Split or String

Chapter 1

        The earth’s atmosphere was brilliant and stunning to look upon from space, especially at night. The swirling nimbus clouds layered between the troposphere and stratosphere created mesmerizing patterns mixed with the blue hues of the planet’s surface. From a different angle, the sun seemed to give halos to the satellites that dotted the thermosphere, which is where the spacecraft orbited. Tonight marked four months to the day that the agents had been aboard the battle carrier that loomed several thousand miles above the earth’s surface.

         Normally, Jemma Simmons would fall asleep counting all of the stars that fit inside her window. She would identify them, and then give them pet names. Phecda and Merak became Dalek and Rose, and the Leo constellation received Narnia monikers.

But tonight, the darkness wasn’t the same. Now, a savagely bright gash spread across the universe above her as far as she could see. It was as if God took the fabric of space and ripped it in half. Instead of stars, Jemma stared at the flashes of blue in the distance as they streaked across star groups she has never seen. The more she stared, the heavier her heart felt. Sleep was impossible, and she wasn’t even sure why May sent her to bed. She should be up, working and calculating the physics that started this phenomenon. Her mind raced just imagining the quantum and sub-quantum levels of science this involved. She started thinking about her current research with Particle M067, a mysterious new element they found after the Event. She wouldn’t have any research if it wasn’t for Fitz, and she owed her discovery to her team. But she didn’t want to think about them now, especially Fitz.

The image of his blue eyes and the way they accompanied his smile filled her mind. A wave of grief crashed upon her as she remembered the last time she saw him. He was as brilliant as he was awkward, and he was her closest friend. She just wanted him to be alive. She wanted all of them to be alive. Jemma missed the rest of her team, and she was thankful for the privacy of her room. There, she didn’t have to channel her agony into motivation. No one knew what happened to Fitz, Coulson, Skye, and Ward. But she knew they were in danger, and she could not rest with the impending doom on the horizon.

Jemma let herself laugh at the use of the word ‘doom’ in her thoughts. Ever since the sky was torn, all she heard was about doom. Doctor Doom, to be exact. Some villain from another universe did this. Agent Hill showed her the catalog. He came from Earth-616, and she apparently lived in Earth-199999. She wondered how many more earths and universes stretched beyond the blue streaks above her.

Her thoughts were distracted by a knock on the door.

“Come in,” she said, and Agent May entered. The only light in the room came from the window, but even in that, Jemma could see her tired eyes and ever-hollowing cheekbones.

“Have you slept at all?” Jemma swung her legs over the side of the bed and faced her.

“Have you slept at all?” May countered.

“No, of course not,” Jemma sighed. They sat in silence for a moment. The glaring light from the window loudly spoke the troubles they both were thinking.

“Did you need something?” Jemma asked finally.

“I wanted to let you know that Agent 13 and Agent Hand will be here at 2200.”

“Zulu?”

May nodded. Jemma closed her eyes for a moment to calculate the time.

“It’s hard to adjust to GMT, isn’t it? I’m still having trouble with it, even though we’ve been on this aircraft for almost four months now,” she said with a smile.

May nodded again.

            “Was there anything else you needed?” Jemma asked.