“"He never learned when to run and when to stand his ground. He was innocent, so he didn't run from the mundanes who killed him."
- – Bester talking to Lt John Matheson about Bey, 2267
Dr. Sandoval Bey was a Psi Cop and mentor to Alfred Bester during his Academy years.[1][2]
History[]
Early Life and Career[]
Both of Sandoval's parents were prominent dignitaries. His father, a poor boy from the Turkish hill country who eventually rose to political prominence and his mother the British Ambassador to Turkey and the two raised him in his fathers home country. However, when Sandoval was six years old his father was murdered by a political dissident, after which he was raised in London, spending the summers with his grandfather near Madrid.
When he was a teenager, Bey was detected as a P12 telepath and joined Psi Corps. At some point Sandoval married, but would eventually be left a widower. As a Psi Cop Bey gained a variety of experience from hunting down rogues to working in the Sol System's asteroid belt. Bey would later reflect on one incident while in the belt that would illustrate just how little anyone really understood how telepathy actually worked. An EVA miner had gone missing and Bey was on hand to assist in the search and rescue. It wasn't until he got a line of sight on the unconscious worker that he was able to sense that he was alive, even though the line of sight was just a tiny silver dot some twenty miles away, the telepathic signal was perfectly clear. By contrast, Bey would often struggle to pick-up even surface thoughts from a blip hiding in a closet in the same room. The mining accident as it turns out was an attempted murder by one of the other miners and with Bey's help, the suspect was quickly apprehended.
Sandoval rose through the ranks of MetaPol and by 2193 was the Chief Executive Officer, working closely with Director Kevin Vacit. However, following Vacit's departure in 2195 most of his closet aides were removed by the new Director Johnston. Bey retired from his position to become the station chief of the Geneva MetaPol field office and an instructor at the Psi Corps Major Academy, teaching advanced criminology.
Mentor and Protégée[]
Bey was one of the few among former Director Vacit's inner circle that knew of his special interest in Alfred Bester, though like the others, he didn't know for what reason. Out of respect for Vacit, Bey kept an eye on Bester as he progressed through Cadre Prime and into the Minor Academy. However, what Bey saw disturbed him as the young Bester was systematically alienating himself from his classmates, focusing on his studies to such a degree it appeared as though he was on a course of self-destruction. In 2204, Bey spoke to Brett one of Bester's classmates and a fellow Cadre Prime and suggested he and some others make an effort to spend some time with Bester. The trip up to the Alps didn't go well as on the way back, Bester spotted resistance member and fugitive Lara Brazg boarding a train for Paris and took it upon himself to apprehend her.
Bester's absence was quickly flagged and Bey went to Paris thinking the young man had himself gone rogue. When he caught up with Bester, the latter was shot while running from Brazg and Portis Nielson. Bey gunned down Nielson and arrested Brazg, sending her off for re-education. Later when Bester awoke in hospital, Bey arrested him for his unauthorized travel. Luckily for Bester, Bey was still a highly regarded and respected figure within the Corps, so when Bester was brought to a hearing with the Director, Bey advocated keeping the cadet in the Corps, taking responsibility for his further discipline and conduct. As punishment, Bey had the young cadet stand in the parade ground as the "statue of the week", forbidden to move or speak except to answer anyone who asked why he was being punished.
Over the days and weeks, Bey began broadening the cadet's horizons by exposing Bester to culture including classical literature, film and music. After Bester completed his probation for his unauthorised attempt to apprehend Lara Brazg in Paris, Bey took him on a hunt for a blip recently on the run. Fatima Cristoban was a "later" (a teep raised as a mundane) and one of Al's contemporaries at the Academy. She had fled the Corps in an attempt to connect with the underground and recapture some semblance of freedom from her former life in Argentina.
Bey tracks Cristoban to Amsterdam, though by the time he and Bester catch up with her she had already been raped and beaten to death, after having quickly fallen into the hands of some very unsavoury individuals. After the incident, the two spend take some time to visit some of the sights the city has to offer before returning to Geneva. Bey, clearly upset by the death of Cristoban warns Bester that he must foster in himself a sense of humour to survive the job and perhaps help him to "convince mundanes that you are almost Human."
Traitor to the Corps[]
Later that year, Bey became concerned that his close relationship with Bester might make the cadet an enemy of Director Johnston who was intent of removing all that Vacit had built and suspected Bey of aiding rogue telepaths. Bey warned Bester off, telling him that for his own sake they could have no further contact. Though reluctant, Bester agreed to follow his mentor's orders. Three months later, Bester was called into a meeting with Director Johnston who questioned him on his relationship with Bey. He would later learn that Psi Cops had come to arrest Bey for aiding and abetting blips, but found him hanged in his office apparently by his own hand.
Bester knew Bey better than that as the man had despised suicide and would never even consider it, having visited many such scenes himself as a Psi Cop, sensing the telepathinc echo of bitterness and resentment. Though officially Bey was said to have been dead when he was found, the rumour was that Bey had been given the option by Johnston to save MetaPol from the disgrace of Bey being arrested and tried for treason and took his own life while the Director and his cops looked on.
Three days later, Bester visited Bey's grave by himself. Alone, angry, grief-stricken and feeling betrayed, he began to slide back into his old shell.