Gatekeeper

by Orr, Richard

“Are you going to be able to run a remote out here?”

  “Yes, sir, but it will be limited to simple commands from you and a low bandwidth connection for me.”

  “Good. I think I’m going to need the lights and I don’t want to lug everything else around.”

  The remote was basically a smallish, mechanical horse. It had four legs, a head-like apparatus with various instruments and lights attached. Several things could be mounted or stowed away on its skeletal body. The ‘hooves’ were actually devices that allowed the remote to stay attached to whatever surface it found itself on, inside or out of the station.

  The airlock door slid open as Diego was loading the remote with his gear.

  “Sir, there does not appear to be a complete atmosphere on the other side.”

  “Alright, into the airlock, you,” said Diego as he pointed at the remote.

  The remote strode into the airlock and Diego followed. They waited for a few moments as the atmosphere in the lock equalized with what remained on the other side in the station.

  Diego thought it was strange that there was a small amount of air in the station. Usually an atmosphere was not maintained. What would be the point? These substations were not visited very often. Diego had only been to this particular substation twice during his stay at the stargate. When he had gone before, systems on the substation had been restarted remotely. Was it possible that Marta had been here recently?

  The airlock door cycled open and Diego and the remote walked through into the chamber beyond. Lights from the remote illuminated the space in front and around them. Dust and small bits of garbage floated through the air. The gravity generators on the station were off. Magnets on Diego’s boots kept him attached to the floor.

  “There does not appear to be any sign of activity in this area, sir.”

  “See if you can get the remote to tap into the local area networks. I’d like to see if we can at least get them running off of local power.”

  The remote walked over to a wall terminal and extended a working arm with an I/O jack attached. A few moments passed. The lights above them flickered on and illuminated the chamber around them.

  “It appears as if I can get local access to the systems. I am still, unfortunately, unable to communicate with the major system centers or with the station core itself.”

  “Okay, see if you can get the environmental systems up and running.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And see if you can access the logs for this station. Look for recent activity here.”

  “Yes, sir, I will. Unfortunately, I don’t think I will be able to access those records from this terminal. Something seems to be interfering with the connection.”

  Diego walked over to the door leading out of the airlock antechamber. He leaned out and looked down the hallway. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. The hallway was lit by lights most of the distance to the nearest elevator, about a hundred feet away, then it all faded to darkness.

  “Well, let’s see if we can get up to the control center and the station core.” He turned and gestured at the remote. “Unhook and follow me.”

  “Yes, sir.” The remote pulled back from the wall terminal and stowed its utility arm. It turned and moved toward Diego, the lights on its head once again providing local illumination.

  Diego couldn’t help but feel a little out of sorts, the lights coming from the remote cast strange shadows on the walls and ceilings. He walked out into the hallway and headed for the elevator. Hopefully, the remote would be able to provide power to make it work. Even without the local gravity engaged it would be a long haul up the stairwell.

  A few moments later the remote was able to get the elevator doors open. It seemed that the only problem with the local systems had to do with a lack of communication and oversight from the central systems. With no connection they had powered down and gone into a standby mode.

  The elevator rose swiftly up through the levels of the station. The central systems were of course centrally located in the station. The elevator opened into another empty hallway which lead to a set of double doors at the far end. Diego immediately noticed that things were not normal. The doors to the central core were wide open and a large cable of unknown purpose ran through the door and down a side corridor. It looked like a power conduit. Whatever it connected to needed a lot of power.

  “You see what I see?” Diego asked.

  “Yes, sir, it does not belong here.”

  “No, it doesn’t. I wonder if this is where all our power for the station is going?”

  “There does seem to be a large power signature emanating from the conduit, but I am unable to confirm that as we are so close to the central core.”

  Diego walked down the hall. The remote followed almost at his shoulder which allowed the lights on its head to illuminate his path. He could see that light was coming from the doors up ahead. He approached carefully, unsure of what he would find when he came around the corner and could see into the room.

  “It would appear that the local environmental systems have only just recently been returned to standby. This part of the station still contains breathable air.” Max reported.

  A quick check of his suit systems confirmed what Max had just announced. Diego cracked open his facemask. He thought he might as well conserve his oxygen, there was no telling how long he would be here.

  The central core was a large room at the center of the station that housed much of the power and environmental infrastructure. The central mainframes for each of the stations were also located in an adjoining room. Considering that the station was mostly dark and currently unresponsive, the core should have been sitting here in standby. A massive object sat in the middle of the room, brooding over the lesser support modules that surrounded it near the chamber walls. Indicator lights on the the front monitors showed that the power core was operating at full power. It should have been sitting in the middle of the floor, all by itself, but it was surrounded by technology that Diego had never seen before. The equipment interfaced with the power core and then connected to the conduit that lead back out of the room. Similar lines also ran into the other room housing the central computer systems.

  “Well, it looks like we’ve found where the power drain is coming from. Looks like someone, probably Marta, made some modifications here.” Diego said.

  “Yes, sir. It appears that there have been extensive modifications to the computers as well. I can only hypothesize that someone wanted to bypass me, allowing themselves unfettered access to the station’s systems.” Max replied.

  “Can you do something about this?”

  “It depends on how extensive the modifications are. I do not know where or to what this main conduit leads to. Without knowing the nature of what was being done here I would not venture to make any changes. We could be destroyed instantly if the power core detonated for some reason. There most certainly are going to be problems with the computers that I will not be able to fix.”

  “Alright, lets get a move on then. I have to tell you Max, I’m really getting curious about what Marta was trying to do here,” Diego said as he again moved out in the hallway and began following the power conduit down the side corridor.

  “What do you mean, sir? I noted that you spoke of Marta only a few moments ago, but pardon my confusion, how could she have been involved? She was involved in a terminating accident four weeks ago.”

  Diego noted the confusion he could hear in the AI’s voice. Something he hadn’t really ever heard before.

  “Yes she was. I’ve recently come across some evidence suggesting that she may not have been trying to kill herself.”

  “I am sorry sir, but this entire incident does not sit well within my systems. I am finding it difficult to understand why an intelligence would purposely end its existence.”

  “Well, I guess that’s the question. I’m beginning to think that Marta may have been trying to do something else entirely.”

  “Sending oneself th
rough the stargate, without a destination, does not seem to make any sense to me.”

  “That’s why this equipment here is important for us to understand. I’m beginning to think that Marta was trying to modify how the stargate works so she could prove something.”

  “What would that be?”

  “That there was some kind of life after death and some kind of God.” He paused for a moment. “Or something like that.”

  “This is another concept I have a great deal of confusion relating to. These theological concepts don’t make sense to me. I exist. I do not die.”

  “It confuses me as well. I honestly have not been able to reconcile many of these religious beliefs with what I have seen of the universe. But, she seemed to think, from the things she has written, that she could find a way to prove it. Some of the things that have happened lately are beginning to make me wonder what she has really done.”

  “It looks like her experiment may have seriously damaged a good portion of my systems on this side of the stargate.”

  “Indeed,” Diego said as he followed the conduit around another corner. He had quickly realized that it was heading toward the control center for the station, one of several redundant systems and centers spread throughout the stargate.

  As he rounded the last corner, before entering the control center, a strange feeling of dizziness and disorientation overcame him and caused him to drop to the floor. It was as if the station had shifted slightly beneath him and then snapped back into place. The lights around him and onboard the remote flickered and then died. Everything plunged into darkness.

  Darkness, was not something that Diego had a problem with. Being on the edge of the solar system, in the depths of darkness itself, inoculated a person to its effects. It was a trait that had shown brightly to those who had chosen him to work in this environment. Silence was also something that did not bother him. He craved it. Things had been so loud for him as a child and the silence of space appealed to his sanity. Something else entirely did not sit right with Diego at the moment. A thing that should not have been possible. In the silence and darkness of the station Diego heard the sound of someone breathing.

  Diego grabbed for the flashlight on his belt and flipped the switch, hoping somehow, that despite the failure of all the other lights, this one would still work. A small beam of light stabbed forward into the darkness. The door to the control center was open and recessed into the wall. A few steps more and Diego could see into the control center. He peered into the room and didn’t see much out of the ordinary. There was a strange grouping of equipment to the left side of the room. The conduit from the power core lead from the door to this equipment. Laying on the floor in front of the equipment was something Diego almost missed, its incongruence with everything else in the room almost causing him to ignore it as impossible. It was a pale, naked form.

  From the doorway Diego could only tell that the figure on the floor was facing away from him. As he rushed forward it became obvious it was a woman and that she was not moving. He could see and hear a soft exhalation of air come from her mouth. It took a few moments for the numbness in his head to fade enough for him to realize, as he reached the woman, this was Marta. Marta who had vanished within the stargate only four weeks earlier. She was completely unresponsive as he rolled her onto her back, gently cradling her head with his arms.

  “Marta…” He gently spoke her name. She didn’t move.

  Diego disconnected and pulled off his left suit glove and then put his fingers to Marta’s neck. He had to be sure that she was alive. How had she gotten here? He could barely feel her pulse beneath his finger. She was almost gone. He had to act quickly.

  Each of the substations also contained medical facilities not far from the command and control center. Diego put his arms under Marta, lifting her as he stood and sped from the room.

  As he came into the hallway he could see lights beginning to flicker on the remote’s torso. It appeared that it was only temporarily inoperative. Good. He was worried that something had shut down the stargate completely. Seeing the remote starting up meant that Max had sent a signal for a reboot.

  Marta was lifeless as Diego rushed down the hall and into the sickbay. There was an emergency medical station just inside the door that should respond whether there was power or not. He gently laid her on the table and reached over to press the big red button on the wall. The emergency system quickly stirred from standby, lights coming on, various systems starting to assess the situation.

  Diego found an emergency blanket under the table and covered Marta with it. It was all he could do as the arms of the emergency medical unit began to scan back and forth looking for signs of trauma. A schematic of Marta’s body and functions appeared on the monitor over her head.

  “The patient has no immediate trauma to the body, but does appear to be unconscious. Would you like me to attempt to revive the patient? I warn that without knowing the cause of her current condition I cannot guarantee she will awaken.”

  “Is there trauma to the brain?” asked Diego.

  “Scans do not indicate there is any damage,” replied the emergency medical system.

  “See if you can revive her then.”

  “Proceeding with revival.” An arm from the emergency medical unit dropped down with a syringe attached to it. A quick stab of the needle and the arm again withdrew.

  Diego sat quietly waiting for some kind of response. It seemed to have been an eternity when a soft moan escaped from Marta’s lips.

  “His face…” a whisper barely escaped her lips.

  Diego leaned in closer, taking her hand in his.

  “Marta?”

  Nothing.

  “Marta? Can you hear me?” He asked again.

  The muscles in her hand began to twitch, quickly spreading up her arm and to her body. Convulsions swiftly took her, every muscle seizing and causing her to arch up off the bed. Alarms began to blare around the emergency medical station. Her mouth opened and she screamed.

  “NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” It echoed through the room and down the hall, filling the station.

  An arm from the emergency medical unit pushed Diego back.

  “Please stand back.”

  “What’s happening? What’s going on?” Diego asked, fear filling his voice.

  Another arm from the emergency medical unit quickly stabbed out with another syringe. Marta dropped back down to the table. She was unconscious once again.

  “Is she okay?”

  “Something caused her to seize. I am unable to determine why. It appears that it might be psychological in nature.”

  “Do you have any idea how long she will be out for this time?”

  “The dose I gave her was rather high due to the circumstances. She will probably be unconscious for some time.”

  Diego took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was definitely not what he had expected when he got up this morning.

  _____

  Several hours later, after having worked with the remote to restart the major systems for the substation, Diego was half asleep in one of the command couches in the control center. He couldn’t slow his mind enough to allow a deeper sleep to overcome him. Thoughts of Marta waking and telling him the purpose of all this technology cycled obsessively through his subconsciousness. What was it for? Why was she here? How did she get here? Clearly, she had seen something that had caused her great fear.

  He rolled over and opened his eyes, looking at the equipment that had been brought into the command and control center. It was technology that he was familiar with, but it was being used in a way that he didn’t understand. Diego was an engineer, he understood much of how things worked, but the theoretical side of hyper transit physics was something he didn’t always get. This was the part of the stargate that Marta had specialized in.

  “Max, how’s our patient doing?”

  “The EMS unit indicates that she is still unconscious. Every other indication appears normal.”

 
“Okay. Thanks.”

  Diego stood and walked over to the observation windows that spanned one side of the command and control center. The entirety of the stargate could be seen from this vantage point. It looked so frail for something that controlled and directed so much energy. Casting a starship across the infinite depths of interstellar space was something that had been impossible only a few hundred years before. Humanity had barely realized that it was a small minnow in an impossibly huge universe. The realization of its insignificance had nearly stifled the pioneering spirit that had inspired humans to spread across the surface of Earth. Somehow, hope had prevailed and the human species had moved out into the Solar System. Then had come the monumental feat of science and engineering, the very means by which humanity would reach out and fill the stars, the construction of the Stargate. Becoming the very gods that they had supposed to worship from the beginning of time. At least that was how Diego had thought until recently. Now, he didn’t know what to think. His life up to this point had not been one of what he would call faith. As a young man he had rejected the faith of his parents and turned to the real tangible world of science and engineering. He preferred the things he could touch and make. But how could he explain the existence of Marta? He had seen her enter the stargate and vanish.

  Diego turned from the observation window. He wanted to grab a drink from the dispenser near the door. He stopped when he noticed the bright, sparkling dust motes moving from the corners and sides of the room. The sparkling dust began to gather in the center of the control room. The light was already almost too bright for him to see clearly what was happening. He lifted his hand to shield his eyes, as it bore down on him.

  “Max, can you tell me if you can see what’s going on in the command center right now?”

  “Something is exciting the air in the room on an atomic level, sir. I cannot speculate what may be causing it.”

  He could see something coalescing in the pool of illumination. It was in the shape of a human male, tall and broad of shoulder. It was dressed in flowing robes of white, but the face itself, as it came into view, seemed familiar. It was a face he had seen before.