Sentinels of the Cosmos Trilogy (6 page)

The Eagles of Justice headquarters was built in 2026
on a bluff outside of Leesburg Virginia on the old
Arthur Godfrey estate. In 2025 there had been a
terrible outbreak of an unknown but lethal virus and
everyone in that city had been evacuated for more
than two years. During that time a unique new Hallof-Justice-like building was erected right on the bluff.
It was large and imposing and looked incredibly out
of place in rural Virginia. They built a large open
structure and then inside dug out a shaft over 2,000
feet deep into the earth and then built floors full of
rooms off the sides of the large hole. The top of this
secret subterranean edifice was capped off with a
large grating that appeared to visitors as a very unique
floor. The “Armory” as it was called could house
even large hovercraft stored deep in the earth and able
to be brought to the surface by simply opening the
floor.
In the American tradition small malls, restaurants,
service stations, housing developments and other
establishments sprouted up around the Armory to
cater to and support the staff and their families. The
totally disguised building and it’s purposes was
explained to the public as a memorial to the men and
women who had fought in the recent Middle Eastern
war which would function as an office building for a
government department.
Sam Nichols with Beneizen Brewster had arranged
and supervised construction of the entire complex.
EOJ had developed a technology far ahead of
anything the world had yet seen. It was the most
exclusive and invisible organization in the world.
Outside of the employees only the President of the
United States and a few select members of congress
knew of its existence. Its agenda was determined by
a round table of U.S. legislators; Senator’s Kathryn
Bennett from Kentucky, William Lee from Virginia,
Richard Burnside from Massachusetts, and Speaker
of the House, Representative Charles Dean from
Texas and his wife Doris who had also been part of
the committee.
As an organization it was successful beyond all
expectations. It had relieved the world of some of its
worst incorrigibles, and had helped maintain stability
in world politics for over twenty years. In the year
2036 Russia’s intelligence network discovered the
existence of EOJ and demanded participation in
exchange for not exposing it to the United Nations.
One of the most closely held secrets of the EOJ was
the fact that Beneizen had developed a new kind of
artificial intelligence. He called it the first step in
man’s true evolution since Homo erectus; resulting in
genetically altered humans, with bones made of
titanium, muscles of live Goretex and two hearts.
They were easily repairable since they all had the
same blood, tissue and parts. Organs could be
reproduced with 3-d tissue printers. Faces were
designed by artists. A second brain was implanted
behind the first containing a supercomputer that gave
them very special qualities, it was a whole computer
the size of a walnut. It was like no other computer,
made of a material called ‘Triglide’ that was almost
identical to brain tissue. This computer had the ability
to control mind, body and feeling and allowed them
to function harmoniously without the human
hindrances of fear, negativity and tensions. They were
able to act as all humans could have. Beneizen and
his team had also discovered a synthetic nerve
filament that connected to and grew with human
nerve filaments. These new nerve fibers allowed the
two brains to merge, but the synthetic brain had the
ability to control the human brain. Its memories could
be erased; the programmers could reprogram the unit
to fully understand any field of study almost instantly.
When an assignment was completed memories of that
assignment were erased, although there was always a
problem with this since there was a faint trace left.
The system could not get rid of conscience
completely. Here was a creature with bones made of
titanium, teeth that grow back, limbs that can
regenerate, with eyes that can see in the dark, and ears
that can hear a fart in a hurricane.
These new humanoids were called Guards and their
purpose was to guard the world. Externally, they
appeared to be perfectly normal people, active in
society, ostensibly human in every way; but their
education, training and memories were completely
controlled by EOJ, except for those "traces" which
they could not get rid of. As a result many Guards
would have occasional headaches or strange and
unusual symptoms. Occasionally mental problems
would appear, but like a car with a problem they
could usually just replace the parts that
malfunctioned. Guards had no real memories of their
own, after they were used for whatever was needed
they were returned to their ordinary lives with no
knowledge of what they had done or who they had
been during their assignment. Their minds, emotions,
and physical reactions were controlled from a central
computer at EOJ.
If America had known that babies were being
harvested in test tubes, genetically altered, parts of
their brains removed and being born as teen-agers
with these modifications, it would have poisoned the
public’s view of the project. Mobs of protestors
would arrive at the doorsteps of the White House and
the media and bleeding hearts would have a field day.
Guards were allowed to become self-aware when they
weren’t programmed or in hibernation. Knowing
what they were had its own benefits especially if they
were injured.
Chase had become self-aware on his own, a
possibility which Beneizen had predicted. Selfawareness could be used as an engendered state for an
assignment, but to achieve this on one’s own was
theoretically impossible. If EOJ was terrified by
anything it was of this prospect, to lose control of a
Guard could have catastrophic consequences for the
whole program.
Guards were ‘born’ at the approximate physical
development of a human sixteen year old. Through
experimentation this was discovered to be the optimal
age to begin training. Guards did age but their life
expectancy was limited to sixty years beyond ‘birth’
date. This was done because some Guards could be
assigned to long term duty, and many of them had
families.
Toby Miles and four of his interns were standing over
a ‘pre-born’ Guard lying on an operating table with
the upper spine and lower brain exposed. Dr. Miles
was in charge of the Guard development and
maintenance program. He was a tall man with fine
features in his early 40’s, mild mannered and moved
very little. People found him somewhat unsettling
because he had no twitches, and would stand right up
to you. His serene blue eyes and slightly oriental
features would take you in all at once and properly
evaluate you in a matter of seconds. He continued his
lecture with, “Their nutrition requirements are quite
different from humans. Also, if I failed to mention it
they continually renew themselves, they could exist,
possibly forever, however we program them for sixty
years. The spine is opened here, these vertebrae are
removed and the Cybarium implant is inserted here.
This device enables us to control the unit, otherwise
they would just be like us, but better made. These
monofilaments actually graft directly onto the human
neurons. Can you all see how it connects?”
“Extraordinary, like worms looking for a meal!”
comments one of the interns.
Dr. Miles continues, “It is, but that’s only the
beginning. The computer is run from the energies of
the human body. There is no battery required.”
“Amazing,” comments another intern.
“Yes it is. Genetically these babies are very different
from us. They are more resistant to disease; their
genes allow them to heal faster after injuries. Guards
are one of the results of research originally designed
to develop humans who could withstand extremely
long term space travel. Technically we could program
them to live forever but EOJ found a far more useful
function for them as Guards, helping to keep the
world at peace now.”
“Are we going to meet Beneizen Brewster, the
founder? We are all looking forward to meeting the
inventor of all of this,” asks another one of the
interns.

*****
At that same time Sam Nichols was walking into
nearby Antonio's Pizzeria, right past the counter and
down the hall into the bathroom. He closed the door,
pulled the toilet paper holder out and turned it to the
right. The floor to the room became an elevator
descending into the bowels of the planet. The elevator
descended 1,400 feet before it stopped in front of a
large steel wall. Sam stood in front of the wall while
he was scanned. The wall was simply a visual force
field and disappeared after scanning; Sam walked
through to the reception desk of an office complex.
The sign above that read “Eagles of Justice.”
"Good Morning Colonel Nichols," the receptionist
said cheerfully.
"Good morning Karen," Sam said smartly. He walked
past the receptionist, through a door and down a long
gray hallway. At the end of the hall two Guards
opened a glass door and he entered a large conference
room. There were four men and one woman sitting
around a large table. At the head of the table was
Congressman Charles Dean. There was commotion
around the table as Charles was handing out folders to
the members of the committee. Sam Nichols took his
place at the table opposite Charles. His white blond
hair glistened in the florescent light. Charles looked
somber and showed obvious problems with his
breathing. He took out an inhaler and breathed in two
long puffs.
"You're going to have to bear with me, I'm not feeling
well," Charles said. "After you have all gotten your
folders I would like to begin."
They took the folders and organized them properly.
Charles waited patiently. They had been meeting like
this for years. Charles opened, "I'm afraid we've been
upgraded as an organization. Our superiors have seen
fit to increase our power, our areas of involvement
and, thankfully, our budgets also. I'm not particularly
happy about some of the aspects of this new role but
I've accepted it. EOJ has been primarily involved with
solving world government snafus, when they feel
there has been a grave miscarriage of justice, we
correct it, period. We have stopped hundreds of
terrorist threats, prevented governments from being
toppled and assassinated many undesirables. We are
the most successful undercover operation in U.S.
history. For the last 20 years we’ve funneled money
from other federal budgets into ours and no one knew
or even noticed. I think we're all proud of that.
However, these new duties are even more far
reaching. Let me read you what was sent to me by
President Grant."

“The EOJ will continue to assume the responsibilities
of carrying out operational projects that effect
interests of the U.S. government and its allies. These
special projects will hold the highest priority and only
select, high ranking officials will know anything of
their existence. The President of the United States
will be in direct charge of a world board and inform
us of our objectives as they are decided.”
“Excuse me Charles, since when do we take our
orders from the President? Historically the President
could only recommend. It was the board, us, that
always made the final decision on our operational
aims,” said Sam who was revolted by the document.
“May I finish Sam?” Charles asks patiently.
"Charles, these sound like ‘off the reservation’
comments,” Sam complained.
Charles looked around the room; it was obvious that
most of the rest of the members at the table were in
agreement with Sam. Charles thought for a moment,
and then said, “The problem is that we have
developed a technology that no one else in the world
possesses; as a matter of fact most of the world does
not even know about it. Sam, you along with
Beneizen were responsible for a great deal of it, really
all of it and you two will remain in charge of a great
deal of it; where is Beneizen by the way?”
“He said he had something to take care of over the
next few days,” Sam replied.
“Oh, how odd,” Charles says as he sits back and looks
at Sam intensely.
"What do you mean a great deal of it?" Sam asks
perplexed.
"I mean most of it. The President wants to have the
final word. He is after all the President," Charles says.
“Charles, agreement from the whole group is what
made this body unique and in my opinion successful.
The President does not have the right to change
anything; that is not his role here,” Sam probes.
“The President is the President. Everything is subject
to change Sam, nothing remains the same. Look on
the bright side. With the new responsibilities,
whatever they might be, there also comes more
money. Yes my friends we have been given a sizable
increase, there’s also more money for us." The man
next to Sam was Senator Burnside from
Massachusetts, a tall powerful looking man in his
seventies. His hair had long ago turned white but he
dyed it a reddish brown to match his freckling, aging
complexion. He stood up and spoke, saying, "Charles
this organization was founded on certain principles.
The EOJ was and has been an enforcer of last resort
for world justice. I rather like the role we have
played. It’s been vital in making the world a safer
place. We’ve been a high court, a moral court that can
carry out true justice; even the President and political
leaders from the whole world only made
recommendations. The principle was that there must
be a consensus among
us
. Why has this change been
made?
”Charles sits back in his chair, pauses, and looks at
each member around the table before speaking, and
says, “Because Doris died, that’s why. And the
President does not completely trust the organization
without her involvement. In other words he does not
trust us, and there is nothing we can do about it at this
point. He is now going to be meeting with other
world leaders; together they will reach a consensus on
our assignments. He will give us assignments that
need to be carried out. Here is the document, read it
and weep. Why do you think I’m sick, but what can
we do?”
“We could bring this to congress,” Senator Bennett
suggests.
That would mean exposing the entire operation, and
how do you think congress would respond to they’re
having being excluded for 20 years?” Sam offers.
Charles steps in saying, “Thank you Sam for that bit
of sanity; the President is just getting more involved,
that’s all. We have several projects to cover tonight.
Open your folder to number 1456 and you will see
Aziz Torreno. That scumbag was acquitted by an
Italian court because the jury had been bought off by
his father. The Italian Government has requested
justice and asked that we carry it out. Who wants to
handle this one?"
Charles saw Senator Lee from Virginia raise his hand.
"Alright Lee, it's yours - you'll handle all the details,
and you'll use your assigned Guard group."
Senator Lee nodded his acceptance.
Charles said, "Now open folder No. 109, that's right
109, it's a rather old file, the Chase Stern file. Now!
Sam, you are handling this personally?"
"That's right," Sam replied.
Senator Lee coughed and tried to speak: "If I may ask
something here, why was this Guard Chase not
already terminated? My understanding is that he’s not
responding to his assignments."
Charles says, "I already explained all of that."
"You did, when? Humor us," Lee retorted.
"Chase seems to be showing signs of somehow
becoming conscious; I think we should watch him
and see what happens. We should bring him in and
study him rather than terminate him. How stupid to
kill him; it’s obvious that if it’s true it could happen
again so we need to find out what’s causing the
problem and why. Science, pure science,” said
Charles.
Lee was not satisfied with the answer, saying,
"You’re telling us that one of our Guards is no longer
programmable? Are you insane? Get rid of this
thing!”
"Senator Lee, Charles is right, we need to see if we
may have a potentially bigger problem. Killing him
would lose us that opportunity. I've got a handle on
this one," Sam replied.
Senator Kathryn Bennett demanded to be heard. She
was a strong woman; tall, thin, with close cut black
hair and a wide voluptuous mouth, Kathryn had been
working in a man’s world her whole life. She had
sacrificed a great deal to become the U.S. Senator
from Kentucky. The hard chiseled lines on her face
were a testament to the life she had lived. She said
testily, "Robert, Chase is already under my control. I
sent my best Cybarium Guard to fetch him and bring
him back, but there is something else you should all
be aware of. It seems something or someone is reprogramming Chase. We found traces of a new code,
and part of this new code is a new language, like
nothing we have ever seen. Chase is being brought
back as we speak.”
“Good, let’s move on,” Charles says.
“Excuse me Charles but we still need to deal with the
Juan Martinez problem,” said Kathryn.
“Juan is the least of our problems. If someone is re-
programming our Guards that could be a disaster;
think, it could be Russia or China. A new language,
my God! I think we should leave him alone for a
while. He really doesn’t know that much. Maybe
Chase has already scared him away. Maybe we could
use this Juan to find out more about Chase. Who
knows, maybe Juan is the mole that's re-programming
him,” Charles answers.
“Maybe, maybe not, but he could still be a risk,”
badgered Kathryn.
Charles replies, “I agree, but we have more to gain by
keeping him alive and under observation rather than
by killing him.” “Let's get down to the real reason for
this meeting. I have just come from the President who
just returned from the world population conference.
I'm sure you've all been watching the news that thirty
countries met and agreed on new courses of action.
The major solution for those problems is us, EOJ.
This project is so sensitive that simply the knowledge
of its existence could cause global war. The
government needs an agency that knows how to carry
out high priority projects efficiently and secretly.
Now open folder No. 1469. You will need to read
all
the material, even though it’s rather lengthy. There is
also a single-play self-destructing DVR that I expect
all of you to watch. The final objective of this project
is to reduce world population by 50% over the next
50 years. It’s no secret that our world is
overpopulated and it's become EOJ’s responsibility to
creatively develop and test ways to reduce
overpopulation. We are to do it in as humane and
organized a way as possible. We will begin here at
home. The first test will be in New York City. It's an
ideal place for us to kick off our plan. We are to
target certain segments of society. Sam has been
working in secret on population control viruses for
years. We now have several of them that are stable
and they can be used effectively without
uncontrollable consequences. Maybe Sam could
speak about some of these new virus strains."
Sam is startled by what he has heard. He feels
abandoned by Beneizen to face what he is hearing
alone. He answers slowly, "Charles, you caught me a
little off guard. We do have effective population
reducing viruses, but they were developed to be used
as a last resort. Doris supported population control -
not extermination. Even forced sterilization would
seem a better choice than this. And what about the
plans for relocation in space, like the plan for moving
segments of the population to Mars? We have the
technology for transforming Mars into a habitable
environment for humans. There is even a successful
small settlement there now. I think we should at least
question such a directive. I think we should meet with
the President. I personally don’t want to be involved
in such a preposterous scheme. Such an action would
make us no better than the Nazis."
Sam sat down. The room was silent for a moment.
None of the members liked what they were hearing
and seemed uncomfortable with the contents of folder
1469. Charles sensed this and said, "At first I too was
very concerned about folder No. 1469, but I think we
can all agree that the situation has become dire. Our
planet is dying, and if there is going to be anything
left for future generations something has to be started
now! Besides the food problem, there is the climate
change problem and a housing problem. We have
people living in tent cities all across the country. The
public is too divided, causing paralysis at the political
governmental levels. One camp doesn't believe in
abortion, another camp believes. One camp believes
in climate change, another does not; each one gathers
information selectively to debate the other and all
they do is talk! Something must be
done
. If this was a
dictatorship we would just do what was necessary,
but we live in a democracy. I have just come from
the President; the solutions that are used will either be
cheered or hated by future generations. Please read
everything in these folders before you pass judgment.
Thank God they have not given us a date nor have
they yet asked for a plan with a timeline. They have
asked us to try and understand the true situation and
to only run some tests
I was also forced to bring a new member into the EOJ
as an adviser to this operation. I know this is going to
be a shock, but remember this is now a world
organization and members of Security Councils from
other countries will inevitably be joining us. Please
welcome General Ivan Kolinski from Russia."
Sam could not believe this. Ivan had a reputation in
Russia of being a stone cold killer, a military serial
killer. He was responsible for germ warfare attacks
during Russia's long Ukrainian war. Ivan strode into
the room in uniform, fully decorated, marched to the
large round table and saluted.
"I am General Ivan Kolinski, thank you for inviting
me to be part of your organization. I am deeply
honored. I have already met Colonel Nichols, good
see you Sam.” Charles then introduced him to all the
other members of the council then pulled out his
inhaler and took a couple of puffs before lighting a
cigar.