by Far Freedom
“It’s possible there’s some subtle property of the jump circuit pulse that can distinguish each jumpship,” Iggy conceded.
“We jump for Earth, then,” Zakiya decreed.
Section 014 High Cuba
“Did you expect the future to be like this?” It was still difficult for Etrhnk - Petros - to talk to his parents. He was more relaxed around me. I was a little surprised by his question, thinking he was referring to our immediate surroundings, which were rather peaceful and pleasant. It was a tree-lined lane among apartment buildings and I rather liked the feel of it. I had grown up living in an apartment in a big city, with big streets and noisy traffic. There were no cars here, just the occasional magnetic glider above a rail hidden under the grass. Most people got around by walking on the brick pathways. I decided Petros was referring to civilization in general.
“I expected it to be more… futuristic,” I replied, “this far into the future. But I assume Cuba Alta is a modest place compared to some of the great space cities.”
“Did you expect more social progress?” He asked it with what seemed like excellent deadpan sarcasm.
“I’m a social pessimist. I’m surprised humans aren’t extinct. We have our moments and we have to cherish them. I suppose the Static Population Ethic is a positive development, but it’s strange, given that there’s so much space to expand into.” I knew the history behind the Static Population Ethic. I just wanted to keep him talking.
“That emerged at the end of humanity’s stay on Earth,” Petros said, obliging my amateur psychology, “when the population pressure was lethal and the planet was poisoned. The Ethic carried over into the first space cities, which rapidly became overcrowded. There was a strong sentiment that children needed better rearing to help social behavior improve. Laws were passed requiring both training and long-term supervision to bear and raise a child. Finally, the Mnro Clinic forced adoption of its Genetic Compact, which mandated further restrictions on childbearing. It seems insane that humans bred like animals for most of their history, and still do in barbarian space.”
Petros almost seemed pleased to talk with me. I think he was experimenting with being someone vastly different from Commander of the Navy. He was an unknown quantity to both himself and to me. I worried about his mental state, having no hope I could ever deduce from his voice or facial expressions what he was feeling. Yet, he seemed to be trying. He was not giving up. I suspected, from what he first said to me about losing the Golden One named Constant, that she was a reason to keep trying. That was what we were all doing: trying, regardless of how hopeless things looked.
“Would you mind if I called you Petros?” I inquired. “I feel awkward with ‘Etrhnk’ which is why I haven’t used it.”
“I would prefer any name but ‘Etrhnk,’” he replied.
“How about ‘Pete?’ The old contraction of the English ‘Peter.’”
“Even better, Sam. I haven’t earned the right to ‘Petros’ in my mind.”
“It is your rightful name. You know your parents love you.”
“Their words indicate that, yet they are unhappy.”
“They aren’t unhappy because of you.”
“Why, then?”
“It could be several things,” I said, “and it doesn’t mean they’re sad all the time. Zakiya still mourns for Samson. I know she feels responsible for his death. She also feels very badly for having asked Jessie and me to come with
her. Alex is still haunted by what he had to do as the Questioner.”
“The child died? Permanently? He was your son?”
I told him the answers.
“And you and Jessie,” Pete said. “I see the sadness in you also. Because of your dead son.”
“Because of Sunny,” I said. “Our baby. We miss him terribly.”
“How could you leave your baby?”
“Pete, I will never understand how Zakiya could leave you as a baby, even though I’ve done the same to Sunny. I very much appreciate your understanding of my sadness.”
“I’m not that sensitive, Sam. Not yet. Regardless of the deep emotion involved, it is still an easy logical deduction.”
“Neither can I imagine Aylis taking you away from Zakiya. Those are two of the most remarkable women who ever lived. But I don’t think either of them cared more about their careers than about their children. They made decisions that seemed correct at the time they made them. They expected to suffer for those decisions. You were not the only hard decision for Aylis. She also had to take your sister away from Zakiya, and Jamie was six years old.”
“I met Aylis Mnro’s duplicate,” Pete offered.
“Tell me about it.”
Pete described his visit to the home of Aylis Mnro on the moon. “I didn’t want her to die,” he concluded. “It was her final cruelty to me.”
” You loved her.”
“By process of elimination, that is the conclusion I reach. Why did I… rape… the real Aylis Mnro? Both events tear at me almost every waking moment. I’m ashamed to be in your presence and in the presence of my parents. You risked your lives to save me. I can never be worth that.”
“It doesn’t work that way, Pete. Even considering the viewpoint of Alex and Zakiya, that you were a victim. You’re their child, and that’s enough. You’re a father now. When you see your daughter, I think you’ll understand.”
“I’m supposed to understand. I’m Earthian.”
“I think you’re very close to being able. When you find your memories you’ll find how to feel. And then you’ll know real pain.”
“I welcome it.”
We were waiting for Alex and Zakiya to find us a base of operations. Jessie stayed with them. Iggy and White Bridge were tasked with disposing of the jumpship. They would rendezvous with the Freedom, then the jumpship would plunge into a star. Pete and I were left to roam High Cuba, searching for alternative places and means of hiding. I think I was paired with him to make sure he didn’t disappear.
Rafael de LaGuardia was born and raised in High Cuba. We found a museum dedicated to his work and one public mural attributed to him. The incredible portrait of Zakiya had not yet appeared here.
One could see traces of a Caribbean flavor of architecture around the shores of the Havana neighborhood. Much of the remaining residential areas grew vertically. Apartment buildings typically rose three or four floors and surrounded a landscaped courtyard. There were balconies on all sides of the buildings and the pleasant “weather” promoted a neighborly use of the balconies and courtyards, I didn’t know how the old Havana on Earth looked but I think there was probably far less use of heavy building materials in High Cuba. Wood, brick, glass, and iron, usually in white or pastel colors dominated the architecture. Every sort of tropical tree and shrub fruited and flowered along the brick walkways. Whoever - or whatever - picked up the debris from the flora was perhaps a few weeks behind on their rounds, and that was a comfortable condition of sanitation for me. It made High Cuba feel more real and more normal.
Cuba Alta still used centralized farming rather than the backyard wonder-plants that could grow most fruits and vegetables. Toward each end of the city cylinder we glimpsed the rings of multi-tiered farming cylinders. Beyond those lay the factories and heavy industries in the ends of the city cylinder. I had seen pictures of vast and fantastic space countries - none rivaling Oz, of course. In comparison, this was a small, old place with human urban odors and cozy neighborhoods.
High Cuba was located in a cluster of space cities at the L5 point in the earth-moon system. Zakiya chose it as our first Earth System destination because security systems were not as vigilant here. It was probable we could find a place to stay without fully identifying ourselves. It was also not too homogeneous - another way of saying not too racist. It should make our diverse group less conspicuous.
We could have jumped directly to Kansas in the barbarian ship, except that I didn’t remember exactly where in Kansas the secret underground facility was. P
robing for it would probably be fatal for us. I think Zakiya wanted more time to be with Pete. I was in no hurry to face the Lady in the Mirror. We didn’t have a solid plan anymore. Ditching the jumpship caused us to scrap what plans we had. We were not certain Milly still resided in the Hole in Kansas but we would start looking there.
“I’m lost,” I said to Pete. “I hope you know where we are.”
“I was letting you lead the way. I know where we are.”
” I was just wandering.”
“There’s crime in this city, and in this neighborhood in particular. Let’s turn around.”
We crossed a small park and descended into a subway station. Pete connected to the public database and requested a route. We waited for a tube car in a deserted station. As we waited, people began to arrive and fill up the station. A car eventually emerged from the vacuum lock of the tube. It was one of the larger ones that didn’t require fare or a scan of citizen transponders. A dozen people rushed into the car ahead of us. People behind us pushed us forward and into the car. The suddenness and the hustle seemed odd to me. Pete put a hand on my shoulder to keep us together. There were no seats left unoccupied, and we stood with a handful of others as the car glided into the vacuum lock and paused for the seals to operate. There was a slight hiss as air leaked around the car and the vacuum began to suck us toward the next stop.
The engineer I once was kept appraising the technology and feeling disappointed it was not more advanced than it was. Something made me halt my distracting thoughts. I looked around at the people in the car. Everyone was staring at me and Pete. I was sure this was not typical of any past or future subway passengers. I looked down at myself, wondering why I was so interesting. I looked at Pete - did they recognize the former Navy Commander?. He didn’t seem happy. He turned to face one man in particular who stepped toward us.
“You’ll be our guests,” the man said. “If you behave, you won’t be harmed and you can be on your way in a short while.” The man had a ridiculous
mustache which waved its curled ends as he spoke. I almost wanted to laugh. It took the edge off what I suspected was a serious business, an impending crime of some sort.
“Why do you wish to detain us?” Pete asked, staring down at the man.
“We listened to your conversation.” He was apparently totally unafraid of the imposing stature of Pete. “You’re quite interesting.”
” You want our memories.”
“We have the finest equipment. You won’t be damaged.”
“It is a capital crime. I doubt you would leave us undamaged.”
“I won’t argue with you. If you resist, you will be damaged.”
“If I resist,you will die. Permanently. You and many more of you.”
The narration of Samuel Lee pauses.
Section 015 A Meeting of the Pitiful
Constant did not need to call the others together. They came to the meeting room on their own initiative, calling for their fellow Golden Ones to join them. She was tempted to stay away from the meeting. If her predictions were true, if this was history in which she was living, she could change nothing. What had been, would be. Still, she had to try. Perhaps the future of the past was not perfectly set or perhaps her predictions were not perfectly remembered.
Constant sat by the door and studied each Golden One as they entered the room. They were pitiful. She was disappointed she couldn’t feel more sympathy for them, but she was just as damaged as they were. Most of them, at one time or another, had shed feathers and tried to mingle with humans. The urge was too great to resist. The results were too painful to bear. In the old days, when a relationship with a human was relatively easy to arrange, their human partners would become obsessed with the longevity the Golden Ones bestowed, leading to complications that threatened the security of all of them. Damnable and shameful measures were taken. The Golden Ones had to remain hidden from the Union, in order to protect the Union - and to protect themselves. Who knew what could happen if all humans learned of an alien species that could make them immortal. The Mnro Clinics had lessened that concern but the fear of discovery remained strong. Admiral Etrhnk knew of them and he had escaped. Admiral Demba knew of them and she had escaped. Everyone in the Union would soon know of the Golden Ones. The Lady would be forced to act. Her act could be bad for the human race, and for the golden race.
“Will you just sit there and sneer at us?” Laplace demanded, forcing her out of her ruminations. She ignored him.
“Is everyone here?” she asked, looking around at the group. They all faced toward her, expecting her to deliver guidance and hope. “I think someone is missing.”
They looked at each other, most of them puzzled, until Tone spoke: “Melvin is missing.”
“Melvin has been missing, off and on, for about five hundred years,” Constant said, remembering that eccentric - and probably wise - Golden One. No, not a Golden One. Still a Servant, if he remained alive at all.
“Etrhnk has escaped the games!” Laplace shouted at her. Was he angry or frightened? Constant hoped to force reason into the discussion and Laplace would prevent that.
“The Lady is looking for him,” Constant said calmly.
“She’s had more than a day,” Fellini said. Fellini was a female, wearing Bermuda shorts with bare shaved legs and a tee-shirt that said in English: “Last one out, turn off the lights.”
“It’s that woman again,” Tone remarked more calmly than the others. Tone was small and almost plump. She had suffered a tragic human affair after centuries of resisting the urge. She always wore black. Tone had struggled to regain her intellectual abilities. After Melvin, Constant admired Tone the most. “Etrhnk’s mother,” Tone said. “She is the one who will kill us.”
“Or his father!” Laplace declared. “That was him! The Questioner! We need to prepare an internal defense of the Hole. They could jump directly into this place. The barrier won’t stop a jumpship.”
“How do you propose to defend us?” Constant asked. “The Lady is our defender.”
“But you said it would happen, despite The Lady,” Fellini said.
“You know The Lady has been strange lately,” Laplace added. “I don’t know if we can count on her anymore. I say we should at least help her by arming ourselves.”
“Petros will not kill us,” Constant said. “He is bonded to me. Nor will he allow his parents to kill us.”
“But he will kill The Lady,” Tone said. “We can’t allow that.”
“Yes, there is a chance he can find Milly,” Constant admitted. “But I will be with Milly. The only way he can kill The Lady is to kill me first.”
“Forgive me if I doubt your appraisal of Etrhnk’s passion for you,” Laplace said sarcastically.
“You know how humans react to us,” Constant said reasonably. “You don’t know how my predictions can be true. It’s impossible to know the future. But it might be possible to change the future. Don’t make things worse by resisting. Let’s try to talk to those who come to find us.”
“I’ll talk,” Laplace said. “I’ll talk holding a big weapon pointed at them! If they’re going to kill us all, I’ll take some of them with us!”
“You’re an idiot, Laplace!” Constant declared. “I’m an idiot for telling you about your future. How can any of you believe what I said? Why must you think like humans and act like barbarians?”
“You knew their names, Constant!” Tone argued loudly. “Hundreds of years ago you knew their names! You also told us you were here before us. Tell us how you knew!”
“I don’t remember.” The truth of her answer shocked her. She had somehow avoided thinking about it. It was something she would have retained no matter how many times she had to repartition her mind. She was sure now that the effect of humans on them was far deeper than the morphology of body. The structure of their brains was changing. Why had they not studied the processes of their metamorphosis scientifically?
“How can you not remember?” someone dem
anded, and Constant didn’t bother to identify who it was. More questions flew at her and she couldn’t reply. All she could think about was Etrhnk. All she could wonder about was whether she could have been happy with him. She was barely able to pull herself away from what might have been with Etrhnk and consider the tragedy that would befall not only Golden Ones but all of humanity. And most of all Milly. There had to be a way to save Milly. It was the one thing on which she agreed with Laplace, that their ultimate responsibility was to keep Milly safe.
“I don’t think I can offer any useful advice,” Constant was eventually able to say. “I remember the names of Etrhnk and his parents because they are history. You are history. You lived - and died - long ago. I don’t know why I am here, in the distant past. It wasn’t my past, and it is poorly remembered by me. The only hope I can offer you is that I don’t know what is possible or impossible. Do what you will. I won’t interfere.”
The storm beat down upon the church with curtains of rain while lightning flashed and briefly illuminated what remained of the stained glass windows. Thunder rolled across the dark land outside and echoed through the broken windows. Water leaked from the vaulted ceiling in skinny waterfalls, spattering onto the floor and running into holes rotted into the wood. The storm didn’t quite reach into a corner of the apse where candles found by Fred burned with flickering light in the few invading breezes from the storm.
Melvin didn’t know what to expect when Pan sat down before the ancient piano. It knew the instrument was likely ruined by age and environment. The bench was safer than it appeared, as Pan’s large body settled onto it without loosening the joints of its legs. Fred connected a finger to a small appliance Pan had set on the top of the piano after clearing its surface of a great amount of dirt and debris. The translucent image of another piano bloomed to cover the decrepit piano. Pan adjusted the image until just the keyboard remained, roughly in the place of the real piano’s keyboard but displaced enough to remain separate from the real keys.
