The Harmony Divide- Never Alone

by Dominick Gerard

  Natalie wanted to run back down the hall and finish off those soldiers, but she forced herself to get moving. She started running at full speed and kept her eyes forward. I won’t let her die in vain.

  She was still in shock at what just happened. First, the strange encounter with the Senior Centurion on the ship and now a soldier of the Empire apparently rebelling against it. It was completely unheard of. When she was a soldier in the Legion there was nothing but doing what you were told. She didn’t understand how this was even possible with what Jenn said about the nanites. How had those soldiers even been capable of individual thought? How did that woman know who I was? Why did she help me? Natalie toyed with the ideas as she ran but came up empty. She’d just have to wait for answers.

  She kept a quick pace, the MedKit masking her pain. She had no clue how long it would last, but when it expired she was as good as dead unless Jenn was present. Natalie’s shoulder was her only outstanding issue. She needed to pop it back into place or she’d be much less effective in a fight.

  The upcoming corner was the perfect spot to do it. She slowed down, stopping as she approached the turn. Faint running footsteps sounded behind her. She sighed. Better be quick.

  She tried to relax her muscles around the shoulder while rotating her arm in a certain angle so should could apply a little pressure so the bone would reset in the socket. It took multiple tries because she had trouble keeping her muscles relaxed enough for the method to work. After a couple pain filled minutes she finally felt the bone slide into place. The shoulder immediately felt better and Natalie gingerly worked her arm to make sure she had regained proper movement.

  Satisfied, she set off again immediately, weaving through the maze of hallways that would bring her closer to the vault. She passed the kitchen area she tried to hide in earlier and her stomach rumbled. I’d eat that Hummus sandwich now, Christine. Thinking of the woman made Natalie tense up. Her stomach soured, turning her hunger to shame, and she offered up a silent apology. I took everything from you. Even your name. I’m sorry.

  Natalie shook off the remorse that threatened to overtake her and tried to formulate a plan as she neared the vault room. There was no use trying to sneak in at this point. She would have to deal with whatever, or whoever, was in there before her attackers caught up from behind. She couldn’t take them all on at once, so efficiency would be key. Throw the Shock Disc to disorient soldiers and disable weapons, take them out as quickly as possible before they recover, then I’ll…

  Her planning came to an abrupt halt. The vault door. How would she open it? She never discovered the code. Jenn said I knew it, but I just can’t remember!

  She cursed, clenching her fists in frustration. This was yet another thing she couldn’t deal with right now. There was no choice but to push on and figure it out later. Her time was running out and so was Jenn’s.

  Natalie

  Natalie picked up her pace as the vault room opened up in front of her, skidding to a stop when she entered. The Centurion stood calmly awaiting her arrival. He must have doubled back the other way and assumed she was headed here. He looked her way and simply waited. With clenched fists, she slowly approached him.

  They were alone for a few moments until the two soldiers that were chasing her burst into the room. They came to a stop and looked for instructions from their commander. Agonizing seconds passed as everyone stood stock still. Natalie’s heart pounded as she shifted her weight from foot to foot, ready to pounce at the first sign of combat. Her eyes darted to the vault door then back to the Centurion. She flipped the knife around in her right hand and crouched down a little lower, eager to begin.

  She heard more footsteps coming from the direction of the shield wall. Another Centurion came into the room with four more soldiers behind her. They walked a few feet into the room and stopped, sizing Natalie up. Natalie let out a barely audible groan.

  The original Centurion nodded and all the soldiers in the room walked out, leaving Natalie alone with the two commanders. The newly arrived female Centurion positioned herself right behind Natalie, the other Centurion remained in front. Natalie turned so she could see both of them from her peripheral vision. She tucked the Shock Disc back in her pocket and readied her other knife. The Disc would be useless against them. Either would be able to dodge it easily. She turned, eyed the still secure vault door, then smirked at each Centurion in turn. “Let’s get this over with. I’ve got a date.”

  Natalie launched herself in the direction of the first Centurion, the male. He killed the woman who’d helped her in the hall, so he would be the first to die. He pulled out his sword and squared up, blade raised. Natalie was on him in four steps. He anticipated her close attack, and made to side-step her strike, but at the last second, she kicked her feet out, hooking her legs around his and jerking him to the ground as he sliced at the empty air where her head had just been. His helmet made a loud crack as it hit the floor. Natalie stabbed the man several times in the thigh, hoping desperately to hit an artery, before releasing him and rolling away. She narrowly avoided the female Centurion’s blade.

  Landing on her feet in fighting stance, she readied her blades again. The female Centurion was charging her, blade to the side, ready to strike. Natalie held her ground and waited, her body tense. The Centurion swung wildly at her, but Natalie stepped calmly back, dodging the blade. The Centurion swung again and again, but Natalie serenely avoided the sword as if performing a choreographed dance.

  The wounded Centurion was getting to his feet unsteadily. Blood poured from his leg, making the floor slippery. He reached into his supply pouch, pulled out a MedKit, and stabbed it into his wound. Natalie cursed. This one was just buying time so he could use the MedKit!

  Natalie began to deflect the incoming swings to create enough space for her to quickly jab the centurion in her shoulder and land a small cut near her sword hand. Neither phased the soldier. On the Centurion’s next swing, Natalie ducked, sweeping her attacker’s legs out as she dropped, causing the woman to fall backward. As she fell, the Centurion’s blade sliced Natalie from just below her neck down to her abdomen. The cut wasn’t deep enough to hit any organs, but it made Natalie fall back on the defensive, nonetheless.

  Streams of warm blood trickled down the front of her body. The pain was sharp, but manageable. She didn’t hesitate for long, but it was enough for the two Centurions to get completely up on their feet and ready to fight again. They moved to stand side-by-side and marched toward Natalie. She was getting too weak. The adrenaline still flowed which gave her a precious few seconds of energy, but she knew right away that this fight would have to end quickly. The blood loss and fatigue from her ordeal was too much for an extended fight, even with the MedKit. She wiped the sweat from her brow and readied herself.

  Well, it’s all or nothing now. Either she was going to win, lose, or the MedKit would wear out before she could do either. Summoning her remaining strength, Natalie pulled the Shock Disc from her pocket and threw it, darting forward. The male Centurion swung his sword in an arc, smacking the Disc away from them.

  In a few steps, she was upon them. She jabbed at the man on the right, but he sidestepped, and she missed. The woman sliced at her and she used one of her knives to redirect the blade away. She spun, her blades like lethal wings extended from her body, and sliced the woman across her stomach just as the man drew a shallow cut across Natalie’s back. The woman staggered back while the other Centurion closed in to finish Natalie off. He brought his sword up in a great arc, ready for the killing blow.

  Natalie split her legs and dropped to the floor as he thrust his blade forward through the space where her heart had been. The sword pierced the female Centurion straight through the chest.

  Natalie thrust her arms up and stabbed the man in the chest, dead in the heart. The three stayed motionless for a time, frozen in a bloody triangle. His blade went deep, sticking out of the female Centurion’s back. She slumped over on the sword, dead. The remaining Centurion lo
oked down at Natalie’s blade in his chest, then twisted his body unexpectedly, pulling Natalie off balance.

  Blood sprayed as the Centurion pulled his blade free from his companion and slammed it into Natalie’s back then, he too, fell limp. The blade tore through her body, out the right side of her chest and into the floor as she tried to roll away, pinning her in place. Natalie’s body spasmed in shock. She tried to claw at her back to remove the blade, but it was no use. The pain was worse than anything she had ever felt. She coughed and blood painted the floor in front of her. Seconds passed as she laid motionless and stared at the vault door, the side of her face pressed to the cold and blood-soaked floor. Emotions flooded her, but her mind was clear. She noted coolly that the only reason she was still breathing at all was because of the persistent effects of the powerful MedKit. Even it, however, couldn’t stem the tide of all these injuries for long. Was it better this way? I deserve this. No… Jenn. Leah. I have to do something. Anything. I don’t quit. I don’t scream.

  Natalie pulled her arms under her and tried to push herself up, but only managed to lift herself a couple inches before she fell flat again. Pain shot through her like fire. The vault door mocked her so she turned her head in disgust. Tears fell hot and fast down her cheeks as she imagined Jenn alone on the other side. She had failed. I’m sorry, Jenn. I made it this far and I still don’t know how to get in even if I could.

  She looked across the room and admired the beautiful white wall. It was simple. Easy. She wished her life was like that. At the bottom of the wall near the floor was some writing scribbled in red ink. It took a moment for the long series of numbers to register as familiar to Natalie. It was her serial number as a soldier.

  “8342-2334-9844-3429,” she read quietly. The vault code.

  Natalie tried to laugh, but all that came out was a wet and bloody cough. She smiled regardless. She reached behind her and clenched a hand tightly around the exposed blade. The sharp edge dug into her skin, cutting her deeply as she squeezed. With all her might she pushed herself up with her other arm and legs. The tip of the blade popped free from the floor sending her off balance. She fell over on her side with the blade still impaling her. No time. The MedKit won’t last.

  She reached a blood-soaked hand in front of her and pulled. She kicked her legs and crawled toward the vault door. The scrape of the blade on the floor made her smile again. She was moving.

  She inched closer and closer to the control panel next to the vault door. She felt the warm wetness of her blood smear the floor as she crawled. Her breath came in short and ragged gulps. She crawled. Every inch of movement meant new waves of intolerable pain. She extended a hand and felt it hit the wall under the control panel. She peered up and croaked another laugh. It’s so high.

  She reached up to one of the locking bars in front of the vault door and pulled herself to her knees. Her body was pressed against the wall for support. Unable to lift her head again she took a shallow breath and held her hand up long enough to type the code. Her fingers smeared blood on the panel as it slid down the wall to rest at her side.

  The locks on the door began to shift and pull away. The door lurched open and easily pushed Natalie out of its path. She laid face down again. It’s so cold.

  Jenn’s body sat in the same position it had been in when Natalie last saw it, her hand still pressed to the reactor, her body glowing a soft orange. Natalie had never seen anything more beautiful.

  She crawled. The blade scraped the floor. Pain. The image of Jenn holding baby Leah flashed into her mind and she kicked her legs, crawling harder. She heard Charles’ warm laugh and pulled again.

  At least I won’t die alone.

  She crawled. The blade scraped the floor. Pain. Her hand wrapped around Jenn’s ankle.

  Everything went black.

  Jenn

  Jenn woke up screaming. She grabbed at the wounds she felt all over her body. The pain was excruciating. She didn’t…

  The pain suddenly stopped and Jenn realized what was happening. She was back in her own body. Natalie had done it. Jenn grabbed the real wound near her stomach and winced. Even though she had patched it as best she could with her powers it was still painful and sore.

  Jenn blinked. Natalie lay motionless in front of her, face down, with one hand wrapped around Jenn’s ankle. Natalie was a bloody, burnt mess. Jenn scrambled up and knelt over her, heart sinking.

  There were some serious wounds, the worst of which consisted of an actual sword sticking up out of Natalie’s back. What on Earth? Jenn marveled at the sheer will power it must have taken her friend to make it here. Natalie’s memories from the fighting became clear in Jenn’s mind as she looked at each wound and recalled how she had gotten it. The sword in the chest will be problematic, she thought. Goodness, dear, I need you to live.

  She checked for a pulse and, to her astonishment, felt one. Her lungs must be full of blood. Her heart will stop any second. Jenn had to do something. She grabbed her head, thinking hard. She couldn’t heal her, but at the very least she could keep her alive by infusing energy into her body. Even if her heart stopped and she couldn’t breathe, Jenn could provide the cells in her body the energy they needed to stay alive.

  Jenn gritted her teeth, frustrated that she hadn’t discovered a way to heal people. She couldn’t even fix a hang nail. The human anatomy was just too hopelessly complex. Jenn thought, after years of practice, she may be able to generate or repair cells if she were able to convert energy into matter, but she hadn’t figured it out yet. Einstein reasoned that matter was energy and energy was matter, but no scientist had figured out how to create more than a couple fundamental particles from energy. Jenn was no different.

  Plasma, on the other hand, was simple. She could ionize a cloud of gas and heat it up fairly easily. That’s how she patched her own wound. It wouldn’t heal anything exactly, but she did it in a way that would bind the broken flesh together and not allow anything in or out.

  Jenn took a deep breath and began to manipulate her own magnetic field, passing part of it through Natalie’s body so she could feel everything going on inside her. She didn’t really know how she did it. She just thought it and it happened. Her mind interpreted the interruptions in her own magnetic field into something she could see and feel in her mind, like a 3-D image of sorts.

  Focusing hard on the wound in Natalie’s chest, Jenn could picture the entire thing perfectly in her mind. She saw the clean cut all the way through Natalie’s body from the blade, the steel going from her back, between her ribs, and just barely poking out the front of her chest. The question was, could she remove the sword and mend the wound fast enough for Natalie to survive? She looked around at the trail of blood behind her friend and the pool she now lay in, biting her lip. Well, no other option but to try. Sorry, Nat.

  Jenn gripped the sword handle with both hands, bracing herself, and gave a mighty tug. She quickly knitted the skin on Natalie’s chest and back together, so she wouldn’t die from blood loss. By the looks of the trail behind her and the pool growing ever larger under her, there wasn’t much blood left in her system. Jenn tried to mend Natalie’s damaged internal body parts back together by manipulating the gravity around them and increasing cell activity to promote healing. After several minutes, she was having no luck. Fearful of doing more harm than good, Jenn focused on clearing Natalie’s lungs of blood. When I figure out how to get her conscious, she’ll need to breathe.

  Jenn gently increased the gravitational pressure inside Natalie’s lungs, making them contract. Huge gushes of blood flowed from Natalie’s mouth onto the floor around them. Jenn released the gravity when Natalie’s lungs were empty and started scanning the woman’s body again.

  Something felt… off. Foreign. Whatever it was had concentrated around the abdomen so she put all her focus in that area. The strange energy grew slightly. In fact, it wasn’t just one thing, it was coming from countless molecule-sized objects. Jenn focused even more and finally found the source of th
e anomalies - nanites. Millions of them in a tiny pool within Natalie’s stomach. From a MedKit!

  Jenn’s heart lifted. This was exactly what she needed. From the low energy levels and lack of activity, it looked to her like the nanites eventually ran out of power and stopped working. Jenn squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating hard on analyzing the function and makeup of the nanites. It seemed that they were self-replicating as long as they had enough power. Jenn assumed they would form shapes and fill gaps from any wounds.

  She scanned Natalie’s chest wound again. A few dormant nanites remained in the area. Some had tried to seal the holes in her lungs before running out of power. Jenn slowly surged more energy into her field, infusing Natalie’s body and the nanites as she did so. Nothing happened for the first few seconds, then the nanites burst into action, gathering together in a frenzy to seal Natalie’s wounds.

  Jenn watched as they gathered extra cells and materials from broken or malfunctioning nanites and built more like themselves. A wide smile broke across her face despite the dire situation. This was one of the most fascinating things she had ever witnessed. Expanding the field at its current level all over Natalie’s body, Jenn felt billions of the tiny nanites come to life and begin to work again.

  Jenn took a few steps back and placed her hands on the reactor, pulling more energy from it into her cells, then turned back to Natalie and infused her entire body with a steady stream of it. The extra stores of energy would keep the nanites going, which would keep Natalie alive and accelerate the healing process. Jenn sighed, lips curving into a close-lipped smile. I’m not going to lose you, after all. She rubbed Natalie’s back gently as the nanites worked to revive her.