Harmony
23

The inside of the craft wasn’t quite what Pixie expected. It was sparsely furnished and largely unremarkable. She was expecting it to be glittering and bright, with evidence of highly advanced technology. It probably did possess advanced technology, but the interior wasn’t as eye-catching and awe-inspiring as she had hoped. Nonetheless, she knew she was about to be amazed, whatever happened in the next half hour or so, or however long it took.

In front of her were twenty seats, in a semi-circular formation, six in front and fourteen behind, facing away from her. At the far end was a cockpit-like area with two seats for the pilot and – Pixie assumed – the co-pilot or navigator. Visibility was excellent, with windows almost all the way around the craft. Lyri continue to guide them.

Please take a seat anywhere you like. You can drop your packs in front of your seats. Kjersti will sit with you, while Thylen and I are up the front. This should be an enjoyable journey for you. The only request I have is that you do not disturb Thylen or myself while the craft is in flight. Please talk with Kjersti once we are underway.

“I ask… it hard to fly, Lyri?” Le asked. She was sitting down next to Pixie.

Lyri responded. No, not really, Le. It simply requires a bit of training, and a total unbroken connection between your mind and the craft’s.

Was Pixie hearing that correctly? Their craft had a consciousness? Every few minutes or so, something else about these people and their world utterly astonished her. Maybe this latest revelation topped everything so far, if it meant what she thought it meant.

“Please say that again, Lyri? The craft has a mind?” Gimi’s questions were tinged with amazement.

Sort of, Gimi, replied Lyri. It’s complicated to explain in only a few words. It responds to conscious thought. That is the best way of putting it. It cannot fly without that connection. If any of you are interested in flying these in future, we will have the capacity to train you. It does take time and patience, and it is not for everyone. It is unlike anything you will have experienced before, if you have flown on Old Terra. I don’t recall, but I don’t believe any of you have been pilots before.

Lyri looked over at Rais. Pixie didn’t remember seeing him flying. He shook his head, confirming this. Despite Lyri’s warnings about the potential difficulty of learning to fly this craft, Pixie was beginning to dream of this very possibility. She thought this would be the most exciting thing she could do. She felt a small hand on her arm, clutching her wrist with some moderate amount of force. It was Le. Pixie turned around to look at her. Le’s eyes were wide, and her expression was one of eagerness and possibilities. Pixie nodded rapidly at Le, knowing that her enthusiasm for learning to fly was also showing on her face. An unspoken message passed between them. They would do this together in the future. They turned back to the others. It seemed to be only the two of them.

Okay, belts on, everyone. Thylen’s voice now. They are at the back of your seats on your left side. Pull them around your lap and clip them in on the opposite side. The ride will be smooth; this is only a precaution. I will hand you over to Kjersti, as we need to get ready for flight. Thylen and Lyri turned and walked towards the front two seats.

Pixie was almost going to ask him what the in-flight snacks were going to be. She refrained. Jokes could come later.

Any questions of me? Asked Kjersti. This flight will not take very long, by the way.

There was a pause. Pixie was still overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the last few hours.

Bia was the first to ask something. “Can we – are we able to I mean – travel to your planet. I think I asked this before, sorry.”

No that’s okay Bia. I remember saying it’s possible, but it wasn’t up to me. I cannot give you even a likelihood estimate of whether you can visit Erra or not. Know that your work here will keep you highly engaged, and you may replace the curiosity about our homeland eases over time. I will endeavour to replace out for you, but it could take a while. I won’t forget, though.

“Thanks Kjersti. If it’s like here, I’m interested.”

“Then there’s that whole other planet thing too. That’s kinda groovy as well,” remarked Rocsi.

“Can we visit our countries, where we came from?” inquired Arias.

You can if you wish, but I advise against visiting the exact towns in which you lived. There is a chance you might intersect with the energies of your former family and friends. Those sorts of interactions can be unfortunate, and quite painful for those on Old Terra. Not so much here. Besides, in this dimension your former residences will look different if they even exist at all. Some places that exist there have no parallel here.

“I’m pretty sure I don’t want to hurt my family. They would have been through enough.” Tau’s sentiment resonated with Pixie. She might like to see her baby brother, but they had said this wasn’t even possible without crossing dimensions. She didn’t want to hurt her parents either. They were such nice people, she remembered. No, she would stay here in this beautiful place.

“What about some of the other humans on New Earth? Can we visit them and make friends?” asked Arias.

Yes, you will be able to do that, Arias. In fact, we want you to. Kjersti spoke with more certainty. Visits will need to be coordinated, but it will benefit yourselves and them. We need to teach you how to speak in our way, so language barriers can be instantly overcome. That has to come first.

A sound at the end of the hangar stopped the questions as Kjersti was completing her last explanation. The hangar doors were opening, the sunlight streaming in as they did so.

The craft started vibrating slightly, and then it moved slowly towards the doors. This surprised Pixie: she had not heard the engines start up. Then she remembered they said their craft were silent. Were they cloaked as well, and how would she know?

“Are we invisible, Kjersti?” she asked.

Yes Pixie, see that green light above Lyri and Thylen? She pointed to the roof just above the cockpit. That means we’re cloaked.

They drifted out of the hangar, floating rather than flying. Pixie was enraptured by how it felt. Once outside, they had a panoramic view of the town. As they began gently rising off the ground, Pixie could see its entire layout. It clearly was incomplete, but as before she couldn’t see any workers, nor anyone else in town. She wondered at this and almost asked Kjersti about it. The ride so far was peaceful, yet exciting, and she dared not interrupt her enjoyment of it. The craft movement was so smooth, it hardly felt as if they were moving, but the changing view of the surrounds of Versena confirmed that they were. She could see the blue-aqua waters of the lake now, stretching off quite some way into the distance, surrounded by mostly treed mountains. She had seen all of this that very morning, but the events of the last few hours had made it seem like days ago. Her life had been entirely turned upside down.

They began to move faster, the scenery beginning to blur as they did so, through a different valley to the one they had walked into town on. Or maybe it was the same valley: Pixie wasn’t sure and the aerial view was a different perspective. They swept gracefully over the mountain they had climbed the previous day, and then there was their village, right in front of them. They landed right next to the community centre. It had taken all of about three minutes to make the journey. It was over too quickly. Pixie wanted to keep flying.

“That was so quick! And so easy!” Rocsi’s words were felt collectively. The door to the craft was opening, and the stairs were visible again.

You can unbuckle yourselves and use the stairs again. Kjersti was already standing and moving towards the steps. Pixie stood up, collecting her backpack from in front of her. She walked down the steps and stood on the grass. As she stepped out, she felt such gladness to see her home again. Now it was confirmed this was really her home, for good. It was a pleasant thought; one she expected to keep recurring over and over each day when she woke up or walked around in it. She felt blessed.

She turned around to look at the craft; it was visible. Lyri must have turned the cloaking off. Pixie was more than a little disappointed, hoping she could have stepped out of something that wasn’t there. The novelty would have been fun.

Okay, if we can head inside and talk in there, that would be great. Kjersti’s request had them moving into the community centre.

“So, now we know what these screens can do,” said Rivo. “I always think they do more than just put a message on them.”

They are quite capable. Lyri was walking in behind them.

“Thank you for flight, Lyri… and Thylen! We sit down, Kjersti?” asked Rais.

Actually no, Rais. We are going to have a chat about this screen here, and then we are going on a quick tour of this building.

“We’ve been calling it our community centre. What is it really called?” asked Gimi.

You can call it that if you want. In fact, that’s a nice name. We don’t have a name for this building. It is here for you to use as you wish.

“We love it. It brings us all together in so many ways,” Prina said. Pixie couldn’t agree more.

In Kjersti’s response was a measure of detachment; she didn’t care what they called it. She was almost handing it off to them.

Now, these screens. Lyri was speaking now. As you are aware, we have sent you messages on them, but they do so much more. We want to show you right now, how to use them. It’s quite simple, all it takes is the right mindset. Rais, why don’t you take a seat on the couch since you’re closest. Everyone else behind him please, out of his line of sight. Stay quiet, so he can concentrate.

Pixie moved behind the couch with the rest of the group. Rais sat down on the couch in front of them. The screen was dark.

Now, continued Lyri. I want you to focus on the screen. Pretend it is a good friend that you want to talk to. She paused for a moment. The room was completely silent.

Keep pretending. Be like a little child with it. Tell it in your mind that you want to play with it. Ask it in your mind if it will show you what it can do. Ask it nicely, but focus totally on it, as if it’s just you and the screen. Believe, absolutely, that it will respond to you. She fell silent.

They waited. It seemed like about thirty seconds of silence had passed. Pixie was starting to glance back at Lyri to see if she’d give Rais more help when the screen turned on. It was now blue, as when the messages had arrived. Rais had done it.

“Wow,” he said. Pixie looked down at him. He was simply staring at the screen in wonder.

Well done Rais. Now, it will only turn off if you ask it to. It has your mental signature, so it is much easier for you to control it. You can turn it off and back on by having a similar conversation with it. Please do so now. Lyri moved around to the couch to sit next to him.

The screen turned off. Then it turned back on almost right away.

Great. Volume control works the same way. The next thing is to change the content. What is something you would like to know about?

“Your planet, I want to see.” Rais had chosen something Pixie thought they’d all like to know. “No, sorry, I think whole place. All stars I mean. Okay, I focus.”

The screen had formerly been blue, and now it started showing a cartoon-like video of a series of stars, rotating gently around each other. The light from the stars was blue and purple, mixed in with patches of dark sky. This was a simulation but clearer and infinitely crisper in its picture quality compared to what she was used to seeing on television on Old Earth. It was mesmerising in its beauty. Pixie felt right away that she wanted to see the Pleiades in person, in the worst way, but Kjersti had said it was difficult to arrange, and they’d have to wait.

Some strange symbols were now appearing on the screen. You’ll need to ask it to put the text up in English. You can also use Arabic if you want. Thylen’s voice this time.

The words changed to English. “I put English up, so others can read. I maybe change later,” he said.

“This is amazing,” said Arias. “I cannot wait to replace out more and more about everything.”

There is so much to learn. You will have time. Kjersti was speaking now. Lyri has described how you will program this screen with each of your mental signatures, and you can do the same in your houses. One major caution, however. I want you to take what I’m about to say fully on board. You will pass this down to all future residents with absolute seriousness.

Kjersti paused. There was such gravity in her voice that they all turned to look at her. Rais’ Pleaides video was continuing in the background. Some quiet but enchanting music was playing. Kjersti turned towards it.

You can pause that, Rais. Just ask it to stop, mentally. The simulation paused.

It is important that you understand that technology serves a purpose and is not a replacement for being Terran. We can’t emphasise this enough. Too many civilisations have embraced technology too much and it has been their downfall. We have seen it time and time again. This is why we have put you in a natural environment and encouraged you to walk and commune with nature. It’s far more beneficial to your continued development than technology is. Technology should serve only, never dominate. Use it, be thankful for it, but leave it at that.

“Understood,” Tau was the first to respond. “I did not have a TV in my house anyway. I did not want one. I wanted to be with my family.”

That’s what you need to do here, Tau. Use it for learning, not recreation or to alleviate boredom. You will not be bored here, I assure you.

Lyri continued. These screen have information on just about everything you could want to know. We want you to learn about your galaxy, the Galactic Council, and all of the nearby races who are visiting Terra. We want you to learn about New Terra, other villages, and how this new dimension works. The life exits we talked about. You may also want to learn about other things too. Whatever takes your fancy. There are videos and articles, much like in your Old Terra magazines. You can even read classical Terra literature if you want. The screen will monitor your brain waves and tell you to take a break if you have been reading or viewing for too long.

“They are so great,” said Rivo, wonder in his voice.

Yes, they are. We like them. They serve us well and they will serve you well. Kjersti was ready to move on. You can turn the screen off for now, Rais. It’s time for a tour. The screen turned off.

Aha, yet another tour, but this time with the creators of their village. The real tour. Pixie gave the screen a farewell glance, keen to get back to it, establish her mental signature, and play around as soon as possible. Maybe she’d use the one in their house instead. It was more private.

This way, said Kjersti, leading them into the kitchen.

“The food machines!” exclaimed Rocsi. “Hopefully you can tell us how they work. We’ve all been so amazed at them. Well, I should say, we were. We kinda take them for granted a bit these days. They’re still beyond awesome though.”

We thought you’d like them. They simplify things a bit. We still like to prepare food from fresh ingredients, though, as often as possible.

“I was hoping you’d say that!” Tau’s effusive response was understandable and expected. It was a pleasant surprise to Pixie too. She enjoyed helping Tau cook.

Kjersti continued along the same lines. We enjoy cooking and preparing food. It’s relaxing to us and it can be a social activity too. When we eat what we’ve prepared, it’s rewarding as well.

“That’s how I see it too. Cooking is a creative thing for me. It’s what I love the most about it. I also replace it therapeutic.” Tau was quite pleased that the Pleiadians shared his views on food.

“Do you use these… machines, at all, Kjersti?” asked Suria.

These replicators? Yes, depending on what is happening that day. It’s convenient sometimes to not have to cook. I usually can’t be bothered in the mornings, so I get them to make breakfast for me.

“If I was not sure before now, that convinced me: you Pleiadians really are related to us humans,” joked Arias.

Kjersti laughed. Feeling not quite up to scratch in the morning is a very Pleiadian thing.

“How do they work, these… replicators? It puzzle us for long time.” Rais opened one of the doors as he asked this question, peering inside as they had all regularly done, trying to work out how these machines did what they did.

Lyri responded. Much like the craft. They have a signature of the food based on inputs from various individuals over many years. Kind of like a database. They then use a sub-quantum process to change the air inside the machine into the appropriate atomic structures of the food. In doing so, they can replicate pretty much any dish that is loaded into the database.

“Sub-quantum? What is that?” Pixie asked. It sounded so foreign.

Something else for you to learn. Lyri grinned at her. Pixie could accept that. There was so much she was going to have to study, and study again. She wondered about her love of mathematics in her past life – would it lead to some sort of technical role in this new society? She genuinely liked everything that Lyri did and felt a kinship with her. Lyri was perhaps some sort of engineer, and this career definitely appealed to Pixie. Perhaps this was why she was drawn to Lyri, the way she might to an older sister, if she had one.

“I have another question I hope you can answer now though?” Suria asked.

Yes Suria? replied Kjersti.

“It seems, just seems, that these machines ‘enjoy’ helping us. When they’ve made us food, and we are appreciative, I get a sense they are happy they could provide for us. I know I’m not imagining this, because several of us have remarked on it.”

No, this is a real thing. It’s related to the sub-quantum nature of these machines that Lyri mentioned. They do have a form of consciousness. All machines do, even on Old Terra. Here it is easier to detect.

“All the other machines here, like the composters, the clothes machines and so on, they work on the same principle?” asked Gimi.

Yes, pretty much. They are all designed to leave you with as much free time and free will as possible. The cleaning droids can do more than they’ve been programmed to do for you. Over time you can work with them and get them to do other things. They are quite capable. They can even make clothes if you want them to.

“So cool! Prina make scarf or us. Maybe she like to have help?” Le regarded at Prina as she spoke. Prina responded with a shake of her head and a mock stern look back at Le, who giggled in responses.

Le continued. “I ask about clothes? We all like what clothes we wear and we know they not like on Old Earth. Where do clothes come from?”

We brought them with us, answered Thylen. They are much more comfortable to wear than what you’re used to. We might have dressed you in our one-piece suits, but that would have raised your suspicions too early in those critical first few days, when you required a certain self-sufficiency in your mind state. You can choose either type of clothing, and we can bring some of our suits here for you when you’re ready. Just let us know.

“You’re so good to us,” said Prina. Her voice was soft and a bit dreamy. “I don’t know how we can ever repay you.”

No need. We love it when we can help. That’s all the repayment we need. Thylen really meant it. Pixie liked this the most about these people. They never expected or wanted anything back in return. They only appeared to hope that Pixie and her friends would understand the importance of what they had to do in the coming months and years.

“Can you tell us more about the houses? How they are built and how they are powered?” Tau asked.

To answer that, please follow me. Kjersti walked out of the back door and onto the veranda. They were moving into the central grassed area of the village. Kjersti pointed at, coincidentally, house number three: her and Suria’s house.

Kjersti waited until they’d all reached the front of the house and then continued talking. The construction was done by specialised droids that our people brought with us. Hence the precision. You have not seen these droids. They are quite a bit bigger than your cleaning ones. The roof is the key to the house construction, as it provides power and insulation. Don’t worry too much about how it works. I don’t understand it all, and neither does Thylen or Lyri. This surprised Pixie a bit. She thought Lyri might know, but apparently not.

We don’t need to know. The construction technique has been perfected millennia ago, added Lyri. We have sourced the majority of the materials here on Terra, and we brought the crystals with us from Erra. The weather here in Switzerland on New Terra is much the same as the old one. It will be getting colder soon. Your houses have internal temperature management, which keeps them at a comfortable level for you, which I’m sure you’re aware of already. However, you will need small heating units for comfort in the coldest parts of the year. We will bring those from Versena in the coming weeks.

“Thanks so much. That will be much appreciated,” said Rocsi. “I remember now how freakin’ cold Michigan was in winter. This place would be much the same, I would think. I was wondering how we’d deal with that here. I have another thing I can’t figure out. We haven’t seen a single road here. I was expecting to see a road coming out of Versena, like on the map, but instead it was just a valley when we flew back out that way.”

That’s the transit lane for our craft. We try to only fly in certain areas. It disturbs the wildlife otherwise, answered Lyri.

“You are silent, so how are the animals affected?” asked Rivo.

The craft create energetic disturbances. The wildlife can pick up on subtle energy changes caused by the craft.

“Ah. I get it,” he continued. “No roads at all?”

No, replied Kjersti. All of our transport is by air. We have craft of different sizes for different purposes. Versena only has limited craft because of its size.

“Are there any shops or pubs or nightlife around? I must admit, I don’t really care, I’m just curious,” Rocsi asked. “Everything feels different here. I don’t want to acquire anything because it’s old thinking, as I’m realising, and I don’t crave alcohol at all, like I used to back in Michigan.”

Thylen responded. That’s a major difference between your life here and the one you left behind on Old Terra. What you are referring to are things that mostly depend on money, which doesn’t exist here and is not needed. You would not feel a craving for alcohol or any other drug because you are already in a calmer and superior state of mind than anything any psychoactive drug could achieve on Terra.

“That’s so great,” remarked Suria. “I’m wondering if a psychologist is redundant here. No mentally ill people to treat.”

Thylen was quick to reply. Quite the contrary, Suria, with respect to your use of the word redundant. Psychology is a whole new frontier here. There is much for you to learn and study. I will be working with you to bring you up to speed. Both you and Gimi, that is. If anyone else is interested, you are more than welcome.

“I can’t wait. I was so hoping you’d say something like that, Thylen.” Gimi’s tone was quite keen. “Will we study in Versena, or back here?”

In Versena. We’ll be collecting you all from time to time for various reasons. You need to have a medical check-up, for starters. We need to baseline you.

“What do you call this village, by the way? We don’t have a name for it”, asked Bia.

It was always up to you to name it, replied Kjersti. Choose a good name and let us know what it is. We’ll put it on our maps.

“We do that, definite, maybe after,” replied Rais. It sounded to Pixie like he was thinking of some sort of ceremony.

We need to be heading back, and we will leave you to it. You can contact us through the screens. Just ask the screen for the messaging function and ask to speak to us by name. Later on, when you learn mind-speak, that will be more or less redundant.

“Oh please not go yet!” said Le. “We love have you around.”

“Amen to that. I’ll be sad to see you go,” concurred Rocsi.

“We have the waves of peace if needed. We need to learn to be self-sufficient,” replied Gimi.

Waves of peace? Kjersti sounded puzzled.

Pixie was responsible for the name, so she explained what Gimi was referring to. “It’s those nice feelings you send us whenever we feel down or anxious. Thank you for sending them to us. Especially in those early days when things were harder.”

Kjersti furrowed her brow slightly, a thoughtful expression on her face. I think I know what you’re referring to. You had some difficult moments, and then they went away? Your emotions were a bit dark and then they were calm and peaceful again. Am I right?

“Yes!” Suria replied. “That’s it. How did you – I mean – how does that work? How do you know when we are feeling down?”

Kjersti gave Suria a knowing look, then a slightly mischievous grin that Pixie adored. Ah, you see, no-one sent anything. It is a product of this dimension.

Pixie was puzzled. Rais asked the question, though, quite fervently. “So you did not send? No-one sent? How does this work?”

Thylen explained. In this higher dimension, negative thoughts and emotions cannot exist for very long. They are out of balance with the overall energy, so they get realigned once they build past a certain point. This is somewhat like waves on a beach, sucking water in and then washing back over you. So, your choice of the word “wave” is apt.

“Ooh… that’s nice.” Rocsi spoke slowly, with reverence. “So any time we feel bad, it gets washed out of there because it doesn’t belong?”

Precisely. You will replace over time that you will feel less and less negative emotions as you become accustomed to life here.

Pixie was astounded. Whatever happened to them, no matter how bad it might be emotionally, it was only temporary and couldn’t exist here. The whole concept made her feel quite dreamy at the world she’d found herself in.

Kjersti spoke next. If there are no more questions, we really must be getting back.

“Thank you so much for everything. What is next for us?” asked Prina.

Kjersti responded. You need to gradually take on more of New Terra. It will take time. We have not nearly transitioned you yet. You will learn more and more over the next few months and years, to the point where you feel like you totally belong here. At the moment, it’s all a bit foreign. For now, just continue to settle in. Enjoy your village. We will be back with you before you know it. You already have most of the answers inside you. You have an internal compass that you can reach for and use to make decisions in future. Trust it. Go with it. Look inside to replace out what’s truly important. Even if it doesn’t make sense logically; trust your intuition, that little voice that speaks to you. It’s there and just needs to be nurtured to its full usefulness.

With that, they bid Pixie and the rest of the villagers farewell and walked out to their craft. The twelve of them followed them out and waved goodbye as the steps retracted. Then, the craft disappeared, right in front of them. This was obviously the cloaking that had been turned on. It actually made things easier, Pixie thought. They didn’t have to watch the craft disappearing into the distance and feel sad that their new friends were leaving.

“What a day. What a god-damn day that was,” Rocsi remarked.

“I want a coffee.” Tau had only previously drank tea.

“Really, Tau? You’re kidding me, right?” Rocsi was incredulous.

“Kjersti said go with our intuition. I’ve never had a coffee in my life. I’ve been pig-headed and stubbornly refusing to. I’m going with that inner voice now,” he replied.

“I’ll make you one!” said Suria. “Follow me.”

“Let’s all get drinks. Like our first night. I will bring to you.” Arias was keen to reprise his waiter role. Pixie thought it was cute.

“Coffee for me too, Arias. I share with Tau. Thank you. When we back together, I want us to name village.” Rais was right: it was time to do that.

They returned to the couches with their drinks, before mutually deciding to head out onto the patio area out the front of the community centre. It had been sunny for the most part, but some clouds had rolled in from up the mountain, in the same direction where Pixie had woken up all of those weeks ago, in what seemed like another lifetime.

Pixie had some of her coffee and regarded her eleven companions. It was hard to know what to think or say. They were all out of words for the moment. It had been a long and confronting day. Dinner was probably going to be from the machines tonight. It was simply one of those days.

Pixie happened to glance at Tau. He was sipping his coffee slowly. He didn’t seem totally put out, and in fact, looked like he might even be enjoying it. He was trying to hide it though.

“Oh come on Tau, you love it and you know it!” teased Rocsi.

“Yeah, it’s okay,” he said. “It’s not too bad.”

Rais spoke again, sensing the moment. “I affirm my commitment to you all, and to operation. I want us to start learning soon. We know what we do next that way.”

“It is hard to know what to do. They did not give us too much information,” remarked Rivo. A momentary pause and then he spoke again. “I will do as she said and try to ask myself internally how I can help. What I can do. We need to take the lead here.”

“Yes we do, and I also affirm my commitment to all of you. Whatever it takes to help this operation succeed, I will do. I suggest we all say this out loud, in turn, to the rest of the group. It makes it more concrete and definite,” said Suria.

So they all did this. Pixie felt stronger in herself after she said her piece.

“So what’s next?” asked Prina.

“You and Rivo having children, maybe?” remarked Gimi.

“Oooh, Gimi! That’s too much! How about giving them some space, man?” Bia stared at him, her shocked voice tinged with a little bit of humour, as if she suspected that Gimi was actually teasing, which he probably was.

“We already discuss it,” said Rivo.

“Oh really? You… what? You’re that far advanced in your relationship already?” Rocsi was shocked for real, with no humour in her voice whatsoever.

“Oh no! Not in that way,” said Prina, laughing. “We talked about all of us some day having children here in the village. Some of us will want to at some stage, won’t we?”

Pixie wasn’t sure. Suria surprised her. “I would, now that I think about it. I will be sure to be nice and loving to my kids when I do. Yeah… I can see it. Someday.”

Suria’s words harked back to her own past life and the parental trauma which she appeared determined to put right. They also reminded Pixie of the love and support she had received from her own parents. She wanted to give love and experience parenthood someday too. It was nice to think of growing the village. They would need more houses, though. Tau responded to Suria with almost the same words.

“We’ll need more houses in that case, won’t we? Our new friends will need to bring those droids up from Versena. That’ll be something to see,” he said. He sipped more of his coffee. The group were silent for a moment. The sun came out from behind the clouds.

“Now,” said Rais. “Any suggest for name of our home?”

They all thought for a moment, but it was Prina who spoke first. Once she suggested her name it was immediately obvious to all of them that they had found the perfect name for their village. No further suggestions were required or asked for. Rocsi and Neca agreed to work together to create a name plaque, to put up on the wall outside the front door of the community centre. Within a day, they had it done. The next time the Pleiadians came to visit, two days later, they were pleased to see the name up on the wall.

Pixie was outside that day to greet their arrival. She loved the name of their village. It was so appropriate for how they felt in this place and in this new version of Earth. Most importantly, it was a word that reflected what they felt amongst each other. She turned around as the Pleiadian craft was arriving and read the letters again:

“HARMONY”.

THE END