The Gateway by Steve Simons
Chapter 4 Give And Take
As the door closes Barry asks the man left in the room, She will bring that back won't she?
The man looks at Barry with an emotionless stare and in a calm voice says, Look, KT, bring back, Aseer-Alc, State-in know not I. Then he sat back looking straight at Barry as if watching for his reaction, he seemed to be enjoying Barry's discomfort at having his only link to home being taken away.
Barry's chain of thought is broken as he hears Tom ask, What did he say?
Barry replies, He didn't know what state the walkie talkie would be in if she does bring it back
What was that Asseer word about? asks Tom.
A name, probably the lady's. replies Tom.
They sit in silence, the man still staring at them without emotion, as if he were a robot devoid of power.
Suddenly Barry asks the man, Tell me please your name?
The man in turn asks, Say you what?
Barry points to himself and says, Me Barry , then points to Tom and says, Him Tom, tell me your name.
The man says, Understand me now, me Dar-Reg.
Got it! exclaims Barry to Tom, Its backwards.
Barry notes that the man's face adopts a curious look as Tom asks What's backwards, the way they talk? We know that already.
No, their names are backwards, the lady's name Aseer-Alc, that's Clarisa. and Dar-Reg is Gerrard. replies Barry excitedly.
Tom now equally excited, replies, Oh yes so it is.
Dar-Reg suddenly interjects, Mot. he points to Tom, then points to Barry as he says, Yarab, got I friend, Mot.
There you go. replies Barry, He has a friend called Tom.
The door opens and the lady enters, but is without the walkie talkie. The boys look at each other, the fear in their eyes quite unmistakable.
Where's my walkie talkie...er communications device? asks Barry.
Oh don't worry our Know Tech team are looking at it to see if they can work out how it triggers the gateway. So far they have not had much luck with ones they have seen before. replies Aseer-Alc.
They won't break it will they? asks Barry nervously.
Oh no they did break one once, but they will be very carefull. replies Aseer-Alc.
Dar-Reg takes them all by surprise as he says to Aseer Alc, This Mot name and this Yarab name, know they our names.
There is a pause as Aseer-Alc works out the names, then she says, Tom and Barry, no?
Quite correct... er yes. replies Barry.
Aseer-Alc asks, How many places have you been through, the gateway so far?
Tom takes everyone by surprise as he answers the question, Two so far, here and the first place we went to.
What was the first place like? asks Aseer-Alc.
Rather strange, well the place wasn't, but the creatures were. says Tom.
In what way strange? asks Aseer-Alc
Well there was this giant caterpiller for starters....that was their transport and the creatures themselves, they were shorter than us, but very strong. We think they had either just returned from some battle, or a hunting trip. replies Tom.
Aseer-Alcs eyes, go wide showing great interest as soon as Tom had mentioned battle. It is Dar-Reg who asks, So had, they, weapons. What they like?
Before Tom has a chance to reply, Barry says, Just spears, nothing special.
Tom looked really surprised and is about to correct Barry, when Barry kicks him under the table. One look at Barry's face confirms that he should keep quiet, so he does.
However, Dar-Reg had spotted Tom's reaction and asks, Say something, you, were about to?
Oh nothing really. replies Tom.
No you, say please. prompts Dar-Reg.
Well, I was only going to say that the spears were decorated with colourful feathers and the like. Replies Tom.
Dar-Reg still views Tom with suspicion, but his attention is diverted to Aseer-Alc as she asks, And what about your world, what is that like?
There's silence, as Barry and Tom look at each other, wondering who should speak and what they should say. Tom breaks the silence and says, Well from what we have seen of your world so far, pretty much like this actually, except we dress and speak slightly differently as you can see.
Dar-Reg, ever the one to get straight to the point asks, Weapons, you, have?
Both boys look at each other again as if to say, What is this guy's obsession with weapons?
Barry shrugs his shoulders as if to say, What do we tell him?
After what seemed like a long pause, Tom replies, Well we have some weapons, they look totally different from yours.
Work they how? asks Dar-Reg.
We are only children, we don't know how they work. replies Barry.
It is Aseer-Alc's turn to give Dar-Reg a strange look.
Know, they, might have. responds Dar-Reg Defensively.
What sort of food do you eat? asks Aseer-Alc, then seeing their questioning look, she continues, Only you must be getting hungry and thirsty now.
Tom, without hesitation replies, Well I don't like fish.
Aseer-Alc is most confused by this and asks, What is this fish much?
Creatures that live in water. replies Tom.
Does sound Yuck! exclaims Aseer-Alc and her reaction and expression of feeling makes the boys laugh. It seems really out of character.
The boys are lead out of the room and down a corridor. They are followed by two security guards. They soon enter another room where there are several other people eating meals, they stop the instant the group enters.
Dar-Reg says, Not harm you, safe they.
The boys are lead to the serving hatch by Aseer-Alc. It all looks like a school dinning hall, only considerably smaller and a heck of a lot quieter. The latter state does not last long, as really loud wailing noise deafens everyone in the room.
Quick we must get to the shelter. says Aseer-Alc, as she heads back out of the room.
Above the noise of the alarm, Barry can hear Tom wistfully say, Brunch, so temptingly near, yet snatched out of our reach.
There was an explosion and half of the wall was no longer there. Barry looks back over his shoulder and is shocked that Tom is no longer to be seen. He looks down to see Tom laying on the floor, half covered by a segment of wall and pieces of furniture.
Barry, Aseer-lc and Dar-Reg rush to Tom's side and immediately start to remove the things piled on top of Tom. There are no signs of life. Aseer-Alc calls out Tom's name and hurriedly check his body for life signs.
Barry and dar-Reg continue to remove what they can. Others have joined in the rescue. They all attempt to lift the segment of wall and at first it shows no sign of wanting to move. There are too many other things holding down the corners.
Get us lifting gear we need. says a voice amongst the helpers.
No time, lifting gear, building other side. replies another voice.
More help arrives and they remove the pieces of collapsed wall, pinning the larger segment down.
Soon they are even lifting the large segment off of Tom. Just as they are moving it away from Tom, it splits. Most of the parts missing Tom altogether.
Aseer-Alc rushes in to check Tom more carefully. After what seems like an eternity, she announces that there is a pulse and that he is breathing, although only shallow breaths. Two mean with some sort of stretcher arrive and carefully lift Tom onto it. Before Barry has a chance to blink they are heading through the door and away.
Where are they taking Tom? asks Barry rather frantically, Is he OK?
Aseer-Alc replies, He is in a bad state and they are &. taking him to the medical unit to assess and treat him, I will take you there shortly.
Aseer-Alc can see that Barry is suffering from shock at what has just happened to his friend but also to himself. Aseer-Alc talks to one of the canteen staff, who dashes off to fetch
Barry rejects it at first, but Aseer-Alc assures him that the drink will help him. Barry can hardly keep his hands steady. He asks what the drink is. Aseer-Alc pauses for a moment to think how to describe it, she answers, Plants that soothe and calm you. You have had quite a shock and need such as this. It is safe and will not harm you. Barry sniffs the drink and sure enough finds the smell quite comforting, he cautiously sips it and finds it actually tastes nice too.
Aseer-Alc continues, You see, in our world, we are in a battle as you call it. We have been in this for some time. That is why Dar-Reg is interested in weapons in other places, for we need something more than we have, to stop this battle.
After a few minutes, Barry has stopped shaking so much and notices that the people moving around the room have changed and are mostly repair crew, trying to fix up the room again.
Aseer-Alc asks Barry, Are you alright enough to go and see Tom now?
Without hesitation Barry replies, yes let's go straight away. He carefully places the now empty cup on the nearest undamaged table. There is a loud explosion, Barry and Aseer-Alc are thrown to the floor. Neither aware of the bits of wall and furniture piling up on top of them.
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Chapter 5 Wake Up And Smell The War
There is frantic activity as the rescue team and others rush to remove the all the debris off Aseer-Alc, Barry and the others affected by the blast. Soon the casualties are being taken to the medical unit.
Dar-Reg is standing t the entrance to the canteen, looking over the damage. He mouths, They will pay for this.