Cryptikon Far Freedom Part 2

by Warren Merkey

impassively, then wavered slightly. "Sit down, Koji! You look a little weak."

  "This has never happened before. I must be getting too old to rejuve. What did you do to me?"

  "We looked for you," Zakiya replied. "I don't know if we found you."

  "I'll sit, "Koji said, reaching for the ground as his knees folded under him. "Her name is Nori. What good will that do? There are too many barbarians!"

  Zakiya sat down next to Koji in the green grass by the path from the commons. She put her arm around his waist and listened to his random thoughts spoken aloud. Presently Nori came and sat down on the other side of Koji. Koji stopped talking. He didn't look at his daughter but seemed very aware of her.

  "Is anything left of him?" Nori asked.

  "I can't be objective enough to trust my opinion," Zakiya said. "But pessimism is a hindrance I can't accept."

  "I'll be optimistic with you, Aunt Zakiya," Nori said.

  "I want to eat," Koji said, now impatient to rise and continue the walk. Zakiya took his elbow to aid his rise but he pulled it away and sprang upward.

  They walked to Zakiya's nearby apartment. Zakiya and Nori prepared a meal. While he waited for the food, Koji looked around the apartment and found an image projector. He turned it on and saw a holographic view of a child.

  "This child has some Asian features," Koji commented, "but perhaps also European. Who is he?"

  "That's Sammy," Nori answered, when Zakiya didn't respond.

  "His leg was injured. What happened to him?"

  "It's better that we not talk about Sammy," Nori urged.

  "He's your child? My daughter won't talk to me about my grandson?"

  "I've never had a child, Father. This is Zakiya's residence. Sammy was her child."

  "Not related to her, I think. Was? Dead now?"

  "Father, please."

  "Dead, then. How did he die?"

  "Father."

  "I'm your father. Perhaps. How did Sammy die?"

  "He was killed by a barbarian."

  "Barbarian? Where?"

  "Here. In this ship."

  "How many were there?"

  "Three."

  "How?"

  "Their jumpship embedded in our hull and we disabled it. The barbarians transmatted into the ship and tried to kill as many of us as they could."

  "How many?"

  "Only Sammy."

  "He couldn't be repaired?"

  "Extreme brain trauma."

  "We're making His Wife weep," Koji observed. "Why is this child so important to her?"

  "Why is any child important? She loved him."

  "The barbarians, did they survive?"

  "There weren't enough stasis units to store them until they could be repaired."

  "You have their ship?"

  "Yes."

  "Was their data intact?"

  "I don't know."

  "His Wife! Was their data intact?"

  "Yes," Zakiya answered.

  "You know their routes! You know their home base!"

  "Yes."

  "We've spent two centuries trying to gather this data, and you have it for the cost of a dead child. Excellent! Two centuries of hell. Not excellent. Dead child. Tragedy. Why do I still exist? Why am I still hungry?"

  Zakiya brought food to the table and set it before Koji. He started to eat, then stopped. "Alex and Patrick often prayed before a meal. In two hundred years how many small things become important?" Koji prayed silently, eyes closed, hands pressed together. "You don't eat with me?" Koji asked, and stuffed a ball of rice into his mouth with his fingers.

  "I'll have some tea," Zakiya said.

  "I'll make it," Nori said.

  Nori prepared a pot of tea for the three of them. She served the tea, then sat next to Zakiya opposite her father.

  "I haven't heard you speak a word since we pulled you and Phuti out of the Five Worlds," Zakiya said to Nori. "It's nice to have you back."

  "The auxiliary memory is difficult to manage, as you know," Nori responded. "I didn't realize I would have it!"

  They watched Koji eat. He ate with ferocity and few manners.

  "I'm fascinating, I know," Koji remarked of their stares. He belched and put forth his cup for more tea. Nori poured. Koji drank. "A little walk, a little food, and now I need a nap."

  = = =

  "He walks everywhere, learning the ship," Jon commented. "He talks with everyone. Except for a rough edge to his manners, he seems well adjusted and purposeful. It's easy to like him."

  "He's trying very hard to be someone he isn't," Zakiya said. "He's scouting the ship for Alex and Setek."

  "I suppose we must expect the worst of him. But if he's a sample of what's to come when Setek-Ren and your husband wake up, we may have a battle for the loyalty of the crew."

  "I saw him interacting with children yesterday and I was amazed at his rapport."

  "He's popular with the Marines. Every day he spends some time with them, either telling war stories or helping them train to fight. That's a key step along the path to subverting our command structure."

  "The Marines understand loyalty. They understand the imperatives of command. However, most of our uniformed crew were recently civilians, and might be susceptible to recruitment by men of such fame and power."

  "I'm concerned for you, Zakiya. I don't want you to be hurt."

  "I feel the same for you, Jon."

  "These were great men," Horss stated, "highly moral and intelligent. How far could they be turned from their basic natures?"

  "That's my greatest fear: that I will never believe they are not who they were when I last knew them," Zakiya said. "I love my husband through memories that are too sharp and fresh. My judgment will be impaired."

  "I feel uneasy," Horss admitted.

  "I can't ask you to risk your life against Alex, Jon. Also, there's the possibility that he knows how to defeat the barbarians."

  "You won't have to ask. It's my job. Do you know how we might defeat them - the barbarians?"

  "I don't even know where to begin."

  "The Lady in the Mirror?"

  "Perhaps."

  "They awake tomorrow?"

  2-34 Alex and Setek

  "Don't be concerned," Koji said. "I'll protect you."

  "Will you protect me, too?" Patrick asked. "One at a time would have been better."

  "Why is there any concern?" Aylis asked. "You gave us no trouble, Koji."

  "They usually wake thinking they're still at the moment they last remember," Patrick replied, "which was a very bad moment that last time."

  Zakiya stood next to where Alex lay. She had already touched him, trying to release some of the emotional pressure she felt. The emotion was not joy; there was no joy after Sammy's death, after Freddy's death. She could hardly tolerate remembering the joy-like thrill of her past fantasies of what this moment could be like. Yet there remained a powerful mix of feelings that she knew was anchored by love. If the love was made too real by the technical precision of her memories, she would not care. She would seize what she could of the moment, short of joy.

  "They're conscious now," Patrick said. "They won't do anything for a few moments. They trust nothing, not even their own thoughts. Koji and I say some crude things to stop them from thinking too much."

  "This is Koji! Be nice, you stupid fools! Everything is different this time. Those we left behind have found us! You had wives. Alex, yours is Zakiya. Setek, yours is Aylis. You lucky bastards! Be very nice! Or I will punish you!"

  The two men remained still.

  "How would they react to my voice?" Zakiya asked.

  Alexandros Gerakis turned his head to the side, toward the sound of her voice and opened his eyes. Blue irises moved wildly for a second, then locked and focused on her face. Eyelids narrowed, frown lines deepened, muscles strained against the invisible bonds of the examination table. Zakiya tried to see some hint of manner and expression that would connect him to vivid memories of the husband she had lost. It was too
soon. He was like a caged wild animal or at best a man waking from nightmare.

  She touched his face, willing love to flow into him and ease his pain. His lungs filled full in a rush. He tried to speak but all that came out against the pressure in his lungs was a faint cry. She put her fingers against his lips, stopping the sound.

  "Release him," she ordered.

  "Back away," Koji said. "I don't want him grabbing you."

  The invisible restraints ceased to hold Alex to the bed. He reached for Koji and took his hand, veins standing out on forearms vibrating under tension. His gaze bounced between Koji and Zakiya. His breathing was too rapid. Koji extricated his hand and slapped Alex on the chest forcefully. Alex slowed his breathing and began to sit up.

  Setek-Ren, more subdued than Alex, slowly sat up on his bed, helped by Patrick. He made a deliberate surveillance of the hospital room. He pulled and rubbed the fabric of his clothing. He grabbed Patrick's arm and squeezed it hard. He stared long at Koji and Alex who returned his gaze. He studied Zakiya with puzzlement, then found Aylis. Aylis cowered near the doorway. He seemed only slightly interested in her.

  "Why should I continue?" Setek-Ren asked.

  "You bloody fool!" Patrick declared. "Why should we enlighten you?"

  Patrick sounded serious to Zakiya, yet Setek laughed at him!

  "Seen any barbarians, Patrick?" Setek asked.

  "That depends -" Patrick started to respond.

  "- on how you define barbarian," Setek finished.

  "There might be some right here," Alex said, standing up. "Koji, would you repeat what you said about us having wives?"

  "They came looking for us," Koji replied. "We can now believe in miracles! They found us! This one was yours: Zakiya. That one was Setek's: Aylis."

  No one said anything for a few moments. It was a time for eyes to seek renewed acquaintance.

  "This is awkward," Setek commented. "We are at a disadvantage. We don't remember you!"

  Alex turned to