The Rylerran Gateway

by Mark Ian Kendrick

“I just need someone who’s willing to analyze it and figure out what it is. Someone who’ll keep quiet about it. I-I just want to see if it can give me a clue, anything really, to explain their disappearance,” Darreth told him with a hint of desperation in his voice. After all, it had been over a week since Tann and Naylon had gone missing. Plus, he felt guilty for letting Tann join them in the first place. Frostbite, Darreth thought, remembering Naylon’s warning. This was far worse than frostbite.

  Rehl looked away from the table and out the window to the street. His lunch was getting cold in the little diner where they were seated. Darreth had gotten lucky. Rehl was going to be planetside for only another day before he was supposed to go back into orbit. Darreth had caught a little over an hour of sleep, then was able to see him shortly after calling him. They were silent for quite a few minutes before Rehl spoke. “Maybe Kestin will do it,” he offered.

  “Who?”

  “Kestin Dryter. He’s a friend of my wife’s boss. I met him at an office party at their house a couple of months ago,” he explained. “He’s a physicist. We got to talking. We must have talked for over an hour. He’s one of the most unusual people I’ve ever met. Smart as can be. He’s quite the brain but he wasn’t pretentious at all. I can give you his comm code.” Rehl told the comm link on his wrist to add the contact information to Darreth’s. “Ready?”

  Darreth activated the transfer link. The data included a holographic photo of Kestin as well as his address and two of his comm lines.

  “I have no knowledge of this little ‘omission’ on your part,” Rehl told him.

  “Rehl, lay off. I was way too freaked out about the whole situation to remember I had it on me.”

  “I wonder where your training went. It’s not like you to be forgetful.”

  Darreth wondered, too.

  Darreth’s call to Kestin was brief and cryptic. Mentioning Rehl’s name though brought an instant response. Yes, he remembered Rehl from the party some months back. Yes, he’d be happy to take a look at this object Darreth insisted on presenting to him. And yes, he would do so under strict secrecy. It was a very unusual request, but Kestin was interested because of the intrigue. He didn’t mention it but he was quite familiar with Darreth. After all, he watched news vids like everyone else. Darreth’s father wasn’t exactly an unknown figure either.

  Kestin told Darreth to meet him at his office. It took all of twenty minutes to get there after Darreth entered the address into his hovercar’s nav. The vehicle pulled off the lane and descended toward the parking lot. He met Darreth at a side entryway. The holo-pic Darreth had of Kestin helped to identify him right away as the man let him into the building.

  Kestin was a short, thin man of forty-nine. His hair was just beginning to gray on the sides. He stuck his hand out to shake Darreth’s. “Nice to meet you,” he said. His bright eyes and rapid speech immediately told Darreth the man was intelligent.

  “Likewise. Thanks for taking the time to see me.”

  “No problem. I’m always interested in examining something that might be new. Let’s go up to my lab. It’s private.”

  The elevator took them up seven floors and opened to a wide corridor. There were plenty of windows letting in the late morning sunlight. Kestin’s lab was marked with the number ten on the door. His presence made the door slide open. He ushered Darreth in and the door slid shut.

  It was a typical laboratory, not unlike Naylon’s, Darreth noted, except this one had far more sophisticated equipment and was easily twice as large. Clearly, none of it was used to dig into the past, Darreth thought, as he nervously looked around the expansive lab.

  Kestin noted right away that Darreth seemed to be hiding something. He reached for a flimsy on a countertop and pressed a few icons, making a show of it so Darreth would notice. “No one will question why I’ve turned off the security recording. We can talk freely.”

  Regardless of the assurance Kestin just gave him, all of a sudden Darreth wasn’t so sure this was such a good idea after all. But the thought of never seeing Naylon or his brother again made up his mind for him. It was try this, or nothing. He unclipped the small pack he had around his waist, then unzipped the front and pulled out the device, which he had carefully wrapped in a cloth. He set it down on a countertop. “Before you examine this, you have to swear to me that whatever you discover about it doesn’t get to the media,” Darreth told him.

  Kestin noted the tone with which Darreth spoke his very clear warning “Why? Is it stolen?” He glanced down at the cloth-covered object, dying to see what it was.

  “No, just… not accounted for. And can’t be at this point.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Darreth told him how he had acquired the object and the debriefing, which followed. He sat on a stool at the counter. Kestin sat on one next to him. “If you say anything about this, it won’t take long before you go down with me,” Darreth added in a dark tone.

  Kestin didn’t speak for several seconds as he thought about the implication. He didn’t want to be involved in any criminal matter. He looked at the object, still wrapped up, then back up at Darreth. Curiosity won out. “Agreed. Now let’s see what it is.”

  Darreth unfolded the cloth. The unusual way the disc reflected light gave Kestin pause. “It’s not radioactive, it is?”

  “I think I would have exhibited some symptoms of radiation poisoning by this time if it were,” Darreth responded.

  “That’s the first test I’m performing on it.”

  Kestin placed the object into a glass container. Darreth followed him to another part of the lab where it was placed into a small compartment in the wall at the back of the lab, furthest from the windows that lined the hallway. Kestin closed the compartment door and sealed it with a vacuum. Darreth sat next to him as Kestin started the tests.

  “Good. Radiation is nominal,” Kestin read out loud. “I’m only getting the usual background amount.” He retrieved the container and withdrew the object from it. He placed it on a tray and then into a different analyzer. As each test completed, Kestin noted the results out loud.

  “This analyzer indicates the object is made of bismuth, silicon alloys and some type of polymer. That’s odd. The polymer has a very unusual molecular structure.”

  Next, the display they were both watching ramped up to the X-ray range. Kestin noted its internal structure. “Nothing unusual here. No, wait a second.” He changed the resolution for a closer look. “That coil looks familiar.”

  “In what way?”

  “I’ll have to check the historical database. I swear I’ve seen that structure before.” He slid a flimsy toward himself and pressed a few icons on the display. A few seconds later he found what he was looking for. “Yes. That’s it. The similarity is impossible to ignore. The coil looks like an antenna used in an old style pass card.”

  “What’s a pass card?” Darreth asked.

  “It was one of the original electronic security devices, before the days of photronic and biometric technology. They were originally used for things like entry through a door or to identify a person. It’s basically just a coil of wire attached to a simple memory device that contains not much more than a code. When one passed the card in front of a sensor, the coil or antenna caused a remote database to respond. It allowed an authorized person access or entry if there was a proper match. Hey, what the heck?” he interrupted himself, baffled.

  “What? What?” Darreth said eagerly.

  As Kestin had been talking, the analyzer was ramping up through the electromagnetic spectrum, producing a log of what it had recorded. He had also been watching a flimsy as the results were being displayed. “That low terahertz result can’t be right.”

  “Well…?”

  “Just a moment while I check the calibration.” Kestin pressed a couple icons on the display flimsy. Instantly it changed to a different mode. He went through several of the diagnostic screens. All calibration parameters showed normal. He pressed the ‘return’ ic
on and the display showed the device inside the test chamber in visible light. He pressed the spectrographic display icon again and pushed the flimsy closer to Darreth. “This graph simply can’t be right, but the test chamber is properly calibrated.”

  Darreth wasn’t sure how to read the graph but he saw that a portion of the spectrum had dropped off. It was as if, when a particular frequency range bombarded the device, the energy disappeared or was swallowed up instead of reflecting back readings. Darreth shook his head. “What does that indicate?”

  Kestin scratched his head, thinking furiously. “It’s not possible, but it can only mean one thing. This object isn’t here.”

  Darreth eyed Kestin. “That’s ridiculous. We’re looking right at it,” he told the man, pointing.

  “I know. So there’s only one other explanation,” he said excitedly. “It means this object doesn’t belong to our quantum universe.”

  Darreth’s head jerked backward a couple of inches. “What the hell does that mean?” he said, more than a little confused now.

  “Everything in the universe has a quantum signature. Think of it as say… a resonance that an object gives off because it ‘belongs’ to our universe.” He pointed to the area of the spectrum that had dropped off. “This area here always displays a particular value. All objects that belong to our universe resonate at a particular frequency that shows up in that spot. This observation has been known for centuries. But there is absolutely no reflected energy there. It can only mean the object isn’t here. Since we both know it’s here the only other answer to this anomaly is that the object isn’t a part of our quantum universe.” Even as he was explaining it, Kestin was having a difficult time comprehending it himself.

  Darreth stood, took a step backward and nearly knocked the stool over he had been sitting in. Unbelievably, he had all the clues he needed now. The impossible but neat disappearance of Tann and Naylon made complete sense. The object was the only one he had found in the cavern, and only a single alien had one. There were no others anywhere to be found. That much he was sure of, since he and Merek had spent hours searching everywhere for clues to their disappearance. They would have stumbled over another one if it had been in that cavern. Even if he and Merek had missed something, he would have heard about more of the objects having been found once the bodies and anything else that might have been found had been brought to the recovery facility on Rylerra. He had heard nothing. It was true no aliens had ever been encountered anywhere in known space, which also added to the clues. It was making even more sense now. There were three aliens. There was only one of these objects. That could easily mean two others were missing! Those two missing devices might be in Naylon and Tann’s possession. Now that Kestin had discovered that the device didn’t belong in their quantum universe at all, it further added light to the mystery. It seemed evident that Naylon and Tann had somehow slipped into some alternate universe by using them. Most likely by accident! He had to conclude they were in the universe where the aliens most likely originated. The only way that could have happened was if they had gone through the perfectly smooth tunnel. After all, the tunnel had some sort of odd shimmering in its middle that neither he nor Merek could see through. What if one needed the disc device to ‘see’ through it. Or in the case of Naylon and Tann, go through it.

  “You said the object is just a pass card,” Darreth said.

  “There’s nothing to indicate anything more complicated than that. The only unusual thing about it is that it’s not from our universe.”

  “Then it’s just a simple piece of technology when it comes down to it.”

  “Basically. It just looks complicated due to the intricate design on the casing.”

  “Can it be duplicated?”

  Kestin emitted a short laugh. “Are you kidding?”

  “No, I mean it,” he insisted. “I need another one. And I need it as soon as you can make it.” Darreth was already working up an idea and needed Rehl to help him get Naylon and Tann back.

  Chapter 29

  Tann had also noticed the door was left unlocked. Was it a trick of some sort to see if they would act on that discovery?

  If Naylon thought the same, he didn’t care. “Get the packs,” he ordered.

  Tann looked at the door again, hesitating.

  “Didn’t you just say we need to get out of here? We’re going,” Naylon told him. He pressed his thumb against the sensor and the door slid open. He briefly stuck his head out and looked down the corridor. So far, so good. No one was in view, not even one of the Taskers. Tann was already zipping up their packs. He handed Naylon his jacket.

  Naylon stepped out and slid down the corridor with his back against the wall. He reached the junction of the next one and looked both ways. It was clear, too. He waved his hand for Tann to follow. Tann stepped out of their quarters and pressed the smooth pad on the doorframe. The door slid shut. He pressed a tiny red indentation next to the doorframe. Its pad glowed red, indicating the door was locked. They quickly made their way to the airlock. Naylon looked at the control panel. The ship was small, but apparently everyone had something to do right now because no one was in sight. Naylon pressed the sequence he had memorized earlier. The panel’s buttons were totally silent but they lit up as he pressed them. The inner door quietly slid open. Tann was too busy being terrified they’d be caught at any moment, and didn’t ask Naylon how he could possibly have known the code. They both stepped into the airlock. Naylon enter the reverse sequence to shut the door. He whispered to Tann to keep to the far wall away from the port in case someone happened to come by. Naylon then lifted the safety cover next to the control at the outer airlock door and pressed the green button. He could only hope an alarm wouldn’t sound when he did that. Nothing noticeable happened. The outer airlock door slid opened. The panel on the outside of the shuttle had the same set of buttons as did the inner door. He had never seen the door being shut from the outside but it had to be the same sequence as shutting the inner door. He pressed the button in the reverse order and the door smoothly shut. Whew, he thought. As far as he could tell, their trek outside was completely unobserved. Now he had to hope someone monitoring a vidscreen wouldn’t see their hasty retreat away from the shuttle. He pointed to the nearby bushes and they both rushed to take cover behind a low boulder further on. From there they waited a few moments, observing their surroundings and listening intently for any sign of pursuit from the ship. It was odd being just outside the ship’s cloaking field. They both knew it was there but they couldn’t see any of it now that they were several meters away.

  Yes, there was an energy fluxuation again in the regulator that supplied the entire ship with power, Llarena noted. It had started acting up after they were first struck by debris in the asteroid field in that neutron star system where they first emerged into Telkan space. In a way, it was expected. The extra shielding added to their ship drew much more power than normal, adding a strain to the regulator. But this was Llarena’s main strength in the ship. He knew the details of all the command circuitry, how to run all the key diagnostics and what to do with the results.

  “Ocio, this is Llarena,” he said to his comm.

  Ocio was in the galley and had just finished making a sandwich. Across the glass partition that separated the mess from the Tasker cubicles, she watched two of them as they slept. They were docile while they were awake, and looked particularly vulnerable when they were asleep. She realized she probably did, too and shook her head so as not to think about it.

  “Ocio here.”

  “I’m in the engine room.”

  “Uh, why are you there? You’re supposed to be on guard duty right now.”

  “The regulator is showing that fluxuation again. I need to run my corrective diagnostic. Can you cover my post until it’s done?”

  “How long,” she answered. “I’m making a sandwich. It’s dinnertime, you know.”

  “It’ll take fifteen minutes. Seriously. I’ll bring you a dessert when I come bac
k,” he promised.

  Ocio acknowledged the request and strode down the corridor to the quarters Naylon and Tann had just exited. She briefly noted that the door lock light glowed red. This was becoming tedious, she decided. There was no reason to hold these mysterious men. They had shown no aggression and they certainly weren’t going anywhere. She had no idea what the captain had in mind about them, but it wasn’t her place to question orders or to try to discern his motives.

  No sooner had she arrived, when the ship’s comm barked. It was Selaye this time. “All hands. Long-range scans have detected a Telkan ship patrolling the area. Prepare for liftoff.”

  The captain had decided not to tangle with any ship. Despite being fully cloaked, he wasn’t itching for a fight just now. He was well aware it was probably looking for their missing ship anyway. Less than two minutes later, the ship lifted off and fled to the south.

  Naylon had just decided all was clear and that they should get as far away from the Terran ship as possible when they heard a whine. It had to be their engines. Both knew right away it meant the ship was preparing to take off. Their timing couldn’t have been better, he decided.

  “They’re leaving!” Tann whispered loudly, totally astonished.

  “Which means they have no idea we’re not in the ship.”

  “Why do you suppose they’re taking off?”

  “I have no idea, but it’s our good fortune.” It meant they could at least attempt to make it back to the cavern by following the river, which Naylon was sure was down the slope nearby. They waited as the ship apparently lifted off. They had to rely on sound and the fact that air rushed all around them to determine that. When they could no longer hear it, they both stood.

  “That way?” Tann asked as he pointed up river.

  “Hang on. We can’t leave that Telkan chained up. Who knows what might happen to him before he’s rescued. If at all,” Naylon told him.