Using the Gates of Antares – an Introduction

Null‐space tunnel entrances form gateways within the solar systems that comprise Antarean space. Each lies at one end of a trans‐dimensional tunnel the other end of which emerges within the photosphere of Antares itself.

When approached directly from the sun‐side system gates appear as perfect circles of null‐space darkness. They are completely invisible from other angles, having neither depth nor existence except when approached from directly in front. In size they are in the order of four miles across, no larger than many other minor orbital bodies such as asteroids and comets.

System gates are almost impossible to find unless you know what you are looking for. Indeed, it is not unknown for human explorers to discover alien worlds of great sophistication, often capable of near‐light space travel and journeying to neighbouring stars, but who have failed to discover their own Antarean gate. Not all societies that discover a gate comprehend what it is or find the means of opening it (a resonant sequence key based on the gate’s own resonance pattern).

Spacecraft do not enter a gate as such. Rather, they are drawn into it when they transmit the appropriate resonant signal. The trans‐dimensional tunnels themselves move craft within them. Craft are not able to employ drives within a tunnel because action/reaction principles don’t hold and any attempt to manoeuvre within null‐space is rendered ineffective. The craft simple occupies a bubble of reality that is transported along the tunnel and deposited at the other side – interaction between bubbles that may even have been created at almost the same time is impossible. The time it takes to get from any one location to Antares or back again is always the same. However, depending upon the world, this can be anything from a few hours to many long months or more.

All system gates lie at a distance from their star that corresponds to a calculable position dependent upon the star’s energy signature. This seems to be a necessary component of the gateway’s functioning. Gates do not orbit their star but lie along a line extending from the star to the actual position of Antares within their own time‐space dimension. This fixed point is known as the gate horizon. Given the energy signature of a star and its position relative to Antares the gate horizon is easily established.

The energy signature of a star varies over time, and when it does the gate horizon moves too, maintaining a fixed position relative to the energy signature. This indicates that Antares is not a fixed structure but is capable of responding to changes within the nexus. One of the great mysteries of Antares is that the Antarean nexus joins worlds that could not possibly have existed when Antares itself was constructed. This gives much weight to the notion that Antares is a sentient machine capable of adaptation and possibly of evolution.

More details on the vast machine we call Antares can be found in the background article What are the Gates of Antares?