The Gatekeepers (The Survivors Book Eight)

by Nathan Hystad

  With no choice, I returned to the forests. Things had changed. The stars above never seemed to grow as bright as before. Seasons grew longer, until there was but one season for each rotation around the star far above. Was there more out there for me? Could I leave this world behind? I dared not try.

  I was the mist.

  Dean Parker rose inside me; his consciousness pushed away the fog of the Misters and took control of me once again. I was no longer the mist alone, but a combination of Dean and the entity.

  I feel your pain. I understand. I could sense the danger from the entity. They were at their wits’ end, and my friends were in real danger. They didn’t intend to let another creature leave them behind. Not this time. I had to convince them otherwise.

  I didn’t receive an answer in return, but I could feel the oppressive nature of the Misters threaten to take over again. I chided myself for giving them a vessel. This may have been a mistake.

  I fed off their biggest regret: never attempting to leave the atmosphere. They were too afraid. I truly had no idea if the mist would survive in space, but I had to try.

  You are correct. There is far more than your tiny world to see. Their emotions changed. I felt it now: hope, curiosity, desire for something else. Seek the stars. They await your arrival.

  The mood changed, and I felt them begin to unwind before half of them fought their own kind. Some of them wanted to devour me, eat me from the inside out, for I spoke lies and couldn’t be trusted. I fought back, pushing images of worlds I’d seen from above, memories of traveling through space through the mist.

  This went on for minutes, maybe hours, and eventually, they were convinced I spoke the truth. They started to life from the ground, and I expected to stay behind, but they carried me with them. I tried to shout, begging them to stop, but my calls went unheeded. I could see nothing beneath me and felt no ground under my feet.

  Finally, one Mister broke apart from the group, grasping on to me and tugging me toward the ground. I was clear of the dense fog now, and I fell ten feet to the ground in a heap, staring up as the fog pooled apart and lifted up from the trees. It rose higher and higher until it blotted out any sunlight. Then it was gone, past the canopy two thousand feet above.

  I was no longer the mist. I was Dean Parker.

  I didn’t wait to see if it returned. Instead, I ran, leaving the tents behind. My legs were wobbly after the experience, and I wondered how much of that story I would tell Mary. She was already going to be angry with me for risking myself like that, but it had worked. At the end of the day, I knew that wasn’t going to be a selling feature for my argument.

  I didn’t catch up to them, and I wondered how long I’d been there with the Misters.

  Slate was on lookout, and I spotted him propped against a tree, holding his gun up. There was no longer any mist in the vicinity, and the visibility was far improved.

  “Dean!” he shouted, running toward me. He clasped my shoulders and dragged me into a quick hug.

  “Everyone okay?” I asked him, peering around him to see the group waiting near the portal table.

  “They’re fine. The Misters followed but disappeared shortly after. Should I even ask what you did?” he asked.

  I didn’t answer as we walked together. Jules was already coming toward me, and I waved at Mary, who had a look of relief on her face. I saw Karo already preparing the portal, adding the Modifier to it. It was time to leave.

  Nine

  We arrived at Haven, and when the light dimmed all the way, our entire group swayed on their feet. Weemsa fell to the ground of Haven’s portal room.

  “What the heck?” Slate asked. “I’ve never experienced a portal trip like that.”

  My head was spinning, and I rested a hand on the table. Jules plopped down to sit on her butt, but she didn’t comment or cry out.

  Mary spoke, saying what I was feeling. “The portals. They’re struggling to take us where we need to go.”

  Ableen’s gray face was whiter than normal, and she nodded along. “Our people won’t last long,” she said, and I thought about the remaining stranded Gatekeepers. There were three more teams out there, including Polvertan of the Motrill and Dreb from the Bhlat. They were next on my agenda.

  “Dean, let’s give it a night to rest,” Mary told me. I could tell from the look in her eyes that it wasn’t a request.

  I nodded in assent. “Yes. Maybe the portal needs it too.” Slate had already helped Weemsa to his feet.

  “Sorry you guys have to stay on Haven for the time being,” I advised the two Gatekeepers.

  “We’re just happy to be rescued. Thank you for finding us.” Loo-six smiled wide, the taut skin on her face pulling even tighter.

  “We wouldn’t leave you stranded, and we aren’t going to leave the others out there. Right, team?” I asked.

  Karo answered. “Right.” He smiled at Ableen, but she was far more affected by the Theos within the stone than the rest of us.

  Jules was on her feet again, reaching toward the crystal. “Papa. Help,” she said again.

  “What’s with her?” I asked Mary, who lifted our daughter up. Jules was stretching out toward the crystal beneath the clear table.

  “I don’t know. She must be able to sense what Ableen does. She wants to help the Theos,” Mary said.

  “Let’s move out of here and call it a day,” I said, following the rest of the group out of the room. With a glance at the dark table and crystal, I shut the door behind me, glad to be done with the first leg of the mission. I only wished it was over now.

  ____________

  It was bizarre being filled with a mist entity one hour, and a few later, being inside your own penthouse on Haven, showering in a luxurious bathroom. I told Mary the same, and she slid her arms around my waist, pulling me close.

  “You can’t keep running head-first into danger forever, Dean. It will catch up to you,” she advised. She was right, but I didn’t want to admit it out loud.

  “I have a clean record so far,” I said, wiping a blob of soap off her nose with a finger. Jules was sound asleep in the next room. I’d closed the window coverings all the way, since it was only early evening here. Traveling around through portals to strange worlds broke our regular routine. I had no idea how long it had been since we’d had a few hours of sleep at Regnig’s library.

  “I understand why you do it, but you worry me. You’re too reckless,” Mary told me.

  “Is that why you demanded to come?” I asked, hoping for the truth.

  “That’s part of the reason,” she admitted. “I thought maybe you’d be less willing to stick your neck out if we were there, but it didn’t seem to work.”

  I laughed. “Silly Mary. You being there only makes me want to protect the group more. I’d do anything to make sure you two are safe,” I said, blinking water from my eyes.

  “Don’t forget we need you. It won’t do us any good if you’re killed by an alien mist entity, okay?” I knew she was worried, joking away her true fears, and I didn’t press her on it. We all dealt with things differently.

  My communicator buzzed from its resting spot on the sink. I shrugged to Mary before stepping out of the shower, dripping all over the floor as I grabbed the device.

  “Leonard?” I said into it, putting it on speaker.

  “Dean, nice to hear your voice. Everything good?” he asked.

  “We managed to rescue two Gatekeepers and are at home on Haven for the night,” I told him.

  “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.”

  I heard his voice catch. “What is it?”

  “I don’t really have any evidence, but something strange is going on,” he told me. Mary was watching from the shower, craning her neck to hear Leonard’s voice.

  “You know that Shimmali man?”

  “Yes,” he answered.

  “He’s one of the Gatekeepers. He was on our list from the missing teams,” I told him.

  A pause. “Really? That makes t
his even more peculiar.”

  “Did you catch him? Was it anything to do with him?” I asked.

  Leonard sighed. “We have no clue. One of Terran Five’s landers went missing. The pilot and other guard are gone too. They were on patrol of the city.”

  Each Terran site had a ship in the air and two vehicles on the ground surrounding the cities at all times. If one went missing, then something was afoot. “Where did they track it to?”

  “That’s the thing. We don’t record flight paths on them, because they only travel in circles. It wasn’t worth the storage, and no one was looking at that data. When they realized the lander was missing, they tried to locate it, but they came up empty-handed,” Leonard said.

  “And you think this is related to our friend Soloma?” I asked, using the man’s name.

  “It has to be,” he reasoned.

  “We have a new device, one that allows us to track the destination to and from a particular portal stone. We should be able to find out where he came from. It only works for a limited time period,” I told Leonard. Mary was still in the shower, listening.

  “Maybe it’s been too long?” Leonard asked over the communicator.

  “I don’t think so. We tracked the first two Gatekeepers from Bazarn. I think it’ll work. Let’s test the theory after we’ve tracked the next four groups. Then we’ll be done,” I told him, leaving out the fact that the portals might be useless by then.

  “Sounds good. I wanted to fill you in. I’ll reach out tomorrow if I can… and Dean…”

  “Yes?”

  “Good luck with bringing everyone home. It’s what you do best,” he told me, and I smiled.

  “Thanks, Leonard. We’ll talk soon. Keep an eye out for the lander, and if you find anything else out, send word.” We ended the communication, and Mary stuck her head back under the water.

  “Now where were we?” I asked, tiptoeing to the shower. My hair was covered in suds, and Mary gave me a disapproving stare.

  “Aren’t you worried about what’s going on at home? The missing people, the stolen lander?” she asked.

  “If I had to worry about every detail on every planet humans are now calling home, I’d never sleep and my head wouldn’t stop aching. Let me deal with one thing at a time,” I said, forming an idea. “Maybe you should take Jules and head home. You know, give the New Spero police a hand with the investigation.”

  Mary pulled me close and kissed me. “Nice try, but I don’t think so.”

  I briefly wondered if Magnus and Nat had landed on New Spero, before being distracted by more pressing matters.

  ____________

  The sunlight shone through our floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating Jules as she sat at the table, coloring in a paper book. Even though we had so much technology, I was glad to be able to share something basic with her. She stuck her tongue out while filling in the outline of a frog with a purple crayon. It wasn’t so far-fetched any longer. I thought there might be a purple toad race in the Alliance of Worlds.

  “Don’t forget to eat your toast, honey,” I told her, and she grabbed the slice with nut butter smeared across it and carefully ate it, making sure not to spill any crumbs on her picture. She was a troublemaker, but she sure had some particular quirks. She reminded me of myself.

  “Papa… where Mommy?” she asked, looking around the room.

  “Mommy’s sleeping.” Mary was dozing so soundly, I hadn’t the nerve to wake her an hour earlier when I’d heard Jules sneaking out of her big-girl bed.

  Jules appeared to contemplate this, and she set her half-eaten bread onto her plate and slid off the chair before heading down the hallway. I let her go, knowing Mary would want to be up anyway.

  A screen on the wall of the kitchen chimed softly, and the edges lit up with a faint orange glow. Someone was trying to reach me. It was our system of telephones on Haven. I didn’t mind the feature, but no one was ever able to hide their bedhead in the mornings.

  I activated it and saw Leslie’s image flash on the screen. I tapped ACCEPT, and was surprised to see Magnus’ mug on the other end.

  “Dean! Good to see you, brother,” he said.

  “Wait, you’re here? On Haven?” I asked, excited they’d made it.

  “You bet. Flew in yesterday, and Leslie and Terrance told us you were here. How are things?” he asked.

  I had so much to tell him, even though it had only been a short while ago that we were on Volim waiting to take a Padlog vessel to Haven. They’d left a few days after me, Magnus wanting to be sure all his Keppe warriors were evacuated before he would leave. “Do you guys have time for breakfast?” I asked, knowing Mary would love to see them and the kids. We needed to take action, and find Polvertan and Dreb next, but a couple of hours weren’t going to make much of a difference, not after three months.

  “We’d love that. Leslie’s on this health kick. Nothing but green stuff over here. Want to meet at the Diner?” he asked.

  He didn’t have to specify which Diner. There was only one on Haven that served good old-fashioned American cuisine, and it was quite the hot spot among the various alien races calling Haven home these days. Apparently, omelettes and grilled cheese sandwiches were now galaxy-class cuisines.

  “See you there in an hour. I’ll tell the others,” I said.

  Magnus grinned. “I’ll call Randy and set up the private room.”

  I gave him a thumbs-up, and the call ended.

  “Who was that?” Mary asked from the hallway.

  “Better get ready. We’re heading to the Diner to meet up with Magnus, Nat, and the others,” I said, and Jules ran from the bedroom, screaming happily.

  “I guess she’s into it,” Mary said, smiling at me from the doorway.

  ____________

  The Diner was busy, and I had no idea what day of the week it was. There was a calendar here, one not so different than Earth’s, but I rarely paid any attention to it. I was finding that living on three different planets created a massive problem for schedules, especially when each had days of varying length. I used my arm console to keep track of any appointments and made sure they threw me reminders with ample time to reschedule if needed.

  The reunion had been sweet, and after chatting outside the Diner for twenty minutes, our group took up the private suite above the dining room. The windows were pulled wide open, giving it an open-air feeling, and I was glad in Haven’s morning heat.

  Mary sat beside Natalia, and the kids were all piled in beside them. Jules and Patty were showing each other their dolls, while Dean sat there reading a paperback book. It was science fiction by the looks of it, and I smirked at his choice.

  “The kids look great. I’m glad we could meet up,” I told Magnus. Ableen was with our wives, and I noticed her glancing over to Karo. I wasn’t sure if my ancient friend knew it or not, but she was seeking his attention constantly.

  Leslie and Terrance were again visibly absent, and I knew we needed to find other people to assist them with the colony. They were putting too much strain on themselves.

  “Did you encounter any trouble making it home?” Karo asked Magnus.

  “Nothing too serious. Almost ran out of coffee. That would have been dangerous. Speaking of coffee, Slate, can you pass the carafe?” Magnus barked, and I pushed the cream over to the Scandinavian. After he poured a steaming cup, I filled mine up. “Tell me about the next job.”

  Slate poked at his food and set his fork beside his plate, taking this one. “Polvertan and Dreb left Haven right after we left. They didn’t know they’d be sent to some random world.”

  I quickly filled Magnus in about the thousands of portal destinations, and the women stopped talking to listen. Natalia tapped her finger on the table, giving her husband a glare.

  “Babe, I have to go. It’s Polvertan. You know how close we are with the Keppe now, and the Motrill are basically the same thing. We owe it to them all to rescue their prince.”

  “Bear in mind, Dean and I already rescued h
im once. Does that mean we’re awarded extra kudos for doing it again?” Slate asked with a smile.

  “We just got home,” Nat said. “We were literally in another dimension for two months. Can we take a breather?”

  Mary cleared her throat. “Tell me about it.”

  I could feel our wives collectively agreeing and felt pressured to react. “This is great. Magnus can come with me, and you guys can stay with the kids.” As soon as I said it, I almost ducked, knowing they were both shooting daggers at me with their eyes.

  “It is the best…” Karo started and I cut him off, moving my fingers over my throat in the universal “stop talking” motion. He heeded the advice.

  “What if they go to find this Polvertan, and then we go retrieve the others?” Ableen said over the silence.

  “What do you mean…” I started, but Mary spoke over me, a huge grin on her face.

  “Finally, someone’s talking some sense. What do you say? You four go on the next mission, and when you’re done, you stay with the kids while we go for the next couple groups,” Mary said.

  Natalia nodded, taking a bite of her toast. “This I can get behind. I don’t know when I last had some time away.”

  “Same with me. Dean was gone for a long time, and I could use the break.” Mary’s eyes danced as she met my stare. She was loving this.

  I stifled a cough. “You’re talking like this is a vacation. If you don’t recall, we were attacked by Misters less than a day ago!” I set my cup down too hard, and coffee spilled onto the tablecloth.

  “I know, but we were all fine. We did the job, and here we are having breakfast with our friends,” Mary replied.

  Even Ableen was laughing with the ladies, and I knew there was no point in arguing.

  Magnus leaned in. “Dean, we know they’re more than capable of taking care of themselves. It’s Nat and Mary.”

  I nodded, not sold on the idea of them traversing the dangerous portals in search of the missing Gatekeepers.

  I pushed out a deep breath. “It’s settled. We track this next pair, then it’s your turn.” I relented and the group relaxed. Discussions flowed freely to the recent events, and what Nat and Magnus were going to do now that their time captaining the Keppe vessel Fortune was over.