Between Gates (The Gate Chronicles Book 1)

Chapter 11: With the Rebels

Nari was exhausted, and she was wet again. It was a good thing that this time Andrew'd had her hand-held communication system wrapped in a secure, waterproof hiding spot and her own communication device was in her mouth. This time, her mission wouldn’t be jeopardized just because she didn’t have a communication device.

She saw East Gate in the distance with its usual gentle blue glow. She stared at it, almost weeping with relief. She had made it. 

The green shrubbery around the Gate glowed with an unearthly tone as the Gate's luminescence lit them from behind. The ground was churned into a muddy mess from the pounding rain storm, and she slipped, falling into the mud as she walked to the Gate. She stood, trying to brush the mud off with hands covered in water and mud. It just made the mess worse, so she gave up, stumbling on, too wet to care that her clothing was now streaming brown water instead of clear as the mud mingled with the rain pouring off her grey clothes. 

Indri had left her at the meeting point three days ago. It had taken her a bit more than three days to get to East Gate because of all the rampaging magical creatures. If they had seen her, she would have been dead. So she’d often had to hide on the way up here.

Two guards stood at the mouth of East Gate.

“What do you want?”

She stood before them, trembling with the cold and wet, mud dripping off her clothes. This situation and her misery lent a pleading note to her voice that she wished hadn't been there. “I want to join you.” She shivered, staring down at the combination of mud and grass beneath her feet, which sucked at her shoes like a bog, threatening to swallow her if she didn't tread with care.

“Sorry. Go away. General Amory isn’t accepting any more recruits. Can’t risk a spy getting in here.”

“But I brought important information about West Base! I came all the way to tell you this stuff, and you leave me out in the rain, and tell me to leave!” She let her eyes water with tears, drawing on her own fear that she might be unable to get into East Base. What if she failed?

At this the guards were convinced.

“We should let her in to see Boss so that he can decide what to do with her!” One of them remarked.

“No! I say we keep her out here, and have the General come see her out here just in case.”

“The General doesn’t want to stand out here in the rain talking to some airheaded girl, you idiot!” The first guard hissed.

They glanced back at her.

“We can’t keep her out here in the rain, Bob. She’ll die of cold. If she has important information, we need to let her in.”

“Yeah, I guess, but you’re taking the blame if the General gets mad, Harry.”

Harry grunted. “Whatever.”

He took Nari by the arm and led her into the Gate, which flashed with bright white light for a few moments as they entered.

It was like stepping through silly putty. Nari really hated going through the Gates. Going through the fabric of space and time into alternate dimensions was annoying. But the guards didn’t seem to care.

Nari wondered if any of the Earth inhabitants ever walked into West Gate or East Gate on an accident. No, they wouldn't. After all, the two Gates were in some of the most obscure places - up in the forests of Washington and Maine - she knew of. Anyway, people couldn't see the Gates or pass through them if they didn't have some sort of magic flowing in their veins.

A moment after she stepped into the Gate, she found herself in another land. It was gray and dull outside, not like West Base where flowers and green grass flourished. East Base rose above the dull landscape with a gloomy, rejected air. Its windows were darkened and rain pelted the grey, electric fences surrounding the whole area and the Gate. Nothing grew about the place. It was a jungle of concrete and grey with nothing to ease the monotonous strain on her eyes.