Mindguard

by Andrei Cherascu

  “Hell, if only it were so easy to fight off those scumbag desert dwellers we’d have Sheldon here make’em all cluck like chickens and be done with it,” White said, drawing a round of laughter. Sheldon found no humor in the remark.

  “I understand. Thank you for clearing things up.”

  “All right,” the old man said. “Now, one more thing and then we can wrap this up. You will be spending a total of two nights on two of the four desert planets. It will probably be Noriado 2 and La Khez. On Noriado 2 crime rates are high but there is certain political stability. Translation: you can mingle with the locals. In fact, it’s wiser to advertise that you are a thoughtprotection team, it’s more likely to keep you out of trouble and keep the assholes at bay. It’s not the same with La Khez. On that planet, you need to stay away from the locals, wear camouflage gear – even you Isabel – and camp out. Unfortunately you have no choice but to spend the night there, but I want you out of that shithole as quickly as possible.”

  “Understood, thank you, Mr. White. Barring any other question, the meeting is over,” Ross announced.

  Sheldon was the first to leave the room and Sophie quickly followed. She caught up with him at the end of the hallway that separated the briefing room from the main office. She put her hand on his shoulder. Since the mindguard always seemed lost in thought, she half expected him to startle, but he didn’t.

  “Mr Ayers -”

  “Sheldon, please.”

  “Sheldon -” She was searching for her words. She didn’t want to alienate him more than she already had. “I’m sorry if I came across as rude, or if I came on too strong. The truth is that, yes, my father and I have a deep respect for your reputation -”

  “Reputation?” he asked, as if it were the first time he had come across that word.

  “We know that you are the absolute best, no matter what anybody says. Before choosing to work with you and, implicitly, with Ayers-Ross, we did an extensive research on the history and the records of many agencies. We didn’t just choose you on a whim. It took four months for us to decide we want to collaborate with you.”

  “Ok.”

  “We also considered Jack Nemeth and Kendall Webber.”

  “Yes, both are very good.”

  “Ok, yes, but we knew it had to be you. This information package, as I’ve mentioned before, is extremely valuable to us.”

  “Yes, and all mankind, I remember.”

  Sophie couldn’t tell if he was making fun of her. She chose to continue speaking, regardless. “It had to be you. We admire your work and we feel like we can trust you.”

  Sheldon’s expression remained exactly the same, as though he were a holographic image that someone had paused.

  “That’s why I was so… that’s why I am so insistent, you understand?”

  “Well, you got your request. I will be the primary guardian of the information package.”

  He said that with complete indifference, as if she had not spent the last few minutes complimenting him. She searched for something else to say but found nothing. This Sheldon was truly a difficult character. Merely speaking with him was very tiring, as if he had the ability to drain her energy with nothing more than his quiet apathy. However, in a strange way, she enjoyed being in his presence. She had an unusual attraction to him, not necessarily physical, but rather intellectual. She felt like they were somehow connected on an almost spiritual level. “Soulmates?” she wondered and immediately felt ridiculous.

  ●

  With nothing left to say, Sheldon excused himself and retreated to his private office. It was an almost exact replica of the one at home. He felt exhausted, like the whole meeting and especially the conversation with the young woman had completely drained him of his energy. He had a bad feeling about the entire mission but Sheldon was not the man to believe in feelings, signs or premonitions.

  He took off his leather jacket and hung it on the hanger next to his door, turning his back to the huge moradium desk that imitated Carpathian elm. When he turned back around he startled. A man was sitting at the desk with his back turned to him. That person had not been there a second ago. Sheldon was starting to panic. From behind, the figure looked familiar. Dark hair was flowing to its shoulders, covering part of the collar on the worn-out light brown leather jacket. Sheldon felt his pulse hasten. The chair squeaked when the figure turned to face him.

  Staring at him was his own face, as if the spectral creature had climbed out of the mirror and into reality. It said nothing, it simply stared. Nobody was close by to hear Sheldon’s horrified scream.

  ●

  “Are you damn sure this is the right thing to do?” Kriss White pulled one of the empty chairs and sat down.

  “It’s the only thing to do,” Ross answered absently.

  The two men had remained in the briefing room after everyone else had left. With his back turned to the old man, Ross was staring out the window. The lively colors of the paradise city of Essa Ronas mocked his somber mood. The sky was dark red, a color that would have made Sheldon think of wine. It made Ross think of blood. Holobillboards of half naked women holding exotic cocktails invited tourists to ‘an unforgettable night in an unforgettable city’. Vibrant vehicles, some on the ground, others in the air, moved slowly, to flaunt their beautiful designs like metal peacocks. Ross didn’t think about the colors of the city. Only one thought occupied his mind. It had consumed him for a long time, relentlessly and without pause.

  “I had the paperwork finalized,” he said. “In forty-eight hours you will be co-owner of Ayers-Ross, with complete control over daily operations.”

  The old man sighed, looking like someone who had to repay a great debt.

  “It’s the only possible solution, Kriss.”

  “There is no way this will end well… Mac.”

  “So you’ve told me.”

  “When the government will realize that we are aiding in the transportation of an information package across the borders of the IFCO, the Enforcement Unit will issue a warning to cease and desist.”

  “Mm hmm.”

  “After which they will interfere.”

  “I know,” Ross said with a tired voice.

  “We are the best in the world. But nobody goes up against the Enforcers Mac, nobody.”

  “I know.”

  “We have no chance.”

  “You ran the numbers.”

  “A thirteen percent chance of successfully delivering the package is not a good number, Mac. I ran every simulation I could think of, every goddamned calculation I could muster up, but that’s it. Thirteen percent. And that number doesn’t include any of you actually coming back alive.”

  “I know.”

  “This is effectively a suicide mission, Mac.”

  “I’ll try not to let that happen,” the Head of Operations said solemnly.

  “That’s almost impossible.”

  “I’ve dealt with impossible before.”

  “In the absolute worst case scenario, they issue the IFK7 Treason Protocol against Ayers-Ross. They’ll come after your team with the authorization to use deadly force and then they’ll drag the agency through court for decades.”

  “That’s too drastic, they won’t do that. Not as long as Kinsey Ayers’ name is still associated with this agency.”

  “Do you really believe they won’t?”

  “I’ve been studying the history of the enforcers ever since I became aware of our current situation. I read everything I could find on them. There is no doubt that they are powerful, but their movements become predictable if you study them hard enough. Nothing in their history makes me believe they will take this route. They won’t issue an IFK7!”

  White shrugged.

  “Even if they would,“ Ross said, turning to face his friend, “the other option will have us going under in just a few decades. There will be no more Ayers-Ross then.”

  “You can’t know that for sure.”

  “You ran the numbers yourself, you m
ade the projections.”

  “There’s still a chance that things can turn around. Those projections are not a hundred percent accurate, you know that.”

  “Nobody knows this company better than I do, Kriss. Nobody loves this company more than I do. You know that.”

  The old man made a last-ditch effort. “Mac, their deaths will be on you. Can you take responsibility for that?”

  “They know the risks of their profession. They knew it from the day they signed up,” Mac said in a voice that didn’t feel like his own. “But it won’t matter, because I won’t let it happen,” he added, and his voice returned to normal.

  “Godspeed,” White said. He got up and left, leaving Mac alone in the briefing room. The holomap was behind him and on it, their mission trail still glowed, looking like the heart line of a man about to have his future read.

  Chapter 8

  Without the mind, the soul knows where to go, but it does not know how to get to its destination. The mind without the soul moves forward erratically, with no direction and no knowledge of where it is heading.

  Isabel Mensah

  On the long hallway crossing the eastern wing of his enormous home, Horatio Miller was hurrying to get to the conference room. Behind him, Marcus Miller could barely keep up. He was breathing heavily and his face was red. Puddles of sweat managed to seep through his shirt and settle comfortably in the fabric of his expensive suit. Horatio felt sorry for him, but the weekly conference with the Mylonas board of directors had lasted longer than expected, and there was no way he could afford being late to this next meeting.

  After the home surveillance system performed an iris scan, the door to his office opened and the brothers were let through. Emilia Kline, Horatio’s secretary, was quick to announce that their guests had already arrived. Horatio made an effort to keep his composure. He could not allow himself to appear nervous, not in front of his employee and his older brother. Marcus wasn’t as successful. He was panting loudly. His face, whose usual expression made him look sleepy, was now a parody of alertness. He looked like a raccoon that had, inadvertently, ended up in the lair of whatever creature feasted on raccoons.

  After Emilia introduced them to their guests, Horatio entered, sporting his friendly but confident smile. His state-of-the art retinal insertions made Commander Anderson and Lieutenant Martin Anderson appear so lifelike that, for a fraction of a second, the educator believed that they were really there. He felt a sudden rush of panic. Every pore on the two men’s skin was rendered perfectly, every hair, even the ones that were out of place. Horatio could even smell the distinctive military smell of their elegant uniforms. He had to remind himself that he paid good money to get exactly this level of sensory clarity from his insertions. Also, not even the great enforcers could have bypassed his mansion’s elaborate security system so easily.

  “Please, have a seat,” Horatio said, pointing to his beautifully hand carved antique chairs. The enforcers accepted the invitation to sit down. Even though they were light-years away, breathing the air of Old Earth and physically sitting on the moradium chairs in their own office, Horatio knew that the Andersons’ tactile insertions perfectly replicated the sensation of sitting on his comfortable oak chairs.

  “I’m sorry I’m late,” Horatio said. ”We had a meeting that required our presence in a chamber on the far end of the building. The next advancement I plan to install in my home is a system of small personal transporters, designed for inside spaces. My company recently patented the technology and we hope to have it on the market in a couple of years.”

  The two enforcers did not seem impressed. Thomas Anderson cleared his throat. “Educator Miller,” he said, “the circumstances of this meeting hardly call for casual introductions.”

  Miller remembered when Emilia informed him that Commander Thomas Anderson was requesting a private conference. Of course he knew what the topic was going to be. Horatio was not accustomed to kidding himself. In order to be a successful businessman, he always had to be one step ahead of his adversaries. He had to think ten moves in advance, like he did in his teenage years, when he became interstellar champion at chess. This time, the chessboard was the universe, the pieces were mankind and the result would determine its fate.

  “I understand,” he said calmly, without losing his smile or his confidence. “How may I be of service to the Enforcement Unit?”

  “Educator Miller,” the commander said, “I have the greatest respect for you and your work.” Miller nodded, elegantly accepting the compliment. “And still, today I have a bone to pick with you.”

  The odd use of that archaic and rather rude expression made Horatio uncomfortable. Marcus seemed particularly bothered but he wisely chose to remain silent.

  “I’m not sure I understand, sir,” Horatio said cautiously.

  “Educator Miller, I am a man who prefers a straightforward conversation. Let’s not waste any time with theatrics.”

  “Very well,” Horatio said. He revealed a bold smile. The curtain fell, unveiling the man behind the character. The atmosphere in the office noticeably changed as the tone of the conversation got stripped of all formality, leaving merely the bare bones of fact.

  “The information I am handling is private, pertaining to my personal financial endeavors. It is of no concern to the government or the Council of Presidents.”

  “According to Paragraph 7, Chapter 29 of the Transportation Law of 2321, crossing information across IFCO borders into the desert areas is prohibited for natural persons or private companies. Once crossed, that information is classified as political. Thus, it becomes relevant to interstellar security. I understand your brother is acting as your attorney. Am I to conclude that he has not informed you of this?”

  “I was made aware, however -”

  “Then, Educator Miller, you are certainly also aware that crossing political information across borders is illegal and can be considered an act of treason against the federation?”

  “Treason?” Marcus Miller yelled. The commander calmly turned towards him. “If this surprises you, Mr. Miller, then you have failed the educator both as a lawyer and a brother.”

  Perhaps it’s a tactic of intimidation, Horatio thought. He was still trying to process the fact that he was being accused of treason, the highest crime in the IFCO. He and his brother had extensively discussed every scenario that could play out if the council found out about the mission. However, they had never considered treason. It was a greatly exaggerated and unfounded accusation. It seemed entirely out of character for the Enforcement Unit to harass a respected member of society, a man with considerable political influence. The Council certainly wouldn’t approve of this behavior.

  Horatio looked at his brother, who was visibly shaking. The Enforcers had issued a direct challenge and though he didn’t understand their motives, he had to respond. Horatio felt caught off guard. It was a feeling with which he was not familiar. He had the strange, ominous sensation that Anderson knew his secret. But that was impossible. Nobody, not even his brother, knew the nature of the information that rested in the mind of his daughter, Sophie, nor the scope of the mission that they had to carry out. And not even Sophie knew the mission’s ultimate purpose. There was no way for the Enforcers to have found out, unless Sophie betrayed him. He knew that was impossible. His daughter was the only person in the world Horatio completely trusted. That’s why he had chosen her.

  It was surprising that the Enforcers were even aware of the mission. Horatio suspected they might eventually find out, since they had soldiers tracking the movements of information throughout the IFCO. But how had they found out before the shipment of the information package had even started? It was clear that the Enforcers had a secret agenda and, for some reason, they were targeting him. Perhaps he was being set up. But why? That the Enforcers should mysteriously come after him now, just as he was involved in something that could alter the future of mankind, seemed like an unlikely coincidence. And yet, it had to be a coincidence.
Nevertheless, Commander Anderson was blatantly attacking him. He had to defend himself. He was a fighter and he would not be bullied. He would overcome this challenge just like he had always done in his life.

  From his early years, his parents recognized that he was an exceptional child. He had always shown a propensity for science, an insatiable curiosity about the workings of the physical universe but also a natural capacity to understand numbers and equations, which made him extremely adept at making wise financial decisions. The combination of these qualities allowed Horatio to excel at everything he ever attempted.

  He built on the legacy of the already well-respected Miller dynasty and brought it to new heights. He exponentially increased the family fortune. As a scientist and scholar, he won the respect and admiration of the scientific community. His work alongside his best friend Nikolaos Apostolos had been groundbreaking. Mylonas Industries became one of the most powerful companies in the IFCO. Miller had used his family’s wealth to fund his scientific ventures and then used his scientific innovations to expand his family’s wealth. With his older brother overseeing the legal side of the family’s affairs, the Miller name became one of the most respected in the Federation.

  There was no way he would allow himself to be strong-armed, even by the Enforcers. They were trying to back him into a corner and he decided that there was a single acceptable way to react.

  “With all due respect, Commander Anderson, you are in my house and I will not have you insulting my brother. This conversation will either continue on a tone of mutual respect or I will see myself forced to disconnect the link and end this meeting.”

  The enforcers clearly were not used to anyone standing up to them like that. Martin Anderson looked like he wanted to break Horatio’s neck, Marcus Miller seemed ready to faint and the commander just looked sad.

  “Educator Miller,” spoke the calm voice of Thomas Anderson. “I admire your tenacity, but you are in no position to be making any threats.”