Explorer Academy Book 4: The Star Dunes

Explorer Academy Book 4: The Star Dunes — page 3 — scattered around him like driftwood on the beach after a storm The good news was they no longer frightened him At first coming face to skull with a dozen or so skeletons had freaked him out To get his heart to stop trying to leap out of his chest Cruz had told himself it wasn’t so bad He would have been excited to uncover even a tiny piece of bone near the surface so there was no reason to panic over finding a bunch of them so far below it right That sounded good Plus it had kept his heart where it belonged Once Cruz realized he had survived the tumble into the cave his first impulse had been to reach into the upper pocket of his uniform for Mell his honeybee drone She could fly to the surface for help Unfortunately his pocket was empty He’d left the little drone back on Orion Mell was on a mission of her own A few weeks back Bryndis had shown him a blue door she’d discovered on the lowest deck of the ship Cruz had left Mell perched above the mystery door to record anyone entering or leaving the room Soon after the drone had captured Jericho Miles on video It was quite a surprise to Cruz Jericho was a tech who worked in the top secret Synthesis lab in the basement of the Academy So what was he doing on board Orion Emmett had said it probably wasn’t anything anything to worry about reasoning that Explorer Academy was the perfect cover for the Synthesis to travel the world and conduct classified research Still Cruz couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was going on Cruz glanced at the clock on his school-issued Organic Synchronization wrist band aka the Open Sesame passkey band The thin gold screen read 3 12 a m Seriously

Explorer Academy Book 4: The Star Dunes — page 4 — He’d been stuck here for 11 hours The numbers were flickering The mini solar-powered computer must be losing juice Cruz let out a ragged breath So far his attempts to contact the surface had failed Cruz tapped his communications pin Cruz Coronado to Marisol Coronado He got no response from his aunt Numb fingertips touched the pin again Cruz to Emmett Lu Again nothing Cruz tried the rest of his teammates Sailor York Bryndis Jónsdóttir and Dugan Marsh No answer Before his mishap Cruz had been on an archaeological mission with the rest of the explorers It had begun as a class assignment on board Orion Team Cousteau Cruz’s team had been scouring satellite images looking for looting pits when they’d come across the outline of an unknown archaeological feature Thinking they may have stumbled onto an ancient tomb or temple Aunt Marisol and Dr Luben had led all 23 explorers to the actual location in Turkey Cruz had been excavating alongside his teammates when he’d broken away to check out an out crop The rest was blurry One minute he was examining prehistoric art on the wall of a cave and the next he was plunging down a hole Still Cruz was lucky His OS band indicated he’d suffered only a slight concussion and minor bruises It could have been worse Had he landed a few feet to the left he would have hit solid rock instead of hard-packed dirt Cruz suddenly sat up There had been something else too before the fall A jolt It hadn’t come from beneath him not like an earthquake or a landslide It was more like Pressure Yes When he’d leaned into the space to look down Cruz had felt a pressure between his shoulder blades The fog of uncertainty was beginning to clear His fall was no accident He’d been pushed And there was no doubt in Cruz’s mind who was behind it Nebula Several weeks ago he’d received an anonymous note warning him that Nebula’s spies were out to steal the journal and kill him before he turned 13 Yet Cruz still had the journal safely tucked in the upper-left pocket of his jacket And today was November 29 his 13th birthday 7

Explorer Academy Book 4: The Star Dunes — page 5 — You’re zero for two Nebula Cruz shouted into the empty cavern I’m still alive Alive ive ive proudly proclaimed his echo But for how long This was not how he’d planned to spend his birthday His father would be calling Maybe he’d already tried Cruz sure wished he could talk to his dad His mom too But only one of those things was truly possible He wondered if his dad had gotten him the new hover surfboard he’d been asking for Okay begging for Cruz gazed at his stone prison Home felt like a galaxy away It was his own fault Cruz had broken the two most important rules of exploring Rule number one Never go by yourself Rule number two Always tell your expedition leader where you’re headed Cruz had done neither of those things Dr Luben had been the one to first point out the unusual cave to Cruz Cruz’s only hope was that the visiting instructor would remember doing so and lead the team to the cave It was a long shot but it was all he had Cruz slid over a bit farther to avoid the dripping water which was now a steady trickle Listening to the water was making him thirsty He wished he could put his mouth under the flow but knew better The water might contain bacteria parasites or chemicals If only he had his aluminum bottle and survival kit he could purify it However the bottle along with his phone tablet and the rest of his gear were all in his backpack Cruz had no clue where that was maybe snagged on one of the pointed rocks that had jabbed him as he’d tumbled into the cave A powerful rumble came from the pit of his stomach How long could he survive without food and water Emmett would likely know the answer to that probably to the minute Cruz knew the more general one Without fresh water he could survive three to four days Four days of sitting here waiting to die No thanks Before falling asleep Cruz had searched the well for an escape tunnel tunnel He’d found nothing but he’d been sore and dazed then He might have missed something Getting on all fours Cruz began to crawl around the perimeter of the cave He went much slower this time 8

Explorer Academy Book 4: The Star Dunes — page 6 — probing every inch There had to be a way out Or not He grimaced gently rolling a skull out of his path About halfway around the well he noticed a pile of rocks stacked up against the curved wall They might be blocking an outlet Cruz began to move the basketball-size stones one by one He got into a rhythm Bend lift turn toss Bend lift turn toss Ten minutes later Cruz was huffing and about to take a break when he realized his shoes were wet Water was seeping through the space he was making If water was getting in that meant A way out Cruz picked up the pace He moved several more rocks then hunching his shoulders he wriggled into the opening There were only more rocks ahead of him It was a dead end A very wet dead end Reversing course Cruz scrambled to put the stones back into place packing them in as tightly as he could But he couldn’t keep the flow of water from gushing in The grotto was quickly beginning to fill Cruz had to get to higher ground He hopped onto the only thing he could find a rocky shelf about three feet tall It was barely big enough to stand on His heels hanging off the edge and his chin inches from the wall Cruz searched for a route up so he could climb if he had to And pretty soon he had to Cruz found a couple of toeholds but had a tougher time spotting grips for his hands It was impossible to lean back and remain on the little ledge Cruz reached over his head as water sloshed into his shoes Blindly he slapped at the stone He was running out of time Cruz went up on his toes his hands pawing for a bump or notch or cranny or something to grab on to He found nothing The water was rising quickly to his ankles his calves Cruz kept slapping at the cave wall the coarse rock shredding the skin on his fingers There A knot Not a big one but big enough With the water level at his knees Cruz curled both hands around the bulge He lifted his right foot wedged it into the toehold and pulled himself up Raising his left foot he placed it where he thought the crevice should be but hit only flat 9

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