Free Brainrush 03 - Beyond Judgment by Richard Bard

hands on it ever since—that is, until he’d learned that it was useless without the help of the comatose American. In any case, he had given up hope of ever possessing it when his operatives within the US scientific agency had reported that it had been destroyed during the fire—the one ignited four months ago in an attempt to kill Jake Bronson.
    But they had been wrong.
    The failure stirred a cauldron in his gut. Had his agents been intentionally kept out of the loop? Or had the scientist named Timmy kept it to himself? If so, Victor wondered what other secrets the young man had withheld.
    “Search his apartment,” he said.
    “I have already alerted the Washington team,” Hans said. “They will be there shortly.”
    The device had untold potential, Victor thought.
    He was determined to control its power.
    That his men had uncovered it in the aftermath of the botched assassination at the beach had changed everything. The surviving team member had seen the object during the struggle. He had had the presence of mind to retrieve it. His foresight would be well rewarded.
    Hans lifted a finger to his ear to receive a communication. “They’ve secured the American,” he relayed. “The flight crew has been alerted. The boat is thirty minutes from the airport.”
    Victor permitted a flush of satisfaction to reach his features. Had news of the miniature’s existence been delayed, then Jake Bronson—the only man on the planet with the knowledge to unlock it—would have been killed. Some would’ve called it a stroke of luck, he thought. But he knew better. Good fortune was nothing more than the logical outcome of layer upon layer of preparation.
    “We may commence,” Victor said. He sat at his desk in the castle, surrounded by rich wood paneling and leather furnishings. Hans stood beside him, a computer tablet in hand. He tapped the screen, and the wall of bookcases opposite the desk flickered. What had appeared to be a wall-to-wall collection of leather-bound first editions was actually a digitally created holographic display. The books dissolved into a three-dimensional image of a conference room. A dozen people sat at the table. Though they appeared to be gathered together in the same room, all of them were physically located at their respective home offices across the globe.
    “Welcome,” Victor said. He waited a moment as the attendees settled in for the meeting. Aides were dismissed, phones turned off, and each of them focused his or her attention forward. There was an eagerness about them that Victor appreciated. An Arabic sheikh, an African scientist, a Chinese magnate, a French museum director, and more—though they were from different parts of the world, they were all cut from the same dream. Thesewere men and women of science, power, and influence from around the world, descendents of an order that stretched back a millennium.
    “Our ancestors are smiling,” Victor began. “For it is by their foresight and resolve that we find ourselves gathered here today, heralds of a new age.”
    The group responded with nods and smiles. Though they attempted to appear calm, Victor knew that all of them had dozens of tasks on their mind. At this stage, their homes and offices were likely as stark as Castle Brun.
    “The end is upon us, my friends,” Victor said. He paused for effect. “But so is our new beginning assured. We know our duty and we shall perform it with steadfast certainty. For it is only from the ashes of humanity’s doom that we may mold a future of peace and prosperity.”
    Victor saw that his words fueled their fervor. He studied each of them in turn, hesitating only on the woman from Brazil. He tapped a keyboard set into the top of his desk, and her image zoomed to occupy the center of the wall screen. At forty-seven, she was the youngest of the group. Her family controlled a global shipping conglomerate. She was in charge of coordinating the South American exodus. Another tap and her face