Page 137 of Stars in Nova

‘Always,’ he murmured, kissing her forehead as they floated in the subtle glow of the pool.

The Healing Pulse

The surface of Thalassa stretched out before them, a desolate expanse of scorched earth and ash.

The once-vibrant land bore the scars of war, its forests reduced to skeletal remains, its lakes mere depressions in the cracked terrain.

The air was heavy with the smoke of burned vegetation, mingled with the hollow silence of a landscape devoid of life.

The Rider stood at the edge of a jagged ridge, the Cephei hovering behind him.

Its sleek, dark form reflected the muted sunlight breaking through the ever-present haze, a beacon of hope in a world battered by destruction.

Beside him, Sax worked fast, setting up the kinetic emitter with his usual efficiency.

‘Never thought I’d be terra-forming planets,’ Sax muttered, his tone laced with dry humor. ‘This better freakin succeed, or you owe me a bottle of that fancy vintage of mine you keep hidden in the back of the drinks cabinet on the Cephei.’

Kisan smirked, his hands deftly calibrating his ship’s upgraded propulsion system. ‘If it doesn’t work, your beverage will be the least of our worries. It will come together, you’ll see. I’m injecting a potent dynamic charge into the process and speeding it up.’

The Cephei’s drive began to purr, its mighty engines gathering kinetic potential. The subtle vibrations intensified as the ship prepared to unleash the bio-energetic pulse.

A green glow emanated from the ship’s hull, pulsing rhythmically like a heartbeat.

‘Here we go,’ Kisan said, his voice firm as he keyed in the final command.

Energy bloomed from the ship, a burst of vibrant light, the charge rippling outward like a wave.

The radiance spread across the desolate terrain, its potency illuminating the ashen ground in an almost surreal brilliance.

The vitality seeped into the soil, merging with the dormant seeds and underground plants lying beneath the surface.

‘The second seeding pulse, please, Mirage,’ Kisan instructed.

High above him, the Cephei glided through Orilia’s atmosphere, its sleek, matte-black frame cutting over the dull orange skies.

Below, the landscape stretched like a patchwork of scars—a barren, cracked acridness with dried-out lakes and withered vegetation.

‘Ready?’ Mirage’s voice echoed through the cockpit. Her holographic form materialized in front of the monitor.

Kisan sent her a neural nod. ‘Do it.’

Mirage flicked a series of silver switches on the Cephei’s console.

A slender canister mounted on the wing popped open with a soft hiss, releasing a plume of fine white dust into the air.

The particles shimmered before disappearing into the updrafts of the warm wind.

The particles began their work, each an ordinary speck of salt coated with a nanoscale layer of titanium oxide.

They floated upward, carried by the heat rising from Orilia’s sun-scorched surface until they reached the moisture-laden clouds forming above.

Minutes stretched into hours as the Cephei circled above, releasing more fine dust at calculated intervals.

Kisan kept an eye on the display on the comm tab far below, his jaw tightening as Mirage narrated. ‘The compound attracts water molecules, causing small droplets to form. Those will collide and coalesce and merge til they’re heavy enough to fall. Rain is coming.’

Leaning against a rock, Sax raised a chin. ‘I’m all for miracles, brother. But heck, can this hurry up already?’

Kisan shot him a withering look. ‘Endurance isn’t your strong suit, is it?’

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