Mira stepped through the narrow opening in the cliff wall that brought her out onto the large flat rock next to the pond. The Sun had risen in the eastern sky for the third time since the incident and Mira was sure the humans had left. Nevertheless, her mind was open searching for any indication that Fayala might still be near. She sensed nothing and was both saddened at not seeing her little sister one last time but glad that she had led her people far away from this place.

     Mira slowly walked around the pond and up the path that she had seen so many humans tread down when she made her first appearance. At the top of the rise she glanced uneasily at the poles that once held the bodies of the burned villagers sacrificed for a false belief.  She looked away and sighed, her greatest regret was that she deceived these simple beings into believing that she was their Earth Goddess.

She walked down the path to the abandoned village stepping carefully along the main street. Unsure as to why but felt it necessary to be mindful of where to tread so as to not damage any of the human structures.   The buildings were made of wood, sturdily constructed, humble in appearance and lined neatly along the single main street which ran due west.  She noted the differences, unique modifications that seemed to denote a specific purpose for a structure. It some cases the variances seemed to be of an artistic nature,  something Miorpeans' would see as a frivolous distraction.

Most of the dwellings came up to her knee in height and a few even had a second floor built on to them in which Mira could bend down and peer into through an open window. She picked up a tiny wooden bucket, a chair and a small wagon that were left behind. She cataloged each item in her mind even though she knew it would never be uploaded to the central memory core nor accessed by any of her people.

She reached the end the village, the road continued on to the west before disappearing into a heavily wooded valley that stretched far off into the distance to a rise of hills and tall mountains.  She stood for a few moments searching the vast woodland for any sign of the humans, again there was nothing. Mira turned and solemnly walked back up the road through the silent streets and vacant buildings.

In front of a small house, on a stoop, she spotted something very small yet familiar.   She carefully picked it up in her fingertips and placed it on her palm. It appeared to be a human figure made of fabric and stuffed with a  fluffy fibrous material. A child's toy, she smiled remembering the young human girl she once held in her hand, perhaps this item belonged to her she supposed. Mira closed her hand on the tiny doll and slowly made her way back through the town, up the rise and down the path to the pond. 

Mira sat cross legged at the very same spot where she discovered the human boy Deyan swimming in the pond. She thought back on the events that had brought her to this time and place. While she was apprehensive about her life coming to an end she was comforted in that it had served a purpose and had meaning. After all is that not what a Goddess should do, sacrifice for her people, or was it the other way around, that part confused her.

Her inward reflection was interrupted by the sound of footsteps slowly approaching the arroyo.

Bienn stepped into view, "I thought I would find you here," he said in greeting.

     "I am sorry to have committed you and the others to this fate," she responded, "It was the only way to ensure the humans survived."

"Yes I understand," replied Bienn settling down to join Mira in meditation.

After a few moments of contemplation Bienn looked up at the sky and sighed, "the terraform module should begin its work soon." "I take it was you who disabled the drive and communications system on the shuttle." He spoke to Mira without looking at her.

"Yes," she replied, "I had to make sure no Miorpean would ever know of the humans' existence."

"There are the archives in the central registry," Bienn responded. "All the data on the experiment and what we did is stored there, someone will –"

"I deleted everything on the experiment from the central registry," interrupted Mira.

Bien looked at Mira, shocked that such a violation of trust could be committed by a Miorpean.

     Mira sensed his dismay, "before I disabled the shuttle I accessed the registry and removed any references to the humans' existence.  They are my children Bien, it was my responsibility to protect them, no matter the cost."

     Bienn resumed his stoic bearing. "You seem to have acquired some less than desirable attributes from your humans," he whispered. 

Mira opened her hand and peered down at the tiny doll in her palm, "yes, yes I have."

There was a tremendous explosion of light from far above that expanded rapidly downward. A rush of noise followed and for a moment Mira felt the searing heat.

Fayala had been listening,  she reached out to Mira with her mind,  they became one in thought and consciousness. Fayala removed the pain and in her last moments of life Mira felt only her love. "Farewell Sister."

Time and distance place no restrictions on the open mind.

Thank you to those who read my story through to the end.  I have made many edits to the story, structurally and grammatically and I will continue to review and add to this story , something I enjoy doing.

Thanks again

Bob