Rogers nodded in agreement and so did the other astrobiologists.
A brief silence followed. The chairman pointed at the government group without saying anything, indicating that it was their turn to speak.
’Humans have been living on Earth for 200,000 years without complaints,’ said Mr Anderson Motos. Everyone at the table gazed steadily in his direction as he spoke, despite not being able to see him. ‘If we have now identified the avaricious nature of mankind, must we encourage and reward it by finding another planet where they can continue their greed-fest? We are also concerned that this project may lead to the loss of many people’s lives, since there is not sufficient evidence that they will survive the harsh weather conditions on Mars.’
‘We believe that even if a few people lose their lives during the process, the benefits of this project will outweigh the losses. People die naturally and because of accidents, regardless of whether they are on Earth or Mars,’ Rupeta Kaya answered.
Some of the attendees gasped. A tense, prolonged silence filled the room.
Rogers leaned forward to look at the pile of papers in front of him, trying to ward off the stressful thoughts that were brewing inside him. He could feel that people were watching him, or at least looking in his direction. However, his attention was derailed by a whirlwind that swept past him and began to swirl in front of the group.
Streaks of lightning flashed as a thunderstorm rumbled close by. Papers started flying around the room. Despite the fierceness of the wind, the thick curtains along the walls barely moved. The people in Rogers’ group were gawking, open-mouthed as they tried to rescue their papers and anchor themselves to the table to avoid being sucked out of the room.
Just then, the table started shaking violently. People dodged and took cover. Rogers looked up and saw the table was deserted, except for the Gatekeepers’ corner. He could still see their shapes in the same position.
He looked at the light that had begun to rotate within the swirling wind. In a few seconds, the air at the corner of the room began to twist together with the streaks of light. It slowed down, creating folds of rippling air, and the image of a human-like figure with animal features appeared in its midst.
At first Rogers was intrigued at the sight of the creature rather than frightened as he should have been; then he looked over at Rupeta Kaya, whose face was set on the creature as though he were spellbound. Rogers swallowed hard as his eyes darted back to the creature; he could swear it saw him staring. He ducked lower under the table.
The beast was a cross between a human and a horse. It had blackish-green skin and skinny webbed hands and feet, supported by two powerful thighs like those of a horse. He stood six or seven feet tall, with very wide shoulders. His hunched back was covered in shimmering scales and his belly was tiny and flat. Two big, dark-green eyeballs bulged from a head which had multiple tentacles hanging from it. The creature began to chuckle, while casting a venomous eye at their corner.
Rogers glanced at his colleagues; like him, they were cowering low to the ground. Perhaps they also saw the creature’s eyes resting on them.
The creature stepped forward. Some of the delegates shouted and the others gasped in horror. It was a chilling moment. Nobody said or did anything; they were all crouching under the table, except for the Gatekeepers.
The creature’s disdainful stare darted around the room and returned to the Gatekeepers. The creature looked a bit apprehensive at the sight of them and he stepped back a little before moving forward again.
He stretched out an arm like a rope towards the astrobiologists’ corner and his dry, brown skin brushed past Rogers’ cheek. It felt cold and dry, like wood. Rogers felt a sharp pain on his face where the creature's arm had touched him. He swept his finger over his cheek; it felt wet and his finger came away glistening red. He took a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood from his cheek.
Two of the creature’s elongated fingers moved deftly to hook inside Zebe’s nostrils. Zebe shook as the creature pulled him closer. Rogers heard Joe’s teeth chattering as he cringed in terror and shouted out of fear for his friend. The other young men shrieked aloud.
‘Asariel, enough! That’s enough harassment of these poor, innocent people. Let go of the young man,’ a firm voice called.
Rogers knew that voice: it was Calbas, the head of the Gatekeepers. Rogers and Rupeta Kaya had met the Gatekeepers during some of the secret meetings about planetary issues. He remembered that meeting like it was yesterday…
*
When the day came, Rogers and Rupeta met with Calbas at an agreed destination to listen to the Universal Gatekeeper’s proposal regarding interplanetary travel. They went to a local hotel. At the entrance to the reception hall, a tall man with a stiff expression walked up to them and said, ‘Gentlemen, follow me.’ He turned and walked away. Rogers looked at Rupeta, who nodded slowly, and they followed the man into an elevator.
They stopped at level five; the door swung open and they emerged into a long corridor. The man suddenly stopped in front of a door that had Room 506 written on a gold plaque. He swiftly looked left and right along the empty corridor, as though he were expecting to see something or someone, before opening the door.
When they entered, it was a suite with its own living room. A man was already sitting on one of the chairs round the coffee table. ‘Welcome, gentlemen,’ he said and waved for them to take a seat.
Everyone sat down, including the man who had brought them up.
The man smiled broadly at Rupeta, as though he’d seen him before, and nodded at Rogers. ‘My name is Calbas. I am the head of the Gatekeepers, and this is my assistant, Tobus.’
‘Thank you. I’m Rupeta Kaya and this is my colleague, Atta Rogers.’ Rupeta smiled before putting a paper folder he was carrying onto the coffee table. Rogers took the folder and placed it on the floor beside his seat.
‘Please feel free to pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee,’ Calbas said, gesturing at a white ceramic tea kettle, a silver coffee pot, milk jug and sachets of sweeteners, and a few hand-painted porcelains tea cups and saucers.
‘Thank you,’ Rupeta said. He poured some coffee into a cup; he drank it black.
Rogers cleared his throat and took out a notepad from his folder.
Calbas spoke again. ‘We have decided to approach the astrobiologists because the human effort and taste for interplanetary travel has finally come to our attention. As you know, some overzealous astrobiologists have been trying for centuries to prove the existence of life on Mars. This desire has been demonstrated by their countless dangerous attempts to make the journey there.’
Rogers was avidly taking notes.
‘The mid-twentieth century saw an ongoing search for signs of extra-terrestrial intelligent life. 1957 saw the first satellite launched into space and that success was attributed chiefly to the brilliance of one man: Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. Within a few years— on April 12, 1961—more progress was made when another Soviet cosmonaut by the name of Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human to travel into space. During the flight, the twenty-seven-year-old test pilot and industrial technician also became the first man to orbit the planet, a feat accomplished by his space capsule in eighty-nine minutes. Vostok 1 orbited Earth at a maximum altitude of 187 miles. We watched that very closely to make sure no harm came to him or his transportation.’
As Rogers pondered his words, his eyes darted around the room. It was a strange combination to absorb. They were in the normal world, a hotel room in the middle of Ohio. There was a bed that looked like it had not been slept on, with a pair of towels folded in the form of two swans with long necks sitting close to two pillows stacked on top of each other. He glanced at the cream-coloured carpet and the tessellated mosaic floor that peeped through the slightly open toilet door. Then his mind flickered back to the two men in front of him. He gasped in awe, inwardly, knowing they were in fact supernatural beings. Mr Cush Abraham had told him so when they met. Rogers fo
rced himself to stop thinking in case they could hear his thoughts.
Calbas explained, ‘The triumph of the Soviet space programme in putting the first man into space was a significant blow to the United States, which had scheduled its first space flight for May 1961. Moreover, Gagarin had orbited Earth, a feat that eluded the US space programme until February 1962, when astronaut John Glenn made three orbits in Friendship 7.’ Calbas ran a finger tentatively on the rim of his tea cup; his hand looked normal, like an ordinary man’s hand.
Rogers smiled. He remembered listening to the news on the radio, wishing that he had been the first man to visit space. He could still picture his father’s small, square, wooden radio with a silver antenna on a table in the corner. His father listened to it every morning before going to work and in the evening as soon as he returned. Rogers was only a boy then, but he had always loved science. When the news of the Soviets’ achievement was announced people cheered, including Americans, despite their disappointment that the Russians had done it before them.
Rogers’ eyes swept past the other man in the room but he had no expression on his face. Then he looked at Calbas who had stopped speaking for a few seconds; he was arching his brows towards Rogers incredulously, perhaps wondering why Rogers found his words funny.
Rogers turned to Rupeta, trying to share his excitement, but Rupeta grimaced in a way that suggested Rogers should be quiet. That stifled his grin and he shied away, as if to apologise for what he had done – though he wasn’t sure what it was.
Calbas went on. ‘We, the Gatekeepers, were observing everything to see what this meant for humans. It is our duty to allow, and even to help, humans to express their scientific ability, intelligence and engineering prowess without infringing universal law. We allow that to help humans to begin levelling the playing field with their counterparts from other planets who are supernatural beings and are further advanced in the use of technology, magic and mysteries.
‘The scope of our work as Gatekeepers falls into different dimensions. In secret, we physically clean up the natural disasters around the Earth and the universe, protecting its inhabitants. We secretly take out stubborn dictators as part of our response to human suffering. We are the organization that decides which interplanetary travel is illegal and stops unlawful travel. We combat the extra-terrestrial bodies that persistently try to destroy or corrupt the human race. Consequently, we are continually evolving and spearheading innovative devices through technology and mystical advances to withstand and take out such threats. We also take care of problems including zombies, vampires, aliens, robots, fairies, mermaids, ghosts, skeletons (both human and animal), witches, cosmic creatures and mythical creatures, such as centaurs, redcap dwarfs, dragons, basilisk serpents, predatory animals, and so on. Simply put, we care for the welfare of human families.’
Rogers, hearing about these creatures, felt a surge of appreciation for the Gatekeeper and for their protection of the human race. However, he looked at Calbas and Tobus, as though sizing them up, and wondered if they could take out stubborn dictators. He tore his eyes away when Calbas noticed he was staring. Are they humans? They certainly look like humans but they sound supernatural, he concluded. He drew a deep breath to recover his composure.
‘Our work involves protecting resources and powers,’ Calbas went on. ‘Our motto is “Nothing wasted and nothing lost”, which is why we created realms for these creatures. Take, for instance, the vampires and the zombies. These defective humans were once part of human families living on Earth but became corrupted after death. They were malicious people when they were alive; when they died, the strong force of their evil forced their souls back to life so that they could continue their evil actions. To sustain their existence, they feed on the blood of other humans, thereby infecting them.
‘The explosion in the number of these defective humans in the early ages meant that a section of the universe had to be provided to avoid a large number of them being destroyed. We carved out a realm for them and, since they can only survive on blood, we provided them with a tree called the “Blood Tree”. They drink its sap as their life source; it satisfies them because it tastes and works like real blood. And to the zombies, we gave the “Flesh Tree”, which works just as well for them. However, as we all know, there are always going to be a few stubborn ones who will do anything to enter Earth’s realms so they can drink blood directly from humans. That’s one of the things we are always trying to prevent.’
Rogers looked at Calbas’s face to assess the cracks and crevices that aging might have lodged on his face. He found them to be no more than those that could be seen on the face of a well-maintained male in his late fifties. However, Calbas’s tales made him sound ancient. The other man, Tobus, looked to be in his thirties; he was slim, with a slender face and a full head of hair. His eyes were devoid of emotions.
Calbas continued. ‘The birth of all these activities, as well as human interest in entering and occupying part of outer space, was why we built the place called the Channel of Exchange. This is equivalent to an international airport on Earth; it allows people to travel to multiple countries as long as they obtain the appropriate documents that enable entry into countries other than their own. The interplanetary Channel of Exchange is located in a place called the End of the Earth. The actual location will not be disclosed right now for security reasons. After the construction of the Channel of Exchange, we felt it was time to discuss with the Earth’s governments the possibility of free movement for all with the correct documentation. This is the reason we are here today.
‘We propose that each government around the world selects a delegate. Once they have agreed among themselves, they should select representatives who will meet with us to discuss what they’ve agreed. Finally, the governmental bodies will be under oath to keep our existence a secret from society as a whole.’ Calbas’s distinct voice lodged deep within Rogers.
Seeing Calbas again today at the meeting brought back the memory of how it had all started. Rogers remembered that, as time progressed, an agreement for free interplanetary travel was reached. A few astrobiologists visited Mars and loved it. That was how they began studying its surface and came up with the possibility of humans colonising parts of Mars, which was the reason for today’s meeting.
The astrobiologists had put forward this proposal; the Gatekeepers considered it and saw an advantage for all the parties involved, including themselves. Calbas told the astrobiologists that they had discussed the idea of humans inhabiting a portion of Mars as their home forever. Only the Biddatals, who were from the planet Venus, were firmly against humans living on Mars because they didn’t want humans sharing outer space and contaminating another planet.
After hearing why the Biddatals were against the proposal, Rogers and his colleagues feared it could be the end of their dreams to migrate humans to Mars. One of the reasons the astrobiologists had put forward for wanting to distribute humans to Mars was the excessive contamination of planet Earth. The second reason was to facilitate interplanetary travel, which the Gatekeepers favoured because it would make their job more manageable. The interplanetary Channel of Exchange would make it possible for them to keep an eye on all the creatures who wished to visit another planet.
Coming back to the present, Rogers heard the creature's voice again as it reacted to Calbas. ‘Or what? It will never be enough!’ came the response. ‘Until you and these stupid humans stop this nonsense plan to build a human city on Mars, we, the Biddatals, will never allow humans to share outer space with us.’ Fierceness rose in the creature’s voice.
‘You know you have no right to be here. We’ve talked about this and reached an agreement,’ Calbas said calmly yet firmly.
‘Wrong! They are actively planning to infringe on our airspace. We, the Biddatals, will never agree to such nonsense! We’ve always made our stand clear on this issue,’ shouted Asariel, holding Zebe even more closely.
Calbas stood up and faced the creature, who seized Zeb
e by the throat and lifted him in the air. Zebe’s eyes were closed and Rogers could tell that the breath of life was leaving his lungs by the way he was gasping for air and twitching. Zebe’s floppy hands fell to his sides after several attempts to loosen the creature’s grip on his throat. His dangling legs twitched slowly but consistently.
Rogers felt sorry for Zebe but he was helpless. Seeing Calbas stand up gave him a ray of hope; he wished Calbas would do something quickly before Zebe’s life was snuffed out. Rogers and the other astrobiologists had known that something like this could happen because of their experiences on several occasions when they’d visited Mars. That was why they’d enlisted the help of the Gatekeepers to offer protection for the workers who would construct the new city on Mars and the migrants when the city was completed.
‘Don’t come any closer!’ the Biddatal yelled, stepping back. ‘You fools wonder whether there will be loss of life? The answer is yes! Mark my words,’ he said. He laughed in a sinister way as the commotion of the storm rumbled in the background. Then he stopped abruptly. ‘Now,’ he said, ‘stop what you’re doing or the migrants will all die, like everyone here today will die if migrants ever set foot on Mars.’ He pointed at the attendees and a tongue of fire leapt from his finger and landed on the table, followed by a bolt of lightning that was directed towards them.
The papers on that side of the table were ablaze in an instant. Rogers heard everyone, including the astrobiologists, gasp in horror and quickly crouch down even further to dodge the flames. The thunder still rumbled in the background accompanied by occasional lightning that lit up the room.
The Gate Page 2
