Seeds of Memory

by J. Richard Jacobs

  Niki looked hopefully to the door, then took note of the group at the table. They were indeed paying attention and none displayed outward signs of boredom with his improvised preamble, so he decided he could chance stalling a couple more minutes.

  “I have in my possession a unique artifact that was deliberately left here by the Fathers with the hope it would find its way into the proper hands. But, since I am not qualified to know whose hands are proper, I've made copies to be given to each of you and delivered to all interested parties on Paz—Biotech, Records, Astro, and the Commission of Libraries and Museums."

  “Mr. Kaznov,” Andromodi from the Presidential Bureau of Ethics said. “If you are providing copies of this—artifact—to the community in general, why are we here in particular?"

  “Good question, Shanah. The copies I mentioned will not be sent out until after we have concluded our sessions here. As I said, you are uniquely capable of dealing with the issues to be raised, and you will be given ample time to assimilate the material presented before the community at large has it at their disposal so that you will be prepared and able to guide them. As you will soon see, many of us have been given—uh—special gifts by the Fathers, and I will, as we proceed, explain to you what that means, in a general sense. For now, suffice to say, they are special gifts indeed."

  “Special gifts?” Andromodi pressed.

  “Later, please. The other part of the answer to your question rests in what I know of human nature. The information I have can't be entrusted to any individual or small group of people, because it could be used for purposes other than the common good. In short, I can't trust any of you enough to limit distribution to just his or her group."

  They were all predictably disturbed by the truth but restricted their protests to facial expressions. It was turning into an awkward moment for which Niki would need to find a way to soothe the comment, when the door burst open. All turned as Shan entered, closely followed by Harko and two others Niki didn't recognize.

  “Friends,” Niki began a bit nervously. “I would like to present Chief Investigator, Brand Harko from the Law Applications Bureau and Albo Shan of the New London Journal. Mr. Shan will be recording these proceedings. Who are the others, Bo?"

  “The others,” Harko answered before Shan could open his mouth, “are my associates. I must insist they remain in the room through the meeting. Can we get seats for them?"

  What the hell is Brand up to?

  Niki had told Shan to advise Harko how important his presence was, but that he was to come alone—so who were the other two, and why had Brand brought them? Niki excused himself from the table and told the others he would be right back. On the way out he grabbed Shan by the arm and dragged him into the passage where a dozen uniformed Enforcement officers were waiting.

  “What is this?” Niki demanded through clenched teeth.

  “I couldn't stop him, Niki. He has Council Apprehension Certificates for Frank and Vagnu and he intends to take them both in."

  “Now?"

  “No. I convinced him to do it privately, after the meeting, but that's the best I could get from him. He wants to see both of them dangling to kick off Halfyear."

  “He can't be serious."

  “He's serious, all right. He said if he couldn't get a termination order from the Council, he'd shoot them himself and take the consequences."

  “Does Trak know?"

  “No, she left before he got the CACs and he fixed it so no one would be able to tell her. He also made certain the GoL Tomas wouldn't hear about it.” Shan lowered his voice and continued, “He knows how important this is, and he swore on the Ancients he'd do everything he could to be discreet, but Frank and Vagnu are guilty of some pretty heinous stuff, you know, and Harko said he couldn't, with any conscience, let them go."

  “Damn it, Bo ... I need them to carry the message to their people, otherwise we have no way of getting a good blend. Do you hear what I'm saying?"

  Niki took an angry poke at his portacom while he looked back down the passage at all the uniforms."

  “Luto?” he said.

  “Nothing, yet, Niki."

  “No ... I want you to take two more seats to the chamber. We have a couple of uninvited guests ... and set it up so I can send information independently to monitors one and seven. I need to be able to talk to them without the others knowing."

  “Want them to be able to answer?"

  “No, that's too complicated. Hurry, man."

  Niki glared at Shan."

  “I couldn't—"

  “I know, Bo, but this is a big problem, and I'm going to have to try to get them out of here alive. I don't know how, yet, but I have to try."

  “We could do the same thing Tazh did to us at Cafferty,” Shan offered.

  “Gas?"

  “Yeah. Since they'd all be out, we could say we'd been attacked by the Cadre, and nobody would know any better."

  “Good idea, Bo, but it has one serious flaw—we don't have any gas."

  “No, but Harko does. They came up here in Enforcement rovers and they're docked a couple of squares north."

  “Guards?"

  “All here. That's why I figured we could get away with it."

  “Good. Not another word."

  As he reentered the room, Niki could feel the tension in the air. It was palpable, and Harko was perched on the edge of his chair like a hungry sacker that had spotted a shagrat foraging on the surface. Vagnu and Frank had paled visibly.

  “Forgive the delay—I needed to straighten out some details on how Mr. Shan will report these proceedings.” He had the attention of everyone but Frank and Vagnu—it was important that everyone get the message, doubly so for those two. “Everyone here, I'm sure, is curious about the artifact I mentioned, so we will begin with that before we move into details.

  “We are all, as onners, required to read and memorize sections of the Ancient Record. For us, it provides the foundation upon which our civilization stands, gives us a functioning system for the rule of law, lays out the philosophy of the legal system, and provides a framework for the general conduct the Fathers expected of us.

  “They knew we could attend to our affairs under what they referred to as raw law, but that, the Fathers told us, was not enough to make civilization endure the ravages of time and the rugged conditions of Paz. For that they gave us the other side of the law, the human part of applied law with the warmth of flesh and blood covering cold statutes, and presented it in the Book of the Law under Moral and Ethical Precepts.

  “The Book of the Law has served us well for a very long time, but now ... now it is time to open the rest of the pages of that book. Up until this time the book we had was to be followed. But in the twelfth generation, today, that is to change. We of the twelfth generation have arrived, and Paz is about to undergo some radical changes in all areas—mainly in the areas you represent.

  “What you see displayed on your monitors is that section of the Ancient Record that was kept from us—unabridged and unedited. It is the law as set down by the Fathers in its entirety."

  Everyone stared into their monitors as the material Niki described scrolled by—even Frank, Vagnu, and Harko were no longer eyeing one another, and one of the men Harko brought with him had left his seat by the door and was peering over Harko's shoulder. If there were no questions raised, this section would require two hours for the group to absorb, so Niki, comfortable for the first time since his early start on the day, sat back to ponder when it would be wise to put Shan's idea in action. The group had to have as much of this information as possible. He decided to wait until after the midday break, when he would have an opportunity to talk to Luto about it. Luto would then carry out whatever was necessary—probably late in the day.

  * * * *

  Rammix could tell her how many times she searched the ISCU files, but Pax didn't want to know. She knew they weren't going to breach the hull of that thing out there without an ensuing clash that they would win but could
ill afford. So, as a precaution, she had Rammix set their orbit to the opposite side of the planet from the ancient, mysterious survivor of more than a thousand years in space and set about making plans for a landing on the Delta Element, as Rammix referred to it.

  That ISCU-9 was being controlled by its onboard computer was obvious, but exactly why it had moved in to take an orbit around the planet was an enigma. The more grand part of the puzzle was its continued existence after such a long period in space, even considering that Rammix had discovered no asteroidal or cometary material in or around the system. This, in itself, represented another conundrum. All planetary systems had their share of debris, didn't they?

  For two years prior to entering this system, Rammix had listened, scanning the spectrum for any sign of communication, and found only fragments of stray microwave signals and bits of very weak lower frequency EMF. The people of this planet stayed away from high-powered radio transmissions, which was a pity, because there was no way to eavesdrop on their culture, and thus no way of knowing anything about them outside of making a provocative landing and saying, ‘Hello, we're your long lost cousins. How's it going with you?'

  Rammix had detected a pulse weapon discharge down there, which compounded the problem, because now it was impossible to know what stance to take. How was she to deal with them if they reacted in a hostile fashion—going down with weapons at the ready was a given—shoot first to impress them with the SESC brand of power, or wait to see if they were fired upon first, then shoot? Whichever position she took would surely result in prolonged hostilities that would be costly to both sides.

  Speculation—I hate working from guess crap.

  Were the people down there aware of their presence? Did they have the technology to observe their approach and, even now, make ready for whatever greeting they were going to give the Hermes and its crew? She would order an armed and ready landing with a ‘shoot at the slightest sign of trouble’ policy—four shuttles in the first wave to establish a secured perimeter. After that was accomplished, she could relax.

  * * *

  Chapter XXV

  Niki motioned to Shan, and Shan joined him, his movement unnoticed as everyone's attention was fixed on the monitors and on making notes in their chipcorders while the information unfolded—that was, unnoticed by all, except the man at the door who seemed to notice everything. Niki assumed he was one of Harko's investigators assigned to keep an eye on the group while he devoted his attention to the meeting.

  “Did Harko think about the midday recess?” he asked in a low voice. “Are his men still in the passage?"

  “They shouldn't be. I gave Harko the schedule, and he said they'd be waiting at the lift at that time."

  “Good. I'm calling the recess in a minute."

  Niki waited until the Planetary Survey finished scrolling across their screens, then announced the midday break. To his surprise, Harko and the man who had been watching over his shoulder were the first to leave the room. Harko stopped briefly to say something to the fellow by the door, then stepped into the corridor. Niki's suspicion about the man at the door had been correct, and it became apparent which of the two men at the table were deemed the most important. He left his post to follow Frank out, leaving Vagnu behind.

  Within fifteen minutes the chamber was empty, and Niki sat for a moment to contemplate the past five hours. With the exception of Harko's disruptive intrusion, everything had gone well, and Niki was pleased with that. Perhaps Harko would make a deal with him, though he doubted it. Damn, he thought, why do things always get so complicated?

  The gas was a good idea, but the veil of innocence would be torn open the minute Harko and his men made it to their rovers, and then things would get even more difficult. No, Harko would either make a deal—or Niki would have to think of another way to handle the situation.

  When Niki entered the dining room, he found Harko and the man who had been watching the monitor with him at a table by the door where they had a view that overlooked the entire area.

  “Hello, Brand. May I join you?” Niki said.

  “Of course, Niki. Delighted. Do we have our chance to talk?"

  “Maybe—but first, I need to talk to you about Frank and Vagnu."

  “There's nothing to talk about, Niki ... I'm taking them in today, and that's all there is to that."

  “You don't understand. I need them. Give me three, maybe four days, that's all I ask."

  “No, Niki, it's you who doesn't understand. Those two are going to hang before—"

  “But ... I need them. They have to get the message to their people about what they learn here."

  “From what I know, so far, you have no guarantee they'll learn anything at all, and, even if they do, you can't be certain they'll take it to anyone else."

  “But—"

  “No, Niki."

  The other man sitting at the table cleared his throat—an attention-getting device only—and said, “Is it true that we've all been programmed and, if so, how does it differ from what Biotech has been doing?"

  “I don't know where you got that idea,” Niki said, somewhat surprised by the question. “But it is—to a degree. Who are you?"

  “Name's Filo Sax, Apps Records. So, what about this engineering by the Fathers—how is it different?"

  “After the break, Mr. Sax. But I will tell you it is infinitely more sophisticated and much more complicated than the work at Biotech. At the moment, I need to come to an agreement with Brand."

  “The only agreement you're going to get from me ... you already have. You have my word. I won't take them until after the meeting."

  “Brand, listen to me. They—"

  “I've listened all I intend to, and it's only because I consider you and your friends benign that you're not being taken in with them. See, what you're asking me to do is let two assassins loose for a few more days—and you know I can't do that."

  “But—"

  “No. I could hang them ten times each, and they'd still be ahead of the system. By all the Ancients, I'm going to see them in the box before Halfyear begins and in the Terminator's booth before it ends. That's final, Niki."

  “I had to try. Will you excuse me? I have to get some information from Shan. I'll be right back."

  Shan had taken a position near the main group, so he could hear their comments, but far enough away to be out of their hearing as he spoke softly into his chipcorder. He slid his chair back when Niki approached.

  “Bo, I can't get anything from Harko. Go to my office and tell Luto about the gas when you get a chance."

  “Sure. Listen, Niki, I don't want to overstep my bounds, but I don't think you should have said anything to Harko."

  “Why?"

  “Because of how he salivated while he was telling me about how he was going to hang them. If we go ahead with the gas now, he's bound to know we were responsible."

  “He'd know that anyway as soon as they got back to their rovers."

  “Hmm, hadn't thought about that."

  “We're going ahead with the gas, Bo, but we're going to handle it a little differently."

  “How differently?"

  “I'm going to lock them all up in Twenty-three."

  “What—are you out of your mind?"

  “No, Bo. Think about it. If we take Frank and Vagnu, Harko will come after all of us, and if we don't do it ... Frank and Vagnu wind up decorating the Terminator's line before Halfyear's over."

  “Yeah, but these are important people. They vanish and there'll be a search like Paz has never seen."

  “Right, but the only trail any of them could have left would be the Ganeden destination. The shelter here is unrecorded—they don't even know it exists."

  “Yeah, but what about Harko and all his men? I told him how to get here, and he must have told Dispatch—if no one else."

  “I don't think so, Bo. I think Harko's such a closed man he wouldn't tell anyone anything unless he absolutely had to. He probably issued orders and brought
them here without saying a word to Apps or Enforcement. How many did he bring?"

  “Twenty-five, besides the two Apps guys—the rest are all uniformed Enforcement, and all of them are inside ... but I still think you're crazy."

  “Maybe. Anyway, tell Luto to start rounding up uniforms when we go back in session and that he is to gas the chamber at eighth hour and thirty. The material we have will take at least that long to present."

  “Okay, Niki. I hope you know what you're doing."

  “So do I, Bo. So do I."

  * * * *

  Harko turned his cup round and round slowly, his brow furrowed in intense thought. He did that for quite some time after Niki had returned to their table, his gaze fixed on Niki as he did so and, when he spoke, his lips appeared to twitch uncontrollably at the corners of his mouth.

  “You know, Mr. Kaznov, the thought crossed my mind early on that, if all of us are the product of genetic manipulation and psychological conditioning, there is no freedom of choice. You're saying that it was all done for the good of Paz and the furtherance of some continuing colonizing effort—an endeavor I find trivial in the face of all this,” Harko rotated an index finger at the crowd in the makeshift lounge as he spoke, “and what it implies for us.

  “My research, with liberal help from Sax, shows Apps to be made up primarily of Sigmas and Kappas. When I discovered that what I was doing with my life might have been the result of some ancient encoding ... I went into a deep depression. It seemed to me that my accomplishments, such as they are, meant nothing, that the sum total of my work, my devotion to the whole business, was nothing more than the way my gears turned and had little to do with my own free will. Is there any meaning to that—free will—or is it illusion? I'd like you to explain to me how such preprogramming is good for anything, except the Fathers and their grand plan for their own future."