Mindguard (8 page)

After the Great
Exodus of 2091, which saw 792 of the world’s most powerful telepaths flee Earth
to evade the restrictions set up against the use of telepathy, the United
Governments of Earth, fearing a future attack from these so-called ‘enemies of
mankind’, decided to create a military force to represent all of Earth and the
planets under the administration of the U.G.E (an allegiance between United
States of Eurasia, Free Africa and the United Continents of America).

In 2092, the
United Earth Army, the most numerous and well equipped military force in
history, was created and placed under the command of Thomas Liam Anderson, then
47 years of age and already a decorated general in the Eastern States Army of
the United Continents of America.

A brilliant
strategist with an excellent instinct for efficient tactical coordination,
Anderson brought under one roof the greatest military minds on Earth and
elaborated a joint philosophical and strategic framework, which became the key
to the army’s success. In just 13 years the United Earth Army was the ranking
military system on every single colonized planet.

When the
Evolutionists attacked Earth in 2107 in what is known as the ‘Great War of
Minds’ or ‘Mindwar’, the United Earth Army was instrumental in defeating them,
ensuring the survival of the United Governments of Earth. General Anderson is
credited for having single-handedly influenced the war’s outcome, with his
successful - albeit controversial - decision to include mindguards among the
troops in mandatory military service.

In 2110, two years
after the end of the Mindwar, the United Governments of Earth became the
Interstellar Federation of Common Origin under First President Manmuhan
Mukerjee and the United Earth Army became the Enforcement Unit.

Kinsey Ayers,
A
New History of Old Earth

When the famous
Sheldon Ayers entered the main office of the Ayers-Ross Thoughtprotection
Agency, the air itself felt heavier, charged with some mysterious form of
energy, as if it too were aware of the intense presence of the great man. At
least that’s what Alex Lea thought.

He had studied
the legendary mindguard for years and was trying to shape his own career around
the mold of Sheldon’s. When he finally managed to land the position of Junior
Mindguard at Ayers-Ross, Alex could not believe his luck. To be working at the
same agency as the most celebrated mindguard in the world was something he had
been dreaming of his entire adult life. Now that his dream was becoming
reality, he had every intention of proving himself worthy of learning from his
distinguished mentor.

Unfortunately,
things had initially not played out the way he had hoped. In the seven months
of working for the agency, he had never met Sheldon. Contrary to what everyone
was saying, the man appeared to be
completely
retired.

A little while
ago he talked to Mac about Sheldon’s activity within the company, careful not
to seem overzealous. The Head of Operations told him that Sheldon only came on
board for high-profile cases. Alex was disappointed, but he tried not to let
that bring him down. He had struggled for years to get to where he was,
studying, perfecting his craft and fighting his way to the top. Everything he
had achieved in life was due to the fact that he never gave up, always moved
forward and never lost sight of his ultimate goal: to one day be the next
Sheldon Ayers.

He knew he was
still very young, especially for this profession, but he drew courage from the
fact that Sheldon himself was a lot younger than people expected, given his
unbelievable career. It hadn’t always been easy for Alex. His time with
Ayers-Ross had been a parade of ups-and-downs, especially since the senior
mindguard, Isabel Mensah, didn’t seem very fond of him. She was always distant
and reluctant to teach him, in spite of Ross’ insistence that she bring him up
to company standard as soon as possible. Alex wondered why the woman had such
an aversion towards him. Francois, one of his colleagues, told him not to
worry, it was nothing personal. Apparently, Isabel was suspicious of every
mindguard who was
not
Sheldon Ayers.

“You’ll be
fine,” Francois had assured him. “She’ll warm up to you eventually. You’ve outlasted
the last three mindguards by at least five months, that’s got to be a sign that
she thinks you’ve got potential. And I know the boss likes you, that’s the most
important thing. Isabel’s got a lot of pull, but in the end it’s still Mac’s
call. Not even Sheldon has a bigger say than Mac. This company is practically
his baby.”

Alex was happy
to be in Mac’s good graces. Still, in a way, Isabel’s opinion was more
important on a personal level, because she was a fellow mindguard. Ayers-Ross
was a very unusual agency. They only employed three mindguards in total and
only two of them, meaning Alex and Isabel, were on a full-time schedule. The
agency was also known for accepting very few missions, for a very select group
of clients.

Now that Sheldon
had finally made his appearance, Alex was looking forward to learning from him
and observing his interaction with Isabel in order to pick up the right way to
go about earning her respect. She didn’t like him and didn’t trust him because
he was no Sheldon Ayers. But he would one day become Sheldon Ayers, if given
the opportunity. On that day, he will have reached the pinnacle of his
profession.

He was planning
to introduce himself and was just waiting for the man to make the rounds and
say hi to all of his acquaintances first. When Sheldon stepped into the room,
the world seemed to stop. Everyone turned around and froze in silence for a
brief moment. After that, the chants of ‘hey Sheldon’, ‘welcome back, buddy’,
‘where have you been hiding’ started in unison. Almost everyone seemed excited
about his return. Whether Sheldon himself was excited was anybody’s guess; his
face betrayed no visible emotion.

“Welcome back,
you piece of shit,” said a surly voice from the back of the room. It belonged
to Kriss White, the agency’s legal representative. Alex assumed the old man was
only joking, though he could discern no humor or affection in his voice.
Sheldon neither answered nor even looked at White. Forty minutes after the
incident, Alex still had no idea what the nature of their relationship was, for
the two men had exchanged no words since.

When Isabel
Mensah laid eyes on Sheldon, her face lit up. Even Sheldon was smiling. He took
her hands into his and touched her forehead with his own. Alex later found out
it was a formal greeting used on Isabel’s home planet, El Agadez.

“Sheldahn,” she
said with her deep voice and thick accent. “Hello, Isabel”, he calmly replied.
They spent the next few seconds looking into each other’s eyes, smiling like a
pair of reunited lovers.

“Is there something going on
between them?” Alex whispered to Francois, whose desk was right next to his.
The man shook his head. “Nah, they just get like that around each other. I
think it’s a mindguard thing.”

“Really?” Alex
said. He decided not to tell him that he had never seen any such ‘mindguard
thing’, neither in his brief career nor at the training center. Although Isabel
was somewhat older than Sheldon, Alex did not dismiss the possibility that the
two could be lovers. Their chemistry in the field was legendary and they seemed
to understand each other in a singular way.

Isabel was also
very beautiful and very fit for her age. Visually, she was a stunning presence.
Her flawless black skin contrasted vibrantly with her colorful robes. Her dark
dreadlocks were arranged in such a way as to resemble a crown, an homage to her
cultural heritage. On El Agadez, her appearance identified her as royalty. Alex
knew that she stemmed from a royal family which claimed to be able to trace its
roots as far back as two millennia. She had great charisma and a profound
intelligence that Alex was certain would attract a man like Sheldon. 

“It is good to
have you back, Sheldahn,” she said. 

“Good to be
back, Iz,” he answered. For the first time, he seemed to be speaking from the
heart. 

Alex took a few
steps forward and cleared his throat. Isabel turned to look at him and, to the
young mindguard’s surprise, she offered an affectionate smile. It seemed that
Sheldon’s arrival had greatly improved her disposition.

“Sheldahn,“ she
said, “this is Alex Lea, our junior mindguard.”

“Pleasure to
meet you,” the veteran said and shook his hand, but avoided looking at him
directly. His gaze swept the office, as if looking for something. Alex had
heard about Sheldon’s tendency to seem preoccupied with something other than
his interlocutor. It seemed that the only person to be privy to his full
attention was Isabel Mensah.

“It’s an honor
to finally meet you, sir,” Alex said, hoping that his voice didn’t sound shaky
or betray the frustration of not having had the opportunity to work with him in
the last seven months.

“Sheldon,
please… call me Sheldon,” the veteran insisted. “I’ve heard good things about
you, Alex.”

“Really?” the
young man asked, realizing only a fraction of a second later how dumb he had
sounded. “Uhm…” He looked at Isabel who seemed amused.

“Yes,” Sheldon
continued impassibly. “It seems you’re doing a good job around here. I’m
looking forward to working with you.”

“Yes, sir… uh…
Sheldon. Unfortunately I won’t have the honor of collaborating with you on this
particular mission.”

“Well, don’t be
discouraged,” Isabel said. “It is a high-profile mission and the Djago Desert
is very dangerous territory. The client insisted to have Sheldahn, and Mac
wants me to team up with him, given my experience. I’m sure you will get to
work with him in the very near future.”

“Of course,” the
junior mindguard said, trying to hide his disappointment. 

“If you’d like,
we can have a cup of coffee together after the briefing,” Sheldon said. “I’d
like to hear about your experience at Ayers-Ross. That is, if you are not
busy.”

“Uh… yes… no… I
mean, I’m not. Busy, that is,” Alex mumbled, completely taken aback by
Sheldon’s invitation. He had always heard that the veteran was notoriously cold
and distant so he didn’t expect him to be so forthcoming. He remembered,
though, that Sheldon was a consummate professional. It was natural for him to
want to get to know the new employee. He was, after all, co-owner of the company.

“All right.
We’ll talk later then.”   

“I’d like that,”
Alex said, feeling a great sense of victory.

Sheldon and
Isabel left the office arm in arm, as a radiant Alex returned to his desk. He
planned to get some work done but he couldn’t get his mind off the fact that,
in a few hours, he would be spending time with Sheldon Ayers, getting to learn
from the man that had done more for the business than any other mindguard since
the days of his legendary grandfather, Kinsey.

After a few
minutes of staring blankly at the files on his retinal insertions, trying to
focus and failing, he decided to take a break from work. At that moment, the
doors opened and Maclaine Ross entered the office joined by an exceptionally
attractive young lady. Alex’s jaw almost dropped at the sight of the beautiful
woman. Standing next to the gargantuan Ross, she appeared short, but she had
the well-proportioned body of someone who pursued lots of physical activity.
Her blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail, adding to her sportive
appearance. 

“Gentlemen…“ Mac
seemed like he was about to say ‘lady’, when he looked around and saw that
Isabel was not there. “Uh… I’d like you to meet the lovely Sophie Gaumont, the
carrier of our client’s information package.” The girl greeted everyone with a
huge smile, shaking hands left and right, with the exuberance of a child, while
Ross made the introductions.

“…and this is
our junior mindguard, Alex Lea,” he said, when they reached the smitten agent’s
desk. The young man bowed and kissed her hand, to which she responded with a
big, warm smile, while Ross looked on in amusement. He cleared his throat.
“Been showing the young lady around, getting her acquainted with the place and
warning her about you people, so don’t try and be cute.”

His remark was
met with laughter. Kriss White, who didn’t partake in the amusement, walked up
to them and informed Ross that ‘your asshole friend is here having lunch with
his high school sweetheart’.

“Don’t mind Mr.
White,” Mac told Sophie. “He’s been in a terrible mood since realizing that his
best days are behind him.” Turning to White: “Have you prepared the briefing
room?”

“It’s been ready
for half an hour,” the old man barked. “Are we going to start sometime today?
I’ve got a ton of other shit I need to get to.”

“You’re aware
you’re making us look completely unprofessional?!”

“Not like that
t-shirt of yours is doin’ us any favors,” the old man retorted, making a
gesture towards Ross’ skin-tight outfit. The young woman appeared to enjoy the
back-and-forth. Alex could not take his eyes off her. She had a pristine,
innocent beauty - like a fairytale character. Ross again turned his attention
to his client. “Thing is, we’re so damned good that we can behave like jerks
from time to time,” he joked. “I think the more competent you are, the more
unprofessional you can afford to appear… to an untrained eye, of course.”

“Of course,” the
girl answered, winking playfully.

“All right, so…
I guess we wait until Sheldon and Isabel get back from lunch and then we can
have the briefing.”

“You’ve
completed your training for the desert, right, ma’am?” White asked, but the
young woman did not pay attention.

“Sheldon Ayers
will
be here, right?” she asked Ross.