The Gatekeepers (The Survivors Book Eight) Read online

  She nodded, glancing toward me. “We can’t separate this family again, not so soon. If you’re going to help the Gatekeepers, let me help too. I’m one of them.”

  “Maybe we can leave Jules with Nat. I’m sure she’d love to spend time with her goddaughter. They might not be home for a few days yet, though,” I said.

  “No, Dean. I’m not leaving her side,” Mary said. It had taken months for me to convince my wife to let a sitter watch our daughter after she was born, and even then it was never for more than a handful of hours.

  “We can’t bring Jules on a Gatekeeper rescue mission,” I said flatly, and took another drink.

  “Then you aren’t going,” she retorted.

  “I know I only made it home yesterday, but for some reason, the others look to me for answers. I don’t understand it any more than you do,” I told her, being totally truthful. I’d never asked for a leadership role, and at this moment, I wished I’d never accepted one.

  “You have to be kidding me, Dean. After everything, you still don’t understand. We stopped the invasion… you kept the Bhlat from destroying Earth, you stopped the Iskios from decimating everything, and then outsmarted Lom of Pleva. And don’t forget about creating an Alliance of Worlds…” Mary was sticking out a finger for each point.

  I had to defend myself, to deflect the praise. “I didn’t do any of those things alone.”

  “I’m not saying it to make you cocky or proud. I’m only listing facts. You want to know why people are drawn to you? That’s why. And you did it all with a smile and more care for the people around you than anyone else would have. You have a rare trait: empathy.” She leaned over, resting her head on my shoulder. “I understand how they all love you, because I love you more than any of them.”

  I touched her chin and kissed her, tasting the coffee on her lips. “You’re the best, you know that? So we bring Jules along. This is going to be fun. I suppose she needs an EVA, then…”

  “Done. It’s already in her closet. Call it mother’s intuition.” Mary smiled at me and clinked my cup with hers.

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course she has one. Why wouldn’t she? She is a Parker, after all.”

  “Come on, Jules. Time for breakfast. We have a big day ahead of us,” Mary told our daughter, who was lying in the grass staring up at the sky.

  ____________

  The lander settled inside Terran Five. We were going to leave for Haven using the device from J-NAK the robot soon, but I had a stop to make first. The device allowed us to uncross the pathways in the portal stones so we could choose our targets, and I now wished I’d bartered for a couple more of the things. I needed to find out if Clare could duplicate it.

  “You sure she’s going to be there?” Mary asked.

  “I’m not sure. I asked Leonard and Clare to meet us at Isabelle’s house,” I said. Maggie ran out from the lander, pulling her leash taut as I held the other end. Mary had Jules in her arms, and we left our gear inside the ship.

  Someone honked from the parking lot outside the landing pad, and I recognized James’ familiar face behind the windshield. “Looks like we have a ride.” I grinned and laughed at the scenario. I couldn’t imagine making this trip with our whole family. I only hoped Isabelle and James didn’t mind watching Maggie for us while we were gone. They had a dog now, and the two of them got along, so I didn’t expect any issues.

  “James,” Mary said, hugging my old best friend and now brother-in-law. “Great to see you. I only wish we were staying to visit.”

  “Likewise.” James came in and hugged me, picking me up as he did so. Maggie barked at him playfully as he set me down. “Dean. Everything went well?”

  “You bet. Magnus and Nat are home, and that’s all that matters. Thanks for seeing us on such short notice, and I’m sorry about using your house as a meeting place. I hate to intrude.”

  “Dean, our home is your home. You sister is going to explode when she sees you,” James said with a big smile. “Come on, let’s go.”

  It was morning, only three hours after we woke up, and traffic was light as James drove us toward his house in our new mass-produced version of a four-by-four vehicle. Maggie sat in my lap, and Jules faced backwards in her car seat. I wondered if Mary was going to make her use that in a space ship.

  We pulled into their driveway, and I was once again impressed with how far our race had come after overcoming the departure from Earth. Isabelle was a veterinarian, and they were near the outskirts of town, where they could have quick access to the farming community. Their house was small but quaint, not unlike mine and Mary’s.

  Another vehicle was parked outside, and I recognized the government label on the window, telling me this was Leonard’s ride. I hoped Clare was here too.

  Before I knew it, we were at the doorway, and Jules ran inside, Maggie close after her.

  “Dean, it’s been far too long,” my sister’s voice said, and my eyes widened as she approached.

  “You’re pregnant!” I shouted, surprised by the bump of her belly. I pulled her close before holding her at arm’s length to survey the new version of my sister. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Isabelle glanced over at Mary, who smiled at me. “I wanted to tell you in person, but it seems like you’re a hard one to keep track of these days. Mary knew, of course,” Isabelle said.

  “Congratulations, you guys. I’m so excited for you,” I said, and we closed the door behind us.

  Clare and Leonard were inside the kitchen, sitting at the table, and we took a few moments to greet one another. It was like a small family reunion. Leonard seemed so much older, and he was starting to grow a beard. I smoothed my own facial hair without thinking and patted him on the shoulder.

  “How’s it going there, Councilman Leonard?” I asked.

  Leonard gave me a grin. “Great. Tell us what happened.”

  Isabelle poured us all coffees, and we sat there for a good hour, going over the events of the past few months. I told them about the Inlor joining the Alliance, and about Sergo breaking the Relocator. Leonard had used it with me so long ago, and his eyes went wide as I told the tale. Mary had heard it the night before, but she gagged a couple times as I described the slugs, and everyone was creeped out by the story of the Collector.

  “I can’t believe you found another Theos. Karo must be thrilled,” Clare said.

  “He is. Wait until you meet Ableen. The two of them together is quite a sight,” I told them. I pulled the device from J-NAK out and set it on the table, sliding it toward Clare. “We need more of these, but I have to take this one with me today. Did you bring the scanner?”

  Clare was our best engineering mind, and she was behind most of the amazing inventions on our newly occupied planets. She was actively trading technologies with other Alliance members, and we were now hundreds of years advanced in so many ways.

  “I brought it.” She took the portal Modifiers and motioned for me to follow her. We ended up in the living room, where a large steel briefcase sat on the coffee table. Jules was on the floor watching a cartoon, and she barely noticed we existed. The two dogs lay on the floor on either side of my daughter, chewing treat bones.

  She opened the case and powered it up. “This will scan it as thoroughly as we can. It should allow me to comprehend the functions and duplicate them.”

  “How long will it take to replicate?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “We’ll have to test it a few times first.” She stared firmly at me.

  I understood what she meant. Someone would have to use the duplicate Modifier on a portal, hoping it took them to the right target symbol. “Is there any other way?”

  “I’ll see what I can do. There might be a way. Leave it with me.” She put it back into its case. “Are you okay, Dean?”

  “Sure. Why do you ask?”

  Clare was never one to keep from sharing her thoughts. “You look a little run down. Can you take a week first? I might have another one of these r
eady by then.”

  “No. Sarlun’s expecting our arrival, and the others are waiting for us on Haven too. I’ll be fine. I can rest when every last Gatekeeper is home safely, and we’ve either shut the portals off or fixed them.” I hated the idea of not having the portals, though we’d be able to utilize other technology, like the gateway sticks I’d obtained from Fontem’s collection.

  “Promise me something,” she said, all hints of kidding aside.

  “Go for it.”

  “When this adventure is over, take time for you and your family. I know you’re being pulled in ten different directions at all times. You have homes on three planets, for the love of God. You need to ground yourself somewhere and watch that lovely daughter of yours grow up,” Clare said.

  My chin lowered to my chest. “I know, Clare. I want that too. Thanks for looking out for me.”

  “Anytime.”

  “How’s Nick?” I asked, hoping they’d continued to be an item. Her expression answered the question.

  “He’s great. Better than great. We’re living together, you know,” Clare said, and sadly, I wasn’t even sure if I did know that. I needed to spend more time with my friends after this mission.

  “Good. You two make a wonderful couple,” I told her.

  “How’s Slate? Is he holding up okay?” Clare asked, referring to the fact that his sole girlfriend since we knew him, Denise, had turned out to be a version of a Kraski-human hybrid that Lom of Pleva had used as a plant.

  “You know Zeke. He hides his pain behind a wall of muscles and jokes. I think he’s hanging in there, though.” Slate was my best friend. I had a lot of real relationships around me, but there was a bond between him and me that went beyond what Magnus and I had. He was my brother by choice, and that made the connection even stronger.

  “Tell him I said hi,” Clare said. She closed the case up and latched it. “Leave this with me. I’ll work as quickly as I can.”

  I clasped her shoulder and smiled. “Thanks, Clare. Can you believe how long it’s been since we were sent from New Mexico to chase after Terrance and Leslie?”

  She laughed, small lines forming at the edges of her eyes. “It feels like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it? In some ways, it is.”

  Isabelle poked her head into the room and asked if anyone wanted another coffee. I couldn’t say no, and I checked to make sure Jules was occupied. She hummed along with some song on the movie, and I left her there, heading for the kitchen. The dogs were now beside each other, my smaller cocker curled up near the golden retriever.

  Mary appeared ready to leave, the impending journey making her anxious. The last time she’d gone on a mission, it had ended with her being possessed by the Iskios, and after breaking free from them, we’d been stranded on Sterona for months. She hadn’t said as much, but it was clear those thoughts were on her mind.

  I took the hint. “Maybe I should pass on the coffee. We have to travel to Haven soon, and then on to Shimmal.”

  Isabelle and James looked sullen at the words.

  “Dean, they’re happy to look after Maggie while we’re gone,” Mary advised.

  “Thank you, guys. Poor Maggie doesn’t even know what house is hers these days,” I told them.

  Leonard crossed the room and whispered in my ear. “Can I have five minutes before you leave? I wanted to talk to you about something.” He locked gazes with me. “Actually, how about I drive you to your lander?”

  That didn’t bode well. “Sure. No problem.”

  We said our goodbyes, and once everyone was done hugging and shaking hands, I carried Jules to Leonard’s vehicle, strapping her into the car seat. Maggie barked from the entrance, but the smart dog knew what was happening. It didn’t keep me from feeling like I was once again abandoning someone.

  I sat up front with Leonard and waved to my family as we pulled out of the drive.

  “What do you need to tell us, Leonard?” Mary asked from the back seat. Jules was chatting nonsense beside her, pointing out the rear window.

  “It’s… I have to show you more than tell you,” Leonard said, and I didn’t like the sound of his ominous words. We talked about mundane things as we rode, me asking him about his job and him telling us the glorious things the council had been up to. It really was improving at all times, and with all the new Terran sites coming up, the quality of life for everyone was constantly increasing. Earth also was being rebuilt, and many people had already begun to colonize again. Only now, with the portals failing, there were some families separated and anxious to be reunited. We did have large vessels that could traverse the distance, but it was a few months’ travel, even in hyperdrive.

  A rumbling diverted my attention, and I tilted my head up to see one of the hovertrains cruise through the air above us. “How many do we have now?” I asked Leonard.

  “The trains? We have lines going to each of the original five Terran sites and are building the rest, using three main sites as our hubs. It’s pretty impressive. We can move supplies and people like never before. And because of their hovering, we aren’t disrupting the ground transportation, which is busier all the time.

  “Did you ever picture this when you first arrived on New Spero?” Leonard asked.

  The colony had been here for a few years before we’d arrived, and it was a bit of a ramshackle town when we saw it. Now, years later, it was impressive; as advanced as many cities from old Earth had been. In the hovertrains’ case, even more impressive.

  “You and the rest of the Council are doing an amazing job. When are you going to take over as mayor of one of the sites?” Mary asked from behind Leonard.

  I noticed the young man flush a little at the comment. “Well… no one really knows this, but Mayor Patel has offered me Terran Seventeen.”

  “And you’re going to take it?” I asked.

  He nodded as he pulled toward the landing site where our lander was awaiting our return. “I am. We have something special here, Dean and Mary. You go bring home the Gatekeepers, figure this stuff out, and I’ll stick around, making sure our people are tended to.”

  I was so proud of the man Leonard had become. “You had to show us something?”

  Leonard tapped the nav screen, and a keyboard screen projected from it. Leonard typed on the holographic lights, and I glanced over at Mary. This technology was new to me, but I wasn’t surprised I hadn’t seen it before.

  “About two and a half months ago, only days before you went off on your mission to find Magnus, we caught this on film outside Terran Five.” Leonard hit play, and a video displayed on the nav screen. Mary was in the center now, leaning forward to see the small monitor.

  A man emerged from the portal room, and we watched the video feed from each camera angle as he slowly walked on the pathways and to the exit. He was stumbling around, his footing looking awkward. He stopped, turned his head from side to side, and trudged forward, heading for the direction of the town.

  “What did we just see?” Mary asked.

  “We’re not sure. At first glance, it doesn’t seem too strange. But this was around the time the portals started acting up. Let me show you something, and then you can tell me what you think.” Leonard scanned the footage, pausing it on a specific shot inside the caves. He zoomed in, and that was when I saw the snout.

  “It’s a Shimmali man,” I whispered. “And that’s a Gatekeepers logo.”

  Leonard nodded. “He is, and that is.”

  “Who is he?” I asked.

  “We don’t know. We haven’t been able to transmit information to Sarlun fast enough without the portals. That’s not it, though.” He fast forwarded to the part where the man stopped outside and zoomed again.

  We watched as he turned his head, his snout and mouth tilted up. “He’s smelling the air,” Mary said, and as soon as she said it, I saw it too.

  “Through his EVA helmet?” I asked.

  Leonard shrugged. “Appears that way.”

  I noticed something else in the shot. “Is tha
t blood on his uniform?” I asked, pointing to the right shoulder.

  “That’s what we’re thinking,” Leonard said.

  “So what are we supposed to do with this? Where did he come from?” Mary asked.

  “We don’t know, and we don’t know where he went either. No one seems to have noticed him.” Leonard shut the video off.

  “But? I sense there’s more,” I told him.

  “There is. People have been going missing.”

  “People? How many?” I pressed.

  “Ten or so. We’ve had a few missing persons over the years, but nothing like this. No sign of any of them. The local PD found blood outside town, on the far side near the foothills. They tested it, and it matched one of the missing women’s DNA,” Leonard said.

  “You’re telling us you think this man might be stalking Terran Five, killing people?” Mary’s voice cracked, and Jules started humming, a soft unknown tune. It was a little unnerving.

  “That’s what I’m saying. We need to find out who this man is, and why he arrived through the portals in a Gatekeeper EVA. I’ve sent the video and still shots to your arm console,” Leonard said, and I glanced at my bare forearm.

  “I’ll slip it on later,” I told him. I only wore it when I was in the field, not around the house. “Then we’ll show Sarlun. I have a feeling he’ll be able to identify the man. I really wish there was a way to track the portals better. If only we could determine where the man arrived from.”

  “That’s beyond you and me. The Theos are the only ones that might know, and Karo said he doesn’t have the knowledge,” Leonard said.

  “Wait… what did you say?” I asked.

  “It’s beyond you and me…”

  “That’s it. Maybe Regnig can help with that. We’ve read all we could on the Theos from him, and gained some valuable insight into how the Theos stored themselves into the stones.” I’d even witnessed the event through the eyes of a Theos when I’d first met Karo. “But Regnig might have details on how to track the source planets and destinations of the stones. If he can do that, we’ll be able to find out where the missing Gatekeepers traveled to. It might also allow us to find out where our Shimmali friend here arrived from.” I tapped the blank nav screen with a finger.