Chapter 5
The First Shift
I
Henry opened 4 more gates in quick succession all in the same general area, before his tablet told him he had an hour for lunch. It all moved quickly he had not really had a chance to say more than a perfunctory hello, and the required spiel about the gates being open, and ready for transport. He was actually glad that his schedule was packed so tight because it gave him a reason to move quickly through each opening. By the time his schedule told him he had a break for lunch he could barley stand up. He sat down in one of the arrival, and departure chairs to try, and figure out a plan. He had no idea what he was going to do for his break; maybe find some kind of lunch. That brought up the issue of money; he didn’t have a way to pay for it. Maybe if he asked Ms. Roberts she would lend him some of whatever money this place used so he could get some lunch. He was just thinking about asking when he heard Amica’s voice from behind him.
“Well if it isn’t my favorite new keeper,” she said jokingly. Henry looked up to her and the look on her face changed immediately and she sat down. “I hope you’re on break, ‘cause you look wiped. It’s dangerous to open gates when you are tired, you could hurt yourself.”
“Really, are you a keeper?”
“No, my father was. I want to be trained. I tested when I was a kid. I could feel the gates, but I don’t see the orb clearly yet. They say with training, I should be able to open the gates, but training is expensive unless you’re sponsored, or know someone who can teach you.” She looked at him again, and laughed. “You have no idea what I’m talking about do you?” she asked.
“No, I know the orb you were talking about, well at least I think I do, but,”
“Yeah, your planet doesn’t really know a whole lot about the universe outside their solar system. There are a few key individuals who know, but on the whole most of it is kept on the down low. How’d you get this job anyway?” she asked.
“I am not sure really, one minute I was shoveling snow in Ms. Roberts garden; the next day she called, and offered me a job. I opened my first gate this morning. Honestly I keep waiting to wake up. It all feels like a dream?” Henry said.
“You know Roberts, I mean I know she took you on your first gate this morning, but wait, you’ve been in her garden? Which one?” Amica asked.
“The front one, with the suit of armor, and the statute under the fruit tree.” Henry said.
“Wow, you know Nathan and Frankie, you do get around,” Amica said teasingly.
Henry was confused again. Nothing Amica was saying made any sense, he didn’t know if it was because he was hungry, tired or if he just had a very full day.
“I am confused again,” he admitted “sorry”.
She laughed. She stood up, and reached a hand out for Henry’s hand to help him up. “Don’t worry about it, why don’t we get some food into that over worked brain of yours, and I’ll explain everything.” She said smiling. Henry was confused, but enthused that he seemed to be making a friend. He decided to follow along, and see where things ended up; besides the idea of food sounded heavenly.
“Sounds wonderful, where do we go?” Henry asked.
“Come with me,” Amica said sliding her hand into his, and pulling him to his feet. Her hand was solid, and unyielding like the stone he thought it was carved from. It felt cool to the touch at first, but warmed quickly in his hand. He let her pull him up roughly, and stood nose to nose with her for a second while he caught his balance. He could see himself reflected back a thousand times in the facets of her jeweled eyes. He realized he was standing nose to nose with a very beautiful creature. He could feel her breath on his cheek it made his head swim even more. He felt guilty all of a sudden. He liked Britney, he was still not sure where things stood with her, but he felt an immediate connection to Amica.
After only a few minutes talking with Amica, he realized how out of place he was in this world. He thought that maybe if Amica were his friend, he wouldn’t be so lost. She really seemed to understand what was going on here; she must be older than he thought. He stepped back.
“Are you really made of stone, or does it just look like stone,” he asked then blushed, because he didn’t know if his question would be construed as rude. “Sorry,” he said; he just felt very comfortable with her.
“No, it’s okay. Not in the way that you think of stone. We have many of the same biological systems that you have, a circulatory system that moves fluid, and organs that process food, and so forth but our cells are much denser than yours, so tactilely it feels like stone. Human tissues are very pliant by comparison,” she said.
While they were talking they had walked back out into the main terminal hall. She led him toward an elevator in the middle of the short wall opposite of where the door to Ms. Roberts’s office was. To the left of the elevator was a door that read, “Staff only.” She went through the door, and then immediately through another door on the left that read, “Staff lounge.”
The room was shaped like a capital L. There were three machines that looked like vending machines, a sink, and cabinets. There was one wall of windows looking out into another garden, filled with different types of trees, and flowers. In the center of the room were three tables with chairs surrounding them. There was no one in the room however. She went over to a bank of lockers on the wall directly opposite the sink, and vending machines, and proceeded to take out a purse.
“This is the break room for employees, it is not a bad place to take a short break, but I wouldn’t recommend eating from the machines the food is not very good. Do you have any money?” she asked. He nodded no.
“I’ll buy you lunch today, but only if you promise to tell me how you got into the garden, and buy me lunch tomorrow.”
“Sounds great,” and it did, it would mean having lunch with her again.
“What do you say we go upstairs to the restaurants, there is a place up there that makes really good sandwiches,” she said. She walked into the main hall, and stood in front of the elevator.
“Okay lesson number one, things in the universe cost money, or goods. The universe still functions on a monetary, or barter system. Most species recognize the universal credit system. That is how you will get paid by the ITS. Lesson two, you’re a keeper, which puts you in the union, think of them like teamsters with out the manners. The keepers are what keep this whole place running, the union is always looking for new talent they can control. See, the more keepers they control the easier it is to control the price of an opening. Every time you open a gate the station owes you credits, and in turn you pay the union a percentage. They call it membership dues. I call it a protection fee. The more difficult the gate is to open the more the station owes you, there are five levels of gates, and they are coded by the color of the beam. I’m telling you it’s a racket, but if you don’t join, well, let’s just say… you’re young, and relatively handsome for a human. You should really do what they say. Besides if you don’t, none of the other keepers will speak to you. The system stinks, but you get used to it. The good news is that you make good money,” she said. The doors opened; she stepped into the elevator, and Henry followed her. He had questions about the whole money thing.
“Is there a way to be paid in earth money?” He asked not sure how he would pay for college if he got paid in intergalactic money.
“All right lesson number three money. Trust me you don’t want to do that, the American dollar is not a very strong currency; so few Earthlings leave the planet that most galaxy’s don’t recognize it as a tradable currency. What you want to do is get paid in intergalactic credits, then go to the currency exchange counter, and trade it out. Yesterday the rate of exchange was roughly one credit to 13 dollars, so if you took the money from your easiest crossing 54 dollars after union fees you would have about 700 dollars American,” she said stepping off the elevator. Henry just stood frozen in place; he had opened five gates this morning. If his
math was correct even if his gates were all the simplest gates to open he had made roughly 3500 dollars this morning in American money. How would he hide that kind of money from his parents? Did he have to hide it from them, could he tell them about his new job, and its potential for wealth for his family? Henry decided he would like to tell his parents; everything in his life always felt more real when he shared it with his family. The only secret he had kept from his family was his problems at school. He was not sure he was allowed to tell, he would have to ask Roberts.
“That’s like 3500 dollars just this morning how do I hide that kind of money, I can’t just pay for everything with cash can I?” Henry asked.
“No, I see your point; a kid our age with that kind of dough draws attention. Uktu in Human resources can make it all look legal on earth,” she said. She stood in front of a long glass case similar to the deli meat case at Wal-Mart; only this one was full of meats, and cheeses in colors, and shades he had never seen. There was green meat flecked with orange striations. There were pinks, and blues. He saw one bowl actually had things crawling around inside it, which looked like yellow earthworms with tinny legs. Amica turned to him, and then asked him the most disturbing question he had been asked all day.
“Do you trust me?” she asked. Henry wanted very badly to say yes, but looking into the case he could not really find anything that looked remotely appetizing. He decided to just go with it, she seemed to really have taken him under her wing as it were, and he was glad to have found someone willing to teach him the ropes.
“I guess, but am still very nervous about the whole thing.” Henry said now more nervous than ever. Amica smiled big, and turned to the big man behind the counter he looked human, until he smiled. When he smiled the illusion that he was from Earth vanished. Henry realized when he smiled that he was from wherever Ms. Roberts was, because his smile was friendly, but the larger it got the more sharp teeth he showed. He was large, and not just in height. He was nearly 6 foot tall, and looked to be in the 300 lb.-weight range. He had short blond hair, and a pleasant face. Henry could tell looking at him that he enjoyed his job, and took pride in his shop, because although he was a very large man he was clean wearing black slacks and a white chef coat with the logo of the ITS over the heart. Over the top of all of that was a white apron.
“Hey Tom, can I get two varken, with emmentaler on that white bread over there, and two drinks, thanks,” she said. Tom got a block of meat that was a dark orange from the case, and carried it over to the slicer. He sliced a handful of meat into a piece of what looked like wax paper, and then put the block back into the case exchanging it for a greenish block riddled with holes. He proceeded to slice the block into another piece of wax paper. When he had a small pile, he put the block back in the case. Then took the two piles over to where there was a basket full of hard rolls. He took two rolls sliced them, and proceeded to assemble the sandwiches. He handed the sandwiches to Amica, and she gave him a card that looked similar to a credit card.
“There are a couple of different Intergalactic Banks, but the ITS has its own credit union. They offer a widely accepted credit card that allows you to electronically transfer funds for all of your purchases,” she said handing the card to Henry when Tom handed it back to her. It was a black card with the logo of the ITS and the globe in the center. It looked like a standard credit card to Henry.
They took their sandwiches, and two cups; then went to what was the first really familiar thing Henry had seen all day a Coca Cola soda fountain.
“Is this really a coke machine?” Henry asked hopeful.
“Yes, Coca Cola is a major supplier of beverages through out the universe. The regular Coke is the same that you are familiar with, but there are other flavors that are not available on Earth, many of them cater to the tastes of different species through out the universe,” she said while filling her glass. Henry filled his glass as well. He took a small sip, and found she was right. He took a long swallow; it was wonderful to have a little piece of home in this strange new place. For the first time he felt comfortable in these new surroundings. They walked to an open seating area near a railing looking out onto the main hall below.
“Are there other, companies from earth that have products here at the terminal?” Henry asked curiously.
“Oh, Coca Cola is not an Earth corporation, well at least it wasn’t started there. The head quarters are somewhere near one of the stars in the Ursa Minor constellation. The company on Earth is just the local branch, and only the president knows about the other divisions off planet, and that’s only because he’s not from Earth either. Now, no changing the subject, we had a deal you promised to tell me about the garden, how did you get in?” she asked. Henry was not sure where to start, he didn’t really know much about the garden.
“I went in through the gate?” he said, “You’ve seen it, haven’t you? I mean if you live in Calumet City you can go in any time right?” Henry asked confused.
“I have seen the garden from outside the gate, but there are only two ways in, and out of the garden; one is through the house, and the other is through the front gate. You have to have permission from Roberts to enter the garden from the house, or be a very, very talented keeper to use the gate,” as she said the last sentence her words trailed off, and she looked at Henry again. Henry wasn’t sure, because the gems she had for eyes were hard to read, but he thought that she was evaluating her last sentence, and taking stock of him again. Henry thought that she was reconsidering being his friend. He didn’t know if she thought he was lying, but something had changed all of a sudden. Her eyes were really hard to read. Henry felt uncomfortable; he thought that maybe it was time to tell her he was a natural. But before he could she spoke again.
“You really opened the gate?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah,” he said quietly as well. He had the feeling that something important was slipping away, like the relationship was changing; “I’ve done it a couple of times now. Although I swear I didn’t know that I had done anything special until you told me. I only learned how to open a gateway this morning, when Ms. Roberts showed me how. She, and Uktu both said that I am what they call a natural.” Henry said.
“My father was a natural, but he wouldn’t talk about it very much. Do you really see the world differently?” she asked nervously.
“I don’t know. Sometimes, I think I do anyway. I see the way things work sometimes, the connections behind things that make them work. For instance we were becoming friends, and then you thought about me opening the garden gate a second ago, I could see that everything changed. All of a sudden you weren’t sure you wanted to be my friend anymore,” he said. Henry was not sure where the words came from, but as he spoke them he knew that they were all true. Amica looked shocked, and a little embarrassed. Henry realized that what he said might have embarrassed her.
“I’m sorry I never meant to embarrass you, like I said, sometimes I just see connections you know, but this is the first time it has ever happened with someone that wasn’t family. I understand if you don’t want to be my friend, thanks for the sandwich,” he said, and started to stand up to leave.
“Wait!” she said, “don’t go. I still want to be your friend. Wow, I’ve forgotten how unsettling hearing my thoughts spoken back to me is. It’s just that when you said you opened the garden gate, and were a natural. It caught me off guard. When I was a kid there was this hope among my people; one day a natural would help us get home,” she said. “I just didn’t know what to think, I like you Henry; I do. I know we just met, but it’s really exciting to finally meet someone like me. There aren’t a lot of people our age in the system, you know. But, if you really are the person Nathan is looking for then, well I…” Henry cut her off mid sentence, because she was getting really agitated.
“Hey, calm down,” Henry said. “Why don’t you slow down, and start at the beginning. Tell me a little about your people, and we can eat our lunch;
and figure this out together. I would really like to be your friend too. Now, what exactly have you given me to eat, ‘cause I don’t mind telling you; this is the most disgusting looking thing I have ever seen,” Henry said. Amica laughed loudly till there were tears running down her cheeks.
“I know it is so off putting isn’t it, but it tastes like ham, and Swiss I promise. Tomorrow if you are working, we can go to McDonald's,” she said.
“Wait, there’s a McDonald's here, and you took me here on my first day, you’re mean. You know that,” he said giggling.
“Yeah, there is one on the balcony at the other side,” she said still laughing. “I wanted to see how much you trusted me,” she said through her tears. Henry took a bite, just to show her that he was above the test. He was pleasantly surprised to find that she had really been telling the truth; it tasted just like ham, and Swiss. He began eating his sandwich in earnest he really had been hungry.
“So tell me about your people, I’d really like to know,” Henry said.
“Okay, I was really little when it started, almost 6. I come from a planet around the star Alpha Sculptoris. My people are called Scultura. Anyway my people were isolationists, we dealt with the outside universe as little as possible. We didn’t form treaties, or alliances that would cause us to get involved with the politics of other worlds. Well about a thousand of your years ago a species called the Angriff came through the gateways unexpectedly. Our planet didn’t use the Intergalactic Transit System very often so we didn’t have a lot of golden gateways that lead off planet. Their armies poured through all of them. My people tried to fight back, but we had no weapons, or standing army. It was over before it had even begun. My people had lots of gateways that we used for travel around the planet like your people use airplanes and cars, but they had not been built to handle inter-planetary gateways, they just couldn’t channel that kind of power. My people where trapped, and out numbered. To this day we’re not sure who opened the gateways that let the Angriff in, many of my people believe the keeper union was behind it, because none of the keepers from my planet would join the union. We begged the rest of the universe for help, but because we had always been unwilling to help other planets, no one was willing to come to our aide. The Angriff began enslaving my people, using them to mine minerals, and precious metals the Angriff wanted.
My parents were gate technicians; they had been building a new off planet gate when the invasion took place. The gate was incomplete, but it was designed to be a golden gate. If it was finished it could channel enough power to get many of our people to safety. It was short several key components in order to become operational. My parents worked secretly to finish the gateway, trying to get the parts to bring the gate to full operational status.
They became part of an underground movement to try to get people to safety. Unfortunately, they were unable to obtain all of the parts they needed. The computer components that modulate the destination frequencies allowing a regular gatekeeper to work it could not be obtained. However my father was a natural keeper. He had dedicated his life to understanding the way that gates were constructed, and used. He was able to bypass the components that allowed regular keepers to work the gateway. He said because he was a natural, as long as the gate had power, he could modulate the destination frequency manually using the orb. In the end, he alone was able to use the gate. They were able to get many of my people to safety through the gateway before they were discovered. I think they were even able to smuggle many of the pieces back through the semi operational gateway in order to bring it all the way on line. But, my father said that they would need to shut the gate down completely in order to install the computer components they would need. The underground agreed; they could not afford for the gateway to be shut down for any length of time. There were just too many lives at risk.
I remember the last day on my home world very clearly. I was almost 8. The Angriff attacked suddenly, and with out any warning from the underground. Later we learned word had leaked to the Angriff that the last members of the royal family were seeking refuge in the building where the gate was hidden. They thought we were building an underground resistance movement, to rally behind the royal family. They sent a large force against us. They surrounded the building, and opened fire with their pulse weapons. The weapon fire was loud, and scary; I remember holding my mother’s leg as the ceilings began to fall around us. The building was actually almost empty. Most of the people the Angriff thought we had gathered over the last year had never actually stayed for more than a day or two, before passing through the gate. My father held the gate open as long as he could. He got mom and I, and several others including Nathan the last member of the royal family. He was only 16, and the resistance hoped he could rally support for his people off world. My father, and some others stayed behind hoping to hide the gateway from the Angriff, and disguise what they had been doing there. They hoped, that after the attack had passed they would be able to reopen the gateway. My mother, and I waited for many years, but we never heard from him again. That was almost a thousand of your years ago. We don’t know if he was captured, or killed by the Angriff. I think it is the not knowing that is the hardest to handle.
“A thousand years, how old are you?” Henry asked amazed.
“I’m a little over 1,800 of your years, but my people measure time differently on our planet. It takes 100 of your years for our planet to make a full revolution around the sun. So on my planet I am 18,” she said trying to explain.
“So, when you said you were six, that meant that you would have been six hundred here? Am I right?” Henry asked. He thought that he understood, but he wanted to make sure.
“See, now you’re getting it,” she said.
“What happened to your people, after they left Alpha Sculptoris?” Henry asked.
“The gateway was powerful enough to get us to a different galaxy, my father had studied gatekeeping with a very talented keeper who had been named the Terminal Director here at the Milky Way Terminal. They were old friends, and she agreed to help us find places to hide on earth. Our physical make up allowed many of our people to hide in plain sight. She turned her front yard into a garden for Nathan, so she could look after him,” she said.
“What about the gateway, was it destroyed by the Angriff?” Henry asked, something deep inside of him desperately needed to know.
“Over the years, I have heard Roberts has tried several times to get the gate to open, she can connect to it, which means it still has power, but it wont open. She is not a natural so she cannot do big frequency modulations with out the computers like my father could. Many of us survivors have always believed that a natural is the only one who can open the gateway. I hear through the grapevine that Nathan has been looking for a natural to try opening the gateway for years. He has some plan about leading a team through to try, and take our home back. Me, I would be happy just to know what happened to my father,” she said. Henry wondered if he could open the gate for her people, if he really was a natural maybe he could do it. Before he could offer though he heard a voice speak to him in his ear.
“Attention Keeper Thomas, upcoming clients exchange at IG gate 14, please proceed to gate IG 14,” the tablet said into Henry’s earpiece. He had been so wrapped up in Amica’s story that he had forgotten that he was still on the clock, and had to go back to work. He took his tablet out of his coat pocket, and saw that he had 15 minutes until his next opening.
“I have really enjoyed having lunch with you, but I have an opening I need to get to. I would like to hang out with you again, is there a way I can get a hold of you?” Henry asked not sure how a friendship with an alien species would work.
“I live in Calumet City remember, why don’t you give me your phone number,” she said laughing.
“Right, sorry I forgot. No offense, you’re the first alien I’ve ever been friends with.” Henry said with a laugh. They exchanged phone numbers.
&nb
sp; “Thanks for lunch, I owe you one when I start getting paid,” Henry said.
“Are you kidding me, you owe me two, all this advice you are getting doesn’t come cheap, besides, you’re a keeper now, you make like three times what I do,” she said laughing.
“So, you’re saying you only like me for my money, “ he said pretending to be hurt.
“Now, you’re finally catching on,” she said laughing.
“Well so far the advice seems worth at least one lunch, but if you want more than that you better aim to impress next time; sorry I really gotta run,” he said before hurrying to the elevator.
Henry opened three more gates that afternoon, before his tablet directed him back to Uktu’s office. He was very tired, but felt an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment. He had finished his first shift.