The Gate Traveler

Jimmy Larson

When James “Jimmy” Larson joined the army, he dreamed of fighting for his country, of protecting it from enemies within and without, of being a hero and a protector of this country, his state, his city, and his family, of having adrenalin-fueled gunfights, and appreciative pretty girls. Maybe his dreams were on the simple side, but they were his, and he had no intention of apologizing for them.

When assigned to Area 51, a top-secret base, he expected a busy schedule filled with classified missions, advanced tech, and sightings of the advanced planes that started the UFO urban legends. He didn’t believe the UFO theory. Earth was the only planet in the cosmos with life on it, and until he met an alien and shook its hand, he had no intention of changing his worldview.

Yet tonight was going to be different. It was a night that would shake the foundations of his worldview, and he would never forget.

The base had been bustling lately. There were more security drills, secret discussions among the higher-ups, and a growing unease. The sight of white-coated scientists rushing in and out of buildings revealed their worries.

But tonight felt different. As Jimmy patrolled, he noticed there were far fewer people around. The base seemed to hold its breath, waiting for something. The strange, tense atmosphere put Jimmy on edge. He sensed a change was coming.

As Jimmy walked the perimeter of Area 51, he felt the cool, crisp desert air. It was a calm night, with only the sound of sand shifting in the breeze. Scanning the horizon, he adjusted his night vision goggles, looking for movement. The base was on high alert, though he didn’t know why.

In the southeastern sector, he felt something strange. It was like an electric charge in the air, but different. It started with a gentle approach, going almost unnoticed, but its strength grew with each passing minute. He thought it was static from all the equipment on the base, quite common in the desert.

A strong sandstorm kicked up, and the air became thick with swirling sand. As the wind howled and the sand lashed at his skin, his vision blurred, and he had to cover his nose and mouth with his scarf to stop breathing in the sand. The storm was relentless, testing the limits of his endurance. He was thankful for the night vision goggles that protected his eyes, despite not improving his ability to see through all this sand.

Hours later, in the endless storm, he spotted a mesmerizing light show through the sand-filled air. Blue, green, and especially purple flashed in the distance. Mesmerized, he forgot the harsh conditions for a brief moment as he gazed at the light show. It was beautiful and reminded him of the Aurora Borealis he saw on YouTube, but even prettier and more colorful. He even thought he heard snippets of singing, but he dismissed them as a figment of his imagination.

Then, without warning, the lights and sounds vanished, and the only sound was the roar of the storm. He felt something indescribable pass through him, and his radio went dead. He pressed the buttons multiple times, but nothing happened.

“Great, just what I needed,” he muttered, shaking it in frustration.

Something slammed into his chest before he could react. The impact was slight but surprising. He grew dizzy for a moment and then collapsed onto the sand.

When Jimmy awoke, the sun was mid-sky. He had a headache, and his mouth was dry. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes, brushing the sand from his face, and trying to piece together what had happened. The sand that coated his face stung his skin and got into his mouth. Other soldiers were sitting up around him, looking as confused as he felt. A thick layer of sand covered everything.

“What the hell happened?” A few feet away, Corporal Jenkins grumbled. He rubbed his temples and wiped the sand from his face.

Jimmy stood unsteadily, his muscles protesting. “I don’t know, but it feels like someone drugged us. Where did all this sand come from?” Then he remembered the sandstorm and looked around, alarmed.

The base was so quiet you could hear a mouse sneeze. There was no generator hum, chatter, or beeping electronics. It seemed like the sandstorm had silenced everything.

Jimmy’s hand instinctively went to his side to grab his weapon. His heart skipped a beat when his M4 was missing. Panic swelled as he searched the ground for it in the sand. But he couldn’t find it.

“Guys, my M4 has disappeared!” he shouted, alarmed.

The other soldiers checked their gear. Fear spread as more soldiers realized their weapons were gone.

“Mine’s gone too,” Jenkins said, sounding anxious. “What the hell is going on here?”

Sergeant Doyle, typically composed, looked visibly shaken. “This isn’t just any sandstorm,” he said gravely. “An unknown group is responsible for what happened to us. We must understand what happened and find our weapons fast.”

They exchanged worried glances, feeling the reality of their situation sink in. In a quiet, sand-covered base, unarmed and confused, Jimmy felt fear creeping in as they searched for clues.

When they reached the central area, they found chaos. Frantic soldiers and scientists rushed around, shouting orders and trying to operate equipment. Computers were dead, radios were silent, and even vehicles wouldn’t start.

“What’s going on?” Jimmy asked Sergeant Rodriguez, who was struggling to open a stuck door manually.

Rodriguez looked up, his face a mixture of frustration and fear. “Everything is dead. All the electronics have been damaged. It’s like an EMP went off.”

Jimmy’s mind raced. EMP? The blackout and dead electronics made sense. But what about the sandstorm, and where did it come from? And why?

As time passed, details from last night emerged. Weapons were missing. Some soldiers were wounded by friendly fire. Others claimed to have fought unseen enemies who had caused their comrades to fall unconscious. Each rumor on base grew stranger. The most persistent? They had an alien captive in an underground facility, and it escaped.

Jimmy scoffed. “Aliens? Really? Next, they’ll say it was Bigfoot.”

But then he overheard a conversation between two scientists that made his blood run cold.

“We need to contain the situation before it escalates,” one said urgently. “If the public finds out that we have an extraterrestrial entity and it has escaped, there will be mass panic.”

Jimmy’s mind spun. Alien? Could this be true? He always thought the Area 51 stories were myths and conspiracy theories. Now, it seemed there was some truth.

Jimmy snuck into the underground facility despite the risks to uncover the truth. He found an open entrance amid the chaos. His unease grew as he descended. He used a glow stick to light his way in the dark facility, which cast eerie shadows. He moved carefully, knowing he was trespassing in restricted areas.

Five floors down, he found a door with a small window. When he peered in, he saw a room filled with strange gadgets and signs of a fight. Equipment lay scattered across the floor.

Jimmy’s heart raced. They had held the alien here. But how did it escape? And where is it now?

Returning to the surface, Jimmy spotted his CO, 2nd Lt. Harper, arguing with senior officers. Before approaching, Jimmy waited for them to finish.

“Sir, Private Larson is reporting,” he said, snapping to attention.

Harper looked at him wearily. “What is it, Larson?”

“Sir, I think I found the holding cell where they held the alien. It looks like there was a struggle. What exactly are we dealing with here?”

Harper sighed and motioned for Jimmy to follow him into a more secluded area.

“Larson, what I’m about to tell you is classified beyond top secret. Do you understand?”

Jimmy nodded, his heart pounding.

“We were holding a being of extraterrestrial origin. It arrived at Nellis Air Force Base through a portal. We’ve been studying it for months. Last night, something caused a tremendous energy release. It was unlike anything we’ve seen before. This energy disrupted all our electronics and allowed the alien to escape.”

Jimmy took a minute to process the information. “So, that energy killed all the electronics?”

Harper gave a gloomy nod. “Yes. And we believe the alien may have had allies who used this energy to free it. Our priority is to locate the alien and its accomplices before they cause further damage.”

The senior officers assigned Jimmy to a search team. With non-electronic gear—compasses and maps—they combed the desert for signs of the alien or its rescuers. After that, they tasked different teams with visiting nearby settlements.

The desert was enormous, and tracking was nearly impossible without electronic equipment. Days turned into nights, and the tension mounted. They had false alarms from time to time due to strange individuals, either tourists or drunks. But they found nothing significant.

The top brass dispatched more teams to Vegas and nearby cities, including Reno. But the results stayed the same. The alien and his allies seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving behind chaos and mystery at the base.

 

---

 

Staff Sergeant Jake Hawkins

In ten years in the Air Force, Jake Hawkins had seen strange things. But nothing compared to what went down at Area 51 on March 21, 2031.

Jake had a reputation for staying calm in difficult situations. In tough times, people relied on his quick thinking and level-headedness. But that night, as he watched outside Hangar 18, he felt that something was very wrong.

The first sign was the unexpected surge in wind force. Jake was used to the harsh desert conditions of Nevada, but this felt different. An odd energy filled the air as the wind howled intensely.

“Thompson, have you ever seen anything like this?” Jake asked his fellow guard.

“No,” replied Senior Airman Eric Thompson. “Something’s off here, sir.”

In the moments leading up to the storm, the sky dimmed, and the wind whipped sand into the air. Soon, it got so blurry that Jake could hardly see Thompson beside him.

“We need to get inside,” Jake shouted over the noise. “Looks like we’re in for a real sandstorm!”

Fighting the wind, they rushed inside the hangar. As they caught their breath, Jake’s radio crackled to life.

“Attention all personnel, this is Colonel Emerson. Code Red is now in effect. All security teams are to report to their designated stations without delay. Repeat: Code Red. Proceed to your assigned locations immediately.”

Jake and Thompson exchanged worried looks. A Code Red meant a breach in their most critical areas. Silently, they raced to their station near the maximum-security installation.

The base was on high alert for hours. Inside, there was an eerie calm as the sandstorm raged outside. Jake’s gut told him a massive storm was coming, not the sand kind.

He was right.

Two hours after the sandstorm started, all the base’s electronics failed. The lights flickered and went out, plunging them into darkness. Jake’s radio went dead, and a shiver ran down his spine as he realized all his tech had failed.

“Thompson!” he shouted. “We need to check on the prisoner!”

They stumbled through the dark stairs and halls, and near the holding area, they heard shouts and shots.

Jake lit a lighter as they entered the holding facility, and his heart stopped for a beat. Inside an open door, they found two unconscious guards. The political prisoner was gone. There was a trail of blood leading to the other stairs. Jake didn’t waste a second and followed the blood trail. He rushed up the stairs and headed out of the stairway. Suddenly, he felt a light tap on his shoulder, grew dizzy, and everything went black.

When Jake woke, he found himself lying in the entrance hall of the security installation covered in sand, his mouth dry. Around him, soldiers and scientists were stirring and sitting up. All of them looked confused and disoriented.

He stumbled outside and saw that sand coated the entire base.

“Hawkins! Are you lost?” a voice called out. Captain Gloria Martinez, her usually immaculate uniform now covered in sand, approached him. “What the hell happened?”

Jake shook his head, still disoriented. “No idea, ma’am. A huge sandstorm hit us. I went to check on the prisoner, saw signs of struggle, and followed the blood. When I came up, I blacked out. I’ve just woken up. It looks like all my equipment is down.”

Martinez looked grim. “It’s not just our gear. The entire base is down. Everything’s offline: cars, laptops, phones. No one can reach us.”

Instinctively, Jake reached for his M4 rifle, but it was gone. “Ma’am, my M4 is missing,” he whispered, trying to mask his panic.

Martinez’s face darkened. “Everyone, check your weapons!” she ordered. A chorus of worried voices confirmed Jake’s fears—everyone’s guns were missing.

“Mine’s gone too,” Thompson said, his voice shaking. “What’s going on?”

Martinez clenched her jaw, surveying the sand-covered base. “This is more than a sandstorm. Someone did this to us. We need to find out what happened and locate our weapons immediately.”

As the seriousness of their situation hit Jake, a knot formed in his stomach. Area 51 was a military installation known for its high-level security. The idea that something could cripple it in an instant was nearly unimaginable.

“What are your orders, ma’am?” Jake asked.

“Right now, we need to take stock of everyone’s whereabouts and assess the damage,” Martinez said. “Assemble a squad and start sweeping the base. Report anything unusual.”

Jake nodded and set off to follow his orders. As he searched the base, the extent of the disruption became clear. With technology down, soldiers and civilians alike struggled to adapt. The mess hall cooks were scrambling to make food without working appliances. The medical team rushed to treat injuries and save medicines that needed refrigeration, working without power. Researchers and analysts looked lost, unable to access their data or continue their work.

Soldiers and civilians gathered in the courtyard, their faces etched with worry and confusion. In the center stood Colonel Frank Emerson, the base commander, his expression determined.

“Everyone, listen up,” Emerson called out. “I know you have questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them. Our base was hit by what we believe to be an electromagnetic pulse around 1:00 AM last night. This pulse knocked out all our electronic devices.”

Murmurs rippled through the crowd, but Emerson raised a hand, calling for silence.

“At this moment, we have no outside communication or support,” he said, his voice steady. “We’ve sent soldiers on foot to contact our superiors.” He then began counting off on his fingers. “Our top priorities are:

1. Secure the base.
2. Account for all personnel.
3. Protect sensitive information.
4. Locate the missing weapons.”

A shiver ran down Jake’s spine. He thought of the empty containment room and its former, sensitive occupant.

“We managed to get a few short-range radios working, but their range is limited,” Emerson continued. “Until we can reach our superiors and get more instructions, we’re operating on a need-to-know basis. I expect everyone to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Dismissed.”

As the crowd dispersed, Jake felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Captain Martinez.

“Hawkins, I need you,” she said. “Follow me.”

Jake followed Martinez to an unmarked building. He had passed it many times but never entered or paid much attention to it. Inside, they descended a staircase into a dim corridor. At the end was a massive metal door labeled “Authorized Personnel Only.”

Martinez frowned as the keypad next to the door failed to respond. With a sigh, she pulled out a key. “Looks like we’re doing this the old-fashioned way,” she muttered, then manually unlocked the door.

Inside, file cabinets and shelves of folders lined the room. Martinez lit a glow stick, unlocked one cabinet, and pulled out a thick file, handing it to Jake with another glow stick. “Read this. It’s time you understood the gravity of the situation.”

Jake opened the file and scanned the report. It detailed a young woman of unknown origin they had captured fifty years ago. It included transcripts of her interrogations and the discovery of portals to other worlds, along with their locations in the US. The final document described her escape attempt and her death during it. After her death, large piles of equipment appeared around her body. Scientists have been studying the items ever since.

“This can’t be real,” Jake said, looking at Martinez.

“It’s all real, Sergeant,” she replied. “And the entity we had contained last night—the one that escaped—is not just extraterrestrial. It’s called a Traveler, just like the previous one.”

“A Traveler?” Jake asked, his mind reeling from the revelations.

Martinez nodded, eyes gleaming with intensity. “From what we know, Travelers have an extraordinary ability to move between dimensions. Think about that—different realms of existence at our fingertips! The Traveler we had in custody was the key—the key—to unlocking that power for us. We weren’t just experimenting for the sake of knowledge; no, we were on the verge of mastering the ability to move across dimensions ourselves. Imagine what that would mean for the United States!”

Her voice rose, filled with unrestrained passion. “We could go anywhere—explore realms no other nation could even dream of. By gathering knowledge and unimaginable resources, we could obtain technology that would surpass the rest of the world by light-years. We were on the cusp of becoming unstoppable. The true rulers of Earth. We had a chance to control this world and countless others!”

But then her expression darkened, voice turning to a bitter growl. “And now, that Traveler—our Traveler—escaped, taking with him all our hopes. Our future is ripped away. That single creature was the lynchpin, and now, because of this failure, we’ve lost the one chance to ascend to our rightful place at the top. If we don’t get it back, everything we’ve worked for will be for nothing.”

Jake felt the ground shift beneath him. His view of reality, purpose, and the world was being upended.

“Why are you telling me this?” he asked. He worried about her intensity and the moral implications of what she told him.

“Because we need people we can trust with the truth,” Martinez said. “Last night wasn’t a freak accident or a terrorist attack. It was a rescue mission. Someone or something came to get our Traveler. And they used technology and skills far beyond anything we’ve seen.”

Jake remembered the strange sandstorm and the sudden failure of all electronics.

“So what’s next?” he asked.

Martinez’s expression hardened, her voice steady but laced with a simmering fury. “Now, we prepare,” she said firmly, her tone commanding attention. “Whoever took our Traveler isn’t just some random force—they know where we are. They understand our capabilities, and they’ve proven they can bypass even our most secure defenses. That means one thing, Sergeant: this isn’t just a theft. It’s an act of war, a challenge to our existence.”

She leaned in, eyes narrowing as she spoke with the fervor of someone who refused to let go of a vision. “They know what we were trying to achieve. They understand the power we were so close to harnessing. And make no mistake, Sergeant, they will use that knowledge against us. But this is far from over. No, this is just the beginning of something far larger—a battle for supremacy, for control of dimensions beyond our own. And we cannot afford to lose.”

Martinez clenched her fists, the frustration palpable. “We will not stand by and let them take what is rightfully ours. The dream isn’t dead. It’s been delayed. And now, we regroup. We fortify. We evolve. The United States was destined to lead not just this world but every world, and we will stop at nothing to make that a reality. We will gather our forces, Sergeant. The enemy may have stolen the Traveler, but they’ve lit a fire they can’t put out. We will find them, take back what’s ours, and when we do—there will be no stopping us.”

Her voice dropped to a low, dangerous tone. “This is our war now. And we’re going to win it.”

From his conversation with Captain Martinez and other discussions with soldiers and scientists, Jake pieced together what had happened. They had been holding the extraterrestrial Traveler for months. In their pursuit of understanding his abilities, the scientists studied him and compared the data from the previous prisoner with the goal of creating a serum or device enabling them to journey to alternate realms. The power outage disrupted the force field containing the Traveler’s powers. The base was breached, and the Traveler vanished in the chaos.

Jake, securing the base and assessing the damage, knew it was just the beginning of something bigger. His world had changed forever, and he was right in the middle of it.

In the days that followed, Jake learned about a whole new reality. As one of the few soldiers who knew the truth about Area 51’s research, he was assigned to protect their alien data.

Over time, the base adapted, using improvised generators to power essential functions. A repair and replacement project was underway, though delayed because of budget constraints. The pulse had caused lasting damage, wiping the computers clean and deleting all data. Once-bustling research labs now stood silent. Manual locks and guards replaced the advanced security systems that had once safeguarded the base.

Jake worked tirelessly, helping to catalog and secure the files that now held the entirety of their alien research. His hands moved efficiently, but his mind was far from the task. Thoughts swirled, trying to make sense of everything he had uncovered—the dimensions, the Travelers, the vast unknown that had once been the stuff of myths. The more he understood, the heavier the weight on his conscience became.

It wasn’t just the magnitude of the discoveries that unsettled him, but the moral cost. As a soldier, his duty was clear: protect his country at all costs. They trained him for that; he had pledged to do it. But as he stood amidst this groundbreaking research, he couldn’t help but question whether the price they were paying for it was too high.

Imprisoning sentient beings… subjecting them to experiments… Was this really about protecting the nation? Or had they crossed a line that blurred patriotism with something darker? He wrestled with the contradiction, caught between loyalty to his country and his deepening sense of unease.

The conflict gnawed at him. He had always believed in his mission, in the greater good. But now, every time he thought about that Traveler, locked up, used as a means to an end, something in him recoiled. Could he still call himself a protector, or was he complicit in something more sinister?

A week after the event, Jake sat alone on the barracks’ rooftop, staring at the starry desert sky, still wrestling with his dilemma. The vastness of space now seemed different, filled with wonder and danger.

“Quite a sight, isn’t it?” a voice behind him said. Jake turned to see Colonel Emerson approaching.

Jake stood up, but Emerson quickly motioned for him to sit back down. “At ease, Sergeant. We’ve moved past formalities, haven’t we?” Emerson said with a grin. “Captain Martinez tells me you’ve handled the revelations about our work here very well.”

Jake nodded slowly. “It’s a lot to take in, sir. I’m still processing it all.”

Emerson laughed softly. “I know. I thought I was ready for anything when I first took command of this base. Turns out ‘anything’ can still catch you off guard.”

“What happens now?” Jake asked, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. “With everything we’ve lost…”

Emerson looked at him, the moonlight cutting sharp lines across his face. “Sergeant, we adapt. We learn. We prepare. This was the first move in a game we don’t fully understand yet.”

He stood, brushing the sand off his uniform. “Get some rest, Hawkins. We’ve got a lot to rebuild. And this time, we’ll be ready for whatever comes next.”

The next few days were a blur of strategy meetings and debriefings. Jake sat through endless discussions while higher-ups scrambled for answers, trying to think up ways to prevent another incident. They replayed the events over and over, picking apart every detail. But despite all the analysis, Jake couldn’t shake the feeling that they were still missing the bigger picture.

After power finally returned to the base, they gave him the responsibility of reviewing the surviving footage from the Traveler’s cell. At first, it seemed like just another mundane task. But after hours of watching, something caught his attention. His heart quickened, and he leaned in closer to the screen.

Just before the power outage, the Traveler had been sitting in his cell, watching television. He was laughing—full, unrestrained laughter—at an old Bugs Bunny cartoon. It was so human, so ordinary, that Jake could hardly believe it. This alien, with abilities beyond anything they could understand, was sitting there, enjoying the same silly cartoons humans had enjoyed for generations.

That sparked his curiosity, so he went back through earlier footage. It wasn’t a onetime thing. The Traveler had laughed at cartoons on more than one occasion, with the same pure, unguarded joy each time. And yet no one had paid it any mind.

But to Jake, it was significant. It wasn’t just about what the Traveler could do, but about who he was. This wasn’t some emotionless being or a dangerous alien force—they were dealing with someone who found joy in the same simple things humans did. That was important. More than just an experiment, this Traveler had personality, and that mattered.

Jake’s thoughts raced. This wasn’t just a detail to overlook. To him, it should’ve changed how the higher-ups viewed the Traveler. He wasn’t an “it”—he was a “he,” a being with thoughts and emotions, someone who could experience humor and joy. But no matter how much this struck Jake, the rest of the team didn’t see it the same way. To them, the Traveler was still just a tool, a subject to be studied, nothing more.

But Jake couldn’t let it go. If the Traveler could laugh—if he could connect with something as simple as a cartoon—what else were they missing? What if they weren’t dealing with just a subject, but someone who could think, understand, maybe even reason? It wasn’t just about his powers anymore. There was something deeper here, something profound, and Jake knew they were on the verge of ignoring it completely.

He rushed to bring it up with the team, trying to explain the significance of what he’d seen. Sure, it seemed minor on the surface, but to Jake, it was a bridge—a sign that, despite everything, there was common ground between them and the Traveler. That he found joy in something as mundane as a cartoon proved that the gap between them wasn’t as vast as they thought.

But the team didn’t care. They listened, but the blank stares told him everything. So the alien laughed—so what? That’s all they took from it. To them, it was just an odd quirk, nothing worth focusing on. They couldn’t understand why Jake was so wrapped up in something that seemed so trivial. To them, the Traveler was still nothing more than an asset, a piece of the puzzle they needed to control.

A few days later, Colonel Emerson called Jake into his office. The colonel looked worn out, dark circles under his eyes from sleepless nights since the breach.

“I need you to be straight with me, Hawkins,” Emerson said, his voice rough. “What do you think about all this?”

Jake hesitated for a moment, then spoke carefully. “I think we’ve been going about this the wrong way, sir. We’ve been so focused on the Traveler escaping that we haven’t even considered why he was here in the first place.”

Emerson leaned back, narrowing his eyes. “Go on.”

Feeling a bit more confident, Jake continued. “We’ve treated him like a prisoner, a subject. But what if he’s something else? Maybe he came here for a reason—to make contact or to warn us about something.”

Emerson was silent for a moment, fingers tapping lightly on the desk. Then, finally, he spoke. “You might be onto something, Hawkins. We’ve been so caught up in our own agenda that maybe we’ve been blind to the bigger picture.”

He stood and walked to the window, looking at the desert night. “I’m putting together a new task force,” he said. “People who can approach this with fresh eyes. I want you on it.”

Jake felt a mix of excitement and nerves. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

Jake’s mind raced with conflicting thoughts as he left Emerson’s office. He’d always known Area 51 held secrets, but he never thought he’d be at the heart of something that could change the course of history.

The world had shifted that night in March, and sitting under the vast, starry sky, Jake realized he had changed, too. The universe was bigger, stranger, and more dangerous than he’d ever imagined. But as a soldier, he’d be ready. He had a feeling this was just the beginning of something much bigger.