Free Mindguard by Andrei Cherascu Page A

enjoyed the sight of the sun
going down over the two active volcanoes that overlooked the island, he
wondered if it was perhaps the last sunset he would ever see. It was a question
he asked himself every evening.
    He was aware
that, at any second, his head could get blown off, leaving him much more
disfigured than his unfortunate brothers. He had no doubt that the man who was
looking for him had the resources and motivation to eventually find him. But
the doctor had been living in the Soixtet’s colony for two years and had not
gotten sick, which was an unbelievable improbability. He figured that meant the
good Lord was watching over him. If the most violent disease that had ever plagued
mankind did not kill him, he doubted that a mere man would succeed, at least in
the near future. Nevertheless, he lived every day as though it were his last.
That was something he truly had in common with the rest of the islanders. 
    “It is good to
see you, Brother Elias,” said the doctor. Even after two years of being in
contact only with the diseased brothers, he had not gotten rid of the
instinctive gesture of wanting to shake hands. He always had to remind himself
that touching them in any way would bring them nothing but pain.
    “Brother Torje,”
said the decomposing man, “Anita has prepared dinner. We would be delighted if
you would join us.” The doctor just slightly nodded. “It would be my pleasure,
Brother Elias. Any particular occasion?”
    “I am leaving
for Kastain tomorrow, so I would like to spend some time with my friends.”
    Kastain was not
a place; it was a ritual. For the brothers who inhabited the island of Kalhydon
on the planet Thissaia, Kastain was a twelve day journey with the purpose of
self-reflection and meditation. Faced with disease and death on a daily basis,
the brothers found solace in a deep spirituality. Every six months, they
retreated to a designated spot where they could enjoy solitude, as they
prepared to leave this world. Brother Elias was exhibiting symptoms of the
final stages of Soixtet’s - the skin was rapidly falling off his right arm,
leaving spaces of muscle exposed to fatal infections. The doctor understood
that Brother Elias was convinced he would not be returning from this Kastain,
so he was planning on breaking bread with his friend one last time, before he
left.
    “Is your wife
preparing her wonderful bread soup?”
    “Indeed she is,
Brother Torje.”
    “I figured, I
know it is your favorite.”
    “It is, to my
knowledge, your favorite as well, is it not?”
    “Yes it is,
Elias,” the doctor said. He was sad because he realized that this was the last
time he was going to see his good friend. In the corner of hell that was
Kalhydon, he had made the most loyal friends. The brothers and sisters of
Kalhydon were the kindest, most wonderful people he had ever known. There was
so much love here in this fetid prison, it made him angry. Why is it that
such love cannot be not found in the hearts of people with more fortunate
lives? he thought. Why is it that only in the face of the most intense
pain, destined to endure the most frightening death, can humanity cultivate
this type of devotion?
    It was only in
one other place in the universe that the doctor had witnessed such love and
harmony. It was a place so incredibly different from Kalhydon and yet, in a
way, so similar. Could it really be that mankind can only nurture the purest
emotions in the harshest conditions? The doctor had set out on his many
travels to learn the nature of man, but what he had learned had not made him
happy. He looked at the dying, suffering creature walking beside him, and he
decided to be frank, for that was all he felt he could offer the man.
    “Brother Elias,
you can rest assured, I will take care of Anita and Midia.”
    The dying man
had tears in his eyes. Even those tears seemed diseased, as if they carried
within them part of the ailment that was punishing the rest of his beleaguered
body.