The Harmony Divide- Never Alone

by Dominick Gerard

  * * *

  Jenn sat in a chair on the bridge with Leah nestled in her arms. She hadn’t let the baby go since she recovered her. Her heart still skipped a beat when she looked at the child. Leah was still asleep. Jenn kept her hand over the baby’s belly and chest to feel her warmth and the rhythmic beating of her heart.

  Samuel sat in another chair at the main command console. The man was still intently poking around the various systems of the ship. He never seemed to quit or take a break. She left him to it. The more systems he got access to the better for everybody.

  Leah shifted her small body and stretched a tiny arm in the air, then nestled back in Jenn’s arms for more rest.

  * * *

  “You must come to terms with what I say next or you will live as a lie for the rest of your days. The horror and death we brought to others in the name of the Leadership was done by our own hands. Nobody swung our swords or fired our weapons for us. Nobody controlled us from afar. We did it.”

  Natalie listened carefully to what the man was saying. He was being brutally honest which was a quality Natalie admired. What he said, however, was upsetting. Hearing the truth so bluntly spoken was like being slapped over and over again.

  “The Leadership aimed us and fired us like weapons, and we obeyed. We tore through flesh and bone with delight. We did this because the lies inside us whispered promises of reward. Our minds were corrupted by devices that made us desire to obey. The Leadership wanted complete obedience and their plan worked to perfection. We have been at once a slave, a prisoner, and a grateful participant to the will of the Leadership. Until today.”

  Marcus looked over to Natalie for a moment before continuing. Natalie was trying hard to not let any emotions show. She noticed many of the other soldiers looking at her now and it made her extremely uncomfortable. She cringed inside as she felt all the eyes focused on her.

  “I do not understand what has happened here today and perhaps I never will, but one thing is for certain: we are no longer bound to the Leadership. Before today ‘freedom’ was just a word some people whispered as we cut them down. I recall being curious about the concept and why so many people we destroyed desired it. To my everlasting shame, I helped extinguish it in far too many…” He paused to gather himself. His voice became tight as he fought back his emotion. “I now understand what freedom is. It is not just a word. It is simply something we have never possessed until today. The Praetorian behind me is the greatest fighter I have ever seen or heard of. She and her companion have freed us. They have given us something worth more than anything we could possibly conceive. Not the free choice to do what we wish or the freedom from the Leadership or even our lives, but a chance at redemption.”

  * * *

  Samuel continued to peck away at his console. Jenn was amazed by his focus. She wondered if Samuel even noticed she was there. The baby was asleep and silent in Jenn’s arms. She simply sat and looked at the beautiful child.

  Memories flooded her mind of holding the child so many years ago. Leah looked exactly like she remembered. Her tiny frame and small round face, the thin strands of light brown hair on the top of her mostly bald head, even her smell brought back memories and feelings from the past. Jenn thought of the wonderful times she had when her family was whole. She still missed Charles, and always would, but having Leah back made her feel warm inside. Her excitement and happiness burned bright like the sun. She smiled at the child and laughed quietly. She couldn’t help it. She was amazed and grateful to have Leah back.

  She resisted the urge to scan the child with her abilities. There would be plenty of time for that. Right now, she didn’t want to think about the questions she had. She just wanted to be a Mom again.

  A loud clapping sound made her jump in her seat. Leah jolted awake and began to cry and fuss. She looked over to Samuel, who still had his hands together in front of him. He was looking at the crying child with panic in his wide blue eyes. After a few seconds, he covered his ears and turned away. Jenn stood, put Leah up on her shoulder, and patted her back. She walked around the room trying to calm the child again. Samuel peaked over at them, still seeming unsure about what to make of the situation.

  While Jenn didn’t completely understand the man’s reaction, she did sympathize with his inability to process certain things. He was obviously struggling with some mental disorder.

  “Samuel, I assume you were trying to get my attention with the clapping. Please come up with a better way that doesn’t include frightening Leah so badly. It’s been a while for me, but I remember an important rule for parenting. Never wake a sleeping baby.”

  He lowered his hands to his sides as she began to speak to him. Leah also quieted down. It seemed she found her mother’s voice soothing. When Jenn finished, Samuel nodded. His facial expression indicated he wasn’t at all sure what to do.

  Jenn smiled kindly. “Samuel, do you have something to tell me? If so, please type it out and display it somewhere I can read it.”

  He didn’t hesitate to turn back to his console. He spent a few seconds typing and pressing some other buttons before a portion of the large display screen that wrapped around the room lit up with a black background and clear white text at the top.

  “Can you travel in time?” Samuel typed for her to see and paused for her response.

  “No, my dear man. I cannot.” She spoke her reply then waited briefly for his typed reply on the screen. She read it as he quickly typed his message.

  “What good are you? The message was sent, and you can’t stop it now. It’s too far. Way out of our solar system by now. How did you convert energy to matter in such a precise sequence to produce the girl? I don’t believe that’s what you did. The power needed… you’re standing too close to me! Are you reading this as I type? Stop until I finish. What if I make a mistake or have to rewrite something? I’ve found where the Legion comes from…”

  “Goodness, Samuel! Please slow down. One question at a time, please. Wait… you know where the Legion and this ship came from? What message?” She took a couple steps away from Samuel to give him more space.

  “One question at a time, Miss Jenn.” He smacked they keys furiously with his answer.

  * * *

  “I cannot promise you everything will be okay. In fact, things are just as likely to get worse. What I can promise you is that I will be by your side until my last breath. No matter where this new journey takes us. No matter what we find out about ourselves from before. No matter what happens. You are no longer alone. We are no longer alone. That, my friends, is a truth we can live by.”

  Natalie tried not to react to what the man was saying, but it felt like they were the only two in the room, like his speech was solely for her. She should have known the others would feel similar to the way she did. In a ship packed with soldiers and crew, she still remembered feeling utterly alone everywhere she looked. The thought terrified her to her bones. No enemy she faced could shake her like the thought of being completely alone again.

  She looked around at the soldiers arrayed in front of her in a new light. They were just like her. Frightened and unsure. They had no past and the future was unknown. She could see that Marcus had hit on the right note when he said they wouldn’t be alone again. That is what will bind us together, she thought, our common dread.

  * * *

  “Samuel, if you please?”

  “Several light years.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Eight.”

  “Eight, what?”

  “You’re too slow. Eight light years for the message to arrive in the solar system this ship came from. Of course, the message could be received well before that if there are other ships out there. None of us know where we are from. We just wake up and they say fight here or fight there. We kill people, then go back to sleep. It’s not bad, really, except for the killing and maybe the nanite brain control. Also, the pain conditioning. Other than that, it isn’t bad. I like sleeping.”

  �
��Goodness! Would you please tell me what message you are talking about?” Jenn said with mild annoyance. She tried to hide it, but it had been a long day.

  Samuel began typing furiously again, his fingers a blur over the keyboard. “The message that the ship sent back to the leadership. It was sent using an automated system which included detailed video and audio surveillance throughout the ship among other less interesting data. The message showed Natalie a lot. She’s very feisty. You, too. You should be more careful who sees what you can do. Not the baby though. The message was sent before it… she… popped out of the air.”

  “She didn’t pop…” Jenn stopped as the man continued to type.

  “As far as I can tell, this ship came from a system with several habitable planets about eight light years from here. As of right now, I haven’t been able to get details about all the planets. Each level of detail requires a new security key and I haven’t had enough time to break through them all. Give me a few years and I’ll be able to tell you what’s on those planets.”

  “Years…”

  “I’m hungry.” Samuel paused his typing at that.

  “Yes. Well, do you know what they will do when they receive the message, Samuel?” Jenn tried to sound patient, calm.

  “Oh, yes. I can also see there are at least three more full Legions like ours out there somewhere. I’d like to remind you that we, here, are just one Cohort in this Legion. There are thirteen Cohorts in this Legion alone. So, it looks like they will send all their most powerful ships, weapons, and soldiers here to blow us up. They will come to wipe everything out and make this planet a dry, dead rock and nothing on this planet, not even you with all your power, will be able to stop them.”

  Jenn stared at the man concernedly. She held her child more tightly in her arms. She wouldn’t let that happen. She couldn’t. After getting Leah back she couldn’t lose her again.

  “Oh, by the way. The reason we’re here in the first place is because of you. Read this. It’s the command that sent us to you. The first part is from the Leadership.”

  Jenn scanned a message that popped up on the screen.

  Third Legion, First Cohort. Cruiser Pax. Proceed to the following coordinates. Highest priority. Greatest speed. Encounter anomaly identified by Pax sensors upon arrival. Orders will be deployed to all personnel upon detection.

  “And this is information I found from some sort of automated system on this ship. It appears the sensors did detect something when we arrived.”

  Astrum inevectus. Enable procedure initiated. Deus interface stand-by.

  “Then, Miss Jenn, there are several more entries with very specific coordinates. Many of which point to the facility. Several others outside the facility on the surface. The most recent ones were on this ship. Miss Jenn, they can track you when you use your abilities.”

  Samuel’s facial expression changed toward the end. He seemed impressed with their ability to track her and smiled in spite of what catastrophic news it was.

  Jenn tried to remain calm. She started slowly pacing around the room thinking about the revelation while patting Leah’s back as she cradled her in her arms. Just then, Natalie walked in.

  Jenn watched the woman enter. Natalie paused a moment and looked her, running her hand through her red hair and shaking her head. She looked at the door for a moment, then back to Jenn. Jenn didn’t understand her body language. Surprise, confusion again? Had she said something wrong to Natalie that upset her? Perhaps not. The young woman was traumatized, and Jenn would have to keep that in mind going forward.

  “You’re not going to like this, Natalie,” Jenn said, “they can track me when I use my abilities. It appears they have been doing so for years. In fact, I think you may remember the first time I did something powerful enough to be tracked.”

  Natalie covered her face with her hand and dragged her fingers down her face in exasperation. “Oh, yes. Charles in the pool.”

  “Indeed,” Jenn replied.

  “Well, that sucks.”

  “Yes, it does, however, it can take up to eight years for them to detect the disturbances because they’re so far away due to speed-of-light limitations. Then, another ten years of travel time to arrive here. Unless, of course, they’re closer or have other ways of detecting me more quickly. Even more unfortunate is the message that was sent from this ship with information about us and what happened here. I’m not sure—"

  “Jenn, you’re rambling.”

  “Uh… yes. I guess… I’m just worried. They’re going to come for us and I’m not sure I can stop them all.” Jenn couldn’t help the concern in her voice. She had her child to protect again and the thought of her in danger made her feel cold inside.

  “You won’t have to do it yourself. We’re going to have to take this ship back and tell everybody about what is going to happen. The whole world is going to have to prepare for what’s coming.” Natalie sounded confident that it would happen. Jenn wasn’t so sure. The world was a messy place and the thought of a common goal uniting all was an impossible dream.

  “Anyway,” Natalie continued, sounding upbeat, “you’ve got me and Leah now. We’re never going to be alone again.”

  Natalie

  Ten minutes ago.

  Natalie walked through a set of gray corridors on her way back to see Jenn and Leah from where Marcus still spoke to the soldiers. Her skin still tingled and her heart beat too quickly. Her body seemed warmer than usual. The effects of the “Presence”, which appeared when Jenn brought back Leah, hadn’t faded. Her wounds were completely healed and her energy renewed. It was yet another event to try and wrap her head around.

  Natalie was shaken after hearing Marcus’ speech. It turned out the man had a way with words. His commanding voice and the way he held himself gave more weight to ideas. He also seemed completely sincere. He believed what he said to those soldiers. He was brutally honest. His words still echoed in her mind. They resonated because she felt he knew exactly what she was thinking.

  Even walking alone down these halls made her anxious. When she was alone, she felt it acutely. It consumed her. She didn’t know if she would ever be free of it. She had Jenn and Leah now, even Samuel and Marcus. Would it be enough?

  She spotted Jenn walking around a corner toward her. The woman had her hands behind her back and smiled brightly when she saw Natalie.

  “There you are,” she said as she approached. “I was worried when you didn’t follow sooner. Is Marcus okay with the soldiers back there?”

  “Marcus is fine. We’ll have to see about the soldiers. They’re shaken. More like broken, actually. I have no idea what’s going to happen next for them.”

  “Yes, broken, indeed.” Jenn shook her head. “I’m going to go talk to Marcus for a moment. I’ll be back on the bridge in a couple minutes.” She didn’t wait for a reply. She just walked down the corridor and rounded the next corner.

  Natalie started forward again, still in deep thought about what had happened with Leah. She was so happy for Jenn. What an amazing thing. Natalie was proud of Jenn and the efforts she took to bring the child back.

  Natalie reached the door to the bridge and pushed it open. As she did a thought came to her. Why didn’t Jenn have Leah with her?

  She stepped onto the bridge and the first thing she saw was Jenn… Leah held tightly in her arms.

  Thank you so much for reading! The story continues in the upcoming Book 2 in The Harmony Divide series, but get extensive and FREE author notes on each chapter of this exciting story below:

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