New Hope (The New Earth Colonies Book 1)

by Nina Silver

  I opened my informator and wrote down my notations and observations. Then leaned closer to this sphere that lacked the seams conventional bombs had. “So what does your expertise say about this sphere?” Cove asked, his masculine ramble jolting me out of my thoughts.

  I turned to look at him, my eyes focusing on the scar on his face and then his muscles, taut and bulging. I lick my lips and then looked down at my informator. “I’m not sure yet. I don’t think it’s an explosive though.”

  “No?” He said and looked at the sphere. I waved him over, and he entered the cave coming to kneel beside me. I felt the heat of his body against my side, and his warm spicy scent made me want to sigh and lean closer to him. I instead looked down at the sphere. Keep the head in the game Iolee!

  “Well, this is what one of the other explosive spheres looks like.” I quickly pulled up a picture of one and showed it to him. He leaned in closer looking at my informator, and his scent surrounded me once more. I bit my lip, what was wrong with me? I generally did not care about muscles or handsome men, or how they smelled! Why now, when I had to prove myself for Dr. Morton?

  I shook my head to clear my thoughts and zoomed in on the pic. “Look here.” I pointed to three intertwined symbols.

  “The symbols to indicate an explosive, yes?”

  “Yes!” I gave him an impressed look. “But now look here.” I pointed to the sphere in front of us. “Light, Fire, Heat.” I pointed to the three symbols respectively. “Notice anything different?

  Cove looked between my informator and then the sphere in front of us. “They are not arranged in the same way as the ones that are in the picture.”

  I gave him another smile. “Exactly. So even though this has the same compilation, this organization could mean something completely different. Apart from that, look at these thin indentations that divide the explosive spheres into four quadrants.” I tapped the picture for him to see. “This one lacks those as well.”

  “I see what you mean…” He looked up at me, his gray eyes sharp and acute. “So what does that mean?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know yet. But I think it means this is something different and not an explosive device. I toyed with the idea of it being faulty and not having been detonated, but I don't think the Ourupta would ever make such mistakes. They are an efficient and perfectionistic race - which is indicated by their hieroglyphic- like language as well as the craftsmanship of their ships and weapons.” We stared at each other for a few more moments, our eyes glued together until I reluctantly looked away and back into my informator.

  “What of the other symbols? I don’t recognize many of them. Do you Doc?”

  I looked up at him, so he had studied Ourupta symbols? Maybe he was in the military academy at some point? They were the only others that I knew studied basic Ourupta symbols. But if he had been in the military why was he now here? I knew there was military stationed here - they were called enforcers, but he did not sport any insignia in his clothing... Cove looked at me expectantly, and I felt myself blushing. Right! He had asked me something.

  “Well, the long answers is that I know some of the individual symbols used to synthesize the others. Technically I could input them into my database and using my knowledge, and all the possible known compilations and combinations that we have figured out already, would run through a software I have been developing and spit out possible meanings which then I'd have to go over and rearrange in an order that would make sense semantically. That way I would eventually translate some of the symbols individually and discern what each part means which then would help with the rest of the compilations, and then the rest unknown individual parts and so on.” I stopped breathlessly realizing I had been rambling like a crazy person to Cove about things that probably made no sense to him.

  “So, the short answer is no?” Cove asked with a half-smile, his gray eyes sparkling with amusement.

  “I beg your pardon?” I asked feeling lightheaded, my pulse racing. Why was he so close to me? When had we gotten so close? From here I could see the golden hue of his skin, the jagged discolored scar on his strong face, and the ring of light blue that surrounded his cornea which then turned to the impossible icy gray shade.

  “I take it from what you said, that you don’t as of yet know the rest of the symbols.”

  I swallowed and licked my suddenly dry lips. “Yes, I don’t know yet.”

  “How long do you think it’ll be until you do know?”

  I looked at the sphere. “Hard to say really, especially since I have access to some of the sphere and not all of it. There could be symbols in the back and under it that could help us translate, but we can’t move it…” I paused an idea coming to mind, it could be dangerous, and it could not work, but if it did it would be great. First though, I'd need to commence a few tests. I opened my tool pack and spread out all of my things, and picked up the tool I was looking for. I smiled at the thin curved knife. Let’s see how the sphere would handle damage.

  “What’s that Doc?” Cove asked looking at my tool.

  “We use this to scrape metal surfaces and collect samples to analyze.” I leaned in close to the sphere and picked an unmarked spot then ran the knife over it. I pulled it back, but there were no signs of anything. I did it again, but still nothing. I narrowed my eyes. This usually worked fine with Ourupta metal. I picked up a sharper knife and tried to scrape some of the metal off. Once more nothing. “This is odd…” I put my tool down and then took some close up pictures with my informator, then put it down. I felt myself sweating and wiped some of the sweat off of my eyes then sighed.

  “It’s getting hot in here, so I’ll let you to your work.” Cove stated and exited the cave leaving me alone. For the next couple of hours, I catalogued and sketched all of the unknown symbols, took pictures of them and tried to test the metal, with no known results. I finally decided to take a break and exited the cave to find the five men lounging around besides the rocky entrance to the cave.

  “Done?” Arlo asked as they all turned to look at me expectantly.

  “No.” I said after a while, as I felt a hot breeze waft over me and ruffle some of my loose curls. I patted my hair self-consciously knowing that it resembled a frizzy mass ready to choke me.

  “Taking a break?” Cain asked and indicated a spot next to him for me to sit. But I’d been on my knees in the cave for so long I’d rather stand and stretch.

  “I’m good, I want to stretch a bit. What have you five been up to?” I asked, actually wondering what they had been doing since I was sequestered inside the cave. I didn't think it had been needed for them all to accompany me on this endeavor, but I also knew that they had their own orders from Neptune and that I probably was not privy to them. After all, why send a general, a major, a captain, and a sergeant? No, they definitely have a mission that had nothing to do with me.

  “We canvassed the area, performed some measurement, took pics, similar to what you were doing probably.” Haze commented. I turned to look out at the ocean, it wasn’t close, but it wasn’t that far either. I wanted to go and explore closer.

  “Want lunch Doc?” Cove asked as he rose to his feet, he moved to the transport and opened the back side where I knew different holding compartments were located and he pulled out a bag. He approached me and handed over a flask. “Water.”

  I took it, my fingers briefly touching his strong palm. “Thanks.” I opened and took a sip just realizing how parched I was and trying not to imagine the feel of his skin against mine.

  “Nutrient pack?” Cove offered, and I took it. It was hot as hell. And even though I wore the temp clothes that Jo had reluctantly given me, I still felt the incredible heat of the day. Jo had given me a pair of tight dark brown pants, and a v-neck shirt that was way too booby, but beggars can’t be choosers, and I didn’t require my clothes to fit to do my job.

  I popped open the tab of the nutrient pack and sucked a bit of it in my mouth. Nutrient packs had different fruity flavors, this one
was kinda exotic and reminded me of this real fruit I once had as a child on Jupiter, it was called pineapple. I turned and looked at the ocean again, while awkwardly avoiding looking at Cove and slurping down the pack.

  “Wanna go take a closer look?” He asked, and I choked on my nutrient pack.

  I coughed clearing my throat. “I beg your pardon?”

  He gave me another of those playful looks that made my insides squirm, I fanned myself as I drank more water.

  “The ocean.” He pointed to the crashing waves of pink waters. "Want to go take a closer look? You haven't stopped staring at it since you came out of the cave."

  I glanced at the small crashing waves. I did want to see them up close. "Yeah, I'd like that." He smiled and headed towards what seemed to be a path. I followed after him stepping carefully where he was stepping as to avoid any accidents.

  We reached the beach, the sand surprisingly white and unlike the red-orange hue of the desert sand or dirt that covered the One Continent. A breeze carried the salty smell of the ocean, and I inhaled deeply, my eyes closing in enthusiasm. This was a dream come true!

  "This is so amazing." I whispered and looked at Cove.

  "That's like your favorite word eh Doc? You must have said it at least thirty times today."

  I blushed at his teasing tone and continued sucking on some more nutrient paste. "I can't help it this is amazing to me."

  "I know this is your first time on the home planet, so I don't fault you for your excitement."

  I turned and gave him a small, shy smile. He winked back and approached the crashing waves beckoning me along. I followed feeling shy and hesitant.

  "Back before the Ourupta attack, people loved to go to the beach." Cove commented, and I turned to look at him. "They would go swimming all the time, depending the season and sail the seas for fun."

  "I thought people could still go swimming."

  He laughed. "Yes, but no one does it for fun anymore. People that go swimming now do it more out of necessity, having to find food or harness energy power. Besides we can only go swimming at certain times, if anyone tries to go swimming during nighttime they’ll boil their flesh clean of their bones."

  "Yikes." I winced and finished my nutrient pack.

  "Yikes indeed."

  “You know, it’s still gorgeous - I can just imagine how it looked back then. I mean I’ve seen pictures of beaches, the azure, and aqua colored waters were breathtaking and clear enough to see straight down to the bottom. Simply amazing...” I sighed. “Such a shame all that is gone.”

  “It is what it is. Now, we have to live with it.” He stated with a hard set to his jaw. We silently looked at the ocean, the hot breeze and the waves rhythmically crashing, causing a sense of serenity and peace to flow over us. “How are you feeling today, better than yesterday?” Cove finally spoke breaking the magic of the moment.

  I winced at the reminder of my ill fate yesterday. “I’m much better, thanks for asking. And for your help of course! I’m quite embarrassed for fainting like that.”

  Cove gave me a serious, contemplative look. I blushed and wiped some sweat off my forehead trying to ignore the uncomfortable silence. "It was nothing Doc.” He stated after a few second. “You're not the first, and I bet not the last to faint from the heat. It's rather shocking to anyone not used to it the first time."

  "Yeah, that it is. It felt as if I were breathing fire."

  He laughed. "It's kind of like that. I'm glad to see you got some temp clothes today at least." And at the bold look, he gave me up and down I blushed even harder and wished that I had clothing that did fit me better.

  I coughed awkwardly and looked away from him. "I have to thank Jo for that, she graciously lent me some of her clothes."

  "That was nice of her." He dryly commented as his eyes slowly came to rest back on my face. "How do you like New Earth so far?" He took a step towards me giving me his full attention.

  "I like it. I thought it would be vastly different from the Colony, but it turns out that it's not that much different after all."

  Cove laughed at my words, and his voice rang out clear and throaty, causing a tingle up my spine and a warm sensation to speed all over my center. My breathing hitched as I looked at his strong jaw and his defined torso. I was getting aroused, and there was no denying it - this man was affecting me more than anyone else had before.

  "Why was that funny?" I asked with a frown.

  He shook his head as he took a deep breath and another step closer to me. He reached out and my heart stopped beating as I breathlessly watched him tuck a curl of my hair behind my ear. "That was funny because you have no idea how much citizens of my reservation wish they could go and live in one of the colonies." His voice was soft but his expression was bitter and borderline angry. He was so close to me and his finger was still touching my ear which seemed to burn with the contact.

  "Can't they?" I asked breathlessly as my eyes glued to his beautiful ones. He was making me dizzy from arousal and I licked my lips. His eyes lowered on them and for a second I prayed and begged the powers that be that he'd lean down and kiss me with those shapely lips of his.

  As if reading my thoughts, he lifted his eyes back to mine and raised his eyebrow at me challengingly. "I guess you don't know how those things work huh? Moving to a colony is not at all easy. Spots are coveted and the application process can take years and of course, preference is always given to citizens of other colonies if they wish to move or get transferred. Citizens of New Earth are very much forgotten and left to take care of themselves in any way they can. Food is always a struggle, and the crumbling infrastructure around us takes months to repair if not years."

  I frowned in confusion and disbelief. "But surely the government wouldn't do that! The colonies were created to help New Earth and provide for the people here so that at some point we may return to live here."

  "That's what they tell you in the colonies. The truth is not that straightforward or that convenient." He finally took his finger away and turned to look at the ocean. A sense of disappointment shook me to the core, I wrapped my arms around myself to stop them from shaking.

  I bit my lip thinking about his words. I could understand his meaning and a part of me even believed him, but at the same time, I didn't want to think that I was a part of a system that left so many people to struggle.

  After a few moments of silence, I decided I should head back to work again. I had a few more tests to do and then I'd bring forth my idea to the rest of the team and see what they thought. It was making me hazy to be so close to him and feel such intense need.

  "Thanks for showing me the ocean." I awkwardly stated and Cove turned to look at me. "I'm gonna head back to work. I..." I paused not knowing what I wanted to say and finally settled on something harmless. "I'll see you later."

  Cove nodded and I turned and walked back up to the rocky outcrops knowing that his eyes were on me the whole time. When I was under the shade of the cave, and the black sphere was in front of me, I was finally able to take a breath of ease. This – my job – I could do. Talking and flirting with Cove – not so much.

  Nine

  Cove

  We had been by the cave for at least six hours, and I was currently pacing outside the cave feeling restless. About an hour or so ago, the good doctor had approached us with an idea on how to dislodge the sphere, and I did not like it.

  I had raised my concerns, but she had managed to convince most of her team to ignore me, and now I was stuck following along with that harebrained idea. I heard shuffling and turned to see Haze approaching me.

  “I don’t like this.”

  “It’ll be fine, I set the explosive myself – at least you can trust me, no?” Haze grinned. The Doc’s idea? To set explosive at the end of the cave and then close to the cavernous walls. She said either the cave would open up or the sphere would get dislodge. I shook my head.

  “That idea is dangerous and you know it. What if the sphere is a weapon a
nd then it creates another world shattering change?”

  “It’ll be fine – it’s a small controlled explosion, I got it under control. And besides, the Doc has that material thing that they use to protect relics from explosions during excavations. She’ll use it to cover the sphere and it’ll turn out alright.”

  I just shook my head. I still didn’t like the idea. I knew Haze was an expert with explosives, but that didn’t mean that things could not go wrong. The scar on my cheek was a stark example that even the best of plans could go haywire.

  Cain and Arlo approached us, they were both sweating but dressed in fatigues made of temp fabric, their insignia and rank visible across their shoulders. They both looked flushed but composed. Locke was currently helping the Doc put her things safely on the transport a few hundreds of feet away. My eyes sought her form, and I watched her laugh at something Locke was saying, my gaze swept up her body taking in the tight-fitting temp clothing that revealed way too much for my sense of peace.

  “I don’t think we should do this. There’s no rush to get this done.” I argued looking at Arlo, who I knew was the head of the mission.

  “We already set up the explosives, this is a go.”

  I gritted my teeth and cranked my neck. “I don’t remember the Academy teaching us to be so hasty and foolhardy.”

  He raised his eyebrow in a challenge. “It’s been five years, the Academy has changed quite a lot since you left.”

  “Clearly.” I was going to say more but I saw Locke and Iolee approaching us.