The Harmony Divide- Never Alone

by Dominick Gerard

  Jenn’s head snapped up at the sound of heavy boots in the hall. Not willing to wait and see who was coming, she leapt up and slammed the button to shut the vault door. She had been so distracted that she forgot about the shield wall. When Natalie woke her, the energy feeding the plasma shield stopped. They’d been unprotected for several minutes now, though she didn’t have any use for the shield at this point. With the amount of power she was going to need to get out of this, there wouldn’t be enough to spare for the plasma wall. The vault door would do as protection for now.

  The door closed and the locking mechanism slid into place with a dull thud. The door would hold long enough to come up with a plan and wait for Natalie—

  Jenn turned around as Natalie gasped for breath and choked on some of the remaining blood in her wind pipe. Jenn ran over and knelt down beside her, patting her shoulder as if consoling a child. After Natalie stopped coughing and took a few breaths, Jenn scanned the woman again.

  She was amazed at how effective the nanites were. All Natalie’s wounds were almost completely… patched. That was the best word to describe what was happening. Jenn examined the damage left by the sword thrust in Natalie’s chest. The wound was nearly closed except for a thin grey line running the entire length of the cut. She looked elsewhere and found similar results.

  Natalie was breathing, her heart pumping steadily, but she hadn’t woken up yet. Jenn frowned, pondering the possibility of brain damage. There wasn’t much she could do about that, so she decided to infuse more energy in and around Natalie’s brain in the hopes it would do something to help her.

  Faint bangs sounded through the vault door as Jenn waited for Natalie to wake up. After a few minutes, a much louder explosion shook the whole vault door. It held firm. Jenn knew the vault was extremely thick and would withstand just about anything, although it was built more to keep things in rather than preventing entry. The reactor in the middle of the room was stable, but accidents happened, so extreme precautions were taken for the safety of the facility and surrounding areas. Another blast hit the door and Jenn got up to make sure the structure was still sound.

  “Would you turn off that alarm clock, please?” Natalie groaned.

  Jenn squealed and ran over, enclosing her friend in a bear hug.

  “Ouch!” Natalie squirmed, but Jenn could feel the smile on her face.

  “I’m sorry, but I thought you were going to die. Goodness, Natalie, you were close! If you hadn’t dropped that MedKit and had to drink it, you would be dead right now.”

  Natalie smiled weakly. Her voice came out in a scratchy rasp. “Yeah… well, that was the plan. I told you I’d see you soon.”

  Jenn laughed and released her. She helped Natalie roll onto her back and took her friend’s head in her lap. Natalie looked up at her, with tired eyes. She seemed to be drinking in every detail of Jenn’s face as if seeing her, truly, for the first time.

  “You…” Natalie’s face grew serious as she struggled with what to say. “Jenn…” She trailed off, unable to find the right words.

  Jenn brushed some loose hair out of Natalie’s face. A good portion of her hair on one side and the back of her head was burnt away. Her face was grimy and covered with splatters of blood and grit. Her clothes were soaked with blood and smeared with soot, reduced almost to rags. Natalie was a complete mess, but Jenn still saw the beauty underneath it all. Jenn smiled. She felt so many things for this person. What Natalie had done seemed impossible, yet here she was. Jenn had never seen such skill and determination. She didn’t have the words right now either.

  “Natalie, one day we’ll be able to talk about what happened here, but now’s not the time. We still have work to do before we can get out alive.”

  Natalie nodded, her eyes swimming with tears. She pulled her head off Jenn’s lap and got up on her hands and knees, swaying unsteadily. Taking a deep breath, she began climbing to her feet. Jenn grabbed her arm to guide her. Natalie winced as she straightened fully, putting a hand to her head.

  “Well, I feel like I’ve been shot and stabbed,” she said in a perfectly dead-pan voice.

  Jenn rolled her eyes. Of course, sarcasm. “How well can you move? The MedKits are filled with nanites, by the way.” Natalie’s eyes widened in alarm. “It’s okay, they’re different from the others. You had some left in your body and I was able to strengthen them substantially. I think as long as I keep fueling them with extra energy, they’ll keep you patched up. After this is over we’re going to have to get you into a hospital and fixed properly. The nanites are doing a great job, but we can’t let your body rely on them for too long or it’ll become dependent on them.”

  Natalie took a few steps to test her legs. She jogged in place a little and punched and kicked the air. She’s so fast, thought Jenn as she watched her move.

  Natalie shrugged, seemingly satisfied. “I’d say I’m about sixty percent. I can still kill people, though.”

  “That’s… good. Natalie, you do realize that at least some of the soldiers you are killing are only acting because of the nanites in their brains, don’t you?”

  “Yes. I need my armor and swords.”

  Jenn paused and looked at Natalie for a few seconds and started to speak, but the other woman interrupted her.

  “Jenn, I know what you’re going to say. I don’t want to kill somebody who could potentially be turned. Honestly, I’ve had just about enough of death altogether, but they are going to kill us if they can and there’s nothing we can do about that right now. Even if you zapped all the nanites from their pretty little heads, they’d still try to kill us. Turning them would take a great deal of time, which we don’t have. Now, I’m in this for you and your baby. Speaking of which…” Natalie trailed off and looked at Jenn waiting for an explanation.

  “Yes. That.” Jenn cleared her throat, tapping her index finger on her lips. “I believe she has been converted into energy and is floating in space where the earth was in orbit around the sun when the incident happened.”

  Jenn blurted it out, a secret she’d been waiting to share for what felt like an eternity. She watched Natalie carefully for a reaction. It was obviously far more complex than what she just said, but that was the core of it. She didn’t truly understand what had happened and she hoped it wasn’t just her mind making something up to help her cope with the loss.

  Natalie stood motionless for a few moments, then reached up and rubbed her eyes. When her hands left her face, she was smiling. “Of course, she’s an energy ghost floating in space. She is your daughter, after all. I’m guessing you came up with the idea to get aboard our fancy space ship and go after her?”

  “That’s… um… yes. That’s pretty—" Jenn stopped as several colossal blasts from the surface reverberated over the vault. They came in a steady stream, like a stampede.

  Natalie frowned, brows furrowed in concern. “That’s coming from the Cruiser. They’re firing in support of the ground troops. That means the battle has escalated more. Your people have probably figured out by now that only their most powerful weapons will penetrate our armor. They’ve moved in their heavy stuff and the ship is going to take them out. There’s going to be a lot of dead soldiers out there if we don’t do something about it.”

  “Okay. We’ve got to get your equipment. Where is it?”

  “It’s less than a mile out on the entry road. It’s hidden in some trees about a hundred yards off the road.”

  “Yes, I remember now. I can get you there, but I need to do it from here. I’m using a lot of energy keeping us alive, so it would be helpful to use this reactor to open a wormhole. I’ll open it up, you grab your stuff, and get back through as fast as you can. While you’re gone I’m going to turn up the reactor’s output and absorb as much as I can before we make our next move.”

  Natalie nodded once, determination set like stone in her eyes. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  Jenn motioned Natalie to back away to make room for the portal and placed her hand on the reac
tor. She had to physically touch the reactor because of the massive amounts of shielding it had around it to prevent leaking. Normally she could absorb energy as far away as she could extend her own magnetic field.

  Jenn made the calculations in her head for the other end of the portal open up where she intended and pulled hard on the reactor to get enough energy. The wormhole opened a few feet in front of them. A large field with tall grass and a few trees waited on the other side. The sounds of explosions and fighting echoed through.

  Natalie darted past in a blur, pausing on the other side and looking around cautiously. She squinted in one direction and took off that way. Jenn lost sight of her and turned to head back to the reactor to store some more energy. She was going to need it.

  Jenn

  Jenn used the reactor’s control panel to increase the power output as far as it would safely go. She walked to the reactor, turned her back on it to keep an eye on the panel, and placed her hands on the device. She didn’t know how much energy she could store, she had never reached her limit, but she began absorbing everything she could. I’ll test my limits today, she thought wryly.

  Several minutes passed while Jenn waited for Natalie to return. It took a great deal of focus to absorb this much energy, so she just stood there and stared through the portal to the grassy field beyond, a crease of worry between her eyebrows.

  Suddenly she saw movement through the portal. Her eyes narrowed. It was four American soldiers followed by a ragged looking red-headed woman. The soldiers walked in a single-file line with their hands resting on their heads, except the last one who held what looked like Natalie’s armor and weapons in his outstretched arms. Natalie had one of the soldier’s rifles at the ready as she trailed them. Three other rifles were slung over her shoulders.

  The men were much taller than Natalie and only slightly taller than Jenn. Combat fatigues, crisp and clean with many pieces of equipment attached by straps or clips, rested on their broad shoulders. Each soldier was his own force, well-built and muscular, ready for battle. Even being held at gun point they had a confident composure and walked with a purpose. Jenn realized they walked similarly to the way Natalie did, though without as much fluid grace. Natalie looked like she could pounce in any direction without notice. She was standing with some of the best soldiers on the planet and she still looked like the most dangerous person in the group. The way she held herself, her simple beauty, and the predatory energy coming off her in waves made her an extraordinary sight to behold. Jenn smirked and shook her head.

  The soldier’s heads snapped to the right as they noticed the portal into the vault room. They stopped abruptly, bumping into each other, and gaped at the opening. Jenn smiled and gave them an awkward wave.

  Natalie gestured for them to head through the portal, but they hesitated. One of the soldiers looked from Natalie to Jenn and back.

  “Ma’am, what on God’s green earth is that?” The SEAL had dark hair and a large beard covering a great deal of his face. He had a rugged look about him and he spoke with a deep southern accent.

  “It’s the only way you and your fellow soldiers are going to survive the day, Chief Petty Officer Scott. Go ahead through. It’s a magic portal. You’re not scared, are you?” Natalie raised an eyebrow at the men and walked backwards through the portal to show them it was safe. “I told you, we aren’t your enemies. Jenn here is going to explain what’s going on.”

  The soldiers exchanged looks then Chief Petty Officer Scott shrugged his shoulders and walked through. The others followed quickly behind him, looking warily back at the way they’d come.

  “Natalie, would you please give these gentlemen their weapons back.”

  Natalie stalked over to Jenn, glaring at the soldiers over her shoulder. “They were poking around in my stuff!”

  “Natalie, please? These are Navy SEALs. They’re the best and smartest soldiers we have so give them the respect of allowing them to carry their firearms. I trust them.” She turned to the men. “Please, gentlemen, put your hands down.”

  “You trust people too much,” Natalie grumbled as she walked over to Officer Scott and offered him the rifle she was holding. “Don’t try anything or I’ll have to teach you how to fight again.”

  The officer watched her carefully as he lifted the weapon from her hands, as if she would change her mind and explode on him at any second. The other SEALs dropped their hands and took their weapons back from her one by one. She snatched her equipment from the last soldier in line. He gave her a brazen wink as she took it. Natalie bared her teeth at him.

  Jenn chuckled. “Okay, now that that’s settled, I’m going to give you the extra short version of what’s going on here. I’m Jenn and I work at this facility. Right now, you’re in the heart of the building. That wormhole you came through is located about a mile away. I have some special abilities including the ability to create portals like that over short distances. I can also absorb energy and use it at my will. That’s Natalie.” Jenn pointed to the still scowling woman. “She’s special forces, too, but not quite like you. All of us, together, are going to have to turn this battle in our favor extremely quickly or a whole lot of soldiers are going to die. There’s a ship up there in orbit—”

  “A… spaceship, Ma’am?” The one who had been holding Natalie’s equipment interrupted. He was a little shorter than the others, but stockier. His hair was too short to tell what color it was, and he had a clean shaven face. He was of Hispanic descent and spoke with a mild accent. There was a constant grin on his face, like he was happy and relaxed despite the battle raging outside.

  “Yes. The ship is where those explosions are coming from and we need to stop it.” Jenn turned from the perplexed looking soldiers. “Natalie, what do you suggest we do?”

  “You get me on that ship and I’ll shut the weapons down. There may be people aboard who are willing to help us. While I’m disabling the weapons system, you do something down here about those explosions.” She waved her arms around in the air in a show of doing ‘magic’.

  Jenn frowned. “Uh, I don’t wave my arms around like that… do I?”

  “No,” Natalie replied too quickly, avoiding Jenn’s eye.

  Jenn gave her a half-hearted dirty look then glanced at the portal and made it wink out of existence.

  Officer Scott looked at Natalie, his face set. “Aliens, then?”

  Natalie shrugged.

  He nodded and looked to his team. They didn’t respond as far as Jenn could see, but Officer Scott appeared to take something from the silence and turned to Jenn. “This is all batshit crazy, but we’re in. Our guns don’t do anything against their armor. Only the heavy stuff works. I’m not sure what we can do to help you.”

  “We need you to inform your fellow soldiers that we’re not to be attacked. Natalie’s going to put on some of their armor, sneak on the ship, and disable the weapons system. If they see somebody with two swords causing trouble for the enemy, please don’t shoot her. I’m going to need your forces as close to me as possible until Natalie can disable the guns on the ship. Do you think there will be any issues with that request, Officer Scott?”

  Scott grimaced. “Ma’am, with all due respect, how are you going to protect us from those weapons? I won’t sign my men up to die if we got no chance at living.”

  In reply, Jenn lifted her hand - palm up - in front of her. She made a small sphere of heated plasma appear above her hand. It was a small replica of the shield she’d put up to keep the facility safe. Colors swirled in fluorescent waves along it’s surface, casting an eerie glow through the room. She then split it into four more spheres and made them float in front of each of the SEALs. The soldier on the end just grinned even more and shook his head. Officer Scott whistled in appreciation.

  Jenn pulled the spheres back and absorbed the energy again, smiling. “I have ways.”

  “Show off,” Natalie scoffed.

  Jenn raised an eyebrow. “You’re the one who took out four Navy SEALs bare hande
d.”

  Natalie glared at the soldiers again. If looks could kill, Jenn thought. “What? Like it’s hard?”

  “Goodness, Natalie, they’re perfectly nice people. Now, would you please arm yourself?”

  “Yeah, yeah.” She grabbed her armor and swords and walked to the back of the room. “Jenn, would you give me privacy, please?”

  Officer Scott spoke up first. “Turn your backs, gentlemen.”

  The men exchanged looks, but did as he commanded.

  It took Natalie only minutes to get her armor on and ready her weapons. When she was done, she looked every bit like the Obliti Legionnaire she was. Her matte black armor, flat-faced helmet, and the two sword hilts extended above her shoulders gave her an even greater air of danger.

  Natalie nodded to signify she was ready. Jenn infused her with as much energy as she thought safe, then targeted the nanites in her body with the energy they needed to keep operating. That should give her plenty of time to finish her mission.

  “Thank you.” Natalie’s distorted voice made Jenn recoil slightly.

  Natalie cocked her head. Jenn cursed herself inwardly for showing distaste just because of the armor, but she looked so… alien. Natalie raised her hand over her heart and patted her chest. Jenn knew immediately what she meant by the gesture and copied the motion in acknowledgment. Despite the impression the armor gave, it was still Natalie underneath. Jenn gave her a big smile and mouthed “be careful”. Natalie nodded.

  Jenn walked over to the reactor and placed her hands on it. First things first, she had to find the ship.

  “Officer Scott, from which direction in the sky were the enemy weapons being fired?”

  “South-Southwest from our current position, Ma’am.”

  “Thank you.” Jenn pulled on the energy in the reactor and pushed her field away from her, forming and reshaping it to better project it in the right direction. She felt several military aircraft zoom through, but none were the foreign ship she was searching for. Suddenly, a massive energized object streaked through the field toward the ground. A projectile from the ship! Jenn quickly calculated its trajectory, pulling her field in to cover a smaller area and pushing it back toward the ship. It didn’t take long to locate as a few more projectiles came through, allowing her to be more precise in her movements. The ship had an enormous magnetic field. The huge waves of energy needed to run it pulsed like a giant heartbeat.