Guardian

by Matthew S. Cox

  After an hour of slogging through a wearisome series of chambers packed with monsters that always somehow failed to hear the sounds of fireballs exploding and death screams past the flimsy wooden doors of the next room, they reached the end boss of the dungeon.

  Clouds of sulfurous smoke rolled around the tail of a massive creature. Atop a thick, armor-plated serpent some twenty feet long, sat a humanoid upper body with four musclebound arms and the head of a bull. Torchlight flickered off the walls, glinting on irregular wet stones marked with violet moss. Kirsten grimaced at the slime everywhere and thanked the gods of video gaming that the Yume Koujou system didn’t replicate smell.

  “Okay. He can’t see us ‘till we walk into the room. You’ll need to stay behind him because he’s got a magic shield that blocks arrows. Asara’s fast enough to run up his tail. Keep jumping over him. My elemental will hold aggro.”

  “Okay.”

  Monwyn the Magnificent chanted. Sparkles of amber light ran down his arms and cascaded to the ground, causing a ripple that spat out loose rocks. The stones levitated and stacked into a humanoid figure ten feet tall with glowing orange eyes.

  The world froze. Yellow letters appeared reading, “Session timer 1:45:00.”

  “Bedtime, kiddo.” Kirsten grabbed her helmet. “Save the game and we’ll pick it up tomorrow.”

  “Aw, but he’s the final boss of the map.”

  Kirsten tapped a finger on her Senshelmet. “How long does the fight take?”

  He grumbled. “Awright. We can do it tomorrow… About a half hour if we know the strat, but you’ve never done it before so we’ll probably wipe a couple times. You’re learning fast… so maybe an hour and a half, and you’re gonna say ‘no too late.’”

  Kirsten laughed and took her helmet off. “Well, since you’ve already decided to wait, I suppose we should.”

  Evan gawked at her. “You were gonna say yes?”

  She kissed him on the forehead. “Not for an hour and change. It’s already past ten.”

  “But it’s Saturday.”

  “That’s why you’re up this late.” She winked. “Go on, get ready for bed. I’m tired, too.”

  “Okay.”

  He ran to the hall, whipping his shirt off before he darted out of sight. Kirsten knelt on the rug, taking her time packing the Yume Koujou system into the cabinet by the living room holo bar. Every time she looked at the white boxy console, it made her remember the overwhelmed expression on Evan’s face when she gave it to him. The whirr of the autoshower filled in the silence from the hallway. She savored this stolen moment of contentment, remaining motionless for a little while before closing the cabinet. When she stood, a familiar scent of spiced aftershave rolled past her. A scent she’d not encountered in too long.

  Her eyes watered up. “Dad?”

  “How’re you doin’, Hon?” Kirsten’s father phased out of the wall. “Looks like you’ve settled in all right. That Sam fellow treating you okay?”

  “He got stuck working this weekend… some kind of major server node upgrade.” She pushed the cabinet door closed a little harder than necessary. “So far, so good. I think I like him. I tried to tell him I loved him once, but I couldn’t say it without throwing a ‘think’ in there. Guess I’m afraid of commitment.”

  “Bah. You’ve known the boy a couple months. I got a good feeling about him, but don’t rush yourself.”

  Kirsten concentrated, making herself solid to spirits, and buried her face in his soft flannel shirt. Her mind swirled with the last time she’d hugged him for real; she was ten, the night she ran away from home. His familiar fragrance brought on a wave of anger and self-pity, blindsiding her with emotion. She sniffled into his shoulder, refusing to give in to tears while gagging on the memory of a turkey dinner, the last meal her mother ever made for her. She’d only eaten because Daddy was home. Every time the fork went to ten-year-old Kirsten’s mouth, Mother glared at her, thinking she didn’t deserve that food because she had turned her back on Jesus.

  “What are you doing to my Mom?” Evan, steam wafting from his hair, eyes glowing white, and a towel around his waist, stood in the gap between living room and hallway. “I heard her crying.”

  Kirsten sniffled and smiled. “Ev, go finish your shower. This is my father. It’s okay. Bad memories.”

  Evan shot an accusing look at him. “The one who kept running away?”

  Her dad cringed. “Yeah. I sure did, didn’t I?”

  “Sec, Dad,” whispered Kirsten. She hurried over to Evan, put a hand on the back of his head, and guided him to the bathroom. “He’s stuck coping with his choices. We’ve already made our peace.”

  He frowned. “‘Kay.”

  “Hey.” She poked him in the side until he smiled. “Thanks for sticking up for me.”

  Evan grinned and jumped into the tube.

  She trudged back to the living room, finding her father standing by the electronic window, watching hovercars. It offered a smaller version of the view from the real windows in the master bedroom.

  “Dad?” She walked up alongside him. “Do you think it’s right to kill someone to save your child’s life?”

  “A parent has an obligation to do whatever it takes to protect their child.” His eyes bored guilt into the ground. “I don’t expect you to ever forgive me.”

  “That’s not why I’m asking.” She wrapped her arms around him. “I do forgive you. In the ten years I’ve been with Division 0, I’ve met one person who handled ghosts like they were no big deal. It was too much for you. Primal fear, not thinking fear.”

  “She wasn’t the mother you deserved. I should have done more to stop her.”

  “I’m alive. I forgive you, Dad.” She exhaled, holding him for a little while in silence. “What about what Winchester did?”

  “Who?” Her father looked up, chuckling. “Ghostliness doesn’t come with omniscience. That Theodore friend of yours is always moving about, talking to other spirits. They all share information. I’ve, uhh, been keeping to myself.”

  “Sorry, Dad. You don’t have to feel guilty anymore.”

  He let out a halfhearted chuckle. “Easier said… That’s the curse of being human, isn’t it? We see everything in perfect clarity only after it’s too late.” He sighed. “I could tell you were terrified of her, but I always rationalized it as the hauntings making me see things that weren’t real. I can’t stop seeing you as you were that night… the last time I held you. The night I chickened out for the last time.”

  Kirsten leaned against him. “It took me a long time to forgive you for leaving me there, but I understand. I think you were afraid of her too.”

  Her father chuckled. After a while of holding her in silence, he sniffed back tears and managed a smile. “So, who’s this Winchester?”

  She gave him a brief explanation.

  “That man had the means to pursue other options. He didn’t have to claim that woman as his daughter to get her proper treatment. Someone in his position… bribes, influence, lies… the man practically makes truth out of thin air. Sounds like he’s either a stingy bastard, or maybe he feels entitled to harvest the peasants to prolong the life of the royalty.”

  “Now I think you’re reaching a little.” Kirsten tried to laugh but it carried little enthusiasm.

  Evan’s head and one foot poked around the corner of the hall. “I’m ready.”

  “Teeth?”

  “Yep.” He flashed an exaggerated smile.

  “Okay. I’ll be right there.” She winked.

  Evan scampered off to his room.

  “What if someone takes your kid and threatens to kill them if you don’t go murder some innocent other person?”

  Her father took a deep breath, held it a second, and let it out slow. “I don’t think it’s possible to answer that question unless it’s happening for real. That’s the kind of choice a man… uhh, parent makes in the heat of the moment. Stop trying to drive yourself insane. I’m sure the boy knows you’d do
everything you can to protect him.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” She hugged him again. “Hey… would you mind hanging around tonight? Something’s been bothering him… something weak.”

  “Sure. I suppose that’s the least I could do.”

  irsten squeezed the control sticks while guiding her patrol craft down to the parking area reserved for official vehicles. The digital windscreen lit up red on the right side, warning her away from the exclusion zones around the Edmonson Memorial Starport. Despite its armored hull, most of the shuttles using those lanes would swat the hovercar aside like a flea if they collided.

  For two days, she tried like hell not to think about Senator Winchester and focus on being Mom. By some miraculous stroke of luck, no ghosts decided to misbehave to the point Division 0 paged her over the weekend. Laney Prentice called once to ask for an update, apparently Charles wanted to know. For now, the woman had accepted the explanation that trying to line up a United Coalition Front senator under the crosshairs for murder was a sensitive project that would take time. With Lindsey Park no longer in possession of the offending kidneys, she assured the Prentices that the organs would be cremated and added to Charles’s ashes once they were no longer needed as evidence in any cases or litigation.

  She landed and walked on autopilot across the starport. This time, Command wasn’t providing a DS2 for a personal flight. They had no idea she planned to confront the senator in person. She didn’t even know what she’d say. You’re right Dad. Must be one of those situations you can’t figure out until you’re tits deep in it.

  The past forty-eight hours replayed in her head as she stood in the middle of the main concourse. Feeling wonderful for having time with Evan clashed with feeling guilty at making Charles wait… but in all honesty, he wasn’t getting deader, as Dorian liked to say. The bigger source of guilt came from Seraphina. Not that her investigation appeared poised to offer any substantive change on her feelings for her father. No, perhaps the true drive pulling her to the moon came from that young woman―stopping another senseless death.

  So far, hard evidence in this case left her looking at three unknown murder suspects working for a ‘might or might not exist’ ripper doc named Mardrake in a black zone that most cops didn’t want to go near. The best thing she could do would be to kick the administration of Easley Military Medical Center square in the testicles for knowingly dealing with illegal organs.

  What am I doing? Six hours flight time each way and he might not even see me.

  Kirsten turned on her heel and ran back to the car. “I don’t need to go to the damn Moon to talk to him. Might be better over a Vid anyway… he won’t think I’m trying to use any abilities on him.”

  “I was waiting for you to realize that,” said Dorian from nowhere. He faded into view a few seconds later.

  Figuring out how to call the Senate Chambers in Paramount City on the Moon took the better part of twenty minutes. She finally got through to a public relations operator so unremarkable, brown-skinned, and happy, she looked like an avatar made from the average of the UCF’s population demographics.

  “Hello. I’m Mary. Which media outlet or entity do you represent?”

  “This is Lieutenant Wren from Division 0. I need to speak to Senator Preston Winchester.”

  “I’m sorry, Lieutenant. Senators and their staff are unable to receive direct calls, with the exception of designated media liaisons.”

  “He’s asked me to help him with a specific issue. I have information for him about his houseguest.” Mary’s right eye twitched. “Look, please tell him who I am and that I need to talk to him about the matter he’s requested my assistance with. If he doesn’t want to take my Vid, fine, I’ll go away.”

  “Please hold for a moment.”

  The woman’s holographic bust vanished, and a small 3D model rendering of the jade green Senatorial Chambers appeared in her place.

  Kirsten tapped her fingers and boots for three minutes. Dorian hummed some odd melody.

  “What’s that?”

  “What?” He glanced over.

  “That thing you’re humming.”

  “Oh. It’s from an old game holo-vid. They used to play that music while people filled out answers to questions. I think they wound up cancelling it about ten years ago. Guess most people weren’t educated enough for it anymore… the show’d been around for centuries.”

  “Elitist much?” She chuckled.

  “Truth is a harsh mistress.” Dorian leaned back with a smug smile.

  Senator Winchester appeared on the holo panel. The white hair over his ears seemed to have spread further up into the brown. “Good morning, Lieutenant now is it?” He smiled. “Nice bit of work the last time you visited Paramount City. Nasty little thing in the basement.”

  “Thank you, sir.” A twinge of unease swam around in her gut. Did he push my promotion through as a bribe? She clutched her stomach with one hand.

  “At least you’re coming in over MilNet. Using Vid from your car, not too bad. Before we continue, I’ll need to ask you to disable all recording and logging. Also, click this frame to start a secure channel.”

  A dark blue border appeared around the holo-panel, with a ‘button’ at the lower right full of hexadecimal numbers. Kirsten glanced at Dorian.

  “He wants it off the record. I’m sure Marguerite has spoken with him already. Might as well, it’s not like you’re in any position to make a power play. Besides, it’ll protect you from anything you might blurt if you get angry.”

  “All right. One sec.” She keyed in an override code to shut down logging and recording. “You know by turning this off, I’ve just scheduled myself an intense meeting with my captain.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that.” Senator Winchester smiled. “Please click the crypto link.”

  Kirsten hesitated for two seconds, but poked the blue button. The senator’s image diffused into giant square pixels as big as her fingertip, shifted around, and resumed focus in eight seconds. His subsequent smile lasted three more.

  “We now have privacy. There’s a three to six second delay, so please allow a pause when you stop. What information have you found?”

  She waited a bit to make sure he was done. “Senator… I’m not going to insult your intelligence by playing stupid. I know your daughter Iced her lungs to oblivion and you arranged for a donor to replace them.”

  “You’re still dancing around it.” Dorian winked. “You didn’t say murder.”

  Kirsten kept her attention on the senator. “I tracked down the ghost… Other organs went to various individuals who have all experienced attacks. In short, the ghost is upset. He’s been going after anyone involved, but as he’s only weeks old, the only people he can affect are those who have his tissues inside them.”

  The senator nodded out of sequence twice. Four seconds after she stopped talking, he rubbed his chin. “Yes… I had a feeling. That’s why I requested you. I did quite a bit of research on your career, Lieutenant. I chose you specifically to send this wayward spirit packing. Destroy it so everyone can get on with their lives. The man is dead. What goes on with the living is no longer of his concern.”

  She seethed, but kept her expression neutral. “Sir… I can’t arbitrarily destroy a ghost on a whim because he’s inconvenient. He hasn’t done anything deserving of annihilation yet.”

  The placid face hovering at the middle of the console during three seconds of silence made her want to punch him dead in the nose.

  “Well then you should destroy him before he does. If that ghost manages to kill anyone, you’ll need to accept that you could have prevented it. It’s on you. If the ghost harms Seraphina, there will be some other problems as well. Some rather serious ones.”

  She snarled under her breath. “Sir. You set all of this in motion. Why? You could have had her treated properly. You had no reason to do this. All of it circles back to you. She would never have inhaled that much whisp if you had simply acknowledged her.”

&nbs
p; His expression shifted from placidity to annoyance. “You must understand. Certain parties both politically hostile and legally dangerous… those who consider themselves above the law the Senate creates, monitor every single credit I spend. I could not run the risk of them going digging. I don’t expect someone in your position to appreciate all the nuances of politics. Vid me again once our spectral problem has been dealt with. Kill it, pack it a bag and send it ‘to the light,’ whatever it is that you do with them. Make it gone.”

  “Even if I get rid of this ghost, she’s going to keep trying to kill herself until you acknowledge her, you know. For some reason, she seems to love you a lot more than you deserve after leaving her in filth for the first eight years of her life.”

  Winchester’s eyebrows rose. “Lieutenant Wren… At the time, I didn’t even know she existed. The woman never bothered to mention her. When that leech of a prostitute decided to cash in… well… that’s when I found out.”

  “Publicly acknowledge her as your daughter. You don’t have to blast it over the NewsNet. Make up a mother… I get that you’re protecting something sensitive here. You wouldn’t go to these lengths to hide a simple affair. Senator, you’ve got connections. What about gene tweaking her to match your wife?”

  “Seraphina is the most beautiful thing I have ever been responsible for creating. I couldn’t bear to change anything about her.”

  “Ghosts aren’t like the living. I have to help him break the fixation that’s keeping him rooted here in our world. He needs his murder to be answered for.”

  “Lieutenant, I requested you specifically because I know what you’re capable of. Deal with this ghost like you dealt with that mess in the decommissioned base. He’s not a person. Ghosts have no right to existence under the law. You can’t seriously tell me that you prioritize it over the living.”

  Kirsten shivered, anxiety made the car feel twenty degrees colder. “Sounds like you didn’t read my file too well, Senator. I can’t just destroy a sentient spirit because his existence threatens to expose a murder. I have to see this investigation through to whatever result the evidence dictates. The relationship you have with your daughter, I can’t begin to comprehend… You seem to love her a great deal, but I don’t get why you felt the need to have a man killed.”