Polity Agent is a 2006 science fiction novel by Neal Asher. It is the fourth novel in the Gridlinked sequence.From 800 years in the future, a runcible gate is opened into the Polity. Those coming through it have been tasked with taking the alien 'Maker' back to its home civilization in the Small Magellanic cloud. Once these refugees are safely through, the gate itself is rapidly shut down because something alien is pursuing them.