Strange Horizons

People much smarter than Ian made the Gate. Something about a wormhole and harnessing the power of dark matter, black holes, the conversations he’s heard around base never made a lick of sense to him. However they did it, the scientists made a portal to another world. Or so they say.

Ian’s just a janitor. He cleans up the gunk that gets shot back out of the Gate like clockwork. The scientists used to keep it to study, but after six months it’s old news. They call it some fancy scientific word. Ian calls it Gate Goo. Blobs of orange and red ooze, sometimes a streak of turquoise. It tastes like a plain hot dog. That’s something maybe only Ian knows.

He eats the Gate Goo sometimes. At first he hoped it would give him superpowers, radioactive sludge to make him super strong or shoot lasers from his hands. Then just because he got bored and liked the taste. It hasn’t killed him yet or made him a superhero. Only time will tell, and that’s fun in its own way.

Ian’s always loved mysteries. He’s horrible at solving them because he isn’t smart, but that just makes them all the more magical. When someone explains the answer, it’s like a blindfold being pulled off of him. The truth is revealed as everything clicks into place.

The Gate is a mystery too. The scientists say it goes to another planet across the universe. One possible to colonize, another chance for humanity. A do over. We destroyed this planet, onto the next one.

The problem is that nothing they send through comes back. They don’t know for sure what’s on the other side. Is it livable? Is it a planet at all? Are they jettisoning animals and plants and cargo into the emptiness of space?

No one knows. The Gate has been open for six months now. An astronaut went through in a small pod and never returned. Ian cleaned up the Gate Goo after and wondered.

Ian is going to be the second person to go through the Gate.

Not because he was chosen, trained, randomly selected or forced. No, he’s going because he’s too curious and stupid for his own good. He doesn’t have anything else going for him in his life- no college degree, no partner, no family. No one to miss him other than Richard, the cook on base he shares cigarettes with during breaks.

Sure, he’s depressed, even with a colorful assortment of pills he takes every morning. It’s all so hard to keep trying, and for what? A job cleaning goop in a secret base in the middle of a ravaged world?

He’s going to see what’s on the other side of that Gate and then he’ll die. Whether that’s immediately or years from now depends on the other side. And that’s exciting, isn’t it? The biggest mystery of all, and finally one where he has the solution: just step through. Take the leap of faith because he lost his long ago.

What’s the difference between bravery and stupidity? Nothing.

For the journey Ian wears his favorite Star Wars shirt under his custodian uniform and purple Converse that pinch his toes. He brings his backpack, carefully packed with ten peanut butter and banana sandwiches, two water bottles, toilet paper, a knife stolen from the kitchens (sorry Richard), a flashlight, a deck of cards and a battered copy of Magic Hands, a card trick book he never had enough time to learn from.

Is he scared? Yes. He may be slightly suicidal but that doesn’t mean he wants to experience a painful death. He very well could be jumping into an intergalactic woodchipper. This fear is not enough to sway him from his decision. All he has to do is imagine staying, the days of repeated motions stretching into infinity, and it’s enough to continue walking towards the Gate.

It’s gigantic, takes up the entire back half of the labs, and the portal it powers in the middle of it glows a yellowish green. Ian passes scientists and engineers who take no notice of a custodian in their midst. He stops twenty feet in front of the Gate.

Goodbye, world, Ian thinks, ignoring the stray thoughts of ‘oh God I’m going to die this is so stupid turn around turn around.’ He takes a deep breath, grabs the straps of his backpack, and runs.

He hears people yelling for him to stop. Ian leaps instead, closing his eyes as he passes through the portal.

He’s falling through cold, icy air. There are strange sounds all around him, squelching and piping and metal being ripped apart. He opens his mouth to scream but he can’t hear himself over the cacophony. Terror courses through him and he squeezes his eyes shut tighter.

He plummets downwards into the unknown. The unknown fills his mouth with an intense taste that reminds Ian of when he eats too much sour candy. Something cold and wet brushes against his arm and he lashes out, kicking and punching at the air around him. He connects with something disturbingly solid and flies backwards.

What was that?! Should he open his eyes? He’s too scared. He curls up into a ball instead. It has to end, he can’t keep falling forever, right?

He falls. He falls and falls and falls and his ears are ringing and he’s shivering from the cold and it smells like gasoline which can’t be good. The noises are growing louder and more eerie, swirling around him, and curiosity is starting to overtake the fear. What’s causing that? What is he falling through?

Ian is about to open his eyes when the falling abruptly stops. It ends with him landing in a pile of Gate Goo, being dunked in slime that tastes like hot dogs. He claws and kicks his way out before he can suffocate and lands on soft ground.

Ian opens his eyes to see yellow. A yellow sky filled with yellow clouds, yellow ground, a dark yellow lake. And, beyond the lake, a golden pyramid. He’s alive. He made it through. But what’s with the pyramid, that didn’t make any sense-

“Who the hell are you?” An irritated modulated voice behind him. Ian jumps and shrieks, not expecting that, and turns around to see a person in a space suit. They must be the astronaut that went through the Gate three months ago.

“Uh, Ian?” He begins brushing globs of Gate Goo off of his clothes.

“Please tell me you wore a custodian’s uniform as a joke.” They say flatly, the voice modulator making them sound more robotic. He can’t see their face through the tinted helmet.

Ian looks behind them to see the giant pile of Gate Goo he emerged from. Next to it is a spacepod that’s been partially dismantled and a few crates.

“Wait, where’s the portal?”

A modulated sigh. “It’s only one way. Each time they send something through it appears a few feet above that.” They point at the pile. “I haven’t figured out how to get a message back. It’s probably impossible.”

“Cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool,” Ian says while nodding, trying not to freak out. This yellow world may be his new life now. “So what’s your name?”

The astronaut throws up their arms and stomps away, back towards the pod. Ian trails after them.

“Have you checked out the pyramid yet? Are there aliens on this planet? Do you think we can colonize this place? Uh, not between you and me obviously, I meant in general-”

They turn around and flick Ian on the forehead with a gloved hand. “Ow!”

“Do you ever shut up?”

Ian makes the zipping motion on his mouth. The astronaut points at him aggressively and turns back towards the pod, Ian determinedly on their heels.

They both enter the pod, which is pretty snug for two people. Ian sits down and pulls off his backpack. He takes out a peanut butter and banana sandwich and starts eating it with gusto. Falling through intergalactic wormholes makes you hungry.

“So why’d they send you? Are they just throwing expendables through?” Wow, rude. They still haven’t removed their helmet, which is making Ian’s curiosity grow.

Ian does the unzip gesture. “I decided to come through myself actually. I wanted to see what’s on the other side. Have an adventure, make a day of it.”

The astronaut puts a hand up to their helmet, giving the illusion of a facepalm. Ian laughs at that and takes out another sandwich. He holds it out to them in offering. They hesitate before taking it and setting it to the side.

“You eat those,” Ian says pointedly.

“Not hungry.”

There’s an awkward silence. Ian keeps quiet for as long as he can before he blurts out, “So are we going to talk about the pyramid?”

The astronaut shrugs. “My mission objective isn’t to make first contact with aliens. I just want to focus on getting home.”

Ian gapes at that. “But… aliens?! You don’t want to talk to aliens?”

“No.”

“What sort of explorer are you?”

“I told you. One that wants to go home.” The anger is evident even through the voice modulator.

Ian huffs and stands back up, slinging his backpack on. “Fine. Guess I’ll be the one to have all the fun then.”

He walks out of the pod, hoping the astronaut will follow him, but they don’t. Well. Ian didn’t survive falling through the universe to be a coward now. He heads towards the pyramid.

When he gets there, he’s sweaty and tired. He looks back to see the small glimmer of metal that is the pod in the distance. Stupid astronauts. Have fun being alone if Ian gets killed here. He turns to the pyramid. It looks like it’s made out of solid gold bricks. He touches it. Warm.

He ends up circling it and finds an entrance on the opposite side. It’s a simple opening, going down into darkness.

“Hello?” Ian calls. “I come in peace!”

No response. He pulls out the knife from his backpack and slides it into his pocket. He takes a deep breath, then walks into the darkness.

Ian keeps a hand on one of the brick walls as he goes. The hallway twists and turns, goes up then down. Ian hums the Star Wars theme song and feels a little braver. The hallway ends at a small glimmer of light coming from a crack in what must be a door.

“Hello? Aliens? I just want to talk!” Ian pushes the door open and blinks at the bright light flooding his vision.

It’s a grand hall, made entirely of gold and empty except for a figure sitting on a giant throne. They wear yellow robes that shimmer like silk and a golden mask conceals their face. They beckon Ian forward with a bone thin finger.

Ian bows awkwardly and approaches, looking up to see orbs of light floating on the ceiling.

“Hi! I’m Ian, from Earth. Just wanted to say hello, love the pyramid, the gold looks nice, so does your planet.” He babbles, stopping a few feet away from the figure, who towers over him on their throne. “Uh, what’s your name?”

A whisper comes from behind the mask, old and rasping and speaking a language Ian does not understand.

“Ah, right. Well.” Ian looks around. “Wanna see a card trick?” He pulls out the deck of cards from his backpack.

The masked figure nods regally. Awesome! Ian grins.

“I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship, your majesty. Okay, so first off. Pick a card, any card…”