The Way of the Brother Gods by Stuart Jaffe Page A

a little bruise. Nothing will remain." He straightened and faced Malja. "We were lucky. We already knew how to operate a portal safely. But every time our people take a step forward, they want to take another step. We couldn't be satisfied with simply having the portals. And it was when we tried to take things even further that our world vanished. You won't be so lucky here. Everything on this world will be gone."
    Malja looked at the crews working on the Dish and tried to absorb all that Harskill had said. He waited without a word. At length, she said, "If this is all true, then why have you been helping Cole build this thing."
    That odd grin returned to Harskill's lips. "I haven't. That is, she doesn't know it, but I've done all I could to impede her progress. I had hoped when I sabotaged her last experiment at that little town, she would have given up. I almost succeeded. But then she found this place."
    Malja grimaced as if she had bit into a rotten apple. "Why would you tell me these things? You've just met me."
    "Because you are Gate. You weren't raised as such, but deep within you, you are Gate. I know that soon enough you will understand who we are and thus, who you are. I have no fear to reveal these things to one of my own. That's why I left Cole's journal at the mansion for you to find. You were bound to come looking for her, and I thought the journal might ease you into all of this better. Besides, we Gate are powerful. If you want to run off and warn Ms. Watts, go right ahead. It won't matter."
    "I won't say anything. Not when you caused an entire town to be destroyed to protect your secret."
    "An unfortunate but necessary outcome."
    "How was that necessary?"
    "Because those of the Gate have a strict purpose. Understand this now before you cast judgment. We have been scattered across the infinite worlds, traveling from one to another, making sure no other world suffers our fate."
    "You insure that you're the only ones who can use portals."
    "It's not selfish, I assure you. Not only do we protect worlds from destroying themselves, but we protect worlds from worlds. There are numerous places out there that are filled with horrible, evil creatures. Should they get control over a portal, they would embark on a mad attempt to take over everyone. World upon world would be lost to war and all the horrors that go with it. We stop that from happening."
    Malja crossed her arms. "You didn't stop it here."
    A flash of hurt crossed Harskill's face, and for that, Malja was thankful. "There are not a lot of us left," he said. "We can't be everywhere. And we make mistakes. After we missed the first portal here, we saw the destruction that happened and figured you wouldn't be able to do it again for centuries. We moved on. I only noticed this world again because of the short proximity of time between attempts to open a portal."
    "And you came to stop us?"
    "Exactly. If I do this right, Ms. Watts will determine that safely opening a portal is not possible and she will abandon future efforts. The problem I've encountered, however, is that Ms. Watts is tenacious to a degree I had not anticipated."
    "And if you can't convince her?"
    Harskill shrugged. "Then I'll have to kill her and destroy any record she made of her work." Without realizing it, Malja must have made a face because Harskill said, "You need to understand that it is not our desire to thoughtlessly kill people. We try to solve these problems as non-violently as possible."
    "Then just bring her up here and tell her everything you've told me. Cole's a very smart woman."
    "She'll never give up. Not that way. Knowing that we exist and the extent to which we've advanced would only make her more determined. Think about yourself. If someone told you not to do something for your own good —"
    Malja laughed.
    "Exactly," Harskill said. "Besides, we've tried to be open in the past. The results are rarely positive. That is, if you follow the strict rules of the Gate."
    That tension