The Sleeping Man (Tales of a Mediator Book 1)

  The Sleeping Man

  By: J. M. Preiss

  It was cold. It was so cold that Mathias shivered; an involuntary reaction that always annoyed him immensely. Holding his breath for a few moments to allow him better hearing, he listened for movement outside of his capsule. He would have opened his eyes, but the visor kept all light from reaching them.

  Just at the edge of perception, he was able to make out the low murmur of voices. Letting out his breath in a deep sigh, he started slowly stretching his muscles as much as the crash webbing allowed him.

  He worked his toes in his socks, opening them wide and then curling them up. Moving on to his lower legs, he tweaked around his feet to stretch his ankles out; release tension from his calves and shins. His thighs were sore from the long period he had been asleep. Slowly he tensed them up, fighting against the crash webbing to give him more resistance. Tightening his buttocks, he moved around his hips. He flexed his stomach and arched his lower back. He was relieved to hear a few soft pops as the tension was relaxed. Rolling his shoulders, he tightened his chest and back in opposition of each other. He finished by slowly rolling his head around; the only thing that he could do without having to fight protective harnesses, but his motion was slightly hindered by the connections to the visor and breathing apparatus over his face.

  Mathias wondered how long he had been asleep this time. It always felt like such a short time, but that was the purpose behind the cryonic process. Suspended animation technology was the most efficient form of mass transportation between distant locations. He wondered where he was.

  His last memories before placement in the pod were of Earth. To be more accurate, his memories were of Luna. The scientists always said that the low gravity environment was the most conducive for proper preparation for long-term sleep; something about allowing bodies to more readily relax. It was all a bunch of mumbo jumbo to Mathias, but he was not one to argue with what he was told.

  They had made him that way.

  His father had lectured him long and hard as he was growing up. It was important to do as told, and you always made sure to do it to the best of your ability. Mathias felt that his parents raised him the correct way.

  The screen on his visor started to glow a dull red and gradually increase in intensity. It was his wake up call finally arriving.

  After a few minutes of increasing intensity, it switched over to a screen with a male face on it.

  "Good morning, Matty," the man said. "Sleep well?"

  "As well as could be expected, George," Mathias responded. "Where are we?"

  "We are orbiting over sunny Nephans," George said as his image was replaced by an orbital view of the planet below.

  It was a desolate looking rock of various shades of brown. The night side showed a few dots of artificial light, but Mathias was finding it hard to see any redeeming features of the planet below. Off in the far corner of the screen, a sliver of the local sun was visible. It was bathed in an angry red aura.

  "Giant or dwarf?" Mathias asked.

  "Giant," George said as confirmation. "We're in an old system, but not that old."

  "Okay, what are we doing here?"

  "The inhabitants of this worthless piece of real estate asked for a mediator. There are some disputes over mineral rights between two of the major corporations, and as of yet, they have been unable to reach an agreement that they deem viable."

  "We're stuck doing corporate negotiations? I'm not too keen on working with the stuffed shirts of businessmen. They're too self-centered and proud of themselves over the useless wealth they have acquired," Mathias finished as he rolled his neck a few more times.

  "Those self-centered men pay our bills, Matty," George reminded him. "Besides, we can't turn down this job. We need more fuel. You know that is how these contracts work."

  "Alright, alright," Mathias acquiesced. "Keep thawing me out. I'm ready to get out of this damn coffin."

  "It's a sleep chamber," George scolded. "You never wake up again after you're placed in a coffin."

  Mathias sighed. He finally felt warm air start to circulate into the pod. The tension that remained in his muscles relaxed as they warmed. He stopped shivering.

  "Okay, now that we have you getting fully awake in there," George was saying, "I need to get you completely briefed on the mission at hand."

  Mathias grunted.

  "The two corporations down on the planet are at each others' throats. Johnson, Smith, & Associates Mining claim to have the mineral rights to the section in question. Davison & White Acquisitions says they have a contract with the Federation that gives them exclusive rights to all Palladium deposits on Nephans."

  "Doesn't the D&W contract overrule the JSAM contract?" Mathias asked as he felt the crash webbing that was holding him against the back of the pod loosen.

  "That is the point of contention," George continued. "Davison & White are saying that any and all Palladium located on Nephans is theirs because of the Federation contract, and that would be the case, but Johnson, Smith, & Associates are saying that since their contract was granted before the Palladium contract, they are entitled to the mineral wealth of the disputed territory."

  "So I'm assuming that there was a substantial amount of Palladium revealed by the scanning crew," Mathias said.

  "Initial estimates say it is the largest concentration on the planet found to date."

  "Who did the survey team belong to?"

  "This is where it gets even murkier," George said. "The survey crew was an independent third-part contractor that neither corporation hired. It looks like it was a group out of the capital looking to make a quick buck by finding some precious metals that nobody knew about."

  "How did they gain access to the plot in question?"

  "I don't know," George said as his eyes flicked around on the screen he was looking at before returning to looking directly at Mathias. "You need a permit to do any kind of scanning on Nephans, so I'm guessing that they either forged a permit, or they were doing it without one. Nothing is on file."

  "Okay, so you're telling me that this third-party team managed to get a scanning crew out to a location owned by one of the mega-corporations on the planet, scan for precious metals, and detect the largest concentration of Palladium to date."

  "That's what it looks like," George said with a sigh. "I'm pretty confident that isn't how things actually went down, but it is a good first guess."

  "Why did we get sent here? They have to know that this is my first job," Mathias said as he worked his way out of the slack webbing.

  "Guess your academy scores made you desirable," George offered. "If anything, this should be a pretty simple introduction to how things really are out here on the Fringe."

  "Yeah," Mathias snorted. "Let me tell you, corporate disputes are totally how things are out on the Fringe."

  Scoffing, Mathias raised the visor and mask off before hitting the release button to open his pod. He stepped out of the pod and onto the hard metal floor. George was sitting over in a corner at the other end of the small room at a computer terminal. He turned to look at Mathias when he heard the pod open with a hiss.

  "They might not seem so great, but this kind of stuff will probably be the bread and butter to keep us running. You know that we aren't actually supported by the Federation out here. We're just sent the contracts, and then we do them; simple agreements and all that jazz."

  "Whatever you say, George," Mathias said as he did a few quick stretches on the floor directly in front of his pod.

  "You might be the Mediator here, but I'm the guy that gets to sit on this ship for the duration of this contract. The least that you coul
d do is humor me without being snarky about it," George sighed.

  "Sorry," Mathias said.

  "Good. Now that that's sorted, we've been given clearance to proceed to the capital. Nutopia - whoever came up with that name was not in his right mind - is the largest settlement on the planet. It has approximately 250 thousand people in it at any one time. There are instances of population spikes when there is a worker switchover, but those tend to happen on semi-yearly or yearly schedules."

  "Not a world I would want to work on."

  "Not at all," George agreed. "The weather is pretty decent on Nephans, but that's only because it doesn't have an atmosphere."

  "Real funny," Mathias retorted. "You should be a comedian."

  "Stay focused," George said with a look over his shoulder, eyes narrow and hooded. "This information could save your life. The few settlements other than Nutopia are underground, and they only amount to nothing more than resource hubs where stuff queues before shipment to the capital."

  "Nutopia is domed?" Mathias asked.

  "Correct. It is the only domed settlement on the surface. There is a station that is in geosynchronous orbit directly above it, but there have been issues regarding the space elevator permits. This has forced them to use massive open fields outside of the dome to act as fueling and loading areas for the cargo lift vehicles."

  "Why don't they have the freighters just land on the planet and load up there?"

  "Some kind of contractual obligation," George responded. "The owner of the station has a contract with the Federation that they get to control all economic trade in and out of Nephans. Part of the bargain is that they have to provide free transit for essential goods, materials, and personnel."

  "I guess that isn't such a bad deal," Mathias mused. "It would certainly make things easier if other places operated like that."

  "It's not so simple, I'm afraid. There are rumors of tax evasion and price gouging going on out in the Fringe. Such a station as this one is a prime location for it to take place," George said. "Under no circumstances are you to get anywhere near the operations of that station, ground or otherwise."

  Mathias held up his hands in a gesture of acquiescence but said nothing.

  "Good," George said as he nodded to himself. "That would cause complications that I am not ready to deal with. People will know that you are a Mediator. This will immediately polarize your interactions. I don't know what you were taught in the academy, but the Fringe doesn't look kindly on Mediators."

  "Then what are we doing out here?"

  "There are those that feel we help things and mean good," George said. "The more civilized worlds know that Mediators are the best solution to complex problems. The Fringe on the other hand prefers more permanent and simple solutions."

  "We had a whole course on Fringe politics," Mathias said as he finished all of the stretches that he had been doing.

  Cracking his neck a few times to release the small amount of resistance in it, he walked over to the locker that had his uniform and equipment. His uniform was a subdued brown jumpsuit with multiple pockets located on the jeans. Taking it out of the locker, he slipped it on over what he had been wearing in the sleep chamber.

  "Remember that you have to watch your back when you are down there, Matty," George said.

  "You've already said that," Mathias replied. "I'm sure that I'll be able to protect myself."

  "Don't be so confident, Matty. There are a number of Mediators that have had a short career because of that mindset."

  Mathias rolled his eyes and zipped up the jumpsuit. He closed his locker and turned around to look at the planet below them. It was quickly filling the window as they continued on their deorbit trajectory.

  "You'll want your sidearm," George said, as he looked Mathias over. "Fringe justice out here is a lot like the old American west. There are lawmen, sheriffs and marshals or what have you, but they are limited in scope. They seek to keep the peace for the simple people that live under their protection. Where this diverges from the past is that if somebody was killed, they're going to turn a blind eye to it as long as it wasn't that of a psychopath."

  "Seems almost barbaric in nature," Mathias mumbled. "The laws of the Federation still apply out here."

  "And that is why we are here, Matty. The Mediators have a free hand to practice the law in all corners of the Federation, from core to rim, but do not start on some crusade to solve all of the problems of Nephans. That will get you killed."

  "I'm quite fond of living, George," Mathias said.

  "I'm sure you are," George responded. "Go strap in for the final part of reentry. We don't need you getting banged up before you even make it out of the transport. If experience is any indicator, you're going to get more than your fair share of bruises today."

  Mathias shrugged and sat down in the seat in front of the window. Pulling the harness into place, he secured it around his upper body. The planet filled the window now, but nothing changed in how the ship felt.

  "Why did I strap in, George? There isn't any atmosphe-"

  The ship bucked hard as the first braking maneuver engaged, and Mathias had the wind knocked out of him as he slammed into the front of the harness holding him secure.

  "Exactly," George said as the maneuver finished. "That means we have to slow down another way."

  "You could've war-"

  Another braking maneuver engaged and cut Mathias off midsentence. The rumble of the engines drowned out any other sound and thought inside the small room.

  "I have to get my amusement some other way," George said when the thrusters had shut down. "Sitting on this ship is pretty dull."

  "Then step outside of it," Mathias said.

  "You know that is impossible," George shot back.

  "Right," Mathias said. "Because you are-"

  The final braking maneuver engaged. Mathias made a yelp as he was once again thrown against his harness. The ship had leveled out, and the horizon was visible.

  It was a harsh horizon. The lack of atmosphere meant there was no diffusion to the light. It was all sharp and harsh.

  The ship continued to lower down, level and calm, until it passed through an atmospheric shield.

  Clanking to a stop, the ship landed on its extended landing struts and slowly sank down to a rest. There were multiple pops and hisses as the ship's engines cooled.

  "Okay, we're down," George said.

  "I think I see that, George," Mathias groaned. "You weren't kidding about getting banged up on landing."

  "I never kid."

  "Good to know for future reference," Mathias said as he extricated himself from the seat he had been sitting in. George was still at this console in the corner, not a single thing amiss with him.

  "Keep your wits about you, and don't make things worse than they already are. Okay?"

  Mathias waved dismissively as he walked over to the airlock. The interior door cycled green and opened to allow passage. On the other side, it closed, and he was forced to wait for the airlock to fully cycle. Sensors and beams swept over him to check for any contagions or contaminants.

  "Subject clean," a computer voice softly said.

  There was a pop, a hiss, and the door in front of Mathias slid open to reveal the domed city of Nutopia.

  As far as domed cities go, it was not anything special to Mathias. Luna had cities that were vastly more impressive. If anything, he was let down by the squalor that he noticed not too far from the landing pad that his ship was perched atop.

  "Mediator," a voice said from in front of him, snapping him out of his visual inspection of the city. "I am Vandan Hayes, Governor of Nephans."

  The voice came from a squat man of his mid-forties. He was in a business suit that was fraying in some places, and what little hair he had was disheveled.

  "I'm glad that you were able to arrive on such short notice."

  Mathias detected a hint of incredulousness in his wavering tone of voice.

  "Governor Hayes, I am glad t
hat I am able to live up to the expectations of the Mediators," Mathias said.

  The man licked his lips nervously.

  "Yes, you are living up to them quite, uh, marvelously. I assure you, however, that matters would've been dealt with shortly if you hadn't shown up. Really, your particular, uh, talents aren't necessary."

  "Governor Hayes, your office requested that a Mediator be dispatched post haste. Am I to understand that your request was in error?"

  Mathias narrowed his eyes but kept all other emotion off his face. To request a Mediator unduly was to court heavy sanctions.

  "Uh, well, no, Mediator. We are in need of your assistance at this juncture," the nervous man wavered. "If you would, please, follow me to my offices."

  "Of course, Governor Hayes. Lead the way," Mathias said as he fell in step beside the man.

  Now that he was up close, Mathias noticed that the governor was sweating bullets. He sensed that something was off beyond that of a simple mineral rights dispute.

  "Governor, if it is of no trouble, I wish that my ship be fueled and stocked with rations as per contractual obligations."

  "Of course, of course, Mediator," Hayes said quickly. "The city's crews will see to it immediately. You must give us some time though. We were expecting you to request landing at the station overhead. It makes for a most wonderful negotiation point; neutral grounds, as it were."

  "Indeed," Mathias said slowly.

  With a mental thought, he activated his link back to the ship. He was glad that he finally got to use the interface beyond the training courses he had been forced to take.

  "Go ahead, Matty," George said. His voice wasn't so much a thought as a suggested voice.

  "Look into the contract, George. Governor Hayes seems spooked for a man that requested a Mediator. They're hiding something."

  "On it, Matty. Watch your back," George said before severing the link.

  "So, Governor Hayes, am I to believe that progress has been made regarding the mineral rights?" Mathias closely watched Hayes for his reaction.

  "Well, yes and no," the man said, his voice cracking at the end. He cleared his throat before continuing. "We've hit a bit of a snag considering the legality of the survey. Johnson, Smith, & Associates are demanding royalties since the Palladium is located in one of the areas that they own. Davison & White are claiming that any royalties are forfeit because the survey authorization did not get the proper seals of approval. They're claiming that the authorization was forged since there is no record of such a survey request passing across the desk of the Lands and Acquisitions."