THE GATE KEEPER

By Jules Gabriel

Sixteen-year-old Phil Smith is an athlete thriving for excellence while being confronted by bullies at seemingly every turn. But everything is about to change when a stranger makes a brief introduction into his life, partially revealing a future revelation about Phil. As the teen and his single mother try to determine the stranger’s identity and why he knows Phil’s darkest secret, a chain of unexpected events unfolds.

When two detectives show up at Phil’s door and ask him to accompany them downtown for an interrogation, nothing is as it appears to be. As his reality is altered on the way there, every step forward becomes risky. While Phil embarks on a quest to learn more about his future in order to better understand his current situation, danger lurks at every corner as he travels through an unknown futuristic world. As he relies on his martial arts skills and instinct to survive, he must do everything in his power to save himself, uncover the reason why he is enduring this ordeal, and return to his own time.

In this thrilling tale, a teen journeys into a futuristic world where he must first attempt to survive and then somehow find his way back to his former life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Jun 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781664117938

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 by Jules Gabriel.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Scripture quotation marked KJV is taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Public Domain).

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 06/19/2023

Xlibris

UK TFN: 0800 0148620 (Toll Free inside the UK)

UK Local: (02) 0369 56328 ([phone] from outside the UK)

www.Xlibrispublishing.co.uk

835060

CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

To the two special people in my life—my mum, who inspired me to read and escape into the magnificent world of fiction and my daughter, who inspired me to be a better dad by simply being a part of her life.

‘That Christ may dwell in your hearts and faith; that ye,

being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend

with all saints what is breadth, and length, and depth, and

height, and to know the love of Christ, which possess knowledge,

that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.’

—Ephesians 3:17–19 Saint Paul

PROLOGUE

High school, 2012

Frightened I was for sure. It wasn’t that I had exercised my right to become a criminal but for the sake of dating my dream girl. I couldn’t turn around to face her or talk to her. My gut feeling that the class knew the truth haunted me. Though it was a warm Monday, not yet hot, I felt sweat dripping down my back, and under the pressure of her unanswered promise, it became worse.

It was already afternoon and still no answer from her. She promised to at least give me an answer. I confronted my thoughts. I had made a gamble to spill my guts for the price of love rather than to sit and never at least try to be a man for once. Though fourteen years old, I knew I had to put childish things to the past and try to start a new chapter towards becoming a man.

Two days ago, at home, Dan had told me about the girl he fancied from school. ‘Come on, dude. You can tell me. I told you mine. Now it’s your turn,’ he’d said as he teased me.

‘Well you know her,’ I said.

‘No, dude. I’m in the dark here,’ he teased. ‘Help me out.’

‘Hailey,’ I responded.

‘Is it Hailey Lace?’ he asked.

I gave him a nod. He made an expression of excitement, which I could not yet comprehend. ‘Oh my God, dude. You must be kidding. She’s fit. I mean she’s great!’ he exclaimed.

Surprisingly, I had to respond and seek for reason. ‘Dude, calm down, she’s not my girlfriend.’

‘That’s why you gonna buzz her, dude!’ Dan exclaimed as he combed through the yellow pages. ‘Awesome choice, dude!’

He then searched for the Laces’ phone number based on the possible address matches. We both knew where she lived. She was approximately five blocks down the road. Hailey had to take the main public road that went straight between our family’s house and the school. She had done so since we were in kindergarten. That was when I had first gotten a chance to know her. My love for her had started as puppy love and grown into a teen crush. I became her secret admirer. She was the one I felt I would love for a long time.

‘And what do you suggest I say to her?’ I asked, sounding inexperienced and dumb.

‘The truth, dude!’ he responded excitedly.

He examined the addresses closely and found only three that might belong to her mother and father. He took a gamble and phoned one. As it rang, Dan handed over the phone to me. He held his left ear close to the receiver, kept quiet, and listen to the ring tone along with me. It rang once, and we waited. On the second ring, I wanted to hang up, but he hold the phone firm and slowly shook his head, from left to right. Gesturing not to end the call.

I agreed. After the third ring, we heard, ‘Hello,’ in a voice that belonged to an adult female.

Dan smiled and gave me a friendly tap on my shoulder.

I inhaled and exhaled, searching for the right words and said, ‘May I speak to Hailey, please?’

The voice from the other end seemed concern and asked, ‘Hailey?’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ I said nervously, wondering if we’d actually gotten the right number.

‘One moment please,’ the person at the other end said.

Jackpot, I thought.

We waited patiently. I tried to free my mind from the pressure of fear. I thought about the words she would want to hear from me. Surrender was not an option, especially when I had the presence of a good friend backing my emotions and witnessing my brave act.

‘Hello?’ a young, soft female voice said. She sounded confused.

An unexpected call, I thought. I let out a deep breath. Then I responded to the unforgettable, lovely voice. ‘Hailey?’

‘Yes,’ she said, still sounding puzzled.

‘It’s me, Phil,’ I said.

‘Phil Smith?’ Hailey confirmed.

‘Yes,’ I respond fearlessly.

The line went silent. An answer—a reason I was calling—was what she wanted.

Not wasting time, I pulled myself together. ‘I phoned you to tell you that I like you,’ I said.

The line stayed quiet.

‘I would like for us to be more than friends,’ I continued. ‘And I would also like to meet you, possibly at my place if you want?’

The line remained silent.

‘I would like to know what you think,’ I said, feeling uneasy. ‘And maybe you could give me an answer.’ The fear of a negative response was in my head. I wanted to avoid an embarrassment, but it was futile. The deal was in motion.

‘I’ll give you an answer on Monday morning,’ Hailey responded, her voice, being strict and calm.

Excitement faded, and a chill of fear kicked in as my subconscious realised I was still in the class waiting for a sign of what her decision might be. My classmates murmured among themselves as we waited for the next subject teacher to make her entrance. I was speechless, sweats of fear dripped over my body as I waited for an answer from Hailey.

This morning, I went straight for her. I had conquered my fear and walked towards her. She was with her friends. She looked stunning, with her long black hair, brown eyes, and beautiful light brown skin. It was the mix of Indian and Caucasian blood that gave her, her unique beauty, which I had innocently fallen for.

‘I came for your answer,’ I said.

Her friends didn’t feel my presence. They were sharing the weekend news of their private lives.

‘I’ll talk to you later,’ she said, her manner friendly.

All I had wanted was to make her my girlfriend. Even if I was young and I had never been in a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship, I was willing to make it work. She would be my first love. My intention was purely teenage companionship with a member of the opposite sex—someone to share my heart with. Then in the long term, we would become more than friends. Perhaps in the long term, there would be a possibility of a mature relationship, though I knew the future was uncertain. It could neither be controlled nor mended.

She gave her word that she would give me an answer, I reminded myself. My mind fought the clouded thoughts that ran through it. I couldn’t comprehend or accept the delay. Must have been compromised, my inner self said quietly. It can’t be. She’s not that type, I thought.

The class was no longer murmuring. Most were talking aloud. Amid the drone, I could hear some whispering.

‘Tell him,’ said a girl at the back of the room.

Have I been betrayed? I searched for a lonely answer from within. Still frightened, I sat still and listened, trying to make sense of the whispering amid the loud conversations.

‘Yes, tell him,’ another girl from the back said.

‘Phil Smith!’ a female voice shouted at me.

I recognised the voice instantly, and I could not believe it. The tone felt a bit too harsh and cold. Unbelievable, I thought. It was Hailey, the one my heart longed to be with. She had brought the noise of the class to a halt.

Busted, I told myself. You need to face this and take it like a man. I turned towards her like the rest of my classmates had.

There she was, beauty in disguise and both of her hands resting on her hips as she said aloud, ‘Don’t you ever, ever phone my house again!’

‘What happened?’ someone from the back asked.

My heart raced with adrenalin, fear, and utter embarrassment—all of it was a shock to my system. Pathetic, uncontrollable shivers of shyness took control of my body. I wanted to get away, but I couldn’t. I considered hiding under the table, but that wasn’t practical.

‘Can you believe it? He phoned my place asking for me and told me that he liked me!’ Hailey cried out with a heart of stone.

The class burst out aloud with mirthful laughter. Tears of joy streamed down their faces. My true friends pitied me as the entertainment and execution moved to its next stage.

‘What was he thinking?’ an unknown girl asked.

‘You know what amazed me?’ she cried out and paused.

The class stayed quiet while they struggled to maintain their uncontrolled emotion. I slowly and shamefully turned my obese self to face the chalkboard.

Hailey carry on entertaining the class. ‘He even wanted me to come over to his house, and I don’t even know what he had in mind!’

The class burst into loud uncontrollable laughter.

Her arrogant move and miscalculated behaviour set my heart on fire and brought our classmate relationship to a dead halt.

That night, I cried tears of humiliation and sadness alone, behind closed doors. This was the turning point of my life.

43194.png

CHAPTER 1

2061, A Distant Future

The old man stared at his gaunt face in the mirror. He could not help staring at the wrinkles and the white hair, trim beard, and moustache. Death was at his doorstep, waiting for an opportunistic moment. Disease had already threatened his frail body.

He slowly walked away from the mirror and sat on an executive chair. He reached out for the nose mask attached to a machine. He inhaled the pure oxygen. At sixty-five years old, his lungs felt no longer his. He held the mask firmly with both hands as he exhaled and inhaled.

‘I have condensed all the excess gas, recycled it, and rendered it into pure oxygen. Your lungs should be healthy for another week,’ the voice from the speakers in the ceiling said.

The old man listened and acknowledged the voice with a slow, unhealthy nod as he concentrated on his breathing. AI had spoken, and he trusted it.

‘Are you in need of any further assistance?’ AI asked.

The frail man shook his head.

‘Hang in there. Breathe and try to relax,’ AI responded.

He lay back and relaxed. AI knows nothing of pain, he thought. Why would AI care about me? He had invested in the artificial intelligence to take care of him at home. He had been a successful entrepreneur and inventor in his time. Without the AI he had helped revolutionise, he would have failed to make headway in any of his other inventions. AI had helped him make the right decisions for each of the tasks at hand that it had frequently slipped his mind.

He had programmed AI to react according to his own principles. Of course, it was all for the benefit of the old man. The machine’s voice was that of its creator. Each time he conversed with it, he felt like he was talking to himself, and in time, it became his true companion.

Memories of his past ran through his head like a film. He had been surrounded by those who had thought that he could be played—men and women who wanted to use him. Being a moneymaker, he had become an irresistible business magnet. He had surpassed all of them. His office had been in his mansion for forty years. When his name came into the public eye, he had been forced to open up his world. In the name of expansion, he had established the Bushido Corporation.

He had been twenty-five years old when he’d revolutionised the way computers were used. He and two other computer geeks created important artificial intelligence software that the world had since become addicted to.

On the wall were photos of his success. Near them were the A3 blueprints of his inventions, which he called his babies. The old man stared at the new one. Several groups of engineers had created its parts. None of those smart minds knew each other or even knew how important their work was.

He had delegated each task purposefully worldwide and kept all of them in the dark. They could not visualise the big picture. The invention’s blueprint glowed under the pale blue ultraviolet light on the wall above the diagrams.

AI had dimmed the main ceiling light. AI knew what its mentor and inventor expected of it. AI had learned more of his habits and desire to succeed. ‘The process has successfully been completed,’ AI said. ‘Your next one should be next week.’

The old man took off the mask. He slowly placed both of his hands on the arm rests and pushed his frail self upright. He felt better and able to breathe on his own. He straightened his black tie against his white shirt and fixed his black suit properly. He walked to his left, away from the blueprints and into the darker part of the room.

AI slowly brightened the light from the ceiling. The dark room gradually became visible. In front of the old man, a device came to life. It was similar to the latest diagram on the blueprint. Its bottom and top were flat and round, and its body was a cylindrical oval. The shiny metal was open, and inside, pale blue ultralight from above shone on an empty space. The old man slowly got in, pause and stood still.

‘Warning, the door will close for departure,’ AI said.

An orange beacon descended from a hidden space in the ceiling. Then it came to life, flashing orange safety light across the room. The door of the machine closed.

‘Warning, departure is inevitable. Ten-second countdown. Nine, eight,’ AI said.

From the camera on the ceiling, AI could see its creator through the lone window on the machine’s door. AI, the only witness to the operation, searched for any threat that could jeopardise the mission. Its lenses zoomed in on the image as it continued the countdown.

‘Warning, four seconds left.’

White and blue lightning sparked up the machine, becoming bigger and longer as it spread outward. The old man fell to one knee. He rested his left hand on the double-glazed glass on the door. With his head down and his chin resting on his stomach, he kept still.

‘Two seconds, one second,’ AI said.

The old man raised his head, stared at the lenses, and cried out. His eyes took on an expression of excruciating pain. The lightning agitated rapidly and uncontrollably. The volatile energy turned the machine transparent. The old man was kneeling and shouting, but his voice was trapped within the transparent, crystal-like machine.

‘Shutdown is impossible,’ AI said.

Then he became transparent and reappeared as normal. The volatile lightning blew up the emergency beacon. Both the man and the machine became transparent. The energy field grew bigger. It focused the whole energy on the machine and vanished with it. Papers from the old man’s office table flew around. The machine was nowhere to be found. It had vanished without a trace. AI shut off the light in the whole room and kept it pitch-black.

43194.png

CHAPTER 2

2 July 2014

My eyes opened, and I found myself staring at the ceiling. Awake, I gave my body a few minutes to adjust itself and thought about the important aspect of the day—higher learning. I had learned to embrace it through my single mum and the bullies at school.

I no longer was the unfit, bulky little boy of my class. Through hard work and dedication, I had transformed myself into an athletic freak. What I truly desired from the past had become my worst enemy, for I no longer craved. The more I stayed away from it, the more worried my mother became. She had even stated that I had become anorexic.

Deep down, I knew what damage the excess food had done to my physical frame. I could not tolerate the corruption of my body or allow my weight to crumble under my feet. My quest for the body of a perfect teenage male highlighted my true devotion and discipline in the pursuit of sport. I referred to it simply as the one that got away. I had been enslaved by the psychological addiction of uncontrollable hunger. Changes had to happen, and the bullies had allowed me to see it clearly. Now the question of whether I could maintain my athletic figure remained.

I brought myself up and stretched both my arms towards the ceiling as I cracked my back and released my body’s tension. Then I left my bed. Opposite the foot of my bed was the door that led to the hallway of the first floor. I headed towards it and I came to a halt at the doorway. Above the door frame was an adjustable chin-up bar which was insulated with black rubber.

I jumped and I got hold of the bar, spreading my arms wide. I bent both legs in a ninety-degree angle and criss-crossed them