The Sleeping Man (Tales of a Mediator Book 1) Read online

  "And?" Mathias prodded.

  "Well, uh, you see," Hayes started.

  "Ah, Governor Hayes," a man in a neatly pressed suit said as Hayes and Mathias made it off the stair access to the landing pad.

  His neatly laid hair, smooth face, and immaculately tied tie were at complete odds with how Hayes looked.

  Hayes coughed before he found his voice.

  "Mr. Davison," he said. "What a surprise."

  "My dear Vandan, I just couldn't wait to meet the Mediator that your office requested," Davison said as he extended his hand to Mathias.

  "Jeffery Davison, at your service," he said when Mathias shook his hand. "It is a pleasure to see one of the Federation's famed Mediators out here on Nephans."

  "Of course, Mr. Davison," Mathias replied calmly. "I am glad that I can be of service."

  "Good, good," Davison nodded. "Well, shall we get started right away?"

  "By all means, Mr. Davison," Mathias said. "I trust that you are ready to provide me with all of the information that I need."

  "Without hesitation," Davison said with a smile, a smile of a predator hunting its prey.

  "Vandan, if you don't mind, I will be honored to escort the Mediator to the negotiations. I'm sure that you have pressing matters of State to attend to."

  "Of, of course," Hayes stuttered. He seemed relieved that an excuse to leave the sight of Mathias presented itself.

  "Excellent," Davison said. "I'll be paying a visit after the negotiations are done, Vandan. I need to show my gratitude that you had the foresight to request a Mediator to Nephans."

  Hayes gulped as he turned around and quickly walked off. It seemed to take all of his strength to avoid breaking into a run. Mathias instantly knew who one of the real power players was on Nephans. Fringe indeed.

  "So Mr.," Davison said leadingly as they started walking in another direction.

  "You can refer to me simply as Mediator," Mathias stated.

  "Of course," Davison nodded as if he knew that was going to be the answer. "The reputation of the Mediators precedes you. Everybody knows of the work that the Federation has you do. Your corps is uniquely talented at the resolution of some of the most harrowing of disputes."

  "We simply do the job the Federation asks of us," Mathias deflected.

  "No simple job, I assure you," Davison exclaimed. "The resolution of Gemini 5 is lauded as one of the most impressive feats of Mediator justice. If the situation hadn't been diffused so skillfully, the entire planet would have plunged into civil war. Tell me, how did just one Mediator manage to broker such a deal?"

  Mathias learned about Gemini 5 at the academy. It was the final course given to confirmed Mediators. They were the only ones that knew the full story outside of the Federation High Council and a select few on Gemini 5.

  "Gemini 5 was simply an example of how skilled Mediators are expected to be, Mr. Davison," Mathias said as a way to sidestep the issue entirely.

  "But of course, Mediator, that is not the whole story," Davison continued. "There is more out there to be learned. I've heard the stories, but I'm curious as to the no black report."

  The notion of "no black" to Mathias meant the truth, not what Mediators said happened.

  "The Mediator assigned to Gemini 5 brokered a peace that has stood for twenty years. It is as simple as that."

  "I see," Davison said softly. "The thing is, the stories that I have heard paint a much more colorful tale."

  "I assure you, Mr. Davison, that the stories that you have heard are simply that. They are tales told to glorify the service that the Mediator provided," Mathias said as he slightly narrowed his eyes. He didn't like where this was leading.

  "Ah, but Mediator, there is most assuredly truth buried beneath the veneer of extravagance and romanticizing the stories tell of," Davison pressed.

  "While it is reasonable to expect the stories told to be exaggerations of what really happened, Mr. Davison, the truth is as dull as I say it is."

  Mathias sighed internally as they continued walking. The line of questioning was really starting to grate on him, and he was worried about the angle Davison was working. Mathias knew the truth of Gemini 5, and that truth was far more gruesome than the story the public was told.

  "The truth is never dull," Davison said. "But I can see things the way that you see them. I'm sure the stories I have heard are just that. I'm a romantic at heart, so I was hoping for a more exciting telling of it."

  "Of course," Mathias nodded.

  They had made it beyond the squalor of the landing area. Small trees flanked the walkways. Neatly kept grass surrounding flowerbeds of vibrant color framed the entrance to each building. The dull and rundown look of the buildings they had started walking through was replaced by a subdued gleaming from how polished the walls were. The windows were slightly tinted and spotless. Up above, Mathias saw the dome was mostly transparent to allow the most sky to be visible. The area stank of wealth and opulence.

  "And here we are, Mediator," Davison said as he stopped and turned to face Mathias.

  The door of the building was transparent and placed below a sign that read "Provincial Claims Office." For a government building, it was nothing like Mathias had expected.

  "Shall we?" Davison beckoned with his left hand.

  Mathias nodded and began walking up the walkway. When he was about halfway to the door, it slid open to reveal a modestly decorated reception area with a desk against the far wall and centered on the door. Inside the room, Mathias saw plush chairs and couches arrayed about small tables with magazines arrayed on them. There were exquisite rugs acting as the boundaries for each sitting area. He didn't think that this was a simple governmental office. This was something more sinister.

  "Mediator, Mr. Davison," a blond girl said from behind the reception desk. "What a pleasure it is to see you today. The other parties are waiting for you in the conference room."

  "Thank you, Ms. Claire," Davison said as he led Mathias into the conference room that was immediately off reception.

  Mathias was greeted by more opulence and blatant wealth when he entered the conference room. The table was dark obsidian with a trimming of ebony. There was a marble inset at each seating location; a tight, continuous grain that implied a contiguous piece of stone had been used. The chairs were a solid, dark stained oak with intricate scrollwork. The seats and backs were padded using what could only be the finest velvet. The center of the table had a holo-projector displaying the mapped representation of Nephans.

  "Mediator," the executives in the room said as Mathias entered.

  Davison detached himself from behind Mathias and went to the side of the table where his corporation was located.

  Mathias wondered what play Davison was making as he activated his link again.

  "It's difficult to tell, Matty," George responded to the implied question. "I'm having a time of trying to access the networks of the involved corporations. They've thrown a lot of money at their network security. From what I can tell, it's all recent work. It's like they were planning for a Mediator to arrive and knew the precautions to take."

  Mathias nodded slightly and shut the link down. He didn't like having an internal audience to what he was doing.

  "Gentlemen," Mathias said after he had finished his assessment of the room. "If you can please be seated, we can get this matter settled."

  The men finished their conversations before taking their seats. Each one had a small data assistant that they activated before looking at Mathias.

  Mathias looked down for the controls to the holo-projector for a moment before he found them by pressing lightly on the marble inset. It clicked silently and slid back under the table to reveal the control system for the projector and a small screen. Lowering down the lights to better increase the contrast of the projector, Mathias eyed the individuals.

  "As this is a matter of disputed claims to mineral wealth, the accusatory party shall begin their presentation," he said as he motioned to the side
of the table that had the Davison & White executives.

  Mr. Davison nodded to the elderly man immediately to his right.

  The man was well into the twilight years that his human body allowed him. Stark white hair framed a gaunt face. Liver spots dotted his hands. Mathias didn't understand why the man didn't pay for genetic resequencing and anti-aging.

  "Thank you, Mediator," the man who had to be Mr. White said. His voice was stronger than his body suggested. "Our claim is a simple matter. The Federation granted us the claim to all Palladium deposits located on Nephans in exchange for the private subsidization of all settlements located on the planet. Since we were the corporation responsible for the initial colonization of Nephans, our claim pre-dates all others and should be honored by Johnson, Smith, & Associates as it has been by all other mining interests' on-world."

  "Your evidence to substantiate your claims?" Mathias ran through his mind the various laws of the Federation.

  "We submit for your perusal the original contract with the Federation," Davison responded as he pressed a few buttons on his data assistant.

  The small screen in front of Mathias lit up with the reception of the file and automatically opened it. The document did look legitimate, and all of the proper markers were in place. The date mirrored that of the founding of Nephans.

  "The Federation thanks Davison & White for their presentation. Their claim has been submitted and verified. Would Johnson, Smith, & Associates please present their claim?"

  Mr. White nodded and sat down as a young man across from him stood up. He was the exact opposite. His hair was a thick mane of brown hair that had been slicked back. His face was angular and hard.

  "Johnson, Smith, & Associates would like to thank the honorable Mr. White for ceding the floor," the man said with a strong voice.

  Mathias was confused. This meeting seemed odd, but he wasn't able to pinpoint what was making him uneasy.

  "We submit our claim to the Federation concerning the territory in question. This claim was granted to us by the Federation after a lengthy negotiation process was completed concerning the infrastructure to expand operations of Nephans to encompass that of a regional cargo hub prior to the founding of the colony."

  The document arrived at the console in front of Mathias once again. Accessing it, he quickly looked it over. Something definitely wasn't right.

  "As is apparent, our claim for this territory is absolute, and due to the nature of the agreement, Davison & White have no claim within its borders. If those present would please direct their attention to the globe, the extent of the Palladium deposit will be shown to be solely within the borders of the Johnson, Smith, & Associates claim."

  The map switched to a simplified projection of the area in question. The representation of the terrain was a subdued blue. The claimed territory changed to a hue of green, and the rough mapping of the Palladium became that of a vibrant purple.

  The purple did not extend outside of the zone of green.

  Mathias nodded to himself as he quickly glanced up from comparing the two claim documents. There were similarities in the documents, something expected, as they were both official Federation documents, but there were oddities that didn't line up in both.

  "Thank you, you may be seated," Mathias said. "Would Davison & White like to make a rebuttal?"

  "We would, Mediator," Davison responded with an almost imperceptible smirk on his face. There was a glint in his eyes, the glint of a predator stalking its prey. Mathias remembered his feeling from earlier.

  Mathias activated the link again. He wanted to know just how long JSAM had been incorporated.

  "According to the documentation provided," George explained, "it has been around for at least fifty years if not more."

  It struck Mathias as odd that JSAM had been around for half a century, but the claim to the mineral wealth of the territory in question had irregularities that implied tampering of the seal dates.

  "Does it?" George sounded confused. "That doesn't line up with what they had sent in to the Federation as part of requesting a Mediator. They would know that a recent claim would not hold up to a claim as old as that of Davison & White."

  Mathias narrowed his eyes and turned his attention to Mr. Davison.

  "As part of our investigation of the validity of the claim of Johnson, Smith, & Associates, we have uncovered the original request for survey in the region specified," Davison said as he sent the file to Mathias. His smirk widened. "If it so pleases the Federation, we would like to bring its attention to the fact that the survey was completed six months prior to the claim submission by Johnson, Smith, & Associates."

  "Absurd!" One of the JSAM executives had a slightly red look to his face.

  Looking over the survey request, Mathias confirmed what Davison had said. The survey had been requested and completed prior to the submission of the claim documents to the Federation.

  "Bad news, Matty," George said. "I'm seeing the irregularities in the documentation on JSAM as well. Something is certainly amiss."

  Mathias thought to the status of the transport he had arrived onboard.

  "That's odd," George said. "The ground crews should have been fueling and loading the transport shortly after you left. Nothing has been done to us, and there is nobody around us that I can see."

  Mathias let his right hand drop to his side and finger one of the hidden weapons he had.

  "Of course," Davison continued, "we at D&W are willing to overlook this discrepancy if our colleagues at Johnson, Smith, & Associates agree to the proposed solution."

  "And what solution are you proposing?" Mathias asked.

  Mathias could feel the tension in the room was growing. Anticipation was mounting, and it was palpable.

  "It is a simple solution, really," Davison said as he pressed a few more buttons on his data assistant. "Johnson, Smith, & Associates accept the terms of our buyout offer. We will overlook the illegal actions that they undertook to appropriate mineral wealth that is rightfully ours by Federation decree. We will not press charges and agree not to launch an inquiry into their actions. I have been assured by our legal team that it is a very generous offer considering the substantial costs of an official Federation Inquiry that would have to be convened to handle such a case."

  Mathias nodded to himself. This had to be the tension that he was feeling. D&W had found a way to acquire their competition, and they were waiting for the right time to do it. By bringing him out to this frontier world, he would be able to oversee the proceedings to make sure that the takeover was handled according to Federation law.

  "And how do the representatives of Johnson, Smith, & Associates respond?" Mathias asked.

  The executives on the other side of the table gathered and talked in hushed tones for a few minutes. Mathias was still on edge about something that he couldn't identify. The tensions that were permeating the room surely were for this takeover attempt. They had to be.

  "We will accept," the man that had spoken for Johnson, Smith, & Associates previously said begrudgingly.

  "Excellent," Davison said; the predatory look in full view on his face for all to see. "Mediator, if you would be so kind as to accept this agreement as resolution of the dispute at hand."

  Mathias lifted his right hand up for where it had been resting and input his code on the console in front of him. The console flashed green to show that his authorization was accepted. A wave of relief washed over him at successfully completing his first assignment.

  "Thank you, Mediator," Davison purred. "We would like to thank you for serving your Federation so faithfully. Now as to your payment," he trailed off.

  Mathias looked up from the console to see a gun leveled at his face. His pulse quickened, and he felt his palms start to sweat.

  "Come now, Mediator. Surely you knew that this was going to happen since you landed on this planet," Davison explained. "I know what happened on Gemini 5. The bloodshed at the hands of your compatriot is legendary among the worlds ou
t here on the Fringe."

  Davison walked around to where he was directly across the table from Mathias.

  "When we uncovered the deposit of Palladium in a previously unclaimed section of Nephans, we saw the perfect opportunity to draw one of your kind out here. We were hoping that it would be the one that was on Gemini 5, but any Mediator will do. Any one of you damnable Sleeping Men would be a good start at revenge."

  Mathias was at a loss for words. His training told him to expect some resistance to Mediators wherever he went. They were the ultimate lawmen of the Federation, but he never thought that he would meet life-threatening situations like this.

  "Don't look so surprised, Mediator," Davison continued. "You had the opportunity to land at the station high overhead, but you chose to land on the planet instead. You knew that there was going to be a conflict. Surely, you had to have already looked over the paperwork and saw the discrepancy with the creation of JSAM and the claim. You were calling our bluff and taking the bait."

  "Matty, you'll never believe this," George chimed in. "JSAM is a ghost corporation. They aren't real! I bet that they were created by D&W to force some kind of conflict, but why would they do that?"

  Mathias seethed at George's horrible timing.

  "Oh," George said as he got the messages and probably finally looked at Mathias's vitals. "Found yourself in a spot of trouble? Well, you know what to do. I'll have the engines warm and ready to go when you get back. Don't have too much fun."

  The mental link disengaged.

  Too much fun, George had said. Mathias didn't really know what he was getting at. This situation was far from enjoyable, and he didn't quite know how he was going to get out of it.

  "So tell me, Mediator," Davison said to draw his attention back to him. "How do you want it done? Should I do it here where we currently are? I would hate to ruin the furnishings of this room, but truth be told, replacing them would be quite easy. Owning this colony does have its advantages."