Sentinela science fiction short

by

Jack Hardy

Copyright 2009 Jack Hardy

Smashwords Edition 2013 - US Version

License Notes

All rights reserved. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re–sold or given away to other people. The Author retains full International Intellectual Copyright on all material herein. No part or whole may be reproduced either physically or electronically or stored in a database or retrieval system without the Author’s prior permission. The right of Jack Hardy to be identified as the sole Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 and under the US Copyright Act of 1976. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this Author.

Also available by Jack Hardy

‘GRASK’– a far-future science fiction frolic

Contents

I >

II >

III >

IV >

V >

VI >

VII >

VIII >

I >

 Gates knew he was being followed. As a fugitive, he’d gone to great lengths to

genetically–enhance his sensory inputs, specifically those for the purpose of maintaining his freedom. The augmentations had cost him dearly. An extortionate amount in any one’s fortune – but just a fraction of that which he’d illegally appropriated from those presently doing the chasing.

It was morning on lackluster Adge, fourth planet of the Aeglia System. Twin suns busily burning off a thick lacquering of foul–smelling dew, turning the lush alien world into an open–air sauna. Adge wasn’t his favorite place on the Rim. It was far too hot and far too crowded. Too many jungles swarming with fatal fauna. But beggars couldn’t be choosers. Adge was a stepping stone. A planet–hop to his next hidey hole.

With sweat varnishing his oily skin, Gates emerged into one of the many markets that lined the colony’s twisting thoroughfares, and paused to catch his breath.

His genes had been nurtured in cooler climes. Never any need to combat such sapping humidity. If he hadn’t come prepared he would have drowned in his own sweat by now. He commanded his skintight undergarment to cool the moisture leaking from his skin, then continued on his way.

The colony’s marketplace was an ant nest of activity. Vibrant colors and pungent odors. Banging music and shrill noise. Teeming with colonists and extraterrestrials alike. It was a good place to mingle, to dissolve, to hide ... but maybe not for a man twice the height of the local inhabitants.

Gates pulled up his hood and stooped on.The tail had been following him all day. A shadow moving among shadows.

Discreetly distanced. Following Gates through the maze of cluttered streets and colorful bazaars. Never too close and yet never too far – always showing just enough presence to keep Gates alert and on his toes. Gates had wondered how the authorities had finally gotten their act together sufficiently enough to trace him all the way to lackluster Adge. After all, he’d assumed at least a dozen new identities since his last encounter with a halfwit law enforcer. Someone had done their homework. Or maybe a disgruntled DNA scanner had squealed at the spaceport.

Gates assumed his pursuer was a bounty hunter; he recognized the techniques. The shadow could successfully anticipate Gates’ own actions. Predict his every move – almost. Reactions too slick to be those of a cop. Twice Gates had thought he’d managed to outwit his relentless tracker. And twice his evasion had been cleverly out–maneuvered.

This shadow was good.But Gates was better.With one sweaty palm permanently wrapped around the blaster in his

pocket, Gates was as ready as he could be for the inevitable challenge. It would come, all right. And when it did only one of them would walk away from the face–off. A long list of fallen hunters lay behind him. A trail spanning half the Arm. One more would make little difference. A test of his skills and an inconvenience to his time, that’s all it would turn out to be. Gates was yet to meet his match.

He side–stepped a squirming Nuurn–worm and slipped between two stalls, immediately picking up the pace.

The congested bazaar meandered its way along the street as far as the eye could see, laced with rising snakes of steam and flashing neon advertisements. A thick ledge of grey cloud was moving in from the west, like a floating, dirty glacier

encroaching upon the town. That meant rain. And rain coupled with the heat of the two suns meant more humidity.

Gates hunkered into his raincoat and kept his face down–turned.Adge was a dump. A typical overcrowded frontier town on a newly–

established Rim colony on the ass–end of nowhere. And that was being nice. As with many such outposts, Adge enjoyed all the trappings of a place far removed from the watchful eye and clenched fist of Glomerate Space. The blossoming colony was an interwoven jumble of gaudy styles and clashing cultures – all jostling for dominance on the small plateau of bare rock that stuck itself up like a thumb above the malodorous, green–misted swamps cloaking the tiny planet. It was a mishmash of alien and human. A chaotic confluence of traders, settlers and fortune hunters. Lawless and ripe, and safe for runners like Gates. In a disorganized colony whose numbers swelled by a thousand new faces every day, it was an ideal place in which to blend unnoticed and unquestioned from the overstretched autonomic authority. To fugitives like Gates, Adge was safe haven. What it lacked in finesse it made up in confusion.

Or so he had believed.A glance behind him told Gates his tail was still wagging.This is becoming tiresome.Gates tongued a stud behind one of his right molars. Ducked through a shawl

of shtreepta beads. Emerged the other side looking forty years older. No one seemed to notice the subtle shimmering that had briefly surrounded Gates’ head, ageing him by decades in a split second. No one had noticed his nondescript raincoat thicken out to become a long patchwork smock. Blink and it was missed. The holo–projection was perfect. Gone were Gates’ sharp azure eyes, his short crop of vermillion hair, his heavy sideburns – in their place lay liver–spotted jowls, crooked yellowed teeth and a balding pate nestled within a swirl of lank grey hair.

He even stooped a little bit more, just to complete the illusion.Let’s see how observant our friend is now, he mused.A few minutes later, the sinuous bazaar merged into a heaving market square

packed with hundreds of dazzling stalls. In the center, a ragtag band of musicians – elevated above the crowds on a floating platform – were tooting their pipes at a group of flamboyantly–dressed juggling acrobats leaping from one stall canopy to the next.

Gates paused at a multi–tiered stand brimming with iridescent candies and picked up a sour suck–pop. As he paid the ruddy–cheeked proprietor, he saw his tail pass by on the other side of the stall, apparently unaware of Gates’ transformation.

That’s right, he thought, keep walking, keep looking. Where on Adge have I skulked off to?

It was Gates’ first good look at his shadow.The man looked like a thespian.He was a lean, narrow–faced human with dark sunken eyes, trim goatee

beard and a mane of jet black hair. His clothing was unexceptionally fashionable, permitting him to mingle effortlessly into the town’s amalgam of vivid, and sometimes tasteless, styles. More importantly, Gates’ genetically–extended senses informed him the shadow was armed to the hilt.

Sniggering, Gates lingered long enough to make certain his tail was swallowed up by the crowd before escaping down a side alley.

Third time lucky, he chuckled as he left the hustle behind.

II >

 In no time at all, Gates was on his own, navigating the narrow streets that

crisscrossed the town. It was market day. Everyone who was anyone was down there, either plying their trade or buying wares. Gates eased off his pace. No need to rush. No need to look like a runner. His shadow, it seemed, was lost. Now he could concentrate on procuring a means to leave this hectic planet – before he was tracked down yet again.

He came to the cobbled alleyway leading back to his attic apartment. Turned into it. Started climbing the steep incline. Then stopped dead in his tracks.

The uncompromising muzzle of a percussion blaster was pointing at the hairy gap between Gates’ eyes, literally centimeters from his fake nose.

Gates knew that Adge had its fair share of bandits; he’d already dispatched one or two of the more determined individuals.

“Don’t shoot!” he cackled. He kept his fist clenched around the blaster in his pocket, dislodged the safety. “I possess nothing of worth. This frail old timer means you no harm.”

As ever, his performance was first class. He even allowed a globule of thick saliva to dangle precariously from the corner of his pretend lips.

“See, I have nothing for you. Nothing except maybe an infection!”Gates’ false rheumy eyes narrowed as they focused along the blaster’s thick

silver shaft to a fist, an arm, a face, a crooked smile he recognized within a trim goatee beard.

Adrenaline flashed in his chest.“Ardian Gates.” The shadow spoke in a cool monotone that cut Gates clean to

the core. “How nice of you to walk by.”“Let me pass, you scoundrel!” Gates demanded, still brandishing his charade.

“Or I will summon the authorities and have you forcibly removed! I am well-respected in these parts. With contacts in the Council. I’ll have you tar and feathered!”

“Do they still do that?”“In some places, yes.”The man who had been tailing him all day shook his head. “Really, I do know

who you are beneath that disguise, you know. I am the authorities, you nitwit. Judge, jury and executioner if need be.”

He stuck out a manicured hand.“Now, if you would be so kind as to relinquish your weapon?”Gates considered his options for a moment. The way he saw it, he had two

choices: fight or surrender. A fight might end up messy; he’d already had too many of his limbs re–grown over the years to think it would be any other way. Surrender could buy him precious leverage and time. Know thy enemy and all that.

The man moved the gun’s cool nozzle a centimeter through Gates’ projected guise until it pressed against his real brow.

“This unleashes a neural pulse capable of frying your synapses, Mr. Gates.” He said. “Regrettably, it will not kill you, but it will render you with the IQ of a carrot. Do you like vegetables, Mr. Gates?”

“Carnivore.” Gates answered with a spit. “Vegetables give me gas.”Playing the game, he removed the blaster from his pocket and handed it over.‘And the other one.”Gates sighed and handed over the hidden gun tucked beneath his arm.“And now get rid of the disguise ...”

Gates killed the holo–projection to reveal his tall, bald dome of a head, his long ashen face, his tiny cup–shaped ears and his thin slit of a mouth. He blinked large, black, bulbous eyes.

The shadow’s smile widened to show immaculate teeth. “Ah, at last, the real Ardian Gates. Fugitive Simbient. Wanted on five planets for the illegal acquisition of more than a dozen priceless possessions. Your holo–file does not do you justice. You are much trimmer in real life.”

“Running keeps a Simbient fit.”“I prefer yoga myself.”The shadow kept the blaster tight against Gates’ pallid forehead while he

took a small blue capsule from his pocket.“You know the procedure, Mr. Gates. Please, swallow this.”Behind the nozzle, Gates’ long brow crinkled. “Must I?”“You must. It is an immobilizer,” the man explained. “Should you try to flee,

this will temporarily deactivate your cerebral cortex.”“How nice.”“It is very effective.”“I am sure.” Gates took the bright blue pill and popped it in his mouth,

making a dramatic swallowing sound. He opened his mouth wide, for inspection.The shadow seemed satisfied. He lowered the blaster to hip level and took a

step back. “Now we can both be more civilized.”Gates spread his hands. “May I ask ..?”“My name?”“I was thinking more along the lines of how?”“We are all creatures of habit, Mr. Gates. You were betrayed by your own

behavioral idiosyncrasies. That and the tracer molecules sprayed on the last artifact you stole.”

“That’s sneaky.”“But highly amusing.” The man produced a glowing purple orb from his

pocket – about the size of an eyeball – and held it in front of Gates’ frowning face. “Your win was your defeat.”

Gates’ heart sank; the shadow had obviously already raided his digs. Which meant all his identity chips were now rendered useless.

“Alas, purple was never my color.”“Nor luck, it would seem.” The man urged him forward with a wave of the

blaster. “This way, please. We have a rendezvous to keep.”

III >

 The shadow’s name was Gu and he confessed to have been hunting Gates for

little over one week. Working for a master he was unwilling as yet to reveal. Gu had chased Gates across half the Fringe before finally homing in on stinking Adge. To his own admission, Gu was a specialist in tracking prey. Bragging whole–heartedly about his legendary skills as he marched Gates to the rendezvous point.

“Apparently it is genetic,” he said as they climbed to the roof of a tall residency block. “Thousands of years ago, my people could track a single deer over half a continent simply by following its droppings”

“My, you must be so proud.”They emerged onto a flat rooftop. Gates assumed a cross–legged position on

the lip of the guttering and folded his lanky arms across his flat chest. From here he could survey the mist–laden swamps that surrounded the hotchpotch town far below, beneath a saffron sky now choked with churning cloud.

He heard Gu whisper into the tip of his collar. As he did so, a bright dot materialized in the leaden sky, expanding at a ferocious rate as it sped towards them. In less than a second it had adopted the familiar glassy disc–shape of a shuttlecraft. It came to a perfect standstill above the rooftop, blasting hot air across them.

“Doesn’t look like a prison ship.” Gates muttered.The ship settled into a low hover.Gates seized his moment. In a blur, he lashed out a foot. Caught the bounty hunter cleanly in the back of

the knee. The blow sent him down hard. In the same fluid movement, Gates leapt into the air, snatched the blaster from the falling Gu, and rolled to his own feet. He aimed the muzzle at the man’s astonished expression and promptly regurgitated the blue pill he’d been forced to swallow. Spat it over the edge of the roof.

“The orb, if you will.” Gates said, flapping fingers.Gu was rubbing a hip. “Crude, yet effective.”Gates waved the gun impatiently, “The orb.”Gu took the glowing orb from his pocket and held it aloft.Submissively, Gu dropped the orb into Gates’ outstretched hand.“Thank you so kindly.”“My displeasure.”Gates squeezed the trigger.Gu’s eyes rolled all the way back into their sockets. He shook for a moment,

then flopped onto his back. Groaning. Twitched for a few seconds before rolling drunkenly onto his side. A tendril of mucus oozing from his slack mouth.

Gates stowed the weapon in his arm pouch.“Impressive.”He rifled through the shadow’s pockets to retrieve his own blaster. Snapped

the identity chip off his thumbnail and dropped it in a hidden pocket.“Nice meeting you, Mr. Gu.” He chirped as he rolled the bounty hunter to the

edge of the roof. “For maybe a few seconds you were a worthy opponent.”He put a foot against the shadow’s back, pushed, and the man disappeared

over the edge. A second or two later, he heard a dull thud as the tail met his maker.Gates turned. Walked over to the waiting craft. An oval aperture opened to

allow entrance.A man appeared in the doorway. A man with a blaster in his hand. Pointing

directly at the soft spot between Gates’ eyes.

“Impossible!” He yelped as something like an invisible meteor hit him in the face.

The world went black before Gates toppled to the roof.

IV >

 Everything was zooming in and out. Chaotically. A kaleidoscope of colors

crazily overlapping. Enough to make it feel like there was a nest of zilt worms mating in the pit of his stomach.

Blearily, Gates clawed himself into a seated position and prayed that the pounding in his head would dissolve. Something smelled bad. He realized with some horror that he’d soiled his pants. Every inch of his skin was tingling, itching. He coughed up a knot of gooey blood and winced as the pain in his head exploded.

“Iced tea cures many ailments.”Gates cracked open a watery eye, focused on a tumbler of greenish liquid

held before his face. With a shaky hand, he accepted the drink and let the cool liquid soothe his parched throat.

“There is a change of clothes,” came the voice, “and a sonic shower in the corner. You will find me on the flight deck when you’re ready.”

A blurred silhouette moved across Gates’ blurry vision, scooping the empty beaker from his hand.

Exhausted, Gates slid back to the softness of the cot and let the numbing darkness engulf him once more.

V >

 He slept like a baby for eight hours straight, then showered, breakfasted and

dressed, but not before inspecting his prison cell.It was a simple box-shaped room. Metallic silver, comprising a sonic shower

cubicle, an anti-grav cot and a net containing fresh clothes and sundries dangling from a glowing ceiling. There was a door, invisibly dove-tailed into the seamless wall, that shimmied open whenever he approached.

So, not entirely a prison cell.Judging by the vibrations tickling his genetically–enhanced senses, Gates

concluded he was aboard a jump–ship presently negotiating the shadowy realms of supraspace. Cutting through space–time from A to Z with total disregard for the rest of the alphabet. Bound for any one of a handful of planets where his past indiscretions were frowned upon, and lengthy custodial punishments awaited.

Gu had done his job well. Exemplary, in fact. Yet precisely how he’d managed to survive the fall and then miraculously materialize in the shuttlecraft remained a mystery to Gates. And Gates despised mysteries.

Every man has his price, he reminded himself as he guzzled iced tea. Gu is exceptional, but not an exception.

He spent some time examining the cylindrical corridor connecting his cell to the flight deck, before accepting there was no visible means to escape the jump–ship. No sign of any other rooms. Concealed, no doubt, and unwilling to appear at his command.

The flight deck was a transparent dome clinging like a wart to the nose of the jump–ship. A pair of flight couches on swivel bases. Several colorful holo-projections detailing ship’s systems. Gates stepped into the small, twilit bubble. His captor, Gu, glanced up from a holo–projected star map and smiled.

“Good morning, Ardian. I trust you slept well?”Gates leaned on the back of one of the chairs, letting his enhanced senses

absorb every facet of his surroundings, analyze, compute, calculate. “As well as a pulverized brain can slumber. May I ask where we are bound?”

“You may.”Gates made an expression that would have raised an eyebrow had he had

one.“But I am not at liberty to answer.” Gu added.“Then may I at least know how?”Gu’s smile lingered. It was one of those annoying smiles that wouldn’t look

out of place on a clown.“Molecular agents coating the blaster.”“Inert until they sensed my DNA.”“At which point they immediately began a countdown to your inevitable

blackout.”“Clever.”“Indeed. Subtle but effective. One of my favorites.”“And you?”He saw Gu draw a deep breath. Rub at his pointy beard. Think about his

response.“I often employ clones in situations I deem risky to my health.” He said. “You

must understand. Capturing one as deadly as the great Ardian Gates ...”“You flatter me.”Gu spread his hands.

“Your methods are unorthodox and yet productive.” Gates nodded. “To go to such lengths for a simple antiquities thief is quite extraordinary.”

“Like you, I’m a perfectionist.”“And a handsomely rewarded perfectionist at that.”He saw Gu’s eyes narrow.“My dear, Ardian. Financial gain is not my motivating factor.”“I find that hard to digest – given that the rewards for my capture are

astronomical. The orb’s worth alone – which I notice you have taken back – is estimated beyond the gross national product of some small planets.”

“Perhaps.”“It is a fact.”“And it remains undisputed. But I reiterate: financial incentives are of little

interest to me.”“Then you are not merely an exceptional bounty hunter, Mr. Gu, you are also

a saint.”“How so?”“Because only a saint would offer his services free of charge.”Gu’s smug smile was back.“Alas, the age of chivalry is long dead. But of course, you are right – had I

been a bounty hunter. The cost of tracking you to Adge alone would cripple most small banking institutions. Being that I am not a bounty hunter, I have no fee to recover.”

For the first time since sensing the shadow tailing him, Gates experienced a moment of uncertainty.

“Then what is your gain?”“Continued friendship.”“Friendship?” Gates almost choked on the word.“Bizarre as it may sound, yes.”“You have captured me for a friend? That is bizarre! You are either

misdirected or desperate. May I enquire to what end?”Gu’s gaze shifted to the multicolored supraspace maelstrom sliding past the

ship. “Maybe I shouldn’t say. Maybe I have already said too much.”“I promise to behave.”“You do?”“I swear on your life.”“That’s my worry!” Gu’s gaze returned to fix on Gates, eyeing him like a lion

trainer might watch a mewling cub. “You won’t believe me. At least, not yet.”“I might.”“I doubt it.”“Try me.”They stared at each other. A minute passed. Two equally-balanced

competitors trying to read poker faces. Strangely comforting. Then Gu took a deep breath and spoke:

“With or without your extensive wardrobe of holo–projected disguises, Ardian Gates, you are not who you think you are.”

“I am not?”“Indeed, you are not.”“Funny, because I was definitely me when I showered this morning. Unless

you have performed a nasty deed, sir, and cloned me while I slept!”Gu made steeples of his fingers.“Ardian Gates. Your memory strata was wiped some time ago. Under your

own instruction.”“And you fib, sir. I have no recollection of that.”

“Think about it. You wouldn’t, would you?”Gates thought about it. Performed a strata scan for hidden deletion entries.

Came up blank.“It makes little sense.” He said, curious to discover his captor’s true motive.

“Why would I do such a thing?”He saw Gu shrug.“Apparently, you were bored with your lot in life.”“My lot?”“Guarding the Gate between the Universes. You have done this many times

over, Ardian. You and I. Like this. Time after time. Playing out the same game across the centuries. I hunt you down. Convince you to have your memories reinstated. We return to our duties. Then you grow bored and hanker for a different stimulation.”

Gates made a snorting sound. “How quickly our polite tête-à-tête has fallen from the bizarre to the ridiculous! Good day to you, sir. I’m returning to my cell.”

He turned to leave, but heard Gu add:“As your friend, Ardian, you asked that I reawaken you after a preset time

interval. Restore your memory strata. To end your vacation with the mortals.”Gates spun round and leveled his own gaze on his smugly-smiling captor.“My vacation with the mortals? Are you insane as well as filthy rich?”“My word can be proven.”“How? I have life of memories! Beginning in the womb! I grew up on Dashk.

My father was the Viceroy to the Great Mandilaga. I spent years self-educating before turning to a life of fine crime. I have the memories to prove it!”

“No doubt. Many lifetimes, in fact. Spanning space and time. Overlapped. All masking your true identity.”

Gates chortled, “My dear Mr. Gu, I believe you have cloned yourself one too many times! Perhaps it is your own memory strata that has been wiped!”

Gu’s expression was deadly serious.“In fact, Ardian, you aren’t even a Simbient. Neither are you a living,

breathing being. Come to think of it, you are utterly alien beyond belief. You are a child of the cosmos. One of the elder founders. You are, for want of a better expression, a god.”

VI >

 Gates studied his bearded captor for long, uncomfortable moments before

offering a response:“If I am a god, what’s to stop me from snapping your neck and taking control

of this ship?”Gu tapped his temple. “The Nano–machines I injected into your cerebral

cortex while you slept. Again, under your pre–set instruction. If they are not deactivated by the proper code within the next eight hours they will eat away your brain strata. Your decision. I believe after about thirty seconds a man will plead for a quick death. Some have even been known to gouge out their own eyes and forcibly … well, you get the picture.”

“Even in this advanced and seemingly civilized age we are but animals.”“Alas. This is true.”Gates let out a long sigh. “And, of course, only you know this code.”Gu shook his head. “It remains secure at our destination. Approximately

seven hours distant. Unfortunately I am not privy to it. Again, your instruction.” “And I take it this ship’s course is pre–programmed also?”“Naturally. By you again, yes.”“By me.”Gu nodded.Casually, Gates walked across the flight deck toward his captor. “Then you

are expendable, are you not?”Gu made a dismissive gesture.In a blur, Gates slid an arm around his captor’s neck and squeezed, hard,

before Gu could react. He twisted his grip, felt vertebra crunch, tendons snap, brain stem rupture. It was over in less than a heartbeat.

Gu’s lifeless body slid to the deck.“No instrumentation is fool proof.” Gates smirked as he gazed around the

flight consoles. “There will be a way to alter this craft’s course. And a way to deactivate your precious Nano–whatever–they–may–be.”

“But, alas, you will not discover it.”Gates whirled round, to find yet another incarnation of his inescapable captor

standing in the doorway behind him, sporting a familiar percussion blaster.“This clone business is fast becoming tedious.” He growled.“The same can be said for your inept attempts to break free.” Gu number

three said as he depressed the trigger.

VII >

 Reality ebbed. Waves of grey against an interminable blackness. A tormented

sea of writhing shadows. Forks of neon lightning cracking the far distance, splitting heaven from hell.

Gates felt cold.He spent some time drifting in and out of consciousness, his dreams feverish

and demonic, before reality resolved with a thud.Drunkenly, he clambered to his bare feet and scanned his new surroundings

with a degree of disbelief.He was standing in the middle of a broad glassy disk apparently floating in

free space. All around him were stars. Billions of stars. All sizes. With a great swathe of feathery blue–and–yellow flecked with red arcing overhead. The mighty Arm in all its magnificent glory.

He was out on the Fringe of the Rim, he realized. Entirely naked.The breath caught in his throat.At first glance there didn’t appear to be any visible canopy protecting Gates

from the harsh vacuum of space. He was surrounded by raw infinity. A glittering panorama of breathtaking beauty reaching outward forever. The notion that he might simultaneously asphyxiate and decompress at any moment made his flesh creep. Fortunately, his genetically–enhanced senses were screaming at him to relax, to chill; there was some kind of invisible force field forming a dome high above his head. He was safe – of sorts – for now.

Gates shivered involuntarily.There was something stuck to his hand. A glowing orb the size of an eyeball –

purple, throbbing softly. He pulled at it, but it seemed to be welded to his skin; part of his actual hand.

What warped game is this? he wondered as he spun on one heel, letting the mad canvas of stars whirl about him. What insanity have I become a part of? Am I still dreaming? Is this the first inklings of Gu’s dreaded Nano–machines disassembling my conscious mind?

Gates dizzied himself as he absorbed the unending vista, marveling at the majesty of creation. If this was to be his end, he decided, then he could not think of a better view to fill his gaze! The whole of the Galaxy lay here at his fingertips, awesome in its breadth and serene in its silence.

It was utterly peaceful.Something was coming toward him. Shimmering against the starry backdrop,

heading his way across the glassy disk. Gates steadied his jigging gaze and squinted, trying to discern the smoky shape against the glitter backdrop.

It was a thin slither of coagulating matter. A ripple of reality remolding itself into a new form as it approached.

Gates’ jaw slackened as he watched a tall figure sculpt itself out of thin air and begin to stride effortlessly towards him.

It was a naked humanoid. Much like himself. Depilated from head to toe, and wearing a stupid grin on its long, pale face.

“Ardian Gates!” The figure hollered with a lanky wave. “It is I ...Gu! Welcome back to the brink of eternity!”

Gates’ jaw remained embarrassingly loose as the newly–fashioned entity loped up to him.

“Gu?”“Yes, the real Gu this time! No clones!”“But you look exactly like me!”“But of course!”Gu’s shiny, coal–black eyes glistened with the light from a million suns, while

Gates simply gawped.It was like looking into a mirror. Into his own face. At an exact duplicate of

himself. Smiling lopsidedly with his own practiced smile!He’s cloned me! Gates realized with horror. That sneaky Gu has gone and

cloned me!The double calling itself Gu placed a comforting palm on Gates’ shoulder.“Welcome back to the Iris, Ardian. It’s so good to have us home!”

VIII >

 Time had no meaning on the periphery of infinity. Nor the depth of space for

that matter – since both could be construed as three–dimensional concepts inapplicable to his superior senses.

The distant edges of the Universe were as near as the closest star. And the closest star was somewhere within him. Eternally entwined.

As the Guardian of the Gate, he balanced the perpetual energy flux between Universes. Such was his lot. The degree to which expansion or contraction was permitted was down to his control. And the constant inducement of the multi–dimensional tides that pulsed within the shadowy supraspace realm beyond the Iris danced to his tune.  

From this extra–stellar focal point safely fixed within the nth dimension, he could observe the unfolding of space–time. Marvel at the evolution of galaxies. Dictate the proliferation of life. He could watch their endless, pedestrian procession across the void. See billions of stars die as galaxies collided. And smile as a billion more were reborn in their wake.

This was his calling. This was his life.Beneath his feet, through the transparent disk, a vast, brilliant whirlpool of

colorful, bubbling matter spun lazily around the invisible pinprick of a black hole. The Iris. It was a turbulent funnel of fibrous fire, stretching across half of space, turning, rolling, broiling. A frenetic entrance to a matrix connecting a thousand Universes. The Gateway to everything. And it was in his charge.

In his outstretched hand, the purple orb pulsated.The discharge from this Universe to the next was imminent.On cue, Gu – his identical twin, standing atop his own disk on the other side

of the Iris – was about to instigate the massive flux discharge.Ardian could read his thoughts, as Gu could read his. He braced his feet

against the cool glassy surface. He liked this bit. This was where Universes were created!

Suddenly the spiraling cone of matter gathered pace, accelerating to a lumpy blur streaked with a blaze of every color imaginable and some not.

Here she blows.He watched, wide–eyed, as the great, writhing vortex collapsed slowly

inwards, swallowing the huge concentric rings of fire like water swirling down a plughole. Draining from one Universe to another.

Ardian Gates smiled, as did Gu, simultaneously.The Guardian of the Gate was back in business ... until his next vacation, that

is.

The End?

Words from the Author

If you liked ‘Sentinel’ then please consider checking out my full-length science fiction adventure novel “GRASK” – available for the Nook, Kobo, Sony Reader, other e-readers and Tablets:

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