Mindguard (17 page)

As opposed to
Horatio, this man did not seem to enjoy his drink at all. He looked bored and
slightly irritated. He had dark hair and a dark beard that emphasized the
viciousness in his eyes. Next to his coffee cup was the portable device he used
to scramble the sound of his voice and make the conversation unintelligible to
the other patrons. When he spoke, his raspy tone was a perfect fit for his
rugged appearance.

“I’ve found him,
Mr. Miller.”

“Hello, Louis,”
Horatio replied.

“But there’s a
problem,” continued the man, paying no attention to Horatio’s sarcastic
greeting. He was one of the very few men that addressed him as Mr. Miller
instead of Educator Miller. Given the nature of their relationship, formalities
would have been ridiculous.

“I’m listening.”

“You ever hear
of Kalhydon?”

“That’s
impossible.”

“He’s hiding
under the name Brother Torje,” Louis said, with the faintest hint of a smile.

“No, that’s
impossible. I mean that
literally
. Kalhydon is one of the two islands
where the IFCO quarantines people with Soixtet’s disease.”

“Yes, I’m aware
of that, Mr. Miller,” Louis said in a patronizing voice.

“Then you are
also aware that Soixtet’s is incredibly virulent. If he has been hiding there
for two years, he should have long contacted the disease. In fact, he should be
dead by now.”

“Well, he’s
not.”

“Even if he
somehow miraculously survived, no sane man goes into hiding in a colony of people
who suffer from the most violent disease known to man. It’s insane, why would
he do that?”

“He probably
knew I was coming.”

Horatio couldn’t
tell if the man was making fun of him. He didn’t say anything so the other man
spoke first.

“Guess he thought
we wouldn’t go looking for him there.”

“Are you one
hundred percent positive that it’s him?”

“It’s
your
equipment, Mr. Miller.”

Now Horatio knew
that Louis was provoking him. The DNA trackers built by Mylonas were said to be
the most powerful in the world. They were able to identify specific genetic
markers on a three-thousand mile radius, which was unsurpassed. Even the
Enforcement Unit used Mylonas trackers. The devices were, in fact, illegal to
purchase without explicit consent from the Council of Presidents. Anyone caught
using them without such consent could face prosecution for espionage. Of
course, Horatio had ways of making sure that nobody could connect Louis to him.
And Louis had ways of making sure nobody would catch him using the trackers.

“All right, how
do we proceed?”

“Well, I’m not
going in there, not like this. I’ll need funds for a Guillermo.”

“Approved. You
will get it as soon as possible. Can you even get a Guillermo on Thissaia?”

A Guillermo Suit
was specifically designed for protection against extremely virulent diseases
like Soixtet’s. Its build offered high functionality with considerable
protection but it was also very expensive and difficult to procure, especially
if you were trying to be subtle.   

“Are you
kidding? They barely have electricity on this backwards planet. I’ll need to
get to Leikkon at the very least.”

“Time?”

“In total,
somewhere around seventy-two hours, if I leave in two hours.”

Horatio wasn’t
thrilled. Nevertheless, he was a patient man and if he had waited for two years
he could wait for three more days. He also understood that it was an extremely
delicate situation and he was grateful that Louis didn’t just flat out refuse
to set foot on that Soixtet’s pest hole. Even with the suit there was still
significant danger, especially when your intention was to kill somebody. But
Louis was the best and he charged accordingly.

“All right,
check back with me before you head out to the island.”

“Yeah…”

Horatio could
see that the man was hesitating. He was surprised. Was this actual reluctance
from the most cold-blooded hitman he had ever employed?

“Anything else?”

“Yeah,” the man
said bluntly. “I’ve got no problem carrying out this mission or taking your
credits. It’s just …”

“What?”

“I mean, the man
is isolated on an island with no way of communicating with the outside. He is
stuck there with about a thousand people suffering from the nastiest disease in
human history. He’ll be dead soon anyway, right? He’s not invincible.“

“He survived for
two years.”

“Yeah, somehow.
But how much more do you think he can survive without contacting the disease,
realistically? Why go through all the trouble of paying me a ton of credits to
do something that nature will easily take care of, if left to its own devices?”

“No,” Horatio
said. His voice left no room for contradiction. “No, I won’t leave this up to
fate. I want to know that I was the hand that held the whip. Not fate and not
his god. Me!”

“All right,”
said Louis, aware that the discussion ended there. “Talk to you in three days then.
I’m out.”

As soon as he
said that his image disappeared. Horatio once again found himself in a dull,
empty room. He felt a sense of complete serenity. In three days, Nikolaos
Apostolos will be dead. Meanwhile, Sophie will carry out her mission and humanity
will finally be safe.   

You cannot pretend
that something exists merely because you have given it a name.

Kinsey Ayers,
A
Brief History of the Mind

“Good luck, my
darling! Because of you, the world will never be the same.”

Her father’s
prophetic words were followed by a secretive smile. “I know, Dad,” she said,
smiling back.

She tried to act
confident but she was terrified. She didn’t want to let her father see her
fear. He had chosen her because she was the only person in the world he could
truly trust. She was so grateful to share the joy of her father’s amazing
discovery, to be part of this incredible adventure. He had wanted to go
himself, but there was no way. After Nikolaos’ disappearance, and with his own
increased involvement in the political sphere, Horatio could have never headed
out on this expedition without drawing great attention. The mission had to
remain a secret until the world was ready to know, and she was the only person
who could carry it out.

Sophie had tears
in her eyes as she tried to find the strength to say goodbye. He embraced her
and kissed her forehead. “I will think about you every second, wondering where
you are… if you are well…”

“No need to
worry, Dad,” she said, with newfound confidence. His concern fueled her desire
to make him proud. “I can do this!”

As Sophie and
the team were getting ready to embark on the mission, only minutes away from
departure, her thoughts wandered back to the conversation with her father and
everything that had followed after that. 

From the Miller
estate she had instantly been transported to the Ayers-Ross office. After
meeting the team and attending the briefing, she spent the next two weeks
preparing for the trip. They accommodated her in one of the apartments the
agency was renting in the high-rise.

Throughout those
fourteen days, she communicated extensively with her team members and spent her
time preparing for the mission, by reading up as much as she could on the
planets through which they were going to pass. For safety reasons, she was not
allowed to leave the building, so she made good use of all the amenities,
including the well equipped gym, the large swimming pool and the very spacious
deck area, which had been turned into a garden.

It was on the
thirty-seventh floor and it offered a wonderful view of Essa Ronas, especially
at sunset, when the colors of the sky combined with the pastel of vibrant
lights created one of the most beautiful urban vistas she had seen in her many
years of traveling. One evening, while contemplating the dramatic skyline, she
was startled by Alex Lea, who had quietly appeared behind her.

“Sorry to scare
you,” he said.

“Not at
all.  I mean, it’s ok.”

He smiled. “I
figured you might be bored. I mean, you’re alone most of the time with nowhere
to go outside the building.”

“I use the time
to prepare for the mission, it keeps me busy more than I thought.”

“Well… ok.
Still, I thought you might like some company. For dinner perhaps.”

“I… yes… uh, yes
certainly.”

Sophie had taken
dinner alone in her room every evening. She was caught off guard by the young
mindguard’s invitation. From the start, she sensed that he was more than a
little attracted to her, but she didn’t expect him to ask her out and risk
angering Ross.

She studied him
for a brief moment. He was handsome, with a boyish charm, very attractive in a
more conventional way than, say, Sheldon Ayers. Again, she found her thoughts
turning to Sheldon. But Alex was sweet where Sheldon was, at best, polite. He
was warm and communicative while Sheldon was cold and distant. And he had
seemed genuinely preoccupied with her safety and well-being while Sheldon was
mostly preoccupied with his own thoughts. She didn’t know why she was so
intrigued by Sheldon Ayers, but her thoughts always seemed to find their way
back to this mysterious man. However, she accepted Alex’s invitation.

The young
mindguard was closer to her age. He was sweet and he would certainly prove a
more suitable companion than Sheldon. She wasn’t yet sure if she wanted to sleep
with him, but dinner and some conversation couldn’t hurt. He took her to one of
the select restaurants, the ‘Saint Marie’, on the thirty-second floor. It had a
cozy, rustic theme and a variety of dishes of game, one of the two restaurants
in the building that served meat.

The whole
evening was wonderful and she very much enjoyed Alex’s company. He was
easy-going, funny and very laid-back. Most of all he was modest, which was
certainly not a quality that Sheldon possessed. Though the older mindguard was
never overtly arrogant, there was something about his silence that suggested he
felt above communicating with everyone else, except for Ross and Mensah. In the
presence of Alex, Sophie felt more at ease. 

During her stay
on Essa Ronas, she received visits from other members of Ayers-Ross, but they
were all part of her team and their visits were work-related. The only one who
never came to see her was Sheldon.

In theory, they
should have the closest relationship, since he was responsible with guarding
her mind. But in reality, she felt the least comfortable around him.
Unfortunately, the man to whom she felt close was not going to accompany her.
Sophie considered asking Ross to switch Mensah with Alex, but ultimately she
decided against it. She probably wouldn’t be doing Alex any favor and there
must have been a good reason why Ross chose Mensah. She trusted his judgment.
Her personal feelings aside, they had to do what was right for the mission.

She went on
several dinner dates with Alex and with each one, their bond grew stronger. On
the night before departure, the young mindguard did something unexpected. They
were having dinner in her private quarters and she was telling him about a trip
she had taken with her father in the mountains of Saagenland, on a small planet
called Gasthaus. She was in the midst of describing how a snowstorm had caught
them off guard and left them stranded near the Himmelshafen peak, when she
noticed that Alex wasn’t paying attention. He seemed distracted. Like a
quick-tempered teenager who wasn’t receiving the desired attention, she was
just about to throw a fit, when he suddenly took something out of his jacket
pocket.

“I want you to
hold on to this,” he said, taking the palm of her right hand and placing in it a
small wooden object.

“What is it?”

Confused, she
had spoken before even looking at it. She felt silly. “I mean, why?” she
mumbled. She looked at the object in her hand and saw a tiny sculpture of an
ugly elephant. Clearly, it was the work of a clumsy sculptor.

“I sculpt,” he
said, looking down at his hands.

“What?”

“Yeah, it’s a…
it’s a thing of mine. I’ve been doing it since I was a teenager. I taught
myself how to sculpt and I still do it sometimes, you know, to help me think.”

“I… I don’t know
what to say. Thank you Alex, it’s wonderful.”

He burst out
laughing. “You’re sweet,” he said. “No it’s not, it’s ugly as hell, I know
that. But it’s the first thing I ever sculpted. I was fourteen. I grew kind of
fond of it so I’ve been sort of carrying it around with me ever since, like a
good luck charm, you know. To keep me safe. I want you to have it now. I want
to make sure it keeps you safe.” He smiled and she was speechless.

“Thank you,” she
eventually managed to pronounce, with great effort. It was as if she was forced
to condense thousands of words into just that short, simple expression of
gratitude. Alex made a gesture of the hand that said ‘it’s no big deal’, but
she knew then, that she was going to sleep with him. She did, and it was every
bit as wonderful as she expected. He proved as gentle and thoughtful in bed as
his personality promised, and she felt she was starting to really care about
him.

“I don’t know
where you’re going or what you plan to do when you get there, but I hope you’ll
find a way to stay safe. When you get back, I’d like to see you again.”

Those had been
his last words to her before she left. He pulled her aside in the departure
chamber so he could say goodbye in private. Sophie noticed that Maclaine Ross
was looking at them from the corner of his eye, but he said nothing. She felt
like kissing Alex, holding him tight so that she may gain strength from his
kindness, but she didn’t dare be so straightforward in front of Ross. He smiled
and said goodbye, leaving her invigorated and in a good mood. It did not last
for long.

●

They left
Anderra through the personal transporter at Ayers-Ross. From the moment they
set foot on Lusia, Sophie started feeling strange. It was as though a huge
weight had been placed on her shoulders. The Ayers-Ross facility on Lusia
looked deserted. The furnishings were scarce and dusty and the air was stale.
It was more of a storage room than an office.

“We use it for
missions such as this,” Ross clarified, sensing her confusion. “We’ve been to
desert regions before, not very often in Djago, though. On every border planet,
we rent an office as a sort of safe house. You never know in our line of work.”

Sophie didn’t
answer. She was getting more anxious by the minute.

“All right,
Francois and myself will go talk to our people, get us a vehicle,” Ross
said.  “Everyone else make yourselves comfortable. It’s gonna be a bumpy
ride.” He gave the vocal command that switched the windows from opaque to
transparent. Sophie immediately recognized the reason why she was feeling
uneasy.

Compared to the
beautiful vista of their office on Anderra, Lusia offered a most desolate view.
They were in a building located somewhere in a forest. As far as she could
tell, the property was surrounded by trees, a dark woodland that seemed endless
and threatening. The sky was covered with coal grey clouds and it was snowing.

Sophie got
closer to the windows and absently stared outside while Ross and Francois left
the room. She could see that they were on the first floor of some sort of
villa. From the condition of the visible walls, she figured the building must
look deserted from the outside. Just two minutes after the bodyguards left the
room, she heard the sound of a roaring engine and saw the garage doors open to
reveal a large land vehicle that quickly left the enclosure and disappeared on
a snowy road between the trees.

Sophie remained
in place, contemplating the cheerless view, as the others had found places to
sit down. Jason Elden and Ray Manner seemed to be consulting a map, visible
only to their retinal insertions. They were talking among themselves and
gesticulating. Though she had no reason to expect this to happen, Sophie kept
hoping that Sheldon, her mind’s guardian, would talk to her and comfort her, or
at least that he would acknowledge how terrified she was. Instead, he just
quietly sat on a chair in the corner of the room and pulled out a leather-bound
book to read. She felt like she wanted to cry with fear and loneliness, when
she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.  

“You are
distressed, Sofia.” Isabel’s voice was soothing and understanding.

“No, just… fired
up,” she lied.

The mindguard
smiled. “It is a dangerous mission, trepidation is understandable. Also, Lusia
can be a bit off-putting, just like the state of this building. We rarely use
it because we have had very few missions in or around the Djago Desert.”

“Does the whole
building belong to Ayers-Ross?” Sophie asked.

“Yes, Mac bought
the land and had the building renovated. It used to be the home of a government
official who was temporarily stationed here. Mac liked the fact that it was
isolated. When he is on a mission, he wants to be away from people.”

“And Sheldon?”

Isabel smiled.
In her smile, Sophie could sense a hidden meaning.

“Sheldahn doesn’t
much care about the setting.”

“He seems absent
most of the time.”

Isabel shook her
head. “He is very much present. Perhaps more so than anyone you have ever met.”

Sophie looked at
Sheldon and inexplicably expected to find him staring at her, but he was
absorbed in his book.

 “You do
not need to be suspicious of Sheldahn,” Isabel said. “He is a good man.”

“He comes off as
distant,” Sophie said, glad that she had somebody to open up to. “More than
anyone I’ve ever met before. I mean, my father is also not very communicative,
but compared to Sheldon he wears his heart on his sleeve.”

“Sheldahn is not
distant. He seems that way because he is always thinking.”

“Well so are we,
so is my dad. My father is one of the most successful businessmen in the world,
I would imagine he spends a lot of time thinking.”

Sophie realized
how childish she had sounded, but Isabel gave her a very affectionate, motherly
smile.  

“His mind is
singular entity. It is not so much a matter of intelligence, you have
misunderstood my words. It is the way in which his brain functions. Not only
the volume of information he can manage, but the manner in which he processes
that information. It’s hard to explain to somebody without knowledge of
thoughtprotection. Even for a mindguard, his approach is unique.”

 “Unique in
what way?”

 “For
example, he has a distinctive method of achieving the Weixman Cube.”

 “The
what?”

Isabel paused
for a moment, perhaps thinking of the best way to explain these mindguarding
concepts to an outsider.

“A Weixman
Cube,” she explained, “is the state of absolute protection, when the client’s
mind is completely sheltered within the defensive walls of the mindguard’s own,
which then becomes impenetrable. The concept was developed by Samuel Weixman,
the world’s first mindguard. He was the man who established the methods and
principles we use to this day. The Weixman Cube is basically the state of
symbiosis between two minds, the protector and the protected. Most competent
mindguards learn to master it. Some of the really good ones have even perfected
their very own version.”