The Phoenix Creation

By K Barnett

The future of mankind depends upon genetically modified humans who can fly, and a girl who will stop at nothing to be truly free.

Alya and her friends abide by the rules on C1, until they uncover secret plans to create an army of their peers who will be forced to cross raging storms that plague Earth, in search of a new continent.

Along with shocking, recruitment revelations, comes the deepening mystery of how Alya is able to outfly her peers.

With secretive authorities closing in, and threats from all directions, will Alya figure out who she is in time before the little freedom she has ever known is taken from her?

The future is a storm-ravaged water-world, with only one crammed island left. But there has been rumour for years of a new continent. Formerly sick little girl Alya has now grown up and is determined to live her life the way she wants. But her creators have other ideas.

Alya’s existence is about to change when she and her best friend Hanuel stumble upon the biggest conspiracy their world has ever seen.

With her increasing ability to outfly her peers, she still hasn’t figured that she could be central to Continent One’s plans to discover new lands by any means necessary—even if that risks Alya and her friends’ lives.

The Phoenix Creation is the first instalment of the ‘Phoenix’ series by K. Barnett. Fans of post-apocalyptic adventure stories will revel in a dystopian future World, with common themes like survival, power struggles, and making it against all odds!

• Language: English
• Publisher: K Barnett
• Release date: Mar 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005679200

K Barnett

Author of YA series The Phoenix Adventures; The Phoenix Creation, The Phoenix Subjugation & The Phoenix Liberation.Future works include contemporary occult series set in London, due out early 2023.

Book preview

The Phoenix Creation

By

K. Barnett

The year is 2398.

Planet Earth has died and been reborn as a storm-ravaged water-world, except for a tiny anomaly of land in the Northern Hemisphere known as, Continent One.

Almost four-hundred-years ago Earth’s eco-balance tipped beyond redemption. The ice caps melted and the continents shifted all within eight months of each other.

Some people saw it coming and had long prepared for a life upon the ocean by engineering human hybrids that could outfly the storms.

But there were many humans who refused to live as an abomination and they shunned the hybrids and took to their boats to live a life at sea as ‘Boaters’ fighting to survive Earth’s volatile new weather systems.

The final continent shift, late in the twenty-first century, sent the highest peaks below the waves except for that tiny anomaly which survived against all the odds.

There the hybrids live in a regulated society designed to keep them safe; restricted fly zones, overzealous policing, and scare stories of Earth’s terrifying storms.

Many are living in hope that the continents will shift again and one day they will have more land to call home; more freedom, more room to spread their wings …

1

Alya The Phoenix

If she was on trial, Alya would agree that she was a good liar, when she really applied herself to it. She didn’t relish it, not at all, but if she needed to call upon a straight face and good eye contact to save a lot of hassle or hurting someone else’s feelings, then she could.

That old saying; the truth shall set you free, would often ring in her ears for several hours after she’d told a lie, as if her own psyche was admonishing her, but she’d soon dismiss it as twenty-first century nonsense. Her grandpa had taught her that saying. Ironically it was he who was encouraging her to lie. Seb Berkeley had a lot to answer for, making his only granddaughter lie to her parents and everyone else, and then encouraging her best friend Hanuel to do the same. Ah, Poppy, he was always up to some mischief or other.

Alya looked up, her thoughts interrupted by Hanuel’s hand movement as he turned the page. Alya hadn’t seemed to notice until the early afternoon that Hanuel wasn’t his usual self. The short monorail ride to the pool had gone as usual, with all of their classmates in high spirits, talking, shouting or laughing loudly, the imminent school holidays almost certainly contributing to the rising hysteria.

Alya and Hanuel sat further down the carriage; not to be antisocial, but more because the venue they were heading to was linked to the secret they kept, and it was as if distancing themselves physically from their classmates could also keep their secret hidden from them.

Alya glanced at Hanuel who was leafing his way quickly through a novel. He looked up just as Alya’s thoughts about their secret caused her to smile to herself. Hanuel locked his light brown eyes on her, instinctively aware of what she was thinking about and nowhere near as amused as she.

The smile on her face diminished as Hanuel returned to reading and Alya gazed out of the window, as they went from suburb to suburb, crossing the South-East District of Continent One.

Something is wrong thought Alya. Hanuel was never usually this quiet with her. They’d been best friends ever since they were seven, although it might have been sooner if she had been allowed to go to school at the normal entry age. As it was, her first day at school was when she turned seven, because up until then she’d spent most of her life in and out of the hospital with severe and repetitive pneumonia, among other things. Thankfully she had been a studious child, with devoted grandparents who home-schooled her until she grew out of her mysterious illness and joined Hanuel and a bunch of others, most of whom were at the other end of the carriage just now.

‘The next stop is South-East Swimming Pool,’ said the overhead automated voice.

The monorail closed in towards the platform smoothly, and Hanuel and Alya, and several of their classmates alighted. There was a slight breeze that Alya acknowledged with her nose, her eyes automatically scanning the sky, noting that the weather had changed already since she’d left the house for school this morning. The class giggled and jostled ahead, excited by the prospect of seeing each other semi-naked probably, thought Alya wryly. Paris King seemed to wear bikinis that shrank every time she went in the water. She was pretty anyway with gorgeous, long, blonde hair, and a perfect pout, so there was no need to show off, but she did, every week, probably because she knew that it drove Lancelot and Berlin mad. No doubt the two boys would be fighting over her again by the end of the lesson.

Alya glanced at Hanuel, and as if reading her thoughts he rolled his eyes, as they watched their classmates flirt shamelessly.

‘Wire on Saturday?’ said Alya mischievously. She needed something to look forward to, so it seemed the right moment to ask.

‘No,’ said Hanuel bluntly. He kept his eyes fixed on the group ahead of them.

‘What? Why? Hanuel. Why not?’

‘The weather’s not good. Didn’t you see the forecast this morning?’

‘No,’ sighed Alya, disappointed. ‘The weather report is never right; it will have changed by Saturday morning.’

‘Maybe,’ nodded Hanuel.

They had almost reached the pool, which was set down the hillside from the monorail. It still looked brand new after being remodelled and expanded a couple of years ago, awaiting the influx of a new wave of modified hybrids such as Alya and Hanuel, and just about everyone in their year of course. There were yet more steps down and Alya and Hanuel had fallen behind their group, so Alya spread her wings slightly and swooped down the last ten steps. A woman walking up spoke angrily.

‘No-fly zone! Behave yourself!’

Alya ignored her and much to her chagrin Hanuel apologised on her behalf, then ran the rest of the steps to catch up. Alya folded her wings slowly and studied his face for a moment as they continued walking.

‘What’s the matter?’ she said softly.

‘Nothing,’ said Hanuel.

It was obvious something was bothering him, and Alya suspected it was something to do with their current location.

‘Is it about swimming?’

‘No, it’s not. Alya, just butt out, ok?’

Alya gasped inwardly, she wasn’t used to Hanuel being off with her and it hurt. Why was he being like this? It was so unlike him, towards her at least. She tried not to be put off her pace and kept stride with him until they reached the pool entrance.

A frazzled receptionist was checking each of their classmates’ ID as they jostled through the barrier blatantly ignoring her request for their names. There were some much smaller schoolchildren on the other side of the barrier running around and taking the opportunity for a few more minutes of playtime while their teacher dealt with a crying little girl. They hadn’t had their wings clipped back yet and were fluttering them vigorously to dry them off. They looked ridiculously cute, and Alya and the girls in her group cooed over them and said hello sweetly as they passed by. The little ones looked up, clearly awed and a bit shy of the big teenagers.

A little boy ran haphazardly and bumped into Hanuel accidentally. He stood rooted to the spot fearful of a reprimand but Hanuel smiled at him and said; ‘excuse me, young man. Are you ok?’ The little boy nodded, and Hanuel turned him around gently and pushed him back towards his group. ‘Don’t run off,’ he reminded him.

Alya smiled at her best friend, and he smiled back.

They split up, and Alya followed Paris, and the other girls to the ladies changing rooms. She tried to ignore the loud banter between the cubicles as they all changed into their swimming costumes, but they were so loud Alya knew every detail. She kept quiet and rolled her eyes intermittently, at times embarrassed by their rude observations of some of her male classmates.

They knew she’d be listening so Hanuel’s name was never mentioned; at least they respected her enough for that. The truth was she would never be friends with these girls, not really.

Alya chucked her bag and towel into a spare locker and did a quick check in the mirror, observing her springy curls that at times enraged her with their odd behaviour. She’d had them cut into a bob recently and thought it suited her slim face, but hadn’t realised how impractical it would be as it was harder to tie back now it was much shorter. Her bangs got in the way when she was flying and swimming too, unless she pinned them back which she had just started to do when Paris arrived.

She sidled up to the mirror and began to preen, rearranging the string fastening of her bikini top before turning and glancing over her shoulder to check her rear side. She seemed pleased with her reflection and stretched her blonde wings slightly that matched her blonde hair, checking there were no loose feathers. Alya couldn’t help but look at her as she executed her well-rehearsed ritual, and she smiled shrewdly and continued to pin back her hair. Alya was sure Paris could read her thoughts but even if she could the girl ignored Alya’s cynicism and instead smiled.

‘I love your hair, Alya, it suits you better, and it shows off your pretty brown eyes much better.’

‘Thank you, Paris.’

‘See you in the pool,’ she said chirpily, as she turned and skipped away.

Alya finished with her hair and stood a moment looking at her practical black racing costume. She was not a girly girl, that was for sure, and nor did she want to be. She stretched her wings and beat them once harshly to dislodge any loose feathers. Her wings were the exact opposite of Paris’s. Most people’s wings matched their hair, and Alya’s were raven with black tips and the odd amber coloured feather here and there, inherited from her flame-haired grandmother no doubt. They were really quite beautiful, and sleek and shiny, and healthy looking. Alya loved her wings.

Hanuel was waiting by the pool with some of the other boys. Paris sat nearby with her friends and they giggled like idiots and whispered about Gods knows what. Alya approached her class and squeezed in next to Hanuel forcing Berlin to move up to make room. She scanned the swimming pool observing the main pool with sections dedicated to lane swimming. There were four different diving platforms at a separate pool, the highest of which was twenty metres; a terrifying prospect for the little children they’d seen in the foyer, but not so much for the likes of Alya and co. who had been fully-fledged since the age of eight.

There were various aspects of the pool which had been newly designed to accommodate Continent One’s new objective of making all new hybrids, not only fully-fledged but fully aquatic too. Any hybrid born after 2370 now had the genetically modified V20 wings, lighter and stronger than anything designed before and impossible to waterlog; hence the new pool which was deep enough for hybrids to dive into and swim underwater either for competition or to expand their world to enable them to explore the vast ocean surrounding Continent One. Not that that was considered a priority, or even a reason for developing the V20 wings in the first place. Quite simply put, no one in Continent One needed to explore the ocean because there was nothing and nobody out there. This was it. One Continent. The rest had been obliterated in the flood, almost four-hundred-years ago.

Alya’s grandpa disagreed, however. He had brought her up on conspiracy stories and still insisted there was a lost continent out there for them to find. He said that they didn’t have the brains or the resources to do so yet. Poppy was probably the greatest man Alya knew, so she went along with his theories to please him, and to offer her grandma some respite from his fixation at least.

‘So?’ said Alya, to Hanuel. She’d noticed he looked bored and was examining his feet while they waited for their instructor to arrive.

‘So?’ he replied.

‘Is it time to show them what we’ve got?’

Hanuel smiled slyly. He knew she was referring to their ability to take-off from submersion. They’d been able to do this for several years under the tutelage of Poppy, out at the lake on Alya’s grandparents’ farm. Hanuel had spent the last few years during the summer holidays with Alya out in The Basin, as a bit of time away from his sister, Trinidad, and to have some fun of course, which they always did when Poppy was around.

When they were nine, he’d taken them down to the lake one day and rowed out on his creaky homemade boat and shoved them in. They’d had a great time, and Poppy had devised an itinerary to keep them busy, setting targets, such as swimming lengths, holding their breath underwater, and eventually taking off from submersion. They hadn’t achieved it that summer, they weren’t strong enough, but the following year they did, albeit clumsily and intermittently. The year after that they were pro’s, but also sworn to secrecy by Poppy. He had a feeling that the adults probably wouldn’t like it, and Hanuel and Alya were inclined to agree, plus it was fun having a secret, especially one such as this; especially for Alya. The poorly little girl that everyone assumed she still was could now take-off from submersion, and had done so for several years already. No one knew, just her, Hanuel, Poppy, and probably her grandma too.

‘Erm, I don’t think so, Alya.’ Hanuel looked back at his feet.

What the hell was wrong with him? He was being a complete bore all of a sudden. Why shouldn’t they show them? Alya would love to give her classmates a shock.

Precious Alya; the sickly little girl, no wait, she’s all grown up. Alya the phoenix! She lingered over the image she’d created in her head of her rising out of the pool, beating her wings powerfully, droplets of water showering people below as they watched her rise elegantly up in front of them.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt Hanuel stiffen next to her. Instinctively she followed his trajectory and saw her brother and several other Patrol cadets making their way from the changing rooms, towards the top end of the pool. They were too busy chatting to notice the high-schoolers across the other side of the pool, although the girls further down the bench had noticed them, and started giggling. Someone wolf-whistled loudly, Paris, Alya suspected, and the Patrol cadets glanced back pleased with the attention.

‘Oh, my Gods,’ Alya said quietly, embarrassed in case any of her brother’s friends thought it was her, embarrassed in case her brother thought it was her.

She shrank back behind Hanuel and hoped Tal hadn’t seen her, although he probably had, there wasn’t much that he missed—he was the perfect candidate for Patrol. Good luck to him thought Alya unkindly, she hoped he’d get in so he would get off her case, and then she’d hardly have to see him at all. The last few months had been great without him knocking moodily around their apartment, but summer holidays were one day away and he’d have to clear out of his accommodation at cadet college and come home until the new year started if he got through that is. Alya suspected he’d get through no problem, he was just what Patrol needed, conscientious, authoritative and extremely fit, what more could they want? Not brains, she thought snidely to herself.

Tal and she were nothing alike. Alya sometimes thought her parents had brought the wrong baby home from the hospital, her that was, not Tal. She’d been sick from day one with lung problems, although the doctors were right, in the end, she did grow out of it, but nevertheless, it affected them all. Her mother had to stay home with her and was out of work to begin with, so they had to move from a large maisonette at Vancouver Beach, West-District, to an apartment in San Fran, South-East District. Alya couldn’t remember, but she assumed Tal would have been seconded to their grandparents quite a lot in the early days of her illness. He would have grown up having to be careful around her, or probably bored following her and their parents backwards and forwards to hospital appointments.

Their swimming instructor arrived, flustered and lamenting the tedium of hustling groups of small children out of the swimming pool. She quickly set about organising her students, referencing their progress from her clipboard and issuing tasks to complete. She sent Hanuel and Paris off to swim timed laps and organised the rest of the class into small groups, to practice take-off from submersion. She glanced back at Alya and Berlin waiting patiently on the bench.

‘Right, you two,’ she said, standing in front of them. ‘You guys have done really well this year. Berlin, you are the first in the class to take-off from submersion so well done for that.’ Berlin swelled next to Alya who smiled slightly; if only the teacher knew what she and Hanuel could do. ‘And you, Alya, well done you.’

Alya frowned quizzically, what had she done this year?

‘You have consistently swum laps at competition level, so you are officially the fastest in your class.’

‘I am?’ said Alya shocked. Had she got the right person?

‘You are,’ said the teacher kindly. ‘Didn’t you know?’

‘No,’ said Alya, genuinely. ‘I thought one of the boys would be faster. Surely?’

‘No, it’s you. Anyway, you guys are on the platforms today. I thought you could play as a reward for all your hard work. Off you go. Enjoy.’

‘Yes!’ Berlin was happy with that. Alya though didn’t want to go on the platforms. That’s where Patrol were.

‘Come on, Alya.’ Berlin pulled her to her feet and chivvied her along.

Alya saw Tal on one of the mid-platforms. The solid glass diving platform was at least ten metres high and second from the bottom. Some of the Patrol were gathered behind him encouraging him to dive off, all just friendly banter that seemed to dry up as Berlin and Alya approached. She saw Tal look down at her and he raised his chin ever so slightly to acknowledge her, but that was all it was, an acknowledgement, he didn’t look pleased, nor displeased, to see her. He continued towards the edge of the platform then launched himself powerfully into the air and somersaulted over, neatly entering the water. His wings remained close to his body the entire time as if he were in the Olympics, ensuring he couldn’t be disqualified for using them to aid him.

The Patrol cadets cheered for him and Alya did a quick glance while they were preoccupied. They seemed to be alright guys from what she could see; all about eighteen, the same as Tal. They were all much of a muchness. Patrol tended to attract the athletic type, and that Alya could see. They had their hair cut the same way, short back and sides with a bit of length on top. No tattoos though, that was against the rules. Alya glanced away when she saw one of them staring at her. He wasn’t as interested in Tal’s performance as the rest of them and he stood idly by, his arms folded across his chest. She thought his name was Raiden, as Tal had mentioned before that he was in a class with the Patrol commander’s son. He was a big guy, fairly tall and extremely ripped, with brown hair and possibly blue eyes? It was hard to tell from where she was.

Alya allowed Berlin to get ahead of her and she fixed her gaze on his back as she followed so that she didn’t have to acknowledge the crowd of Patrol cadets who had now turned their attention back to her.

She suspected they either knew she was Tal’s sister and were being polite, ready to nod hello when she glanced back up at them, or they didn’t know and thought look at this pretty girl coming towards them. She didn’t mind them looking. She was used to it. Alya didn’t think she was quite as devastatingly pretty as Paris but she knew she wasn’t far off, and she knew that she had a nice figure which is probably what earned her the glances she was getting right now. Alya felt her cheeks warm. It was embarrassing in front of Tal, and although most of the time she thought he was an idiot, she was still his little sister and she certainly didn’t want to put him in a position where he felt he had to defend her. That said, she didn’t know if he would defend her, he never had yet, maybe he never would.

‘Hi guys,’ said Berlin cheerfully. Her friend clearly didn’t feel as daunted as Alya by the presence of Patrol cadets, and the guys politely, albeit coolly, acknowledged him as he hiked up the ladder of one of the upper platforms; the second highest one.

Alya followed him reluctantly. They were on the platform five metres above Patrol and it probably looked like they were showing off, but Alya knew Berlin, and he was a bit thoughtless; he wouldn’t have anything in his head except having fun.

She followed him out onto the platform and stood respectfully back so she didn’t distract him. By this point, Patrol had all inclined their heads towards them and were watching as Berlin launched himself off the platform towards the water. He kept it simple with his wings folded snug against his body. He entered the water perfectly straight and swum with the aid of his wings in a pendulum arc up towards the surface. Berlin rather sadly cheered for himself when he broke the water’s surface, and Alya couldn’t help but giggle at him. She glanced down and to her right to see Tal, now re-joining the end of the Patrol queue glaring up at her. She didn’t know why, but his expression really annoyed her. It was like he was saying she was forbidden to have any fun in his presence. Who did he think he was?

Berlin hadn’t finished with his antics and was now trying to take-off from submersion much to the delight of some of Patrol, including Tal. They watched him struggle, clearly lacking the strength to pull free from the water despite being top of the class. Someone said something that made the Patrol cadets laugh out loud, and Alya was too late to see whom it was, but judging from her brother’s body language, she suspected it was him. She was really annoyed now. Berlin was a bit daft but he was a nice guy, and he wasn’t aloof or thought he was better than anyone else like these idiots standing down from her. She saw Berlin look up at his audience, his face reddening further as he realised his gaffe and gave up and swam to the side of the pool.

The Patrol cadet in front of Tal stepped up to the edge of the platform and prepared himself, ensuring his feet were neatly placed, his wings tucked in. He launched up into the air, somersaulted twice and landed with a neat plop, causing his peers to cheer loudly.

Alya had to control her expression. If she’d allowed it to run free, she would have a snarl on her lips and a look of pure rage in her eyes. She stepped up to the platform.

This is for Berlin, she thought, as she proceeded to launch herself out. She decided to elevate her position, partly because the downdraught from her wings would force the Patrol group to look up at her, and partly because she wanted the height she was attaining to be unique, reckless almost, to someone who was used to the rules–like Tal.

Alya ascended