Harmony enjoyed her life as a courier for the Alliance, but it all came to a halt when she was sucked into a storm of light and gas that her computer could not see. Agony is her final thought, but when she wakes again, she finds that her body has been recreated because the original…the less said the better.
Nero has been working as a restorer for three hundred years on a world where the only new members of the population fall from the sky. He sees spirit in Harmony, and when she declares that she only wants him for his body, he is smitten.
They face the stars that brought them together and work in their different ways to bring their community into harmony with a world as trapped as they are.
More From Terran Times Tales
Harmony Winx eyed the storm approaching and checked the navigation systems. She could see it, but on her systems, there was nothing in front of her.
“Computer, identify incoming anomaly.”
The pleasant computer voice said, “Courier Winx, nothing is visible.”
“There has to be. There is an incoming storm that I can’t get around, I need an alternate course.”
“There is nothing visible on my systems, Courier. I suggest that you make an appointment to see a physician when you arrive at the next station.”
“I probably will, Computer.”
It was no use. With no way to get around it, no way to get under it, the gas cloud whirled and swirled as she approached. Lightning sparked and arced as her courier ship cruised forward. Pink and lavender vapour spirals twisted out and around in a wave thousands of kilometers across.
Harmony held back until it was obvious that there was no possible way of making it through the system and out the other side without touching that cloud.
“What the hell.” She took a deep breath and hit the throttle, flying directly into the cloud that wasn’t there.
She flew in with amazement and wonder racing along every nerve as she was surrounded by the figment of her imagination.
The first lightning strike killed her nav computer and the second turned off all the lights. She assumed there was a third, but all she remembered was fire.
* * * *
“We found her floating dead, sir.” The Catcher was apologetic.
Nero didn’t need his apologies; he just needed to get into the ship to find the biological matter that was showing up on his scanners. “When can I get inside?”
“The final decontamination protocols are nearly complete, Doctor. The Retrievers will have her soon.”
Nero fought the urge to pace. It would not help his patient. The body was already cold. He had to wait out the protocols just like anyone else.
Ninety minutes later, he was at the side of the ship and watching the extraction crew as they removed the body. “The chamber is waiting.”
They nodded and carried the figure of the woman to the restoration chamber. He only needed a little DNA, so he hoped that the blast that killed her had not ruptured the information he needed.
Once she was positioned on the exam bed, he took a long look at her. Her limbs were long and graceful, her features pure and her hair was long and dark. He had the ability to see what she should be through the burn and ash, what she was and what she was going to be once he brought her back in a new body with the memories he could scrounge from the old.
