Helix by Viola Grace Page B

to hear from us? It was not pleased to be forced to join us in the first place.
    You were not pleased to be joined to me, light one. I cannot blame the planet for not wanting to be baked in our glow. It can’t even rotate with our gravitational soup holding it in place.
    I think it is still awake. After all, there is a gravitational pull that holds the fallen in place and the ship and the food service are inexplicable to all of the living down there. They think it is our influence, but it isn’t. Nor is the ability to capture souls. That is a definite sign that the planet is awake. We just need to tease it into conversation, dark one.
    That is a tricky proposition. Another Avatar would be alone on the world. How would we even know what the planet wants?
    Harmony was holding Nero’s hand over one of the great rivers that glowed constantly. A wave of energy burst up, and they were swamped in a column of water.
    Harmony thought back to her star. You could simply ask it. Send a message through rock and wait for a response. Planets can be sluggish.
    Thank you, Harmony. Do you think I need a name?
    It would make things easier. My people categorize everything.
    What would you suggest?
    Harah?
    Harah. I like that. It is the same forward and backward. It appeals to me.
    I am glad, Harah. If you wish to change it, just keep me posted.
    There was silence for a moment, and Nero blinked and nodded. “His name is Nirin. The same forward and backward. Somehow, that makes a difference.”
    Harmony laughed and soared upward into the perpetual daylight.
     
    Since flight was now an option, she remained at the restoration centre and waited around in her uniform all day. She helped Nero with filing and viability testing for ancient samples of tissue and waited for a ship to fall.
    The moment that she got the call, she flew to the hangar. Rhennal got into the ship, and she preceded him to the falling craft.
    Harah had briefed her on what to do, and she had to do it, no matter how painful the experience. Viable DNA was the goal, so she had to stop the burn and end the suffering of the fallen.
    She flew up to the ship and used Harah’s senses to feel the occupants of the ship and the level of destruction that had ensued. With sharp blasts of energy, Harmony killed the two survivors who still clung to life and immediately pulled all of the star’s power away from the bodies. They stopped burning instantly.
    Rhennal caught the ship and transported it down to the retrievers. Harmony flew off to a hilltop and wailed like an infant.
    What is the matter? You have created two viable samples.
    They are not samples, Harah! They had lives, hopes, dreams, perhaps loved ones and I snuffed them out.
    They would have been dead within minutes and far more damaged. This was the kinder option, Harmony.
    It doesn’t make me feel better. I am destined to kill now. Over and over, every time a ship comes through with a crew thrashing in agony at being torn apart by gravity and radiation, I have to kill the survivors. I know why. I can feel why. It still hurts my soul, Harah.
    I feel it, Harmony. Remain here as long as you wish. I will be here if you wish to talk.
    Harmony wrapped her arms around her knees and looked out at the city. It was silent. The people in it were moving about their daily tasks and trying to get on to the next day, but the next day was just like the day before.
    Waking the planet would give them day and night. It would make time mean something again even if the population did not age. She leaned back and sighed. It was something that the stars would handle; it was not up to her.
    A stone tripped along the ground next to her and a figure stood there. “Why isn’t it up to you?”
    Harmony jolted. It was not Nero; it was a woman with delicate lavender skin and huge gossamer wings.
    “Waking the world is beyond me. I am just here to kill again and again.”
    The woman with wings sat next to her with a soft smile. “That is over simplifying,