Nirvana Effect

53



The Sri Lankan posted at the heavy iron gate of the Liang estate pulled his legs off the control board.

Four cars were barreling over the horizon, directly toward him. He pulled up his binoculars. They were a mangy hodge-podge of vehicles - an SUV, two sedans and a Bug all covered in mud and grime. He saw some dark tribesmen leaning out the windows of the vehicles. One native peered back at him with his own set of binoculars.

The guard pulled his gun out its holster and radioed for help.

“I’ve got four unidentified vehicles coming at high speed to the gate. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?” He was panicked. They were closing the gap quickly. In less than a minute they would be upon him.

The captain of security’s voice crackled back over the radio. “Roger that. We’re sounding the alert and manning up. Hold your position. Are they armed?”

The guard checked his binoculars again.

“Can’t tell. Just see some guys leaning out of the windows.”

“What are they?” asked the captain over the radio receiver. “Cartel, you think?”

“They look like natives, sir. Almost look like blacks.” He felt exposed. It would take the security force a minute to get up there. Dozens of Liang’s soldiers manned the estate, all armed to the teeth, but they didn’t do him a bit of good while they were at the mansion.

He heard the telltale clicking noise of a gun behind his head. He started to jerk around.

“Don’t move,” said an insistent voice in Tamil. The cold metal against the back of his head reinforced the mysterious assailer’s words. How did he get in the gatehouse?

The cars were only a few hundred meters away.

“Open the gate. Now.” It was a young voice. The gatekeeper did not move. “Now!” He tripped forward as the metal was shoved violently into his head.

The gatekeeper fumbled with the controls. His vision was blurry from the blow. The cars kept flying towards the gate. Finally, he got the gate to start opening. “Thank you. Now step away.”

The cars didn’t even slow down for the gate to fully open. The first zipped through the gate, scraping both of its sides on the iron and knocking off its side mirrors. The other cars were following.

The gatekeeper didn’t hear the shot that ended his life.