Larry Niven - Fate of Worlds - Return From the Ringworld

“Understood, sir,” the local Jeeves said.

The life-altering news was recorded in Sigmund’s earbud, together with the ordering of the cover-up. But Earth’s coordinates? Vanished!

If only he had worn spy lenses, too — but he had not dared. Light glinting off the lenses could have given him away. And each extra bug would have drawn a trickle more power from the power transmitters recessed into the walls, a drain that might have been detected.

While Sigmund second-guessed himself, Norquist-Ng’s orders reached Endurance. “I don’t understand,” Alice said. “Don’t we want to find our roots?”

“That will be quite enough, Ms. Jordan.” The minister stood to scowl into the camera. “Captain, you are to return home at once. You will not reveal New Terra’s location, nor invite foreign vessels to accompany you. If your new acquaintances have told the truth, we can visit Earth at a time of our choosing. If not, we wouldn’t want them to know where we live.”

Sigmund took a deep breath. Suppose it took a little while to get out the word Earth had been found. Maybe that would be all right. The minister was within his rights choosing to bring such unexpected developments to the governor.

Logic be damned, Norquist-Ng was stalling. Of that, Sigmund had no doubt. One way or another, he promised himself, the word would get out.

But where was Nessus? Sigmund pictured him locked inside his cabin, furled into a ball — catatonic with dread of ARM retribution for ancient Puppeteer crimes and the founding of New Terra. “How is our friend coping with events?”

“Nessus doesn’t know,” Alice said. “The Concordance has observer ships here, too. He had left us to visit an old friend before Koala hailed us.”

Her posture had become tense, Sigmund noticed. She’s not telling us something.

Norquist-Ng said, “Captain, you have your orders. If Nessus isn’t prepared to leave, he can stay with his friend.”

“We’re not quite done refueling,” Julia said. “Hopping around between snowballs for safety slowed down the process, and we also had a minor equipment malfunction. About two days and I believe we’ll be ready.”

Alice seemed to relax.

Something would happen in two days. Sigmund wondered what, knowing Alice well enough not to fish for hints. Nor could he ask in private: his coerced source had been shipped off-world for routine patrol duty. Until he uncovered someone else in the comm center with a hand in the cookie jar …

Focus, Sigmund!

Maintaining contact with the ARM was the first priority. How hard did he dare push? Norquist-Ng had nearly banished Sigmund once before. “Minister, there is another factor. The Patriarchy fleet remains in the neighborhood. Kzinti are very warlike, very dangerous. We can’t risk them spotting New Terra before Earth forces arrive.”

“Fourteen light-years is hardly ‘in the neighborhood,’” Norquist-Ng said. “As for avoiding your aliens, that’s easy. We’ll remove our ship from what is their neighborhood.”

A minute later Julia answered, “That’s another thing. The Kzinti have gone.”

Futz! Sigmund said, “Minister, I recommend putting the defense forces on full alert. And more than anything, we need allies.”

“Calm down, Ausfaller,” Norquist-Ng said. “We’re always alert. That’s how Endurance came to be where it is, as you very well know. Clearly your aliens realized the Ringworld is no longer there to fight over.”

“ We are here to fight over,” Sigmund said. And to eat. “To oppose a Patriarchy expeditionary force of the size Endurance observed, we’ll need ARM reinforcements.”

Norquist-Ng frowned. “Is there any circumstance for which you don’t think contacting Earth is the right — ”

“If I may,” Jeeves interrupted.

It wasn’t the local AI that Sigmund heard, because Julia answered it without delay. “Go ahead, Jeeves.”

“I have cracked the Kzinti encryption, and their fleet is not bound for New Terra. Nothing I have decoded so far would suggest they are aware of New Terra.”

“Satisfied, Ausfaller?” Norquist-Ng snapped.

“… And so they are on their way,” the distant Jeeves continued imperturbably, “to invade the Fleet of Worlds.”

Beneath a frost-speckled coffin lid, afire with nervous energy, Louis opened his eyes. He had the briefest sensation of déjà vu — had he not just awakened in an autodoc? — before the memory storm struck.

Parents and sister, long forgotten. Nessus. Desperate times, derelict ships, and daring rescues. Raiding the Pak evacuation fleet to steal the Library. Starfaring starfish waging civil war. Lunatic Puppeteers, led by a sociopath, wielding planet-busters. A lost colony world, unsuspected, home to millions of humans. Adventure and amnesia, each in its turn eagerly embraced. A willowy, strong-featured woman —

Alice! In his memories, she was younger, raven-haired, brown eyes warm and inviting. And she was pregnant!

He slapped the panic button. Too slowly, the lid began to retract. The familiar clutter of Long Shot appeared.

“Good. You have returned to us,” he heard Hindmost say.

With old/new memories bursting like thunderclaps, Louis retrieved a name: Baedeker. The receding dome finally let Louis sit up. He found Baedeker and Nessus observing him, Nessus sidling out the doorway. To make room for Louis? Or preparing to flee from him?

Louis said, “I knew you both long before Ringworld.”

“True,” Baedeker said. With a straightened neck, he offered Louis a clean jumpsuit.

Leaning to take the garment, Louis almost tumbled from the ’doc. Without order or logic, memories kept crashing over him. He steadied himself against the side of the intensive care cavity.

“You are disoriented,” Nessus said. “I feared this might happen.”

Like drinking from a fire hose, the images overwhelmed Louis:

— A woman’s face, contorted in a death rictus, glimpsed through a blood-splattered visor.

— A stupendous fjord, the tide surging in, and Alice standing nearby. He had just met her.

— Hyperwave consultations with the starfish. Gw’oth! That’s what they called themselves.

— Painkillers, addiction, and withdrawal.

— Making love to Alice.

— Broken ribs and men with funny asymmetric beards and —

“Louis!” Nessus shouted. “ Listen to me. The ’doc restored many engrams. You’re reliving most of a year all at once.”

Louis shook his head, desperate to clear his mind. “I experienced these things in a particular order, tanj it. Why is everything so chaotic?”

“It’s been a long time,” Hindmost — no, Baedeker — said. “Since those recordings, countless experiences have imprinted themselves as new and altered neural pathways.”

But Louis scarcely heard the explanation, still drowning in the past:

— Cooking breakfast for Alice, who could hardly synth her own toast.

— Barhopping his way through spaceport dives.

— Playing secret agent and double-crossing Achilles.

— Tiny suns like strings of pearls.

— Getting thrown out of a big, ugly government building by New Terran soldiers.

“It’s as though I have two minds,” Louis struggled to get out. “It’s like being in two places at once. You’re suggesting the old engrams don’t fit where they’re supposed to. Too much in my head has changed for the old … for the old recordings to reintegrate as they should.”

“I believe that to be the case,” Baedeker said. “Of course except for Carlos Wu and perhaps Tunesmith, no one ever understood the full capabilities of this autodoc.”