For a moment she considered the possibility that they were too late and the gates on Terra had been deprogrammed. A part of her wished it was true, but deep down she wanted to take part in something no one else could lay claim to. To Evan, Eva, and the others from Terra, going to another world was an ordinary event; as far as she knew she was the first person from Earth to do it.
“It shouldn’t be long now,” Eva announced.
“So what exactly is a gate?” Zoe asked, hoping the answer was interesting enough to distract her from the hypothermia settling into her body.
Eva considered the question for a moment, her attention momentarily taken away from the glowing glass device. “Have you ever taken an elevator?”
Zoe tried to keep from rolling her eyes. Maybe Eva didn’t know as much about Earth as she seemed to. “Yes, of course I have.”
“Think of it like an elevator: one starting point and destination, a pathway in between, and a vehicle to carry you between each point. That’s what the gate does.”
Zoe imagined a long and never-ending elevator shaft plummeting up into the sky far beyond where the eyes could see. It took just over three days for the astronauts on Apollo 11 to reach the moon, and that was only 238,900 miles away. In minutes she would be in another universe entirely. The comparison had considerable gravitas.
“And in the process it’s going to disassemble me then put me back together on the other side?”
Eva smiled. “Something like that.” Oh, sure, Zoe thought.
A ping of light caught Zoe’s attention. It sparked close to the frozen ground and travelled up and around, forming the shape of an arc, leaving a dazzling trail of light in its path. The center was like a blacked out wall, but Zoe could see it had some depth. It resembled what she imagined a black hole to look like. A breeze of bitterly cold air blew into her mouth as her jaw dropped open.
“Follow me closely,” Eva instructed.
Zoe recovered and adjusted the carrier hanging from her shoulder. She watched in continued awe as Eva approached the gate, and the arc grew thinner and taller around her body to accommodate her shape. She walked through the arc and disappeared into the black void.
Zoe knew there was no time to hesitate, and yet she felt her mind telling her feet to run off in the opposite direction. This was it. She couldn’t back out of her decision, not after everything she’d learned, and everything she had yet to find out.
She willed her feet to move forward instead of backwards. The arc adjusted to her shape and as she moved closer she felt a cold sterile breeze coming from the void.
With all the courage she could muster, Zoe stepped through the arc and into the darkness.
Evan entered the Throne Room and stopped dead in his tracks. Apart from the Crown Soldiers, who had doubled in number at every entrance, the Throne Room was empty. Never once had the great room not been filled with residents. He started again, hearing the unnerving sound of his footsteps echoing against the vaulted walls and columns that stood like giants around him.
He was permitted to enter the Straton residence and found all of the Queen’s personal attendants gathered around in a group. A hushed silence quickly fell upon them as though they had been whispering in secret and didn’t want him to hear.
“Ladies,” he greeted with half a smile. “What’s going on?”
Every single one of them looked to Julia, the attendant Evan had previously met. She looked around her before her gaze met his. “We are to wait here until the King has arrived and then go to our residences,” she explained.
“Then go home. The King is back safe and sound.” He walked to the doors leading to the Queen’s private residence and waited as Crown Soldiers opened them. He heard the whispers of the Queen’s ladies pick up again as he entered, their voices simmering to a hush as the doors closed behind him.
A large square glass table had been placed in the room since his last visit, with two place settings on each end. The Queen emerged from a corner of the room, dressed down in a simple short black dress. Her hair was pulled neatly behind her head, showing off the lovely curve of her chin and long neck.
“You look pleased to see me,” she smiled appreciatively.
Had he been staring? He cleared his throat and held the large book out towards her in his hands. “I believe you were looking for this.”
The Queen took the book in her hands and smiled victoriously at it. “And the King?” Her eyes lifted up to meet his.
“He’s fine. I think he went somewhere to decompress after all that has happened to him.”
“Yes, I’m sure he has.” She didn’t sound as though she cared too much. Then again, she didn’t have to. She placed the book inside an open vault engaged in a nearby wall, and then shut the door closed until its seams blended perfectly into the surrounding glass.