Uh.. Don't know what to call it part II?? :D

Not sure about the flow... but then, only dead fish go with the flow....

***

Horsa and his little lectures. Nova rolled her eyes, blowing her hair out of her face. It had taken a full two hours to persuade the fearless leader to letting them journey to the sparkle in the sand. At least that thing was closer than we expected. The team had lost control of the spacecraft and landed in the middle of the desert, most of their expensive instruments unusable because of the reckless landing. This included the electronic telescope. The lens on this primitive version was bent, warping what they saw. That thing is practically useless.

They were about half way there when Paris called for a break. Nova nodded her thanks, trying not to show her surprise. Paris never stopped anything unless he wanted to say something.

“Nova-” he broke off, looking away. Something was definitely wrong. Paris always stated his mind with ease, even if it was perverted.

“Nova, when you were sick… the council- they did a test on you.”

It was obvious what test he was talking about. She turned as slowly as possible, anger coursing through her veins, making her tremble. Her insides squirmed at his words. The decisions of the council are spoken of freely. I know they tested my blood, why is he telling me this?

“And?”

Paris was having a hard time looking at her. Nova jerked her head to look the way they had come, and towards their destination. She had half a mind to leave him there, staring at his boots. If he doesn’t say something soon…

“ Nova, they wanted the fertility test.”

She turned from him, shouldering her pack trying to ignore the battering ram in her stomach.

So they had done the test. She had been sick almost all last week, giving them ample time to do whatever they wanted with her. What does this mean? She thought, trying not to gaze at her stomach, Am I pregnant? Are they going to make me like Abital? The thought of sleeping around with the men repulsed her.

Ever since she was young, she had promised to stay clean before she got married. A child-like notion shrugged aside more often than not in her world. Is this what I am to become? A mere tool to populate the colony as fast as possible? A slave to the sadistic minds of men? It was obvious that none of the men respected Abital. Nova had heard them talk about her, saying terrible and crude things. I don’t want that. I don’t want people to treat me like that…

She shook herself, focusing on the distant sparkle in the east. She banished the thoughts from her mind. Time to work.

“Lets go.”

She wasn’t exactly sure how to take this strange comradeship Paris had shown her. He is such a perv. Why does he want to help me?

A couple days ago, Paris had walked into her room while she was getting undressed. It wasn’t so bad, considering she had only taken off her shoes when he walked in. A few seconds later, they were flying into his face, along with her dictionary, and a few other heavy objects.

She had been talking into the radio, telling Horsa about why she was going to be late to the council meeting that morning. He, of course, began to chew her out for being lazy and to get there as fast as possible. She yelled “okay” into the speaker, and switched it off. Apparently, Paris had thought she was talking to him. When he knows I didn’t hear a word he said. I swear, sometimes he’s so dumb…

Nova silenced her thoughts when they came to the blue sand. It was in a neat little pile three paces to her right. She could even see the indentation where Paris had collected a sample. I’m surprised there is so much of it. Why didn’t Paris take more?

“Do you know why it’s in a pile like this?”

“No, but I saw some zigzagging trails of it headed towards that sparkling thing.”

He indicated a trail of blue about twenty paces away. Nova nodded, pleased that he was getting to work. I don’t want to hear his pathetic excuses. She knew Paris. He would never challenge Horsa’s authority. He probably just sat there and let them-

“Nova- oh Cosmos…”

Paris was jogging towards the sparkle, except it wasn’t a sparkle anymore. As Nova drew closer, she could see a person sprawled on the ground. He appeared to be unconscious. Nova kneeled over him, checking for injuries. Nothing. Well, that’s one less problem to worry about. Nova bent the creatures arm into a stabilizing position.

“Hyperthermia. We need to get him into a secure area.”

Paris wordlessly dropped his bag and raced away. How does he always know when I need his pack? Nova gently rolled the creature on his side, bending his left leg to support his body.

She quickly began pulling off the creatures’ clothes, tossing them to the side. She felt terrible. How long has he been here? A few days? Miraculously, she found him still breathing. Heaven, what is this creature? No one could survive this long with no shelter. Nova thought, placing him on his side. She tilted his head back, tucking his left hand under his chin.

Good grief they took their sweet time. Yes, she knew that it was quite a ways to get out there, and that their vehicles were slower than a crawl, but she didn’t really care. I have this dying glowing thing in my arms, and the ice bags are melting, and-

“Okay, Nova. We’ve got him now.”

She nodded, helping them ease the body onto the stretcher and into the shade of the truck. More ice was distributed, the watery bags of hers stored in the cooler.