Semper Invictus Ch. 04 - Neck Deep

Noei had already been introduced to the Scotsman. Still, she had never met Kenta, originally from central Japan, nor had she ever met Victor. He came from what is now Nigeria. After the small talk, Ewan looked at me.

"I know you didn't have Svan bring us here just to say hello," he said with a smile.

"Did he brief you on the situation?" I asked. They all said he had. They listened quietly as I explained my plan.

"So, basically, you intend to use the modified grid and our altered bodies to channel the force generated by our transectors back through the wormhole. Is that correct?" Kenta asked.

"That's basically it," I told him. "That's why I asked for you to bring both of your transectors. Have you ever seen what happens when their fields come into contact?"

"No," Victor said. The others shook their heads as well.

"From what Svan told me, two of the old units by themselves can tear a hole in the fabric of the space-time continuum. Noei and I found about about that the hard way. Imagine what ten can do," I said.

"You're talking about potentially destroying the entire continuum," Kenta said.

"And if we didn't have the modified grid unit, that's exactly what would happen," I said. "I'm hoping the grid will be strong enough that the energy will route itself to the path of least resistance, which is back through the wormhole. It's either that or face thousands of creatures by ourselves."

"That is a very bold plan, Celt," Victor said. "Are you sure it will work?"

"The Directorate seems to think it will," I said. "Of course, there's the possibility we won't come out it unscathed."

"Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price," Kenta said softly. Noei looked at him, confused. "It's a quote attributed to Sun Tzu," he added with a slight smile.

"Oh," she said.

"Are you afraid?" he asked quietly.

"A little," she said. Kenta nodded his head.

"Remember. No fear, no hesitation, no surprise, no doubt," he told her.

"Is that also from Sun Tzu?" she asked.

"No," Kenta said with a smile. "Miyamoto Musashi. One of the greatest swordsmen in Japanese history. He also said that to win any battle, you must fight as if you are already dead. Do you understand?"

"I think so," she said. He smiled as he nodded his head.

"You will be fine," he said.

"What the hell," Ewan said. "I didn't have anything else planned for the day. Maybe after this is all over, we can grab a pint and celebrate, eh?" We all laughed at that.

"So, when is this wormhole going to show up?" Kenta asked. I looked at my watch.

"From what Svan told me, in about 30 minutes. Which gives me just enough time to set up the grid," I said.

"Get to it then, mate," Ewan said. I went to the box and set up the enhanced grid. This one was quite different from the one I set up in Max's house. For starters, it was battery-powered and essentially created an invisible bubble that covered ten acres of the desert floor. Once I was sure the unit was operating at peak capacity, I consulted my GPS device.

"Do you know exactly where this wormhole will appear?" Victor asked.

"Yes," I said. "According to Svan's calculations, it should show up about 20 feet over the ground right... here. It's just about time, so grab both your transectors and form a circle here."

All five of us formed a circle at the spot where Svan said the wormhole would show up. We turned on our transectors and looked up into the air, a flaming electronic sword in each hand. Fortunately, the transectors could be activated with a simple thumb movement. Then we saw it.

At first, we heard a slight crackle, then saw a small, blue flash of static electricity in the air. The static grew more intense, and we could smell the pungent aroma of ozone in the air around us. Suddenly, a hole seemed to appear in the air directly above us, and it grew larger until it was at least 20 feet across.

"Get ready," I said. "Remember, hold for as long as you possibly can." I saw a long snout poke its way through the hole. It looked down and saw us standing there, transectors in hand. Its eyes grew wide as it realized who we were.

"NOW!" I shouted. We lowered our blades until they all came into contact with each other. There was a blinding flash of light accompanied by a rise in temperature. The force of the energy released by the weapons was much more than I anticipated, and I braced myself as best I could.

I held my position for what seemed like forever. Then I felt a tremendous blast and found myself on the ground. I knew my body had flown backward, but I had no idea how far. I passed out... and woke up to find myself at the place where it all began over 2,100 years ago.

I saw no sign of Noei, Ewan, Victor, or Kenta. What the hell is going on, I asked myself. As I scanned the area, I saw someone on the ground and suddenly realized it was... me!

Had I really been sent back in time? Or was I dead, watching my life flash before my eyes? I watched my younger self take inventory then walk down the mountain. I wondered if the other me could see me standing here, so I watched and waited. But he never saw me.

As I stood there, I saw 2,100 years of my life flash before me like a movie, the scenes coming faster and faster until everything was just a blur. Then I suddenly found myself on the desert floor and saw the ground was scorched black with tiny beads of what looked like glass.

I looked to my right and saw Noei. I made my way to her, hoping she was okay. She looked at me when I reached her and wrapped her arms around me. We kissed each other passionately, relieved to see the other alive.

"Bloody hell, mate. Why don't you two get a room?" I heard Ewan say from behind me. I looked to see the Scotsman brushing the dust off of himself as he stood up. I looked around and saw Victor sitting up.

"Are you alright?" I asked. He nodded his head and waved.

"I'm fine," he said. I saw Kenta standing up.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Hai. Yes," he said.

"Did we get them?" Noei asked. I saw nothing to indicate any of the beasts were around.

"I think so," I said. I helped her up and made my way to the protection grid. The unit was still on, but it had absorbed a lot of energy and looked close to breaking down. I turned the unit off and helped the others get up. We retrieved our transectors, which had automatically powered off when we released them.

I pulled the new tracking unit from my pocket and turned it on. The glass cover was scratched, and there was a small crack in one corner, but the unit still functioned. I scanned and found no signs of any creatures anywhere near us. I activated the communication app and reached out to Svan. To my surprise, the unit connected, and I saw Svan's face appear.

"You did it, Steve," he said with a smile.

"We did it," I said, correcting him.

"Of course," he said. "How is everyone?"

"A bit shaken and dusty, but okay otherwise," I said. "How about you?"

"It shook here for a while as well, but we're still functioning," he said.

"Think you have enough power to get us all back home?" I asked. "I really don't feel like walking back." Svan laughed at that.

"Of course," Svan said. "Get ready, and I'll transport you all back. Report in when you get home, and I'll brief you. And thank you. All of you." We each said our goodbyes and prepared for Svan to transport us all back to our homes. The green orbs appeared and flashed out of sight, taking each of us to our respective homes.

When we got home, we put our things away and crawled into the shower, washing the dust and dirt off of each other. We got to the lab, fired up the comm console, and reached out to Svan.

"Good to see you, Steve," he said. "And you as well, Noei. How are you two holding up?"

"We're okay," I said. "Still a bit shaken. Did it work?"

"Your plan worked better than you realize," Svan said. "Take a look at this." He put an image on the screen, and all I saw was a black hole in gray clouds with debris in it.

"What's that?" I asked.

"That's the creatures' home dimension," Svan said. "Or what's left of it. We estimate you set them back at least 300 years."

"What about collateral damage?" I asked.

"There was some, but we're not certain exactly how much. We're still doing damage assessments," Svan said.

"So, have we won the war?" Noei asked.

"I'd say this was definitely a turning point," Svan said. "We'll have to keep an eye out, though. I know there's still some creatures in your dimension. I suspect they'll go into hiding for a while after this to regroup and lick their wounds. I simply don't know for certain. I do know the two of you have earned our heartfelt thanks. And a much-needed vacation."

"A vacation sounds good," I said.

"Well, I want to give you two time for your bodies to heal. You've both been exposed to some extreme temporal forces," Svan said. "So, I want you to finish your after action reports, then take a month or two off. Go somewhere you've never been. Relax. Have fun. Afterward, I'd like to run a physical on you, just to make sure everything is okay."

"That works for me," I said. "What about you? Are you going to follow up?"

"You mean, attack their home dimension?" Svan asked.

"Yes," I said. "This would be a perfect time to do it. You've got them set back on their heels. Use this time to end the war once and for all."

"Frankly, that's never even come up," Svan said. "You have to remember, the Errnocht was never set up for offensive operations."

"In my opinion, Svan, this would be the best time to do it," I said. "If you wait, they could come back, stronger than ever. We might not get so lucky the next time."

"You may be right, Steve," he said. "It's certainly food for thought. I'll discuss it with the Directorate. In the meantime, finish your reports then go relax."

"Sounds good, Svan. We'll be in touch," I said. We ended the communication and turned to each other.

"Well, my Celtic warrior," Noei said as she put her arms around my neck. "We've just saved the entire space-time continuum from a horde of evil inter-dimensional beasts bent on destroying humanity. What do we do next?" I had an idea where she was going with this, so I screwed up my face as if deep in thought. Then I responded.

"Uh, I don't know. Maybe go to Disneyland?" I asked. "I've never been there, you know."

"What? In more than 2,000 years, you've never been to the Magic Kingdom?" she asked sarcastically.

"Frankly, no," I said.

"Well, neither have I," she said. "So, what do you say we go for a visit?"

"Sure, why not? Then maybe we can go to Europe or something," I said.

"Works for me, my husband," she said. We kissed each other intensely for some time. She looked at me with a pouty face when I broke the kiss. "What did you do that for?" she asked.

"The sooner we get this report finished, the sooner we can start our vacation," I said. She smiled as I said that.

"Oh, goody," she said.

"Let's see what's on the situation map," I said, looking at the large monitor on the wall. Noei went to the tracking station and brought up the map.

"This is odd," she said. "I don't see anything in the continental United States. Let me expand this a bit." She expanded the monitoring window to include the entire North American continent. In northern Canada, we saw only one creature, just north of Whitehorse, Yukon. It was traveling north at a tremendous rate of speed.

"This is odd," Noei said as she clicked on the icon representing the creature.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's not inside anyone," she said. "And it doesn't appear to be in an aircraft." We watched the thing continue to move north. It didn't deviate from its course and blinked out of existence as it crossed the Arctic Circle. "I've lost it," she said.

"What about South America?" I asked. Noei changed the search parameters and brought up the continent. We saw only two creatures over Tierra del Fuego, moving south at a rapid rate of speed. These creatures were not inside anyone and were not on an aircraft. They moved directly south, then disappeared over Antarctica.

"That is mighty damn peculiar," I said. "We'll definitely have to report this to Svan."

"Absolutely," she said. We finished our report, submitted it to Svan, then headed upstairs to enjoy each other's bodies and pack for vacation.

...

Epilogue:

We decided to take advantage of our vacation and spent the next two months traveling the world. Yes, we went to Disneyland, then visited the country of my birth. It looked quite different from the last time I was there, and it felt a bit strange walking on the same ground where I was born over 2,000 years ago.

What was worse was the impression that many of the young people we saw had no idea of the history that lay right under their feet. I felt tears welling in my eyes more than once as I looked around. Noei felt the same, but for a somewhat different reason.

"This is where I died," she whispered as a tear fell down her face.

"Yes," I said, holding her tight.

"And no one even knows or cares," she added, her body shaking as she sobbed.

"I've never forgotten that day. It was the worse day of my life," I said. "We know. And I guess in the long run, that's all that matters."

"I suppose you're right," she said. Then she chuckled. "You know, 2,000 years from now, all this will probably be gone. I wonder if anyone here even cares."

"I do, and I know you do as well," I said. "It's one of the reasons we do what we do."

"I love you so very much, Arte," she said, wiping the tears from her face.

"And I love you too, my beautiful Celtic woman," I said. "I always have. And I always will. Ours is a love that can never be broken. Not even by the ravages of time or death."

"Semper invictus, my Celtic warrior," she said with a slight smile.

"Semper invictus indeed, my love," I quietly said.

...

Fade to black... For now.