeah. Basic information.” Malik ran his finger across the crossbow’s wooden body. “I like how simple this thing is. Sure, they could have sent cases of laser pistols, but what would we do when we ran out of charges or they broke?”
I shrugged.
“The crossbow was the way to go,” he said. “They’re easy to recreate and even easier to fix. And we can make more bolts.” He removed the pouch strapped to the shaft and loosened the ties, pulling out a bolt. The bag thunked in the sand by his feet, and he held up a bolt. “This is the broadhead.”
Without thinking, I ran my finger along the end. I yanked my hand away with a gasp.
He hissed out a breath and reached for my hand. “Shit. You okay?”
“Oww.” Shock plunged through me while blood welled and slid down the tip of my finger to drip in the sand. The dry soil sucked it up in seconds. “Hold on.” I put my finger into my mouth, holding pressure with my tongue.
“We need to go back for the first aid kit.”
“I’m okay.” I pulled in a hitching breath and shoved off the pain with my exhalation. “I want to learn. Teach me.”
His worry-filled eyes moved along my face. “If you’re sure.”
“I am.” I nodded for him to continue.
The concern didn’t fade from his face, but he lifted the weapon. “This is the stick.” He pointed to the body of the crossbow. “And this is the cocking stirrup.” He lowered the weapon and set his foot in the metal ring mounted on the front. “Pull the cord back until it clicks into place, load the bolt, and lift the sight.” He raised the weapon to shoulder height, pointing it toward the box. “And shoot.” His breath eased out while he sighted at the target.
The bolt flew, burying itself in the box. Not dead center, but close enough. I’d be lucky if we could find my bolt after I took a turn. He reloaded and planted another.
“Hey, you’re really good at this,” I said.
Color rose from under his collar to land in his face. “I’m decent enough.”
I couldn’t stop grinning. “Decent, my ass. I heard they rate you on stuff like this in the military. Qualifying. You’re like an expert, right?” I nudged his hip with mine.
His eyes twinkled, and he hip-butted me back. “Yep, but they call it sharpshooter.”
“I knew it.” I laughed. “I’d love to be a sharpshooter someday. What’s the first level I can aim for?”
“Marksman. With enough practice, anyone can be a sharpshooter.” He stroked stray hair off my face. “Start with
one shot and take it from there.”
He walked me through cocking the crossbow again. My face heated at the word, even though we weren’t discussing anything near where my sex-brain kept dragging me. As he helped me fit the bolt, his fingers brushed mine. My arm. Each touch sent my heart soaring to the clouds. His side rested against mine, and our closeness sparked a fire in my belly.
“Stand with your feet spread a shoulder’s width-apart and put one hand here.” He came around behind me and set a hand on the underside of the stick. “Put your finger on the trigger.”
It was still hot out, but the heat of his body felt awfully sweet against my back. I leaned into his chest.
He stepped away and waved at the target. “Give it a try.”
Centering the weapon, I squinted through the sight and released the bolt. “Ugh, I missed.” Damn understatement, since it had flown among the rocks a number of meters from the box.
Malik’s boots scraped on gravel as he moved closer. His cinnamon scent slid across my cheek, sparking tingles. “A great first shot. Try again. This time, squeeze the trigger gently when you exhale. If you yank on it, it’ll pull and spoil your aim.”
I located my bolt for my second try, as we could only chance dulling one of them. Returning to his side, I slid him a bright smile and loaded the weapon by myself.
Aim. Fire. Thump.
“Hey, that was better,” I said. Sort of. I’d missed, but not by as much. Way to go, me. At this rate, I’d hit my target in a month.
“Perfect.”
I blinked up at him. “And you need your eyes checked, sharpshooter.” I retrieved my bolt. “Let me try again.”
“As much as you want.”
I shot for an hour until the sun hovered on the horizon. But the target remained elusive.
“Maybe I’m not meant to be a marksman, either,” I said as we headed back to the ship.
“It’s rare to hit your first time out. You were awesome.”
I looked up at him. “You think so?”
“I know so. You’ll only get better the more you shoot.” He squinted toward the distant mountain range. “We’ll practice every night until you feel confident you can hit just about anything.”
Phoenix Arise: YA Sci-fi Thriller (From the Ashes Book 1) Page 12
