Cryptikon Far Freedom Part 2

napping."

  "Begging your pardon, sir." He was too easy to like, she thought, and she wanted to distrust him for it.

  "Stop with the 'sir' business," he ordered. "You're a lot older than me. What was your damn it about, if it wasn't about my dereliction of duty?"

  "My mother!" Jamie replied with plenty of flavor on the word 'mother.' How can she be my mother? "Has she talked to you about me?"

  "Not the mother you wanted or expected?" Horse asked with amusement. "Every time I see her she asks me about you. Neither of us knows very much, so we just speculate. Give her a chance. I didn't like her at first but she's vastly different now."

  "Is she all those things they say she is?" Jamie demanded.

  "What things?"

  "I saw the Mother Earth Opera! I saw Sammy! I saw this wonderful singer who looks like Admiral Demba. It had to be her! And I met these four crazy female Navy officers who say she's Commodore Keshona!"

  "Really?" Horss asked. "How did they find out?"

  "It's true?" Jamie asked, as Captain Horss had sounded like he almost believed it.

  "Would you rather have a sweet little old mother who would bake cookies for you?"

  "Damn!" Jones swore, not hearing any hint of a denial from Horss.

  /

  "She is and she would. Mother and cookies, I mean." Horss could see Jones's mind was chewing on big, hard pieces of news. When she didn't respond for a moment, he took a chance on broaching a delicate subject. "I'm very sorry Captain Direk died. He saved her and Sammy, saved the whole ship. I hope we can justify his death."

  She sucked in a deep breath and nodded, looking away from Horss. Her hazel eyes reflected just a glint of moisture in the low illumination of the bridge. Horss suffered a surprising twinge of empathic grief, knowing what she must feel. He had listened to Mai describe the scene in Doctor Mnro's office. Mai had seen many tragic events in her tenure on Earth but she had needed to tell Horss of Direk and Jones, as though it affected her so much she would even deign to speak to him in order to unburden herself. It had caused him to feel real concern for Jones, contrary to his previous regard for her mental toughness and lack of sensitivity. It had also led to his call for her to report to him for special duty, so that he and Demba could appraise her fitness.

  "You knew I was her daughter?" she asked.

  "I made her tell me why she was so interested in you and why Doctor Mnro was so affected by you," Horss replied.

  "I hope she isn't too disappointed in me. I've been a Marine for far too long."

  "Our Jamie Conversations have been interesting. I wouldn't say she's disappointed."

  "You must have lied to her."

  "Damned if I do, damned if I don't. Jones, you haven't heard all of it yet."

  "All of what?"

  "How are you coping with this upheaval in your life?" He noted the fact she would not look directly at him now. He remembered Jones as a very in-your-face kind of person who dared you not to pay attention to her. "Your mother and Aylis Mnro asked me to haul you in for inspection. I don't know why they couldn't do it themselves."

  /

  "I'll survive," Jamie lied. Part of her had died and what remained was a different Jamie.

  "Good. Then you're ready for more shocking news."

  "About my mother?"

  "There's more to tell about her. A lot more. But not now. This is something else, and it will further upset you. Can you handle it? I'm not asking you - I'm asking myself if I think you can handle it. There are at least four reasons why I shouldn't tell you. Are you ready? Or should I keep quiet?"

  "What are the four reasons not to tell me?"

  "Not important, since I'm going to ignore all four."

  "What are the four reasons?"

  "You sound like you're stalling. I'll save it for later."

  "Tell me the damned four reasons!"

  "That's better! One: it's none of my business. Two: Demba and Mnro should tell you, not me. Three: the explanation will make me sound like a fool. Four: it might embarrass both of us if you can't handle what I'm going to tell you."

  "Why do you want to tell me whatever this is?"

  "I'm sorry if I've made you suspicious. I believe I'm doing you a favor. Ever since your mother killed me and Mai saved me, I feel like I've got another chance to do better. But I'm still not sure of anything."

  "What do you mean - my mother killed you?"

  "She killed me! I'll tell you the humiliating story one day. Damned strange way to recruit a captain for her ship! You're still trying to delay me from giving you this wonderful but terrible news. Are you ready?"

  /

  Horss waited and stared at Jones. Jones wiped at something on her face, made a face, and faced him. She wouldn't say anything but she was now looking him in the eye, like the normal Jamie Jones.

  He had to slow down and think about the parts not yet rehearsed in his mind. He didn't want to jump right to the key piece of news, because she might slap him and storm off the bridge without giving him a chance to offer proof of what he said. He realized he valued her as an honest person. He knew that most of the troubles in her career as a Marine came as a consequence of her intolerance of the dishonest political machinations of the brass. He admired her for being true to the principles he had often violated to advance his own career.

  /

  "I'm still here, still waiting, Captain." Jamie was not sure how much longer she could hold back the pain and the memories. She was also sure her Marines knew something was wrong with her. How can I continue to do my job?

  "Sit down," Horss said. "This may take most of what little time we have."

  /

  Jones seated herself, not on a duty station chair but on the deck, leaning against the captain's navigation tank, not even facing Horss. She held her fatigue cap in both hands, forearms resting on her knees. Her eyes were lowered, probably focused on nothing external. He hated to see a Marine officer looking so close to being broken in spirit.

  "Once upon a time," Horss began, and paused to see if that trite phrase would trigger Jones's intolerance of fools. To his dismay, she didn't react. "Once upon a time there was a scientist named Aylis Mnro who discovered how to rejuvenate people in a way affordable by anyone. She realized it would cause serious problems if she couldn't offer the treatment immediately to all the billions who were already old enough to be facing death."

  "I am familiar with the history of the Mnro Clinics," Jamie said with some impatience. "She had to roll out a service that would have caused riots when there were not enough clinics to serve the demand. The reality of the treatment was disguised as being superficial and limited, until there were enough facilities to handle the surging demand."

  "But you don't know the secret parts," Horss said. "I do. Mnro had the help of three people whose names never appeared in the official history. Two of these people developed most of the devious strategy she used to circumvent trouble from the clamoring masses. Their names were Dawa Phuti Mende and Zakiya Muenda."

  "The Doctor Mende?" Jamie asked, surprised.

  "You'll get a chance very soon to meet him and verify what I've said."

  "He's dead!"

  "So was I. Briefly."

  "Who was Zakiya Muenda? I know who Mende was."

  "Another anthropologist. You've already met her. Your mother."

  Jones leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Horss slid out of his command chair and sat down next to Jones. She opened her eyes to give him a strange expression. "The Five Worlds," she said. "We're almost there. My mother is going to steal a dead body! My mother is named Zakiya Muenda! You don't have much time! I'm about to jump up and run screaming!"

  "Zakiya Muenda, Igor Khalanov, Phuti Mende, and Aylis Mnro have been friends for more than a quarter of a millennium!" Horss declared. "They served together on a famous ship, along with a biologist named Patrick Jenkins, who was another person who gave Doctor Mnro technical help in developing her rejuvenation process. They made some very interesting
- and unreported - discoveries during their voyages. Did you ever look in the silver bag your mother gave you?"

  "No, I gave it back."

  "But you know what it was?"

  "No."

  "Jones! Have you no curiosity? It would have made this a little easier if you knew your mother had a real cryptikon in that little bag."

  "A cryptikon?"

  "Never mind! I'll get to the point. The most important person who helped Aylis Mnro was Aylis Mnro. A copy of her. The copy looked exactly like her, was DNA-identical to her, but was partially mechanical. This copy was the person who was as ruthless and relentless as Aylis Mnro needed to be to build and operate the Mnro Clinic network for more than two centuries. The real Aylis Mnro spent the whole time asleep. She awoke to replace her copy and become a crew member on this ship."

  Jamie stared at Horss and Horss stared back, making his gray eyes convince her hazel eyes that he was sane and truthful. Come on, Jones, he thought at her, work it out, see the big implication.

  /

  "A cryptikon?" Jamie was completely adrift. Had she actually held a cryptikon?

  "Forget about that!" Horss yelled at her. "Think about the copy of Aylis Mnro! She built a copy of herself! The copy was animated by an actual surviving member of a precursor race! The copy had all of her memories. If she could build such a copy of herself, she could build a copy of someone else!"

  It took great effort to get the cryptikon out of her mind. A copy of Mnro? Jamie's mind was bumped out of focus again. It was too weird to think about! All she wanted to think about was Direk.

  "Direk!" Horss shouted his name, even as she found another memory of him.

  "Direk?" She tried to withdraw from the memory, tried to understand why Horss was speaking Direk's name.

  "The Direk who died was a copy! The real Direk may still be alive! I wanted you to know. I wanted you to not be depressed, to have hope, and - if you value your dignity - to not be subjected to another traumatic situation where you can't control yourself."

  Jones's chest started heaving and Horss began to scoot away from her. She reached out for him and caught his wrist. She almost broke it before she let go. She covered her face with her fatigue cap.

  "Go ahead and bawl," Horss said. "I know Marines cry. I've seen them cry like babies. Doesn't mean they can't kick your butt after they blow their noses."

  She almost laughed. "I want to believe you! I want to so badly! This... this new information inside of me, these intense images and scenes, they're battering me into some vastly different concept of myself. I can't figure out who I am anymore! But if Direk is still alive! Dear God! If he's alive...!"

  "But his copy is dead," Horss said. "I didn't have a chance to get to know him. None of us did. But we will have a memorial service. He was a real person and he was vital to our mission."

  "When?" Jamie asked, realizing the Direk she had met could not be simply discarded, like a broken tool. But right now it would be difficult to be fair to his memory.

  "If Doctor Mnro doesn't say anything soon," Horss replied, "I'll ask your mother to set a time and place. I don't like to lose a crew member and I won't let them be forgot." He gave Jamie a few more moments to calm down and return to his presence from her lost land of memories.

  "Time for a special assignment," he announced, claiming her attention. "You will accompany your mother and Aylis - would you believe she insists I call her Aylis? - into the Five Worlds."

  "I don't know..."

  "It's an order, Jones." Horss stood up. "I know it's hard to know whether to feel sad or happy right now."

  Jamie Jones stood up. She put her cap on, started to salute. "How can I function?" She turned the salute into a quick tear-wiping.

  "Just remember the Marine motto."

  "Semper fidelis? How does that apply?"

  "Oh, I thought it was kill anything that moves. Just be faithful to yourself, whoever you are. Would you care to guess what Deep Space ship your mother and Aylis served aboard?"

  "Don't tell me it was the Frontier."

  "Well... OK."

  "Captain Horss!"

  "You sound just like my mother. By the way: speaking of the Frontier, the Freedom has a complete copy of Deep Space Fleet operational and personnel records. Take a look at them and see if you think they're authentic. They're a major reason for my lack of sleep. They're fascinating. There are things in them that would be classified and withheld from the public even beyond current times. But don't get too involved in them right now. Listen up! As you know, we're about to run the final leg to the Five Worlds. I'll make an announcement giving both military and civilian crew the chance to abandon ship. Marines will secure the departure process and account for the departing crew. This will occur about two hours from now. I wish we could convince everyone to remain with us, but the admiral feels it's unethical to order anyone to stay aboard."

  "Can the ship be maintained with a small crew?" she asked.

  "This ship hardly needs a crew at all," Horss replied. "All we do is damage it! I'm mainly concerned with the safety of those who wish to leave the ship. They were placed aboard the Freedom by the Navy for a reason. It's possible they'll bring trouble to the Five Worlds by going ashore there."

  "The Five Worlds is a peaceful community. Why trouble?"

  "There are two purposes for the mission, represented by your mother and by Etrhnk. Your mother needs the ship to search for your father. Etrhnk needs the ship to place its cargo where it can be pirated. The cargo is the people aboard, the wealth of their talents and knowledge. If they go ashore at the Five Worlds, they may be abducted by force, and the Five Worlds would come under attack."

  "By whom?"

  "The Navy will try to coerce the return of our ex-crew. If that doesn't go well, the Five Worlds may be raided by pirates from beyond the Union. Your mother, Sammy, Freddy, and I have seen their leader, or whatever she is. I was never more scared in my life! There's too much to explain right now. Trust me. Please!"

  "My father? My mother has this whole ship just to find my father? Who is my father?"

  "My feelings get hurt when people laugh at me. Ask your mother."

  Horss saluted, forcing Jones to quickly salute him. She turned and almost stumbled, retreating out of the star-filled bridge.

  = = =

  People crowded into the main port-side debarkation bay, most of them carrying their possessions. Thousands more waited in lines in the connecting ring corridors. Jamie made her way through the crowd toward where her Marines were grouped.

  She had, perhaps, over-worked and over-trained the men and the four Navy women the last few days but they seemed to take it well. The hard work was mostly for her own benefit, to keep her from thinking too much about Direk, and to hide her tears in the sweat. Now she knew he could be alive! Now the grief could go away for a while.

  She was met with some concern in the eyes of her men. She assumed it was about the situation, not about her occasional mood crashes. Well, nothing would be the same again and it probably wouldn't matter if she couldn't be the same kind of Marine she once was.

  "You heard Captain Horss's announcement," she said when she had everyone's attention. "This option applies to all military as well. When the civilians leave, you may follow them. There will be perhaps an additional hour for you to retrieve your personal gear. Notify me on shiplink as you depart."

  "Desert, you mean," Aguila said. "You're staying. I'm staying." Miguel was her best Marine and she expected his reaction.

  "You know I'll continue to pound on you and run you through the ten-kilo course. Are you in love with me?"

  "Is that what you call it?" Aguila grinned at her. "I get very excited when I receive one of your signature bruises. My collection isn't complete yet."

  "Glad to have you with me, Miguel."

  Jamie was pleased that all of them chose to stay, as she ran down the roster and queried them individually. They were a diverse lot, yet they had one thing in common: they were crazy.
She hadn't known them long but for some reason they had responded well to her. Perhaps it was the nature of the Hub Mission. They knew it was potentially fatal.

  "How about our camp followers?" She turned to Wingren and the other female Navy officers. She knew their choice. They were devoted to the person they believed was Commodore Keshona. They were crazier than the Marines. They could also run the ten-kilo course without any trouble.

  As usual, Wingren spoke for them. "The fun is just beginning, Major. We wouldn't miss it for anything!"

  "So, is it true, Major?" Aguila asked.

  "Is what true?"

  "Was Admiral Demba Commodore Keshona? With Horss and Keshona running the boat, we're loaded with quality brass!"

  "No one has confirmed that. But I asked Horss and he didn't deny it."

  "You do think it's possible, don't you?" Wingren asked.

  Jamie nodded agreement for the first time, after Wingren had posed some form of the same question too many times. Then her auxiliary memory riveted her.

  Direk again visited her from the past, without being triggered by any obvious stimulus. She was a child and a big man with palest blue eyes was kneeling in front of her. It was Direk, her first memory of him, and it was colored by hatred of him. He had taken her from her mother, the woman who would become Keshona. The memory of hatred of him when she was a child made her love for Direk when he was an old man even more profound.

  "Are you okay, Major?" Aguila asked.

  She shook her head. She rubbed her wet eyes. "No. I'm usually a very private person, but I should tell you something I couldn't say at the daily briefing. Captain Direk, the Chief Science Officer, died rescuing my mother and Sammy from an attempt by the Navy Commander to remove her from the ship. That was what precipitated our sudden departure from Headquarters. I knew Captain Direk. In another lifetime... I loved him."

  Everyone in her small audience was thrown into a confused mental state. Jamie could see sympathy and concern battling surprise and curiosity on their faces.

  "What's that look on your face, Miguel?" Jamie asked Sgt. Aguila, trying to interrupt her flashes of memory. "Did you think I've always enjoyed being a girl Marine who likes to hurt boy Marines?"

  "Captain Direk rescued your mother?" Wingren asked.

  "Admiral Demba is my mother." She saw the shock on Wingren's face. "I have more to say." She should have expended more emotion in Horss's presence. She was surprised at his sensitivity, considering his former duty as flagship captain. If she could have blown it out of her system on the bridge she might not be skirting the edge of emotional chaos now. "What Captain Horss bluntly implied in his announcement to the crew," Jamie struggled to say, "is that departing crew are making the wrong choice. Their presence in the Five Worlds will bring danger to that community and to themselves. We want them to stay on the ship."

  "Demba is your mother?" Wingren said, stuck on the wrong topic, shaking her head in wonder.

  "What can we do?" Aguila asked. "You want us to talk to them?"

  "There are image projectors in these bays," one of the Navy women suggested.

  "Turn them on," Jamie said, "and let me feed my shiplink data into them."

  The four Navy officers needed