Author's Note
This chapter is rather short unfortunately as I realised it would not make sense for me to write so much in one chapter for the sake of hitting an arbitrary word count goal, if doing so would impact the flow of this story.
On better news, I have been joined by several volunteers who wish to help and contribute to the writing of White Star of Aturan. The amount of consultation help I have received has been excellent and I cannot thank them enough.
Many thanks to 'Fobat' and 'Tomcat' for consultation, and 'Mcky' for editorial assistance.
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Temporary Belgian Military Camp
North of Maldegem, Belgium
May 20th, 2035
1715h, GMT+2
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The Portal Crisis, as the appearance of the gates was deemed by members of the public, stirred up media sensation of levels unseen since the troubled years just a half-decade past. Most users of the internet dubbed these structures 'gates' and 'portals', purely on the basis of the structures very much appearing to resemble such, whilst the incursion of the unidentified man in New York remained top secret knowledge strictly forbidden from the public. Most government officials of the affected nations have adopted these informal terms for lack of scientifically-palatable alternatives.
The locations of these portals were cordoned off from the public and placed under strict control of local police and military personnel, in an effort to prevent any unexpected outcomes and attempts to infiltrate the gate-like structure. In addition to the strict lockdown and monitoring of the locations surrounding these structures, the race was now on to ascertain the possibility of other undiscovered structures in potentially geopolitically-unfavourable locations.
News of the single incursion were passed onto Brussels and Tokyo, as the possibility of an armed incursion from the other side of the structure in great numbers was now on the tables.
"3, 2, 1... takeoff!"
A small, military-grade quadcopter reconnaisance drone lifted off from the grounds of the temporary camp set up by the gate, controlled remotely by crew of operators and observed with great interest by a line of various senior officers of the Belgian Armed Forces. The NATO National Liaison Representatives of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany attended on-site on extremely short notice to observe from a distance and receive any urgent news to be relayed to the organisational upper brass. Government officials of Belgium were also in attendance, though observing via video conferencing on a laptop placed off to the side of the launch zone.
Belgian Liaison Representative Colonel Emmanuel Gérard watched intently as the quadcopter navigated its way towards the entrance of the portal, tablet in hand ready to note down any new observations while he paid close attention to the briefcase laptop screen displaying the live video feed.
"Approach and proceed with entry, slowly." instructed the Lieutenant-Colonel breathing down the shoulders of the operator crew.
All personnel observed with bated breath as the drone drew closer to the entrance of the portal. This very moment held the potential to be Earth's first step into a new era of science, or whatever undiscovered force which powered the existence of these massive scientific anomalies. Finally, the drone entered the portal at a low altitude of five metres off the ground at roughly a walking pace.
Signal quality remained excellent at the immediate moment of entry, and observers were treated to a marvelous sight beyond the gate. Fields of grass in varying tincture dotted the daytime scenery behind the screen, while the skies were blue and clear as day. Several buildings stood in the distance on an otherwise pristine example of seemingly untouched nature.
YOU ARE READING
White Star of Aturan
Science Fiction[Story under heavy WIP, feedback very greatly appreciated. Title and description subject to constant changes.] "You never know what you truly have until it is gone." It is the year 2035. Something in the world of known science has gone seriously wro...
