The Portals, page 1
part #19 of Survivors Series
Contents
The Portals (The Survivors Book Nineteen)
Copyright © 2022
Books By Nathan Hystad
PROLOGUE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
EPILOGUE
The Search (The Survivors Book Twenty)
Copyright © 2022 Nathan Hystad
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Cover art: J Caleb Design
Edited by: Christen Hystad
Edited by: Scarlett R Algee
Proofed and Formatted by: BZ Hercules
Books By Nathan Hystad
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The River Saga
First Life
Second Chance
Third Party
The Realms
The Bridge Sequence
Lost Contact
Lost Time
Lost Hope
Space Race
Space Race
Space Battle
Space Strike
The Survivors Series
The Event
New Threat
New World
The Ancients
The Theos
Old Enemy
New Alliance
The Gatekeepers
New Horizon
The Academy
Old World
New Discovery
Old Secrets
The Deities
New Beginning
New Lies
The Colony
New Galaxy
The Portals
The Search
Baldwin’s Legacy
Confrontation
Unification
Culmination
Hierarchy
Lineage
Legacy
The Resistance Series
Rift
Revenge
Return
The Manuscript
Lights Over Cloud Lake
Red Creek
Return to Red Creek
PROLOGUE
Zecos Three
Shandra 421
Runoff dripped onto the sidewalks, creating pools of water. Jaeke stepped into one, and it splashed, soaking his pant leg. As if his night could be any worse. He headed deeper into the Lower Sector, easily recognizing the distinguishing differences from his own home ten decks above. Here the lights constantly blinked, and the temperature was always ten degrees hotter.
Jaeke slowed at the edge of the street, peering past the railing at the Core. Giant augers stirred the molten lava, shoving the fumes through a vent, and heat into another.
He coughed and flipped up his Mist, letting the fresh, damp air soothe his aching lungs. There were days he loved this job, and times he despised it. If he worked in an office, he could pretend none of this existed, but he was a detective, and that meant he’d seen every single corner of Tower City. And all the dreadful things hiding in the shadows.
Jaeke retreated from the barrier and crossed the street, keeping his gaze lowered. He bumped into someone and muttered an apology.
“Detective Jaeke, right?” the man asked.
Jaeke wanted to keep on, but he glanced up, finding three large Aktoo, their flicking tongues darting between white lips.
Jaeke lowered his Mist and tapped his watch. The drone hovered nearby, a red light indicating it was recording their interaction. The leader peered at the source of the hum, his beady eyes narrowing.
“We seek no harm, Detective. My name’s Xandr, and I have a job for you.”
“I’m not for hire,” he said, continuing to walk. The downpour intensified, and he avoided it, wondering how much of the liquid came from the skies and how much was leaking from the higher levels.
“I know where they took her,” Aktoo called after him.
Jaeke halted and took a deep breath. Don’t listen to them. But he turned around, waiting for Xandr and his cronies to arrive. They moved slowly, their long tails splattering the puddles.
“What did you say?” Jaeke asked.
“That woman. The one you couldn’t find. It consumed the feeds for weeks,” Xandr reminded him.
“What about her?” That had been five years ago, and Jaeke was content to just let it go. He’d failed the family of the wealthiest corporation in the Zecos system, yet they hadn’t held it against Jaeke or the department.
Xandr came closer, leaning in, and Jaeke stayed firm, prepared to use the drone’s munitions if necessary. “How about some closure?”
Jaeke didn’t budge, letting the other man do the talking. It was his usual tactic to allow a suspect to divulge more information than they realized.
“Let’s just do it ourselves,” one of Xandr’s acquaintances groaned.
“Detective, they’re meeting on Seqor in ten days.”
“Who is?” Jaeke finally asked.
Xandr shook his head. “You haven’t heard?”
Jaeke remained silent.
“The prize is astronomical. Locate the Seal, and you win a starship….”
“Don’t forget the planet,” his companion added.
Xandr frowned and shoved the man.
Jaeke tried to follow along, but these guys weren’t making any sense. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a job to do.” He didn’t know what a Seal was, or who he was supposed to be, or why Jaeke would care about a starship.
“Anlise isn’t dead,” Xandr said.
Jaeke froze, water trickling down his face. He brushed it off and sighed. “Let’s go somewhere less… wet.”
A few minutes later, they entered a lounge with background music you could fall asleep to. Something leaked from the ceiling, and Jaeke glanced at the bartender, seeing it was one of his informants. He ignored the three-armed snitch and sat in the only dry seat in the house. Xandr joined him while his partners stood guard, their backs turned to the table.
Drinks were delivered before either of them spoke a word, and Jaeke sniffed the concoction, sliding it away. “Tell me what you want.”
Jaeke rarely accepted side jobs: not just for the sake of legality, but because the people trying to hire him were always so desperate. You could disappear without a trace in Tower City. It had always been that way, and no matter how hard the Enforcers tried to solve these cases, they eventually met resistance from their primary tax funder, Planetary Provider Inc. The very same family that he’d failed to return Anlise to.
Xandr took his time, sipping his chalk-white drink. It left a residue on his lips. He licked at them, and finally started. “What can you tell me about Nix Benah?”
“He’s a dangerous man,” Jaeke whispered.
“The Shandra network has expanded,” Xandr said.
This grabbed Jaeke’s interest, but he kept it internalized. “Is that so?”
“Nix is offering an entire planet and his personal starship to anyone that locates the First World.”
“The First World? What’s that?” Jaeke contemplated what it would mean, winning a starship. He could leave this dump and never return. But that wouldn’t bring Anlise back.
Xandr shrugged, the effort to lift his hefty arms seeming enormous. He rested them on the table, and it creaked from the weight. “There had to be an original planet before the others, right?”
“I suppose so,” Jaeke said.
“Nix wants it, or more specifically, its geographical location. Rumor has it, a lake has the power to raise the dead.”
“Why would that be appealing?” Jaeke asked.
“Imagine the possibilities. Nix’s wife could return to him,” Xandr said.
Jaeke knew the story. Anlise had described exactly what had occurred after her mother’s encounter with the Arnap. “What does Anlise have to do with this?”
“She’s alive and on the hunt for the First World, along with everyone else.”
Jaeke’s eye twitched, and he clutched his glass. “And this begins on Seqor in ten days?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“Why do you need me?” Jaeke drummed his fingers, feeling the itch to leave this bar; to ignore his current assignment and forget this conversation ever happened. But she’d been abducted, or so he’d thought. Taken from Zecos Three. He’d spent a year traveling in search of her kidnappers, but what if she never was a prisoner at all? What if it had been staged?
“You have a set of skills I find beneficial. Help me locate the First
Jaeke considered telling him to head to the stars, but refrained. This could change his trajectory. Distance him from Tower City and anything related to Planetary Provider Inc. He’d abandoned a different future since Anlise’s disappearance, but with this new information…
“I’ll do it.”
Xandr seemed genuinely shocked, and he smiled, his forked tongue slipping from his mouth. “Excellent.”
“When do we leave?”
“How about now?”
Jaeke stood, checking the drone feed for any evidence he’d been followed. “No time like the present.”
ONE
The planet’s star was bright, almost shockingly so, and I lifted the glasses from my pack, tapping the button on the arm to darken the lens. “I’d say it’s another dud, Slate.”
“Don’t give up so soon, Boss. The Traveler drones assured us there was something worth checking out, so let’s finish this,” Slate said.
I nodded, patting my armored chest. We’d dispatched twenty of the Travelers we’d obtained from the Takmas, and they continued through the portal network, exploring the list of established Shandra locations. Their job was simple. Observe. Record. Report. Standard Gatekeeper procedure.
With the growing quantity of portals to investigate, and a limited number of competent Gatekeepers, we’d started to rely on the drones to do the heavy lifting. There was no point in exploring a hunk of rock, or a planet with nothing to offer. So far, we’d discovered five of them occupied by industrious races, and were contemplating how to make first contact.
None of those separate groups of people seemed to acknowledge their portal stones. Mary was pushing for us to invite the races into the Alliance fold, but with no information on any of them, I preferred to wait. She was in charge of the Alliance of Worlds now, but in Sarlun’s absence, I was leading the Gatekeepers.
I slowed and checked the tablet on my sleeve, projecting the results from the display. “Where there’s water, there’s life. But we haven’t seen signs of any,” I reminded him.
Slate grinned, his own glasses moving with his eyebrows. “Is that so?” He gestured to the sky, and the pair of drones joining us.
“Out with it,” I told him.
“They just identified a source two kilometers from here,” Slate said.
“Let’s follow up.”
Slate and I trudged across the dry landscape, dust kicking up with our steps. The landscape was barren, scarcely a hill to be seen. The elevation was flat, which was a relief.
“How have you been?” Slate asked.
“What do you mean?”
He kept marching, staring forward. “Since the whole Alliance fiasco.”
“I’m fine, Slate. Mary was the right person for the role. Besides, I wouldn’t have been able to join you on this adventure.”
“Damn straight.” Slate patted my back. “I needed a break from Light. Loweck has been eager to settle down, which is a challenge when we’re on a starship, exploring the recesses of the universe.”
“Where are you thinking?”
“It depends.”
“On what?”
Slate smirked. “We’re trying to have a baby.”
“A baby?” I exclaimed. “But she’s… half robot.”
“We’re going to adopt,” Slate said.
“Congratulations. Why haven’t you said anything before?”
“We weren’t sure, but it’s been a topic of conversation for a while now. We’re ready for a family.”
“You’ll make a great father.”
“Thanks.” Slate steered his gaze to the distance. “Is that…?”
The glint of the bright yellow star blasted from a reflective surface a half kilometer away, and I pulled a scope, recording it. “It’s a ship,” I whispered.
The small craft couldn’t have held more than a single person in it. It shot into the air, invisible thrusters sending it toward us. It sailed overhead and descended in the direction of the portal.
“Who is that?” Slate turned, commanding the drones after the vessel.
“I have no idea. We didn’t recruit anyone else, and we definitely don’t have ships that small,” I said.
Slate activated the feeds from the hovering Travelers as the unidentified flying object settled near the portal’s entrance. Wheels protruded from the underside, and it rolled into the cavern. A moment later, we saw a bright flash as the Shandra operated.
“They took the craft into the portal!” Slate shouted.
I tried to grasp what we’d just witnessed. “Come on. Let’s see for ourselves.”
We continued to the body of water Slate had discovered, and saw a cup near the pond. I crouched and picked up the piece of litter. I handed it to Slate. The symbol had three unique letters and a circle around them, but they weren’t familiar. “What’s this?”
“No idea. I think they took a sample of the water and left.”
“We have to learn who that was.”
With a million questions on our minds, we returned to the portal. Nothing had been tampered with. Slate tucked the drones into their pack, and I activated the Shandra, setting course for New Spero.
We arrived at the Institute site in the dark. A Keppe soldier greeted us with a grunt and a nod, letting us pass.
“Should we call it a night?” Slate asked.
“You go ahead. Say hi to Loweck for me,” I told him.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I want to analyze this.”
“If you say so, Boss. See you tomorrow.” Slate headed for the officers’ residences, and I went the opposite direction. The brand-new building’s sign sat above the entrance, and I smiled at the sphere denoting the portals and their planets. Sarlun would be proud of us. At least, I liked to think so.
Shimmal had renounced any connection to the Alliance, including the Gatekeepers, the Academy, and the Institute, which meant we required a new head office for the department. The Institute was as good a location as any.
I used my personal code to access the building and entered, my boots clicking against the bright white tiles. I went to the lockers, ditching the armor, then showering and changing into a jumpsuit before proceeding to my office.
I connected the stick and viewed the recordings a few times, zooming on the strange vessel.
“Papa, I thought I’d find you here.”
I glanced at her with a grin. “Jules. What are you doing up?”
She had on a bathrobe, her star pajamas beneath. “Slate isn’t the quietest person in the world. I heard him stomping around the hallway, and he told me you were awake too.”
Jules came into the office, her curly hair bobbing at her shoulders. Her green eyes shone with life, but they no longer glowed unless she wanted them to. I noticed her hand settled at her breastbone, where the Beykn wand had once rested. She must have realized what she was doing, because she lowered her arm and sat. “What did you encounter?”
“See for yourself.” I projected the feed to the screen on the wall, and we watched it together.
“That’s impressive. A spaceship that also fits into the Shandra rooms. Must be a tight fit,” she said.
“For us. But there might be smaller beings inside.”
“Good point, Papa.” Jules’ brow furrowed as we replayed it. “What does it mean?”
“Someone else is utilizing the portals.” I leaned into the chair, kicking my feet onto the desk. “What about you? Things been good at the Institute?”
“Sure. The Adrol have joined, and we’ve been training them with the fresh batch of Toquil recruits from Barod. There’s nothing better than Regnig’s people tackling the obstacle course with pulse pistols in their claws.” Jules chuckled.
“I bet. They’re doing well, though?”
“I wouldn’t put most of them in the field, but they’ve been great resources. Their minds are as sharp as tacks. I think it’s a symbiotic relationship,” Jules said.
I nodded. This was how it had been for the last year. Jules acting as ambassador, with each different race’s leadership contacting her for any Institute-related issues. Every time I returned from a mission, we’d discuss the outcome, and she’d report her daily grind with me. I liked to think we both enjoyed the restful moments as much as each other.
“How’s Hugo doing?” I asked.
“He’s ready to go,” she said.
