Ashes in the Sky Read online

  Umm, what?

  His eyes were stern, focused—like when he got a call in the middle of the night and had to run to work. “He’s not coming back, Jess.”

  Oh, crap. All of this was leading to a talk about David? My mouth fell open. I snapped it shut and looked away.

  Dad’s grip on my hand tightened. “That kiss you gave David when he left, that looked pretty serious. But it was a kiss goodbye. I want to make sure you understand that.”

  Tears filled my eyes.

  “Mars is very far away. And you must have known it wouldn’t work out.”

  How would he know? He wasn’t there. He had no idea what kind of connection David and I shared.

  The painful mound wiggling into my throat knew he was right, but my heart refused to believe it. David had coated me in something just short of ecstasy. How could I live without ever experiencing that again?

  “He’s going to come back for me.” I slammed my jaw shut. That was so not the right thing to say.

  He released me and rubbed his face. “They aren’t coming back, Jess. None of them are.”

  I shoved my plate back and stood. “You just hate him because he’s different.”

  “Where did that come from?”

  My heart threatened to rip through my chest. “You of all people should understand. Most of Mom’s family dissed her because she married you.”

  He leaned back. “That was something else entirely.”

  “How? Your skin was the wrong color.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Your mother and I were very much in love.”

  “Then understand how I feel about David.”

  “He’s not from this planet!” Dad’s exasperated look bore through me.

  I clenched my teeth so tightly; I’m surprised they didn’t crack. “Mom would have understood if she were here.” I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth.

  He pounded his fist on the table. “Don’t you dare bring her into this. It’s not my fault you …”

  Killed her.

  The unspoken words hung in the air like a hatchet waiting to fall.

  Dad closed his eyes and sighed. “Jess—”

  I held up my hand. I doubted he knew what he was going to say, anyway. I’d always wondered if he blamed me. Now I knew for sure.

  Bastard.

  He reached out to me, but I backed away. The best I hate you glare formed on my face before I could control it.

  His lips stretched. Message received loud and clear.

  I’d lived with the guilt of Mom’s death for far too long. I didn’t even remember what happened, but I’d been driving. One minute we were laughing, the next minute I was in a hospital, and Mom was gone. I should have had control of the car, but I didn’t. I guess that was something that I’d have to keep living with. Alone.

  Dad’s expression glossed over. The firm visage of an Army major returned. I suppose I was partly to blame for his shift into robot mode.

  “I need to get to school.” I snatched my backpack and stomped toward the door, struggling under the weight of textbooks Maggie had given me.

  “I’ll drive you.”

  “I can take the bus.”

  He walked toward me, his scowl screaming fat chance of that ever happening without him having to say a word. Part of me was glad. As much as I didn’t want to sit in the car alone with him for fifteen minutes, I totally didn’t want to deal with any reporters that might be hanging at the bus stop. It was going to be a tense car ride, though.

  ***

  Dad dropped me off in the front of the school. I tried to not look back, because I knew he’d still be parked and watching until I passed through the front doors. Any other day I would have been embarrassed, but it’s not like anyone didn’t know who I was, or what I’d been through. Their parents would do the same.

  A teeny part of me wanted to turn, to run back and apologize. But the part of me that knew I’d done nothing wrong won. Mom’s death wasn’t my fault. Dad was the one who needed to come to grips with that, not me.

  The security scanner didn’t beep when I went through. I’d been nervous my new camera lens would set it off. The last thing I needed was more attention on me.

  It was worth the risk, though. One thing the whole aliens exist experience showed me was that you have to be prepared. Always. I’d never be without my camera again. You never know when you might trip over the story of the century while taking a stroll in the woods.

  Dodging a few kids carrying basketballs, I slipped through the door to the main office. Four students waited in line, but parted as I walked in. The last to move tugged the backpack on the girl standing first at the front desk. She spun and her lips formed an O before she scurried to the side with the others.

  “Ms. Martinez,” the lady behind the counter said. “Welcome back.”

  I shrugged. “Yeah, umm, thanks. I need my schedule and locker assignment.”

  She handed me a paper from the tray beside her. “Here you go. You have Kelessi for Advisory, room thirty-five. Do you remember where that is?”

  I nodded.

  “Your locker is in the senior wing, number ninety. The combination is on the last page of your packet.”

  “Thirty-five, Kelessi, ninety. Got it, thanks.”

  I turned and looked up from my paperwork. The other people in the office lined the walls, giving me a wide berth.

  Did I forget to wear deodorant or something?

  I scooted from the room and exhaled as I reached the glorious chaos in the lobby.

  The mad dash to Advisory should have wrapped me in a blanket of normalcy—until I realized people were staring. And not just a few people. I’m talking everyone. Breakfast did a little flip in my stomach. I wasn’t just Jess anymore. I was that girl who found the alien. I was the one.

  Maybe normal would take a bit longer to reach than I’d hoped.

  ***

  I settled into a chair in Ms. Kelessi’s room and looked over my schedule: 9:00 gym and 10:30 lunch. Who did I tick off to deserve that?

  Someone skidded into the seat beside me. At least one person didn’t think I had alien cooties.

  Matt Samuels, my only good friend besides Maggie, stared back at me. “How you holding up, slugger?”

  “I’m okay. Glad to be back.”

  “You mean you’re not bored? I’d think after running from the Army and facing down a few thousand spaceships, school would be a bit passé.”

  The tension dropped from my shoulders. Good old Matt. No matter what the reason, Matt could always put me at ease, cracking jokes even after Bobby had beaten him up for taking me out to a movie last year.

  After a bloody nose and a swollen eye, I would have heeded Bobby’s warning and stayed away. Not Matt, though. He’d never given up on our friendship, and I loved him for it.

  “Ms. Martinez?” Ms. Kelessi hung her phone up on the wall. “They want to see you in the office.”

  Huh? I hadn’t been back at school long enough to be in trouble. Matt gave me a reassuring grin as I gathered my things and headed out the door.

  4

  The secretary pointed me in the direction of the principal’s office. I flushed. Maybe I had done something wrong. My sweaty palm slipped on the knob as I opened the door. What could he possibly need to talk to me about?

  A huge figure spun toward me as I entered the room. I gasped, and my heart jumped into my chest as I came face to face with General Baker in full dress uniform. Hat and everything. What was Maggie’s father doing here?

  “Ms. Martinez,” the principal said from behind the desk. “Please come in.”

  I eased into the room. The sound of the door clicking behind me echoed like a tap of Death’s scythe.

  An MP stood at ease in the corner. A woman with flowing golden curls standing beside him lifted her eyes. My breath hitched.

  “I’m told you already know Nematali Carash,” the general said.

&n
bsp; I was drawn back to the woods two months ago—to the night David almost froze to death, but was saved by an alien with curly blond hair.

  I stared at her, gaping. It couldn’t be. “Blondie?”

  “Hello, little one.”

  A knot formed in my chest. I threw my arms around her. A faint smell of pine wafted from her hair. “I thought you were dead. They killed you, didn’t they?”

  Nematali shook her head. “No. Although I admit, I thought my life was over when I was captured.” She lowered her eyes. “But I was freed with the others before the ships left.” Her stance straightened slightly. “As promised, I stood beside Tirran Coud when he addressed the council.”

  Tirran—David’s alien name. Tirran Coud Sabba-something-or-other. So she’d fulfilled her promise. She’d stood up there with David and begged for humanity’s right to survive. She was now definitely on the top of my list of coolest aliens ever.

  Well, behind David, of course.

  I realized I was still hugging her, but she wasn’t hugging back. Awkward much? I released my grip. “So, what’s going on?”

  “The Erescopian Good Will Ambassador would like to speak with you,” General Baker said.

  Uh-oh. That couldn’t be good. “Umm, that’s okay I guess. Maybe after school?”

  “There is no reason to fear.” Nematali placed her hand on my shoulder. “They sent me to make sure you were at ease.”

  I fidgeted with my backpack. “Oh, I’m at ease all right. But I just got back. You know, school, life, all that good stuff.” I inched closer. “I just want to be normal again.”

  Her forehead crinkled. “Trust me. I think you will like what he has to say.”

  Oh, I was sure I would not like what he had to say. “But … ”

  “Major Martinez has already cleared it,” the general said. “He will be meeting us there.”

  Checkmate. How did they get Dad to go along with all this?

  So much for my first full day of school.

  5

  I slumped into the limousine and folded my arms. A year ago, I’d have done anything to get a limo for the junior prom, but after two months of being carted around in one, they’d definitely lost their luster.

  General Baker scrolled through his phone. It always looked weird to me, seeing an old guy on a smartphone. It just didn’t fit.

  Nematali stared at the backs of her hands, and then her palms. Did this new human costume feel different on her? Did it take a long time to get used to not being purple?

  An Erescopian traveling peaceably with a bunch of humans was probably just as weird to her as it was to us. So much insanity, so many lives lost. Yet here we were, in the back of a limo together. Life sure could be strange at times.

  She rubbed her thumbs together. Her gaze traveled out the window and seemed to fix on nothing. She said she had stood beside David when he spoke to the council. If she was a scientist, maybe she was part of David’s Mars project.

  I shuffled closer. “By any chance, have you seen David recently?”

  “I have. Tirran Coud and I have worked closely together these past months.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “Why would he not be well?”

  “I don’t know. I just haven’t … ” Heard diddly-squat from him.

  I bit back the thought, but my lousy poker face probably gave my feelings away.

  Nematali raked her fingers through her blond curls. “Tirran Coud is the primary advisor and chief tactician of the most important venture our people have ever undertaken. His time is not his own, but he is in good health.”

  Good health? Well, I guess that was something to be happy about. Dad was probably right. I’d never see him again.

  The limo lurched as we went over a speed bump, entering McGuire Air Force Base. After some discussion at the gate, General Baker had to lean out the window before they would let us pass. I gulped as we drove deeper into the complex and stopped next to a brown brick building.

  Six MPs stood under the overhang and saluted as we exited. I glanced around the grounds, but nothing around us seemed familiar. I didn’t even know this part of the base existed.

  Nematali ushered me through a solid, black, unmarked door, down a long hall, and past enough security to make the president wonder what was up. Our pace slowed as we reached a room with a door thick enough to guard Fort Knox. I cringed when the mass of metal closed behind us.

  A camera’s flash went off, momentarily blinding me.

  “No flashes,” General Baker said.

  Tiny orange spots danced in front of my eyes, ominously reminiscent of the orbs that floated above when the alien scourge almost destroyed Earth. I shivered.

  Dad walked into the room a few seconds after me. He saluted General Baker, but his eyes never left mine. This time, I welcomed his protectiveness. I latched onto his gaze, centering myself until my hands stopped trembling. Earth was safe now. It was only a camera flash.

  The photographer shot off several rounds, his back to me. He was using a Nikon D4—the mother of all cameras. I flushed, thinking about the rinky-dink, four-hundred-dollar Panasonic in my backpack. But hey, I’d taken some darn good shots with that thing. I’d been happy as heck with it.

  Until now.

  The Nikon’s ten frames per second fired off in rhythmic abandon. Nothing like seeing four-thousand dollars worth of hardware in action to make a photography junkie drool.

  My gaze trailed back to my father. The Army’s no-nonsense Major Martinez didn’t appear to be in attendance. Just Dad. If his eyes could have shouted I’m sorry, they sure would have. My gut twisted. He probably thought I’d purposely looked away from him while I drooled over that guy’s camera. So not true. I wouldn’t correct him, though. Let him simmer on what happened this morning a little more.

  I looked down and fiddled with my thumbs. I wanted things to be great with Dad again. Maybe now more than ever. We couldn’t do that until we’d both dealt with Mom’s death. Not like I was completely healed, but at least I was ready to try to move on. Dad was in a holding pattern, despite the leaps he’d made in the right direction. We couldn’t be a family again until he finally came to grips that there were only two of us now.

  The photographer took a knee, facing the far doorway. I gaped and nearly let a childish giggle escape my lips when I saw his face. Steven Callup: one of the most celebrated photographers of the last few years. He was also the dude who’d taken the shots of Dad and me that had ended up on the covers of National Geographic and TIME Magazine.

  How freaking awesome was that?

  I gulped, trying to muster up the courage to say hello when two MPs escorted a tall man who looked a lot like the guy from that lightning movie—the water god. Umm, Poseidon—except this guy’s dark brown hair hung to his shoulders. I cocked my head and looked more closely. No, this dude didn’t only look like him. He actually was him. I guess that explained Steven Callup being here.

  The man stopped in the center of the room. His eyes fixed on me, and my blood raced. My hands quaked, and it took all my strength to keep from bolting toward the door. Scenes from another movie this actor had starred in flashed through my mind, where he’d played a not-so-nice hit man. The heebie-jeebies crawled down my spine.

  Nematali stepped forward. “Evander Odium Modaner.” She lowered her head to Poseidon-guy. “May I present Jessica Natalie Martinez.”

  Natalie? That was my mom’s name, not mine.

  Poseidon touched his forehead and closed his eyes. “Jessica Natalie, it is a pleasure.”

  I half expected the light accent I remembered in the movies, until I realized he was an Erescopian. He’d stolen a skin, just like David had done. These aliens sure had a knack for snatching up the hotties.

  I mimicked the head-touchy thing. For all I knew I was sticking up my middle finger at him, but hey, he started it. “It’s just Jess. My name, I mean. Nice to meet you, too.”

  He scanned the room
, his gaze settling on each person. It creeped me out. Was he sizing everyone up, just like he’d done in that movie before he started shooting people?

  Chill out, Jess. It’s not the same guy.

  “It has come to our attention,” he began, “that there is a significant amount of distrust as well as interest in my people.”

  Dad and General Baker’s eyes flashed with a big old what did you expect look.

  “In the name of good will, and to show that we harbor no malice to your people, the Caretakers have decided to allow a single human photographer aboard one of our research vessels. This individual will be allowed to photograph and interact with my people and, of course, bring pictures back to share.”

  Wow. How cool would that be? The first human on an Erescopian ship!

  The ambassador scanned the room again. “We believe this will be beneficial to both our races at this important juncture in our relationship. So, you will understand that we were very selective in choosing the correct person for this task.”

  Steven Callup lowered his camera and took a step forward. “I’m honored.” He held out his hand to Poseidon-dude, whose real name I’d already forgotten.

  Poseidon stared at Callup, not taking his hand. “We would like that person to be Jessica Natalie Martinez.”

  “What?” Steven Callup and Dad said at the same time.

  “No.” Dad stepped forward. “No way. I just got her back.”

  “It makes no sense,” Callup said. “She’s only a kid. You’d want a serious, seasoned photographer out there. Not some amateur.”

  “Some amateur?” Dad pointed at me. “My daughter could snap pictures around your ass, Callup.” He turned back to Poseidon. “But she’s still not going.”

  Okay, wow. Did Dad just stand up for my photography? Go, Dad! But not on the “she’s not going” part. That part sucked.

  “Do I get a say in this?” I asked.

  “No,” Callup and Dad said in unison. Had they rehearsed that or something?