THE GATE KEEPER

by JULES GABRIEL

  ‘It would be wise to do as you’re told as we’re not in a mood to play.’ Agent Reynold ordered as he lightly taps his thumb above his trigger.

  It made an audible click. I copy his move and my gun made a similar sound. They both look at each other and glance at the lady with the katana. Nervousness strike me and my thumb mistakenly tap the same place on my gun. Another audible click caught their attentions and made them feel uneasy.

  ‘Let me remind you that you’re at the sixty sixth floors. There’s no escape if you don’t know where you’re going. Surrender is the only way out.’ The katana lady pause and curt out, ‘curtain off!’

  The white curtain slide upwards and the light dim with the amount of lights flowing from the outside. The traffic was furiously moving in different direction. Some fast while some was moving at a moderate speed. Agent Reynold slowly lift his hands up. He wasn’t arm but I still remember how he got rid of that same weapon in my hand. How that unexplained magnetic field from his glove snatch the weapon from their employer. I had to take my chance, I considered.

  ‘It’s your last chance Phil! As you can see there’s no escape. Drop it!’ The lady confirmed in an arrogant manner.

  ‘I’ll take my chance,’ I convinced as I press the trigger.

  Instantly the weapon tries to deviate off the target as a powerful energy moves out. I got a firm grip of the gun. Fluctuating air like pattern immediately comes out of the muzzle, distorting and building up the surrounding air particles as it head for the target. It hit in the middle of both men and the vacuum of air like particles explode in colourless momentum. The agents were thrown apart.

  Agent Mcneal hit the wall before his body comes to a rest. His partner’s body flies to the glass and lay still on his back. I hear the cracks from the glass and an idea comes to mind. I quickly aim at the glass and press the trigger. The glass burst and shattered into pieces by the same effect. I turn away from the window while I shield my face with my hands from the flying pieces of volatile shards.

  My third enemy was on the run while she shields her face. She was getting closer. Hesitatingly I aim at her but the moving target becomes harder to shoot. She quickly throws the katana at me. It hit the gun snatching it off my hand. I quickly move sideways in order not to resist the strong momentum of the sword. At a near miss, the sword carries on and come to a halt in the wall behind me. I remind myself that she was stuck. She left her weapon unattended and stuck in the wall.

  The katana lady hit me with her open palm in my neck. I hold my neck and try to breath. She follows her next move by exerting and executing a jump knee technic in my face. Off guard I fall on my butt. She then delivers a side kick to the side of my face. I was thrown off the ground, land on the mat and roll to the edge of the ledge where the broken glass laid shattered and scattered.

  Pieces of shard cut through my hands, arms and feet. I glance at the scary dark bottom fills with hovering traffics. I look at my nemesis as she shakes her head backward allowing her hair to flow backward. She ran towards me. I try to stand on my feet. I got hit by a flying kick to my belly and I lost my sense of balance. I fall backward but my instincts for survival reach out for the edge of the floor. One of my hands caught the edge of the ledge as I greedily scrounge for support.

  ‘It’s a long way down. Isn’t it? It could have been simple but you chose that way! Tell me, who came to visit you? Was it someone from the past? Was there someone else? Tell me the truth and I shall save you from this madness of pain.’ The katana lady promised under pretence as he stares at me with deep cold eyes.

  Suspended I glance downward to take notice of my surroundings. It feels as if the end was near. I began to lose all sense of hope. Faith and hope was all that keep me going. Rain pours down from the night sky.

  She was close to the ledge, ‘Come on you can’t hold on forever it’s going to be slippery. You can’t hold on forever.’

  Underneath my hands tiny shards of glass pierce my hands as both bare my weight. Rain drizzles down on me. I was wet and blood stain water from underneath my hands drop in my face. My hands were in agony. Fatigue muscles from my arms drive my moral down. Underneath my feet it felt like sharp needle pain. I had to find survival alternatives.

  From where she stands I could see that she was bleeding. The fragments had found its way underneath her feet as well. Her face bled of cutting bruise. The wind blows her long silky hair backward. The beautiful warrior stares at me in agony and fatigue.

  14

  From below I could hear the approaching sound of roaring engine adjusting its height. I stare hard through the darkness. A hovering vehicle slowly ascends stealthily. Its light was switch off. It was approximately feet away from the main wall. With the help of my leg I push myself away from the wall but allowing myself to fall straight instead on my back. I land on the roof of the vehicle. The fall and the cut of glass from underneath knocks me off my legs. The agony was strong that I cried aloud as I slip and end up on my belly.

  ‘Get in!’ I heard a voice from the driver said.

  One side of the vehicle’s door automatically slide open. In fear I take a peek of the blazing ground of traffic and the buildings natural lights. My elbows and the inside of my knees became my sole survivor. Under precise precaution I use them to crawl down onto the bonnet and lead my way to the passenger’s side. The vehicle slowly moves sideways before joining the crowd of fast lane air mobiles. The door closes.

  I glance at my driver and ask, ‘Who are you?’

  ‘My name is of no importance. The most important task is to get you to safety. Hold on, I got to check in… HQ this is C2, the package is in. I repeat the package is in.’

  The katana lady had lost her suspect. She was fuming and deep down she knew that her employer would not be happy. She had seen Phil risking his life by taking the leap of success. She had witness him crawling in. She had felt the urgent need and duty to react.

  She urgently leaps for her ninjutsu boots. She hurriedly bounces towards his two dead colleagues and greedily grabs one of their nearby guns. She quickly unscrews the edge of the tilt of her katana. She turns it upside down and got hold of a small disc shape device. She quickly removes some fragments underneath her feet. She wears the boots and immediately head for the open space where a wall of transparent glass once stood erect. She stares at her getaway package and says, ‘comms genesis!’

  ‘Communication genesis available and online…. Apologies for partial distortion of the hologram’s interactive graphics,’ a robotic voice from the speaker of the device reacted.

  ‘Computer, display data as it is,’ she complied.

  Explosion of shattered glass had damage part of the set of the holography machines which provide the three dimensional image. For the katana lady this was an acceptable and critical issue. As long as she could hear her employer she knew that she was back in business.

  Partial hologram image of someone appears near her. The set of hologram from the wall portrays the live interactive image of someone. The image was visible from the bottom up to the waist. In front of her the small device mimics the high definition image.

  ‘Did he speak?’ the voice from the hologram image asked.

  ‘No, he managed to evade us. Urgently requesting for immediate assistance and excessive force to contain the situation?’

  ‘Granted but keep him alive to extract the information before getting rid of him. And once he’s done his part make him vanish without a trace.’

  Concern about the escape of her suspect she says, ‘One more thing, I need re-enforcement and should be by air. I shall be waiting and hurry…’

  ‘Enforcement is already on its way as we speak,’ the voice from the computer said as the distort hologram disappears.

  The katana lady urgently limps to the edge of the ledge. The hovering vehicle was level to the floor she was on. This was an advantage as it made it easy to aim. It was getting away. Afar it was trying to vanish among the fast moving vehicles. She aims the we
apon at the hovering vehicle. She kneels down. Control her breathing to prevent the rise and fall of her weapon.

  She made herself comfortable in the kneeling position. She brought her breathing to a halt. The aiming shot was ready. She slowly squeezes the trigger until the slack was gone.

  Beyond the rigidity of the trigger there shall be chaos, she considered.

  Further at the edge of the ledge I could see the katana lady. The wind wildly blows her hair backward. She had a weapon pointing at us. Without hesitation she presses the trigger. Distorting air particles head for our vehicle. The door on my side takes in the effects of the volatile external force.

  Instinct made me drive my head in between my legs and warn my driver, ‘Incoming!’

  Above me I could hear the side window burst and shatter into pieces as they fall on my back. An immense impact from the blast of air pushes the door inward. Out of control the airmobile vibrate violently and dive downwards. I sit properly and secure myself in a seat belt. Blue, visible electrons flow on the body of the airmobile and give out spark as they collide.

  ‘Emergency, defect with the flight mode,’ the computer aboard informed us.

  ‘Emergency landing is the only way to save ourselves!’ The driver cried out nervously. He point at the luminous sight on the body and carry on, ‘do not attempt to put your hands outside to touch it as you shall be electrocuted.’

  I pitied him as a fresh open gash became visible with red fluid seeping out. I had to ask, ‘Are you ok?’

  ‘My face may need stitching but I shall survive,’ he calmly said.

  He guided the defect airmobile through the traffic of mobile lights. Near misses of accidents were in every direction that our airmobile moves. Most horn as they pass by. Warning us how close we were -of endangering the lives of other drivers and passengers.

  Our car snake its way continuously at a certain height as it drastically lost altitude. Then hold at a low height for a while. Traces of smokes starts to come from the left side of the engine which struggle to navigate us through the new obstacles of the nearby buildings. The machine went downward from my side.

  ‘Auto pilot take over for emergency landing!’ My driver barked an uneasy order to the on board computer.

  ‘Request granted but safety not guaranteed.’ The computer within the machine responded.

  The mysterious sword lady keeps her eyes on her suspect’s airmobile. Though it was far from her she was quite delighted and sure of her shot. She knew that they shall eventually fall from the sky. Moving further was impossible for them.

  Soon she would capture him and his confederate. Feeling good about herself she smirks at them. She wasn’t bother even if the strong wind was wildly blowing her long black hair and clothes. Her suspect’s getaway had been amazing and unforeseen.

  Rain starts to pour down heavily and at the horizon lightening flickers. Thunder roars loudly and overpowering the low noise of the passing traffic. An air-bike move close to where the mysterious sword lady was. She removes her sword from the wall.

  The four gravitational engines located at each corner of the air bike twist and release blue flames downward. It remains still as if floating on air. Its biker wear a black waterproof coat engrave with the illuminating word police at the back.

  The black visor of his helmet faces upwards. He then asks, ‘Seeking for assistance Ma’am.’

  ‘Indeed I was and how about a lift?’ The katana lady asks as she back up, made a quick sprint towards the officer and jump on his air-bike. She lost sight of the gun as it went down.

  She falls in between the rear engines and the officer. The only bare hand which was free had grabbed the seat firmly while the other one secures her sword. She felt burning sensation of pain shot from underneath her feet. She sucks it in.

  The officer retaliate by asking, ‘what are you doing?!’

  She climbs on the back seat and orders, ‘take it inside!’

  ‘Are you mental?!’

  ‘If I was a psychopath would I be working in the public sector of high security protocol important for our national interest?’

  The officer did as requested of him. He cautiously rides the air-bike through the broken glass. Inside, the gravitational engine set the mat on fire as it rotate to provide stability and turns. The Fire alarm comes to life. Water from the ceiling burst open.

  ‘You know what is requested of you?’ She said as she pin point at him and to the white and semi charcoal mat.

  ‘Are you kidding?’

  ‘I’m not,’ the katana lady said as she applies pressure at the officer’s neck underneath the helmet and throws him off the bike.

  Neatly with an agile move she twirls her hair at the back. Then she drives a thin and light Japanese dagger from the inside hidden pocket of her top. She inserts it in her hair. From the opposite side of her hidden pocket she removes another dagger. Without delays she criss-cross it with the other one. Her hair was no longer obstructing her vision.

  The officer surprisingly found himself off his bike and on the wet floor. He looks at her in disbelief as she carefully rides out avoiding the shards at the edges of the wall. He wipes water off his face though the sprinklers from the ceiling still spatters and sprinkles it down. He searches for danger and made sure that he was aware of his surroundings. Making sure that it was no longer on fire.

  In the rain outside, she vanishes through the flows of traffic and under the cover of darkness.

  The water from the ceiling extinguishes the fire. Smokes and the smell of charcoal mat covers part of the floor. The alarm automatically went off as life was no longer a threat. After all, the water from the ceiling had achieved its goal. The officer stands up and ran to the edge of the ledge as the water stops.

  My guts feel as if it was being ripped from the inside of my body. At first I was struck by panic. Then my body immediately adapt with the shocking reality. The madness of the fall which we had miraculously survives. A chill of mortal fear prepares me for what was coming. Death, as I stare at the incoming hard ground of the tar road.

  Suddenly and unexpectedly the automobile slightly flip back to its normal travelling position. It went in between two floating automobiles moving in different direction and hit one on its roof. I glimpse backwards and notice the collide vehicles moving downward hitting another one below. One of the air vehicles caught fire at its rear’s gravitational engine.

  We bounce off to another automobile and spin off on the tar road hitting an oncoming vehicle. Immediately I lost control of my body as it head for the dashboard. There goes my face, I thought. My head bounce off a soft white cushion of air bags forcing my body backwards into the sit.

  15

  The katana lady nearly lost her suspects. She had furiously rod the bike faster than the requesting air speed and break the law. The siren was on. At the front and back of the air bike the blue and red light flickers with enormous speed. She believes that the National security was at stake. It’s her job to react to high security breach. The mole must be remove, she thought, as she ride dangerously over and under nearby airmobile of different size.

  She had followed them to where she last seen them disappeared. Then her instinct took over. Burning air of fumes had forced her to slow down and took scent. Like an animal she smells the burning air. She follows it. Then the scent grew stronger and she was moving through thick cloud of burning fumes.

  She accelerates and found one of their navigational engines on fire. Under extreme violent their airmobile was spinning out of control and went on to the opposite side. Oncoming vehicle on the other side slams through it. Her suspect’s vehicle flows with its rear skyward hitting another airmobile moving above them.

  The katana lady decelerates the air-bike as impact of the blast tosses away both vehicles in her direction. She made the air-bike dive away from both as they miss her by inches away. Both vehicles collide, crash, explode and burn towards the ground. Her suspect’s vehicle ends up in a building. Without delay she comes
to a halt.

  The airmobile was no longer moving. Some sort of familiar siren was loud on and water was pissing down from the ceiling. My head was buried in the cushion airbags. My driver deflates it, turns his back on me, kicks the door open and grabs me out for safety.

  Unaware where I was I had to rely on him. Worse of all my left legs was swollen and in agony. I take a brief look at the door on my side while he presses a button inside the vehicle which raises a secret compartment at the back seat. He had laid me to rest with the torn front of the airmobile. The water from the ceiling had extinguished the fire from the gravitational engine which was smashed and dented. Patiently I limp while I notice drips of blood on the other side of my face. A second cut from my face.

  My driver comes out of the back of the vehicle with what appears to be a mask in one hand and an antiseptic tube in the other. He quickly hands over the mask to me. Without question I take it. Under mute appeal he squeezes the tube on one of his finger.

  He turns the side of his face which had a bleeding gash towards me and says, ‘It shall heal our wounds.’

  He exerts it in his gash. His face demonstrates agony. He takes it in and swallows the pain. Miraculously the blood stops flowing and the gash close. My driver and saviour squeezes for more.

  ‘Now yours need to heal as we’ve got a long way to go,’ he assured me as he removes a small knife from his coat and cut through my jeans. He exposes my swollen thigh, exerts the antiseptic cream on it and the cuts on my face. Then he carries on, ‘It shall heal the outside but not the fractured bones if you do have one. Still it shall help to minimise the swollen and block the pain.’

  There was an instance burning sensation on the cuts on my face and my swollen leg as I feel the antiseptic’s reaction. He was right it seems my left leg was broken. The swollen diminish but the inside was on fire each time I lay my feet to rest.