ship was tested. A small band of musicians played the wedding march as Aylis Mnro escorted Sugai Mai to the altar. She panned the image and focused on the musicians.
It was easy to spot Direk in the band, with his non-regulation, too-long blond hair. He played a cello. When the wedding march ended, he leaned back in his chair and smiled at some comment by a fellow musician. The smile was so effortless that it shocked Jamie. She had no time to try to digest this little miracle.
"The Navy has found us!" Freddy warned. "We're not ready to jump. Can you think of anything to do to stall them?"
"Oh, hell, yes! I'll talk to them."
"Visual?"
"Why not?"
She had to rein in her emotions, which had shot upward too far. She had to stifle her imagination, which was becoming too serious about this new young Direk. But, damn that smile of his! Despite all of this noise in her thoughts, she felt ready to do battle with whoever appeared on her screen. Of course, it was a man.
The Navy captain politely introduced himself and politely demanded she do the same. She ignored his demand.
"You don't command the Eclipse?" she asked.
"No. This is the destroyer Fury. Identify yourself."
"Let me speak to the captain of the Eclipse. I know it's out there."
"You're in no position to make such a demand. Tell me who you are."
She wanted to make him say 'please' but the risk was getting heavy. She knew that they knew she was stalling for time. As far as they could imagine, the Freedom was hiding in this piece of rock while it armed itself. If they waited too long, they could be caught off guard.
"Captain Jones here. I will presume the Eclipse is listening."
"Insufficient information, Jones. Wait. Marine lieutenant Jamie Jones. Are you she?"
"I was promoted."
"Where is Captain Horss?"
"He's getting married."
There was a pause. She didn't know if they could analyze her vocalizations for veracity, or if they could trust what that told them. In any case, it was a bonus delay. She glanced at Freddy and saw him give her a thumbs-up signal.
"Ready for jump," Freddy verified by shiplink.
She was almost disappointed she couldn't continue this game. It was exciting for the few moments when there was concern the jump-shell connection tests would take too long. Now that she could jump at any moment, she was tempted to prolong the dialog.
She glanced back at the wedding scene and saw Sammy dispensing the wedding rings to the bride and groom. Just a few more moments of happiness for everyone... She tried not to think about what would happen. She had no doubt that something would happen. Maybe she didn't yet believe the Freedom would vanish from inside the rock and reappear far away. But she believed the Navy would never touch them.
"May I have your attention, Captain?" the captain of the Fury requested with mock civility.
"You can't have all of it," Jamie replied. "I'm watching the wedding."
"Prepare to be boarded! Be advised that resistance will be met with lethal force!"
"How well I know! Be advised that anyone who comes aboard my ship stays aboard my ship. I could use a few more Marines, preferably live ones."
She looked at Freddy for some signal that he detected boarding signatures. He seemed to understand what she wanted. He turned his head to signal a negative response. She glanced again at the wedding scene and saw Jon taking hold of his future and putting his lips on hers.
"Sorry," she said. "We can't wait any longer."
2-24 Journey by Cryptikon
The sunlight in the ship's biosphere weakened. The clouds turned pink. More rapidly than a sunset on Earth, the sky darkened. Wind swept the clouds away. The sky dimmed through purple into a deep black. The lights of nearby apartments dimmed and all around the central lake the villages of the biosphere darkened. Birds complained of the rush of darkness as they sought perches. Human voices surged then quieted. Image emitters began to build a night sky above the lake, but gone were the star patterns normally provided from the parts of the galaxy that had surrounded the ship. A faint misty swirl slowly seeped into existence, a fog of microscopic points of light that formed a glow from horizon to horizon. As human eyes adjusted to the pattern and to the depth of the image, voices rose in quiet exclamation that surged to a celebration of victory and defiance, then quieted to murmurs of wonder and discovery. No one had felt anything at the instant of the jump across space into the gulf between galaxies. They were looking back from where they had come - the Milky Way Galaxy.
= = =
"I haven't seen you for a long time, Iggy."
He had thoughtfully made this appointment with her but Aylis still felt surprised at his presence. She also felt worried. Of all the people she worried about - which was everybody - she worried about Igor Khalanov the most. It wasn't because she thought him unstable or depressed, but because she felt he now suffered a great hole in his life, because he had still not recovered his lost memories. She hoped his memories - when they did return to him - would not harm him. She was shocked at how deeply the memory of his dead wife Ana had affected her, and it would be far worse for Iggy.
"I was writing," he replied.
Iggy sat down in a chair opposite Aylis's desk. He wore his khaki engineering fatigues with their multitude of pockets, most of which he seemed to have filled. She felt a small urge to rummage through his pockets and see what they contained. Aylis had also been an engineer - a necessary specialty to aid her medical research.
"Another of your space adventures?" she queried. Jon had told her about Iggy's admission of authoring books of genre fiction. She was still trying to locate some of his titles but he wouldn't tell anyone his pseudonym.
"Almost," he said. "A diary. So I won't forget this time. It has been an adventure!"
"I wish we could verify the status of your auxiliary memory, Iggy. Unfortunately, Direk and I would need to do some retraining to qualify to inspect your memory. It's possible we could damage it if we don't. Give us a few more days."
"It's a great disappointment," he lamented.
"For us, too. We want our old friend to return to us!"
He was quiet for a few moments and didn't look at her.
"Why else did you want to see me, Iggy?" she asked, still worried.
He sighed. "We're in a period where my services aren't in great demand. It will be some days or months before we dive back into the galaxy and do dangerous things. I thought I would ask to be rejuvenated."
He sounded to her as though he might have rehearsed his words. "A full rejuvenation?" she asked. Iggy shrugged in response. She recognized this as a sign of ambivalence and seized upon it. She didn't want to get back into the full rejuvenation business on the Freedom, and especially not with Iggy. The Freedom was a new ship and could still need his expertise, despite its excellent performance so far. Nori was taking most of the rejuvenation resources she had brought aboard the Freedom. "You know what comes next," she said.
"Not really. I don't remember the last time they made me young."
"A lot of questions are what's next. The first one is: Why?"
"Look at me," he said. "I'm aged. See these wrinkles? These spots and bumps that don't go away?"
"We can take care of that without full rejuvenation, Iggy. Your general health is good. You know rejuvenation is a drastic procedure. In many ways you die. You'll become someone else, despite the improved memory technology."
"Exactly what I want! This version of me isn't anything I want!"
"I like this version of you, Iggy! I admire what you've done. I worry that you'll lose something nobody knows you have, and that it will be important to you, and to us."
Iggy leaned back in his chair and sighed again. "I confess! It's the vanity of an old man who is interested in a younger woman."
"I'm dying to know who she is!"
"I don't know what I'm doing! I suppose I'm caught up in the adventure. Did you put something in the public water supply? It
seems like everyone is... Never mind!"
"You're not going to tell me," Aylis complained.
"Engineers never get the girl in my adventure stories." Iggy turned away from Aylis and looked toward the bay window of her office. He could see the English garden below, the lake beyond. Aylis thought he must have seen the artifact on the sill behind the cushioned window seats. It was as lovely and as mysterious in sunlight as it was in the dark. "You leave it lying around for anyone to see?" Iggy questioned.
"It isn't mine!" Aylis declared. "It belongs to all of us! But it may as well be an ornament, for lack of any better use! If anyone should have it, it should be you. You discovered the first one. Zakiya - and Phuti - always said you were their lucky charm on a dig. You had an engineer's eye for important details."
Iggy went to the window. He sat down next to the precious artifact. He stared at it. He turned away from it and rubbed his eyes. Something in his actions or expression concerned Aylis. She rose from her desk and approached to stand in front of Iggy.
"It has another existence!" he declared. "Can you see it?"
"See what? What do you mean?"
"Here!" He pointed to a place in the air near the cryptikon. He waved his hand. "All of this!"
Aylis blinked then frowned. "Where? Iggy, I thought my whole office winked away for an instant!"
The cryptikon rose into the air from its cradle and met the tip of Iggy's first finger. He moved the finger, almost as if writing in the air. "How very strange!" He frowned deeply and tried to still his trembling hand.