by Far Freedom
“Can you at least see the possibility of a different kind of life for Alex and Setek?”
“The barbarians must be defeated.”
“What I’m asking is your opinion of how inflexible Alex and Setek have become.”
“They’re damaged, as I am, but perhaps less than I. I’m not a reliable judge of these matters. I’ve existed too long, seen too much. It runs together in a red blur. A brief moment of clarity: what you ask isn’t about flexibility. You want to know if there’s anything that remains of the men you once knew.”
“Is there?”
“There may seem to be. It will be interesting to watch.”
“Are you still hungry, Koji?”
“My stomach is empty, but I feel strong. This is a very large biosphere. The ship is larger than a carrier. Patrick said it was a jumpship. Zakiya, you’re beautiful. I must have a wife, if I have a daughter.”
“She died two centuries ago. Sit down, Koji. You look a little confused.”
“This has never happened before. What did you do to me?”
“We looked for you. I don’t know if we found you.”
“I’ll sit. 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 through 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.
They got up from the grass and 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 Sammy.
“This child has some Asian features but perhaps also European. Who is he?”
“That’s Sammy,” Nori said, when Zakiya didn’t respond.
“His leg was injured. What happened to him?”
“It’s better that we not talk about Sammy.”
“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. 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?”
“Three.”
“How?”
“Their jumpship embedded in our shield 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 Zakiya weep. 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.”
“Zakiya, was their data intact?”
“Yes.”
“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 put balls 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. 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 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 awake, 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, a large portion of our uniformed crew were recently civilians.”
” 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, highly moral and intelligent. How far could they be turned from their basic natures?”
“That’s my greatest fear, that I’ll never believe they aren’t who they were. I love my husband through memories that are too sharp and fresh. My judgment will be impaired.”
“I feel very uneasy.”
“I can’t ask you to risk your life against Alex. Also, there’s the possibility that he knows how to defeat the barbarians.”
“Do you know how?”
“I don’t even know where to begin.”
“The Lady in the Mirror?”
“Perhaps.”
“They awake tomorrow?”
Section 033 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 be 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, 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.”
“How would they react to my voice?” Zakiya asked.
Alexandros Gerakis 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 her 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.”
“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 calmed and began to sit up.
Setek-Ren sat up on his bed, helped by Patrick. He slowly made a 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. “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 memory disadvantage. We don’t remember you.”
Alex turned to question Koji again. “I’m Alex?”
“Alexandros Gerakis. That is Patrick. And Setek.”
“They cut me,” Alex said, feeling his abdomen. “The second jumpship crew. I couldn’t help you.”
“I didn’t need your help. I killed them all.”
“Good. We need to debrief.”
“No, you don’t. We don’t need your information any longer.”
“How much time has passed?”
“Forty years since I last rescued you.”
Alex looked at Setek with a frown.
“This is not our ship,” Setek said. “Where are we?”
Being closest to it, Aylis opened the door and stepped into the hospital corridor. The others allowed Alex and Zakiya to exit the room next, and Zakiya took her husband’s arm. He looked at her and at her grasp of his arm. He smiled. When Setek saw their connection, he offered his arm to Aylis. Aylis hesitated then placed a trembling hand on his forearm.
In the hospital lobby a squad of Marines in minimum battle dress snapped to attention, then fell in behind them as they exited the hospital. Outside the hospital hundreds of people lined the walk, waiting to see Alex and Setek. Zakiya watched Alex as he reacted and adapted to the crowds and to the planetlike environment. His response was restrained amazement.
As they walked, Alex and Setek took in every detail of the scenery but made no comments and asked no questions. Aylis let her hand fall away from Setek’s arm and he didn’t seem to notice. They arrived at a cottage situated on a slope above the apartments at the edge of the lake. The Marines took sentry positions by the cottage.
“The Marines are a temporary precaution,” Zakiya said. “You are strangers to us and we don’t trust you yet. You are free to move about the ship but they must accompany you.”
“This is a ship?” Setek queried, surveying the great expanse of the visible biosphere.
“It’s called the Freedom. Koji will tell you about it. This cottage is where Koji lives. There is room for two more.” As she pulled her hand from Alex’s arm, her emotions tried to burst loose. She needed to leave soon. Aylis had already stepped away from Setek. She turned to join Aylis.
“Are you leaving us?” Alex inquired, sounding a little disturbed.
“We remember too well who you were,” Zakiya said. “We worry about who you are. And we need to take you in small doses.”
Section 034 Tea and Paternity
“It is as you suspected,” Direk said to Zakiya and his mother. “Patrick did not tell us about this.”
“He’s afraid of them,” Aylis said. “And perhaps he doesn’t know about it, even though he would have to be the one who did the surgery.”
“They are telepathic, then,” Zakiya said.
“Essentially. By electronic means. The signals we sampled after they awoke came from their bodies. The frequency range and the absence of overlap between sources suggests the timing of a conversation. Koji did most of the talking, probably explaining as much as he could about their new situation. This is why they were so quiet during the walk from the hospital to their cottage.”
“You couldn’t decrypt the signals?”
“I don’t believe the signals are encrypted. Not in the mathematical sense. These are thoughts, and thoughts require a human brain to experience them. We may simply need to duplicate their transducer methods and connection locations in our own brains. It must be equivalent to how our auxiliary memory reaches our conscious.”
“They were probably too paranoid to allow Pat to keep the expert data or even the memory of the procedure.”
“It shouldn’t take long to duplicate the technology,” Aylis said. “But it may require a signal switching mechanism. This may be why their auxiliary memories are cut off. They didn’t develop a method to switch between inputs.”
“It is amazing - but quite believable - that they could engineer both the telepathic circuitry and a form of auxiliary memory,” Zakiya said.
“I think I gave them some preliminary research on auxiliary memory technology,” Aylis said.
“Shiplink conversation without subvocalizing or eye-point gyroscopy has probably been a medical engineering research project for the Navy for a long time,” Direk said. “That they apparently accomplished it under their severe circumstances is more than amazing.”
“I was afraid to examine them too closely without understanding precisely how the auxiliary memories fit into the cell ecology,” Aylis said, “but they appear undamaged. I hope they were able to store their most vital memories, everything that would remind them who they were.”
“They will have to be confronted about it,” Zakiya said. “The people we came to find are locked away in those devices.”
He crossed her threshold. The Marine saluted her and took his position outside the doorway. She closed the door and followed him into her apartment. He turned to her and spoke in a quiet and humble manner. “Although you may not want to be reminded of the tragedy,” Alex said, “I offer my condolences for the two sons you recently lost.”
It disturbed Zakiya more by its unexpected sensitivity than for the sorrow it refreshed. Alex could not be the sensitive person she once loved, and to have him ape it so perfectly made her worry that she was wrong about him in one way or another. Either he was not as bad as Patrick insisted, and she was cruel to treat him so suspiciously, or he was worse than she could imagine from Patrick’s warnings. Alex and Setek could adapt themselves to
every situation, Patrick said. They were consummate actors. “Thank you,” she responded. She suggested he sit, with a gesture toward a chair. She went to the kitchen and brought back two glasses of iced tea.
“Ah, just the thing,” he said. “My mouth is quite dry, anticipating this visit.”
She smiled but could not afford amusement. Her own mouth was quite dry. She sipped tea to find some lubrication for speech. “I assume you now have a good picture of your situation. Koji was very busy collecting information and making friends before you awoke.”
“Setek and I are astounded by your accomplishments. And now you are arming the ship. We hope we are in your plans, if not in your hearts.”
“I don’t see any need for assassins in my plans.”
“We’re not proud of what we did.” Alex paused as if in somber thought, then he took a long drink of his tea. “Why did you find us, if not for war? Wasn’t that our original goal - to find the enemy and try to defeat it?”
“We were explorers, not soldiers.”
“We were different people in a different era. Now you are an admiral. Now you have this ship.”
“One ship. Many barbarians. Too many.”
He took another drink of tea and she copied him. He didn’t seem disappointed with the implications of her responses but that meant nothing. He would do what he needed to do. “So, I’m useless,” he said lightly, “unless I can be retrained. What do you need me to do?”
“I need you to remember who you were.” She stared at him. She couldn’t help herself. She didn’t care.
He stood up to escape her stare and walked over to a wall that displayed images of several artworks. They were copies of paintings and sculptures created by Rafael.
“There was always the temptation,” he said to the wall. “We have hidden memories, like yours, but they are disconnected. We had to remove the temptation.”
“We can help you unlock them.”
“Wait a little longer.” He turned around. “I may yet be useful to you. I fear the memories of the man I was.”
“Why?”
“Because they will kill me. And my present memories will kill the man I was.”
