First Contact - Part 5

Harko was breathing steadily.

That was the good news. The bubble had held while he rested. Maybe ten minutes had passed since I'd dismissed the overlay. Maybe more. Time felt different inside.

Nev was sitting beside Harko, her hand on his shoulder. Her outline cycled magenta and yellow with the pulses, the way mine did. Harko's was still overbright. Less than before, but only a little.

The bubble began to shrink.

I felt it before I saw it. The walls of stability that had been holding around us drew inward. The pressure that had been at the edges started reaching me where I stood. Outside the bubble, smaller bubbles were forming and dissolving in the field. Not drifting like before. Frothing. The teal pattern was breaking up against itself.

I moved closer to my friends.

Another pulse. The bubble took less of it this time. Nev's outline went hard yellow before it cleared. Harko's didn't clear at all. It dimmed.

[Flux anomaly: Class 5. Critical.] [Resonance output: 4.2 TFU. Surge imminent.] [Emergency protocol active. Three personnel in proximity zone.] [Concordance merge architecture at risk beyond 8km radius.] [Immediate evacuation required.]

Class five.

My breath caught. Suddenly, I was out of synch with the waves in the rift.

Eight klicks wasn't far enough.