anywhere in the ship."
Iggy and Phuti looked at each other.
"It gets stranger and stranger," Iggy commented. "Do you have a direct observation port, Pat?"
"Pat?"
"Is he dead?"
2-26 Zakiya Explains the Mission
"If everyone will find a place to sit," Horss said, "we'll get started." In another navy he would have commanded the meeting in a formal manner, but there were so many civilians on the ship, he almost felt like one himself.
Several hundred uniformed crew had arrived at the meeting, apparently anxious to learn what was conflicting their sense of duty to the mission, which reduced the number of civilians physically present, most of whom were forced to seat themselves in the tiers of spectator benches on either side of the gym. The Navy crew sat on the floor of the gymnasium in circular rows. Zakiya, Sammy, and Iggy sat with Horss in folding chairs in the center of the floor. The crowd became expectantly silent.
"Admiral Demba," Horss said simply, introducing Zakiya. He sat and Zakiya rose to speak.
/
"I need to apologize," she said. She would be turning around to face different areas of her audience while she spoke, her voice amplified by an audio system and also transmitted by shiplink, her image and words broadcast to the entire ship. "If I leave anyone or anything out, please consider it covered by a blanket apology. I apologize for waiting so long to explain things to you. Because of this delay, I'm afraid you've received too much incorrect information through rumors and other wayward channels of information."
Sammy was sitting next to her. She placed her hand on Sammy's head, gently made him tilt his head back so she could look at his face and smile at him. He returned her smile. He stood up.
"I apologize for not introducing you to Samson. I call him Sammy. I guess we all call him Sammy, since he probably has met many of you. He likes people and likes being famous. He has experienced some terrible things. I've asked him not to talk to anyone about his experiences but, knowing Sammy, I suspect he's one of those wayward channels of information I just mentioned.
"Some of the things he could tell you should frighten you, if you could believe they were true. I found Sammy on Earth. He was alone in the wilderness of Africa. He was close to dying of hunger and injury. He is a perfectly normal boy despite his experiences, as you can probably see. But Sammy didn't exist in the genetic records of the Mnro Clinics, nor does he have any known relatives, living or dead. He doesn't remember anything of his past, his parents, his home.
"He and I survived a remarkable adventure together, and even though it bears on what is to come in this meeting, I don't want to say much about it at this time. I will only say that he and I were sent far across the galaxy by means of a gate. It was dangerous where we arrived. We were separated during a violent confrontation. We were reunited at the end of the Mother Earth Opera."
A murmur, mainly in the civilian section, quickly rose in volume, and Zakiya waited for it to subside.
"Yes," she said, "that was Sammy and me at the end of the Opera. Eventually I will publish an account of our adventure to the ship's database."
Sammy sat down but Zakiya continued to stand and speak.
"I also apologize if I have ignored some of you or cut short an appointment or encounter. I contain a Mnro Clinic technology we call auxiliary memory. It is derived from the memory editing procedure required during full rejuvenation to circumvent too much loss of memories from the brain. In the Mnro Clinic, the saved memories would be carefully reinstalled in the brain. In my case they were stored in a device hidden in my body. I knew nothing true about my former lives until the auxiliary memory began replaying its contents to my conscious, often at inconvenient moments. For some reason, the auxiliary memory was also able to store such subconscious data as the abilities learned through talent and physical training. The auxiliary memory is still experimental and unpredictable. Its recordings are extremely realistic and emotionally powerful. Their accuracy is questionable, of course, but when I experience such memory I would be unable to disbelieve it. The experience, at times, nearly paralyzes me. Doctor Mnro has released all the technical data on this subject into ship's database."
Zakiya paused for another crowd reaction.
"The most important apology is for involving all of you in this situation, which is only a personal quest for me and Admiral Khalanov and Doctor Mende and Doctor Mnro. And if you remain with us, I'm afraid it will become even more dangerous. Here is some background information.
"More than two centuries ago Deep Space Fleet was disbanded by the Navy. The eight people who served on the Frontier tried to go home and live normal lives but Alexandros Gerakis and Koji Hoshino, who chose to serve in the newly-formed Navy, found themselves threatened for no apparent reason by a number of senior Navy officers. Eventually this threat spread to all personnel who once crewed the ships of Deep Space Fleet.
"Partly to save the data and partly to protect retired members of Deep Space, Alex hid copies of the Deep Space records from the Navy and destroyed all other copies he could find. He and three other members of the crew of the Frontier then set out to find the source of the trouble in the Navy. Their main clue was the loss of shipping in areas toward the hub of the galaxy, losses which were being ignored by the Navy. Knowledge of continuing piracy is still suppressed by the Navy. The four men must have traveled far beyond the Union boundary toward the galactic hub, searching for the pirates.
"As you know, the four of us who once served with the other four on the Frontier are aboard this ship. As you also know, you were impressed by the Navy to join a research voyage. That voyage was never to be. Yes, Aylis and I planned to use this ship for our own purposes. No, we never planned to endanger those who would be caught up in our plan. We suspect the Navy planned to use the mission as a means to deliver all of us into human bondage somewhere beyond the Union frontier, where our skills and knowledge could be utilized."
Another rise in the level of commotion in the crowd made Zakiya pause. She could tell that most of the uniformed crew was now continually using subvocal shiplinks to communicate their reactions to each other, while the civilians - with many fewer shiplink augments - were almost continuously whispering to those closest to them. She had expected it to be difficult to hold such a meeting but she had a good reason for wanting this many people physically present. Everyone in the gym could view the recording of the meeting later, to acquire the details they may have missed. They would also serve as witnesses to all the others watching by broadcast, that what they heard and saw had actually occurred.
"Aylis and I," Zakiya continued, "only remembered we had a plan to steal this ship after you were already selected and before we could devise a way to leave without you. So, again, I apologize for bringing you into this dangerous situation. That plan was based on concern for a sinister historical event that has been forgotten by most people. At this future distance, what could we hope to discover that would make a difference today? Our plan was based only on concern for the fate of the four men who had been our crewmates. At this future distance, how could we hope to find any trace of them? Let me also add that Aylis and I were married to two of these men, Aylis to Setek-Ren and I to Alexandros Gerakis."
Zakiya had to stop again. She was involuntarily immersed in a very personal memory of her and Alex, almost not realizing when people had quieted enough again to listen to her speech.
"At this future distance," she resumed, referring to her speech notes in her ocular terminal, "how could Aylis and I hope to regain the intimate bond of marriage to these men, when we would likely be strangers to them - and them to us?"
Zakiya paused to allow reaction of the crew to her information and to allow it to subside. As polite as they all were, the facts the crew were receiving were too difficult to ingest without some amount of verbal interaction.
"As desperate as we were," Zakiya continued, "Aylis and I started planning to search for the four men even before it became apparent they would not r
eturn soon - if ever. In a worst-case scenario, Aylis had provided them with the knowledge and the equipment to keep themselves healthy and to rejuvenate if necessary. Of course, there should be little chance, after more than two centuries of travel through probably hostile territory, that they are still alive.
"But we know they are alive!" Zakiya almost shouted. "Or will be!"
She paused to wait for quiet to return.
"How can we know this?" she asked rhetorically. She waited again, even though the crew remained quiet. "I must now warn you that you are about to see something you may find very disturbing. You will not be physically hurt. The problem we are about to present to your minds and to your senses involves your perception of reality, perhaps even your belief in reality!"
She turned to Iggy.
/
Admiral Khalanov rose, reached into a uniform pocket, brought forth a handful of bright color, and placed it in the air before him. He waited while those nearby stirred and uttered words of shock and doubt. Imaging devices zoomed and focused on the alien artifact, showing its image to those too distant from it and to others throughout the ship.
"This is a cryptikon," Khalanov said, unnecessarily. "Get up and move back," he ordered the crew members seated on the deck. "We need at least twenty meters of space