The Opening (The Universal Portals Book 1)

by J. Blanes

  “Red water?” An alarm rang inside Keira’s head. Red water could only mean one thing: blood.

  “You’d better go fast,” Blip said.

  They took a last look at Albert’s position in relation to the ship, memorized it, and left. They felt guilty; precious time had been lost because of their mistrust of Blip, and the image of Albert’s body lying face up surrounded by blood was not reassuring at all. They both ran across the water and entered the woods near his position. Finding a pool of red water in an almost completely white world was a simple task, and they easily arrived at the spot where Albert’s body lay.

  Keira saw Albert’s body submerged in the water. “Albert!” she called him as she approached his body and crouched next to him, thinking the worst. “Albert!”

  At this moment, Albert leaned forward abruptly, pushing her backward. The sudden arrival of his friends had startled him, as he’d believed they would never find him. He was smiling broadly, happy that his ordeal was now over.

  “Are you OK?” Dylan asked him. Albert replied with an OK sign, and pointed at the column over his leg. Dylan quickly grasped the situation.

  “Keira, help me here,” Dylan said as he grabbed one end of the column. She got up and positioned herself next to him.

  “On three,” he said. “One, two, three!” They pulled up at once as Albert tried to free his leg. Even though they used all their strength, their first attempt was unsuccessful. However, Dylan would not give up so easily, and they tried again after a little break. Their second attempt also ended in failure. The column didn’t budge; it was too heavy for them.

  It was obvious that brute force would not work, and Keira thought that it was time to think outside the box. “We need to find another way,” she said, stating the obvious. “We don’t have anything we could use as a lever, but…” She suddenly stopped talking, her eyes fixed on the underwater ground. She crouched and touched it with her fingers, an idea already forming inside her head. “If we can’t move the column up, we need to move the ground down,” she mumbled. “Follow me!” she ordered Dylan as she abruptly got up and ran back toward the ship. “Now!” she repeated, noticing Dylan’s hesitation.

  Unable to hear anything that Keira said, Albert was puzzled at the sudden flight of his help. Alone again, and sensing that his suit was quickly losing more pieces, he submerged himself back in the water.

  Keira rushed into the ship and ran directly to the bedroom, panting but happy to see what she was looking for. Dylan arrived a few seconds later, wondering why they were wasting more time on this foolish errand.

  “There.” Keira pointed at one of the bunk beds. “We need two of those bedposts. Can you take them out?”

  Dylan looked at the bedposts. They were metallic tubes, two short ones anchored to the floor and two long ones supporting the upper bed. When he saw what she intended to do with the bedposts, he almost lost his temper. All this running for nothing. He had already thought about using a lever but had immediately discarded it, as he had not found anything that could be used as a pivot.

  “There’s no point in doing this,” he snapped. “A lever is useless without a good supporting point.”

  Keira was already kicking hard at a bedpost, trying to break it free. “I know. We’re not going to use them as levers but as shovels,” she replied, having expected that question.

  Dylan shook his head in disbelief. How stupid of him; of course she was right, as she always was when important matters arose. He tapped her shoulder and motioned her to move aside. With several quick and accurate blows, he bent the bedposts and then broke them at the base. Having lost its supporting bedposts, the upper part of the bed tilted to one side, but the other side stood firm and remained attached to the wall. Keira took one of the bedposts and swung it repeatedly to loosen it until she completely tore it apart. Dylan had already done the same with the other bedpost. With their improvised shovels in hand, they hurried back to Albert, passing by Blip without noticing him.

  When Albert saw them with the tubes, he had the same thought as Dylan. What a waste of time! Levers were of no use without a pivot. But as they crouched at each side of the column and started digging around his leg, he felt the same feeling of stupidity that Dylan had felt just seconds before. How could he be so smart about complex things and so blind in simpler tasks? It was not the first time he had felt this way during this trip; what an eye-opener it was proving to be!

  He felt a short, agonizing pain when his leg moved to fill the gap created by their friends shoveling, but he didn’t scream; instead, he felt an immense joy that he could now get his leg out from under the column. Keira and Dylan hurried to pull him back and help him get up. The pain was almost unbearable, not only in his leg but also because of all the exposed skin due to his suit degradation. It didn’t matter to him; he was alive, and that meant he could continue discovering and learning more about the Tolok and their advanced technology.

  One thing that he had learned during the time he had been at the brink of death, one thing that had terrified him as much as dying alone, was that he could die before finishing his quest for knowledge. His last thoughts while he waited for death were not of his family or friends, not even of dying on Earth accompanied by his loved ones. His last thoughts had centered on complaining resentfully about dying ignorant after having seen so many technological marvels at work. To his own shame, this had been his ultimate worry. If he was turning into a monster, he didn’t know, but at least he felt a pang of guilt about it, and that gave him hope that his humanity had not been completely lost somewhere along this trip. In addition, he still highly valued his friendship with Keira and Dylan, recalling his promise that he would not rest until they were safely back at home. He silently renewed that promise again, reminding himself of his duty as their friend, with or without Tolok help.

  Blip ordered Albert to lie down on a bed when they arrived back at the big ship. With the help of the ship, he also scanned Albert’s leg and found that it was not broken, just bruised. Blip was worried about possible infections, and he thoroughly cleaned his burns with an antiseptic cream that the ship had provided. The cream also contained Bots that would destroy the dead skin and keep his wounds clean from foreign microorganisms. The Tolok had ordered Blip not to reveal any advanced technology unless strictly necessary, and Blip kept the Bot information secret, following their orders. The leg had swollen up, but it didn’t need extra care, as it would heal naturally in just a couple of days.

  “You’ve been very lucky,” Blip told Albert as he applied the cream on his burned palm. “I suppose you won’t want to go outside for a while.”

  To his surprise, Albert smiled at him. “On the contrary, it was worth every minute. I’ll do it again right now if you let me.”

  When Blip finished, Keira grabbed him and sat him on her palm. “Thank you. I knew you’d be our hero.”

  Blip frowned at her. “Right, that’s why you rushed to get my help when I offered,” he replied sarcastically.

  “Just a little misunderstanding,” she lied, a little embarrassed. “Anyway, what’s next? Is the ship finished getting its minerals?”

  “Yes, we’re already on our way,” he informed them.

  Dylan’s grumpy voice came from behind. “Where are we going now? Another paradise?”

  Blip had just received the news about their next stop from the ship, and it had surprised even him. He had to break the news to them, but not there. “Let’s go down to the kitchen; we’ll be more comfortable there.” Blip felt hurt and betrayed because of their mistrust back at the planet. Right now, he would rather be on the table than being held by Keira. “And you need to change and discard those worn suits first,” he warned them in a sulky mood.

  Albert leaned on Dylan to descend the stairs. He refused being treated like an invalid and demanded equal treatment, although with a little help sporadically, as on the stairs. Blip told him that
there were no crutches on the ship, so Dylan supplied that need for now.

  In the kitchen, Blip didn’t hide his discomfort from Keira when she insisted on holding him. He told her bluntly to let him go immediately and treat him like the others. “Are you in the habit of carrying your friends on your palm?” That absurd remark took everyone by surprise, but his sullen expression kept them from making any additional comments about it. In the end, Keira obeyed and released him gently on the table. Blip thanked her grudgingly and sat at the other edge of the table, facing Albert’s direction and with his back to Keira.

  Albert leaned back. “Do we go to our destination or not?” he asked finally.

  Blip lowered his head and hesitated for a second. “We need to make another stop,” he informed them.

  Dylan jumped forward on his seat. This trip seemed never-ending. “What for? More minerals?”

  “Not this time, we have plenty of them now,” Blip replied.

  “Then what for?” Dylan insisted.

  Blip raised his head and stared at him. “We’re going to pick up another guest,” he said finally.

  This news left them speechless. After finding Blip, they’d believed they would be the only beings on this trip until its end. This new information raised so many questions that they all burst out talking, throwing questions at him at the same time.

  “What kind of guest? A Tolok? A creature from another alien species? Are they more advanced than the Tolok? What kind of technology?”

  “Will this guest stay with us or in another section of the ship? Is he dangerous?”

  “Will he eat from our food? What if there’s not enough for everybody? Do we have to share?”

  Blip waited until the interrogation was over. “I don’t know,” he said calmly when they finished. “The ship didn’t give me any details about this guest’s provenance, attitude, or future lodging quarters, but you’ll meet our guest for sure”—he paused, got up and walked away from the edge—“because the ship wants us to bring him up here.” As he expected, this new piece of information started another barrage of questions.

  “Are we going to meet him in his city? Is it big? Will we meet with another species, too? How advanced are they?”

  “Does he know we’re coming? Will he come willingly or against his will? Are we going to be used as bait? Does he have weapons?”

  “Can his species cook? Do they cook food edible by us? Do they eat meat? Hamburgers maybe?”

  As before, Blip was ready with a simple answer. “I don’t know.” He explained that his instructions were to go down to the planet, find the guest, and bring him up. This was a bunch of bad news in itself, and they already wondered how they would accomplish such a feat without knowing anything about their guest. However, Blip had left the worst news for last. The ship’s instructions came with a warning: the ship would not continue the trip unless the guest was brought on board safely. “So it is imperative that he come back with us, or we will be stranded forever on that planet,” Blip concluded.

  A rush of despair quickly grew inside them. Could it be that they had been abducted from Earth just to be forced to act as bait, diplomats, or hunters in a mission to please, convince, or capture another creature from an unknown species in a strange territory? How could the Tolok, who until now had treated them relatively well, put them in such a dire situation? Whatever the reason, they had no choice. They had only two options: either stay there forever or accept their mission. The first was unacceptable and the second too vague, and possibly dangerous. Blip didn’t dare to raise his head, well aware of his part in this nonsense game.

  Even Albert, who would normally relish an opportunity to meet unknown species, was worried by the ultimatum. He had no qualms in meeting or even capturing another creature, but there were too many unknown variables to ensure success, and without it, the consequences would be devastating.

  Dylan grunted and pounded on the table with his fist, throwing Blip flying a foot high over the table. “Hey!” Blip complained when he landed on his back. “It’s not my fault! I’m just the messenger!”

  In other circumstances, Keira would have consoled him, even scolded Dylan, but she was now too absorbed in her own thoughts and worries, trying to find a less dramatic solution to this nightmare.

  In the end, the Tolok had forced them to accept the mission, and they would have to confront and deal with whatever situation was presented at them, whether they liked it or not.

  “If we complete this…task, will they let us go back home?” Keira asked.

  Blip had feared that question. “No, that’s just a step toward the final goal,” he admitted sadly. To his surprise, no one complained, grumbled, or reacted in any way, as if they had expected that answer. “Look,” he went on, “when I first heard the news, I was as disturbed as you are now. It doesn’t make any sense to me either, but I’m sure there must be a good reason behind this request. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions before knowing more about it.”

  “To me it makes perfect sense,” Dylan snapped. “Use some lowly Humans for a dangerous mission. If they’re successful, perfect; if not, nobody will care.”

  Blip knew that was absolute nonsense, but he let Dylan blow off some steam. “You need to rest now,” he said simply. “Tomorrow we’ll cross the portal that will take us to the system where our guest lives. Don’t worry, this time I’ll let you put your helmets on before going to the capsules.”

  They all left in silence, maybe just to have him out of their sight.

  At least their only concern was going to the planet looking for some individual, Blip thought, whereas he had to deal with another, more terrifying possibility, one that could destroy them and the mission even with the careful planning invested by the Tolok. Just thinking about it made him shiver uncontrollably. He crossed his fingers and hoped for the best; after all, only one more stop remained before their final destination. He felt that telling the others about it was an unnecessary cruelty; one concern at a time was enough for them, or their fragile Human psyches would collapse into despair.

  Unknown to him and the Tolok, their worst nightmare had already begun.

  FIFTEEN

  The Tukma’s Home Planet

  The sky was redder than he remembered, or had it always been like this? It had been a long time since his Military Birth, and he barely remembered any details from his Weak Phase on this planet. It didn’t matter to him; after all, he was a Tukma, and the Tukma never clung to useless, nostalgic memories. In fact, it was forbidden, as anything considered weak, like compassion, regret, or cowardice, especially cowardice. Showing any kind of weakening behavior was punishable by exile from the race, a fate worse than death. Boldness, bravery, and even clever deception among themselves received instant praise, sometimes rewarded by the most desired prize among them: military promotion. The military was the most important institution for the Tukma. It gave them a name, like Kotar, his own name, a sense of belonging, and a way to avoid dreaded work in the mines or fields on any of their many worlds.

  Kotar walked along the big, empty rooms of the now-almost-abandoned building, as most Tukma didn’t live there anymore. Their home planet had once been the coveted envy of many civilizations, full of rare and valuable natural resources, admired for its beauty and its gentle climate. It was a blessing, but it also proved to be its ultimate curse. A greedy, advanced civilization came to the planet and invaded it. In those primal times, the Tukma were a weak race of fragile constitution, primitive and naïve, and surrendered without a fight. They were enslaved and forced to work while young and healthy in the fields, mines, and factories, and left to die when their strength abandoned them. The Tukma were not proud of this period, which they called the Dark Period, and justified it with the argument that every civilization begins primitive and weak before evolving into a mature, strong one. The Dark Period was taught to never be forgotten, because it was the cause for the
proudest period in their history, the Great Rebellion, when the Tukma rose up in anger against their masters and defeated them against all odds, wiping them out forever from existence. The leader of that rebellion, Tu’ul, was now revered like a god and shown as the best example of a perfect Tukma soldier: bold, brave, strong, clever, manipulative—every attitude the Tukma admired was attributed to him.

  After the Great Rebellion, Tu’ul vowed that the Tukma would never be enslaved again. He established a new military program that encouraged all the Tukma able to handle a weapon to join. Led by Tu’ul, this military program evolved into a full-scale social phenomenon that permeated, and controlled, all layers of their society. The voluntary conscription soon changed into a strict compulsory enlistment, and new industrial machinery was instituted for developing only the most powerful weapons. A new elite breed of warriors, the loyal and fearless Taal, was born under the direct supervision of Tu’ul. They were trained as spies, assassins, and supreme warriors, and performed all kinds of missions for Tu’ul, from finding enemies of the regime, which included anyone who dared to criticize any aspect related to the military, to testing new weapons or even performing suicide missions to prove their loyalty. Everything not related to the military was relegated to second place. In time, the military grew in power and strength until it completely controlled the government, the laws, and ultimately, their lives. It was a glorious time for the Tukma, as it saw the birth of their military might.

  Soon after Tu’ul’s death, a struggle for power broke out between the members of the Taal elite. Internal strife soon escalated into small, bitter fights among themselves that led nowhere; the strength and skills of combatants were almost at the same level, not enough to create a critical advantage. To find that advantage, they looked for supporters of their causes among the normal citizens, creating factions that divided the society. Battles among factions sprang up on every corner of the planet, soon evolving into full-scale, horrific wars that almost destroyed the planet. Such was the resilience of the Tukma military organization that the wars extended for millennia, with a new Taal taking power of a faction when its leader died or was murdered by the new claimant. The planet was ravaged and any vestiges from the old civilization destroyed or used to fabricate new weapons. Nobody knew how to end the wars until Kaar, the Father, entered the scene, starting the current period of Tukma history.