Lyssa Chiavari - New World

J M J

NEW WORLD: Book Two of the Iamos Trilogy

Copyright 2018 by Lyssa Chiavari.

Published by Snowy Wings Publishing

www.snowywingspublishing.com

Cover designed by Najla Qamber Designs.

Model photos by Mosaic Stock Photography.

Interior graphics by [adj] Millennial.

Definition of asexuality quoted from the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (asexuality.org). Quoted with permission.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, brands, places, events and incidents are either the products of the authors imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

For the ones who waited

Dear Reader,

The Iamos Trilogy is designed to be a single story broken into several parts: three full novels and a novella. Because of the way the story is structured, each installment is not intended to be read without the foundation of the previous books before it. In order for you to best enjoy the series, this is the recommended order to read the books in:

Book 1: Fourth World

Book 1.5: Different Worlds : An Iamos Novella

Book 2: New World

Book 3: One World

This novel contains a number of references to the events of both Fourth World and Different Worlds, and will be understood most fully if you read both those books before starting this one.

Thanks for reading!

Lyssa Chiavari

I closed my eyes, breathing in deeply through my nose. Each breath was difficult, but with practiced skill, I managed to keep my inhalations and exhalations steady, refusing to allow my breathing to become labored. Id known what I was getting into, coming here. Simos gravity was much stronger than Iamos, and in the weeks before we stepped through the postern, my body had undergone rigorous training in preparation. Adjusting to the added body weight was difficult, but not impossible. The other colonists were relying on us to get them through this transition periodthey couldnt see their geroi struggling. Eristin and I had to be strong.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Thats all there was to it.

Geros Achillios, a mans voice called out.

I didnt permit my eyes to snap open. I inhaled one last time before lifting my lids calmly. I could hear the way the man struggled to regulate his breathing as he pushed his way past the jungle plants to approach me. He needed a calming influence.

Tirios, I said. Deep breaths. Slow movements. Dont tax yourself.

Tirios tugged his earlobe, placing his hands on his knees and panting. I watched silently, allowing him to catch his breath. Tirios was one of the System experts on our expedition. He knew the intricacies of our interlinked minds better than any man or woman on Iamos. Hed been selected for this expedition in the hopes that that knowledge could save us. Every colonization party that had made the journey to Simos had disappeared. Theyd lose their connection with the System soon after arriving on the planet, if not immediately after. The gerotus blamed the magnetic field for the disruption, but Tirios had assured me that the new refinements hed made to our earpieces would counteract the disruptive signals of the planet.

I confess that I didnt exactly have a technical mind. The inner workings of the System were beyond me. But I trusted Tirios. If he said his modifications would work, I believed him.

But then we got here. Unwavering belief meant little in the face of harsh reality.

Have you made contact with Iamos? I asked him when he straightened.

No, kyrios . I am still receiving the same error as beforea blank signal. We can connect to the System, but we receive no response to our communications.

I breathed out, steepling my fingers and closing my eyes again. Inhale. Exhale. Keep trying.

Yes, kyrios . But thats not why Im here. Gerouin Eristin is asking for you. Shes up on the ridge.

I opened my eyes. Ill be right there.

I felt my way down the dark jungle path, weaving between enormous trees and brushing past tall plants that reminded me of fraouloi . Id been briefed on what to expect, but I still hadnt been entirely prepared for the abundance of greenery Simos had to offer. If Iamos had ever held life this verdant, it had been generations before my birth. I was five years enilos , and by the time I was old enough to walk, see, remember, all of Iamos had been a barren desert. This rainforest was even more of a shock to my system than the stronger gravity.

The trees thinned the farther up the hill I climbed, and then they broke apart, revealing a rocky ridge that looked down over the coast. Waves broke roughly over the shoreline below, and the air was heavy with the smell of salt and water, greenery and life . The sky above my head was black, cut in two by the thick band of galaxy and a small sliver of whiteSimos moon. That crescent of light illuminated the fair, sandy hair on my partners head, while the rest of her form was drowned in shadow.

Eristin. Tirios said you were asking for me.

She turned to face me. Yes. Look at this.

I came to stand beside her at the edge of the ridge. Eristin was more than just the gerouin on this mission: she was our leading astronomer. Her knowledge of the stars was unmatched. Shed been eagerly waiting for the sun to set so she could get her first glimpse of the constellations from this new world. I hadnt expected her to move from this perch all night. But what she wanted to show me, I couldnt imagine. The stars were beyond my realmmy expertise lay in mundane political dealings.

I ran the charts before we left Iamos. I calculated the seasons of this world, the position of the stars from this hemisphere. At this time of year, Oryos should not be visible from here. But there it is. She pointed to a triad of stars in the northwestern sky. These stars are all wrong.

Is it possible you calculated incorrectly? I asked her.

She frowned, the movement of her lips shadowed in the starlight. Maybe, but theres more. She looked at me. You might want to sit down, Achillios.

I glanced around myself. Where? On the ground?

She let out a humorless chuckle. Suit yourself. She gestured into the sky. There. Do you see that star? It was small and dim, but still prominent in the sky alongside the stars. It glowed with a faint red hue. Thats Iamos.

I didnt understand what she was getting at. Seeing our homeworld from such a distance was strange, humblingbut it was to be expected. We knew how far we were going when we undertook this mission.

But then she moved her finger across the sky, gesturing to a larger, brighter, yellow star that I didnt recognize. My mind struggled to recall the different names of celestial bodies, and I once again found myself cursing, wishing that our earpieces were receiving transmissions from the System. My brain was still not accustomed to having to hold its own information, to think and recall unassisted.

What is that, Eristin?

Thats Hamos, she said.

I stared at her, uncomprehending, before looking back to the star. Hamos?