Mindguard

by Andrei Cherascu

  With what was left of her own willpower, she made a decision. She dropped her gun. She didn’t want to use it on him. It would obliterate him, turn him into pieces of flesh. She refused to kill him like that; not Sheldon Ayers.

  With greater speed than even Sheldon’s mind could manage, she pulled out one of Villo’s spikes from the pouch on her belt and threw it at him like a dart. Her aim was perfect, just like Villo had taught her. The spike went through Sheldon’s right eye and punctured his brain. She felt his mind instantly vanish from hers, as if it had never even been there. Life left Sheldon Ayers in a fraction of a second. No drum roll, no goodbye. His body fell to the ground with a pathetic thump that sounded unworthy of the world’s greatest mindguard.

  Sophie screamed and Tamisa was distracted for a brief moment. Ross took advantage and fired a blast, but her body absorbed the energy and then immediately released it, just like Villo had taught her. She picked up the large gun and fired back. Ross moved out of the way and the energy blast hit the cave wall behind him. The incredible force of the blast caused the walls to shake and send tremors through the whole cave. An enormous chunk of rock broke free and landed on Ross, crushing him underneath.

  Maclaine Ross was dead. With that realization, Tamisa felt like she had just woken from a dream. At the last moment, she stepped out of the way of another large rock, that almost landed on her. She tripped and fell but quickly got back to her feet. She realized she had to move quickly. Parts of the cave ceiling were breaking loose and crashing left and right. The cave was collapsing.

  With Ross and Sheldon dead, the mission was almost over. Sophie Gaumont was defenseless. All Tamisa had to do was seize her. She looked around but the girl was nowhere to be found. It took her a while but she finally spotted her. Only her right arm could be seen from under a large rock that had fallen on top of her. Her open palm revealed that she had been clutching a small wooden object, a clumsy sculpture shaped like an elephant.

  “Damn it,” Tamisa yelled. She actually felt sorry for Sophie, but she was also aware that now she could no longer retrieve the content of the information package. There was no more time to ponder the situation. She started running towards the exit. Even with the girl dead, there was at least one more person who knew the content of the information package. Tamisa was determined to finish her mission, even if she had to break into Horatio Miller’s home and torture him for it.

  She ran as fast as she could, as the cave collapsed behind her. She didn’t even remember how she got out. She found herself back in the rover, driving madly, as if death himself was behind her. She felt terrified, though she didn’t know what exactly she was trying to get away from so desperately. Perhaps the ghosts of her enemies? She drove all the way back to the Enforcement Unit spacecraft, without remembering to do so. She found the surviving members of her team, waiting for her outside the ship.

  When she climbed out of the rover in a daze, she fell to her knees. All her team mates were looking at her, shaking their heads in disbelief. “They’re dead,” Tamisa managed to say, before she choked up and almost had to vomit. “Sheldon Ayers… Maclaine Ross… Sophie Gaumont… are all dead.” She spoke the words with great difficulty. “Delivery of the information package has been prevented. Retrieval of the package has failed.” She finally managed to get to her feet.

  “We haven’t been able to restore power,” Timekeeper Kernis said. “I sent a distress beacon to the nearest Enforcement Unit vessel. They will be here in a few hours.”

  Tamisa didn’t answer. She suddenly lost all color in her face and scurried back to the rover under the puzzled gaze of her team.

  “Ma’am, where are you going?” Muench said. She ignored him. She was possessed. “Activate holoscanner,” she ordered the vehicle’s computer. “Perform a neuralfield scan for Maclaine Ross!”

  Her pulse was rapid and her body was drenched in cold sweat. She had the terrifying feeling that everything had been just a dream. Maybe she had hit her head when Ross threw her out of the rover and she was in the infirmary in a coma. Or maybe she had gone insane and just imagined everything she saw in the cave. What if Ayers and the rest just pretended to be dead to deceive her? She knew it was irrational - she had seen the bodies - but there was the pressing thought that they had tricked her, that everyone had just played dead until she left.

  “Neuralfield scan negative.”

  Maybe the cave walls made it difficult for the computer to pick up Ross’ signal. She was determined to drive back and see for herself.

  “Ma’am?” Dieter Muech’s voice brought her back to reality. She couldn’t drive off again, her team would probably think she was crazy. That is, if they didn’t already. She had seen them die with her own eyes. But she couldn’t calm herself. She felt like she was having a very violent panic attack. Suddenly, the solution came to her.

  “Display a map of the cave!”

  The computer had nothing to display. The cave was no more. In its place, stood the grave of Sophie Gaumont, Maclaine Ross and Sheldon Ayers.

  Chapter 38

  A simple mind accepts a piece of information and forms an attachment to it because it detects a pattern. A mindguard will reject the information and avoid attachment for the very same reason.

  Samuel Weixman, Strengths and Limitations of the Mindguard

  When he opened his eyes, Nikolaos immediately knew he had overslept. His biological clock was usually flawless, waking him at six thirty every morning. He checked the time and saw that it was almost forty minutes past that hour. He didn’t regret it. It had been so long since he had allowed himself a small luxury, like sleeping in. His body was understandably exhausted, following the events of the previous day.

  After watching Sophie and Sheldon step through the Muench-Henriksen gateway to face an unknown future, he felt anxious the rest of the evening. Now, lying in bed after a good night’s sleep, he was still thinking of them. He wondered what had become of their mission, if they had finally managed to reach their destination. He was especially concerned about Sheldon, whose wound was most likely going to kill him in very short time. Only a miracle could save him.

  And yet, Nikolaos himself had been saved by a miracle. He felt like a great weight had been lifted from his chest. He was certain now that he had served a higher purpose. God had wanted him to be there at that moment, to help the two travelers continue a journey which he himself had once started. If it was God’s will for them to finish the mission, then nothing could stand in His way. Not even Horatio Miller.

  Destiny!

  He finally got up and went to the mirror for his daily ritual. He thoroughly examined every inch of his skin, like he had done so many times before. The ritual was always the same, but it was necessary. He finished inspecting his neck and lifted his left arm. He studied his fingers as though he were seeing them for the first time. He inspected his palm, then the back of his hand. The process was calming, like meditation.

  His gaze worked its way down the length of his arm, when something caught his attention. He couldn’t tell if his eyes were playing tricks on him, so he took a step closer to the mirror. Above his left armpit, that’s where they were. He probably wouldn’t even have noticed them, if they hadn’t broken the monotony of a two year ritual.

  Three tiny red spots. If he were not on Kalhydon, he would have dismissed them as mosquito bites. He stopped his little ritual, for there was no more need for it. He got dressed and prepared for his day. He had promised Brother Meddin he would help him build a new shed for his chickens.

  Chapter 39

  The most tragic flaw of an imperfectly constructed universe: on the rare occasions when an exceptional intellect reaches its full potential, it also begins its journey towards an inevitable collapse.

  Sheldon Ayers, Thoughts, Reflections and Patterns

  Tamisa’s feet left angry echoes on the halls of the Enforcement Unit Detention Center. Her destination was the level 7 security area, located seventeen stories below the ground of manki
nd’s oldest and most cherished home. There waited the man who could finally provide her with answers. A man who was now her enemy.

  Her head was spinning. She felt queasy. Her body hurt as though it had been crushed under tons of rock. She had slept throughout the entire journey back home, dreaming of pain and death and loss and dark caves. Two hours after landing on Terra Antiqua, Dieter Muench had requested to speak with her in her private quarters. She agreed to see him, even though she was still exhausted and barely clothed. Her former second-in-command did not betray whether or not he had noticed she lay sprawled on the bed, wearing only her undergarments.

  “May I speak freely, ma’am?” The mission was over, she was no longer Field Unit Commander, but he still called her ma’am.

  “Go ahead,” she said.

  “Several important events have taken place while we were away.”

  “All right…”

  He remained quiet for a few seconds. He seemed reluctant to continue, but Tamisa was too tired to urge him to talk, so she just waited.

  “When we left Terra Antiqua, the commander was still missing. He reemerged fourteen hours ago.”

  “Then I want to speak with him,” she said. She had no idea what she was going to say, but she knew that she was very upset and she had no intention of hiding it, come what may. She blamed him for the whole mission spiraling out of control. In a strange way, it felt like his mysterious disappearance triggered all the unexplainable events that followed, starting with Villo going into business for himself. Something inside her told her that the commander was the key to all of this.

  “He is being held in the detention center, ma’am, awaiting trial.”

  “What?” With great effort Tamisa managed to sit up on the side of the bed.

  “The commander killed Horatio Miller.” Muench sounded like he could not believe what he was saying. “Yesterday morning Educator Miller announced a press conference to address his legal situation. It seems that Commander Anderson infiltrated the conference under the guise of a reporter. He used an EMC field emitter and biosoftware to hide from genetic trackers. During the conference he stood up and shot the educator.”

  “In plain sight?”

  The veteran nodded and Tamisa shook her head in disbelief. “What… what did he shoot him with?” she asked with a broken voice.

  “An energy weapon ma’am. Four times.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Nobody does. After the deed, he calmly walked outside, where he was intercepted by first lieutenant Martin Anderson and several other enforcers. He did not resist arrest. He was taken in under charges of murder, absence without leave and conspiracy to undermine the Enforcement Unit.”

  “Undermine?” Tamisa said the word as if it were a powerful spell that could wake her from this nightmare. “Commander Anderson is the Enforcement Unit.”

  Dieter Muench sighed. “Nobody knows what to make of this ma’am. He refuses to speak to anyone, even Lieutenant Anderson. The lieutenant has also been questioned extensively, because of his own unexplained absence after the commander’s disappearance. He claims he suspected the commander was planning to kill the educator, but was afraid to tell any of the other enforcers for fear that he would not be believed and would be accused of treason. He figured out that the commander might attempt the assassination at the press conference, so he summoned a few men to the Educator’s home. They got there too late.”

  “Is he telling the truth?”

  “The Council of Presidents authorized the use of neuralfield scans. The results determined that the lieutenant is indeed telling the truth. He demanded to see his brother after his release, but the commander refused to see him.” Muench stopped but Tamisa had a feeling that he wasn’t done speaking. Her suspicion proved correct. “You’re the only person he wants to speak with, ma’am,” he said eventually.

  On her way to the commander’s cell, Tamisa was reliving in her mind the entire conversation with Muench. Commander Anderson trying to undermine the Enforcement Unit; the mere thought was sickening. He wanted to speak with her, only with her. She had felt it from the start - everything revolved around this doomed mission. Now she would finally get her answers.

  The commander was being held in a neurochamber. If he tried to get within three feet of the walls, they would react like powerful neurostunners. The two enforcers guarding the entrance looked like orphaned children. Without the commander’s leadership, the entire Enforcement Unit was in chaos.

  “Ma’am, Commander Anderson requested to speak with you off the record,” one of the guards said. “Interim Commander Gracian Moss said it is your decision.”

  Off the record? That meant the holocams would be turned off and the sound barrier activated. It was not a privilege usually granted to prisoners, but Commander Anderson was not a regular prisoner. Tamisa was surprised that Gracian Moss allowed her to decide whether or not to accept the conversation. Since returning from the mission the other enforcers treated her differently.

  “I accept the conditions,” she said.

  The massive doors opened without a sound. Tamisa found herself in front of a long hallway. She had to pass through three more such doors before getting to the chamber that held the prisoner. The room was quite large. A red line marked the point beyond which the prisoner was not allowed to step.

  Thomas Liam Anderson looked like a changed man. He was sitting on a small chair in front of a metal desk. Unshaven, with ruffled hair and wearing a white detainment uniform, he still managed to look peaceful. He smiled at her like a loving father.

  “Have a seat, miss Faber,” he said, pointing at the chair opposite his. The table in the middle contained a holoprojector which offered only the daily news. On the right side of the room, a hand-scanner would produce a bed, which would rise from the floor when needed. Tamisa chose to stand.

  “I don’t understand,” she said, shaking her head. Out of the thousands of things she had wanted to say to him this felt like a very disappointing first choice.

  “I know you don’t,” he said calmly, “But you will shortly. I promise.”

  “You’re not crazy,” she said. It was an accusation. If he were crazy, that would at least help explain his actions. But she could see in his eyes that he was as lucid as ever.

  “No, miss Faber, I am not. But that must remain between you and me.”

  “What the hell are you doing, Commander?”

  “I am no longer commander of the Enforcement Unit.”

  “There is no more Enforcement Unit,” Tamisa shouted. “You’ve destroyed it, you son of a bitch!”

  “Quite the contrary. I have saved it.”

  “Murdering an educator… abuse of power… the people were starting to turn against us anyway. We’ll never be able to recover from this!”

  Anderson’s smile widened. “You are concerned about the future of the Enforcement Unit. Even though I am no longer part of it.”

  “Bullshit! You are the Enforcement Unit. Without you it all goes to hell.”

  “Wrong. I was the Enforcement Unit.”

  “Goddamn you!”

  “All right, Tamisa, calm down. I’ll explain everything and I know you will do what’s right.” For the first time, the strain of centuries could be heard in his voice.

  “Many years ago, the Enforcment Unit was created to protect mankind. Our goal was to keep order in a universe of chaos, to ensure mankind’s freedom and protect its moral values. I was put in charge of this great number of soldiers and told to turn them into a powerful and effective army, which I did. I devised the system according to which we function. In order to implement it, I had to become this system. I had to become indistinguishable from the values I was trying to promote. Thus, the driving force behind the Enforcement Unit became its loyalty and dedication to me. Not to mankind, not to any ideology, but to me as a person. You see, miss Faber, while passion for causes, lands, culture, gods and other abstract notions can be more fierce, I believe that love for a fellow
human being is more enduring. That is why gods need prophets in order to make mankind love them.”

  “You have destroyed that love!”

  “I did,” he said. His voice carried a sadness which almost brought Tamisa to tears.

  “Why?” she cried, struggling to remain hostile towards this man she once loved like a father.

  “Because nothing in life is timeless. I am growing old. I am tired. When the day comes that I become inefficient, the Enforcement Unit will too, because my weakness is its weakness. We can’t allow that to happen. Stability is such a fragile state. It is transient, like everything else. Any philosophy that does not teach the transience of everything, the inevitable death of any being, system or belief, is a failing philosophy. I am well aware that the Enforcement Unit will not exist forever. One day it will perish. But on that day, mankind will have lost a safety and stability it had never known before us, and will never again know after we are gone. We won’t exist forever, but we must fight to exist for as long as we can. For mankind.”

  “Then why? What you’ve done has destroyed the Enforcement Unit. You’ve taken away that safety.”

  “But I haven’t destroyed the Enforcement Unit, my dear. In fact, I’ve prolonged its existence.”

  “It will never survive without you.”

  “Yes it will. I did exactly what I had to do to in order to make sure it survives. When I created the enforcers, back when we were still called the United Earth Army, I had to build them in my image. The key to the Unit’s success is that all the soldiers think like one single person. That person was me. Mankind needed a leader, a real leader, not the bureaucrats in the Council of Presidents. But I am growing old, and I don’t know how much longer I can be an efficient leader. The world needs someone new.”