Space Wizards

20. Fond Farewell

Murphy stood on the command deck looking out a massive panoramic window at a breathtaking view of deep outer space. The endless expanse filled with countless objects of wonder offered little indication of the speeds they were moving. The ambassador guild ship glided across vast distances in the wake of an artificially induced gravity well. Clones moved about but generally stuck to their workstations and ignored her meanderings around the ship. Even Reggie, who she enjoyed talking to, disappeared back into the indistinguishable lookalikes after she was given a clean bill of health. She felt alone on a ship crewed by millions. 

She walked up the wall and hung upside down like a bat from the heels of her grav-boots. The view out the front window looked the same inverted or not. She closed her eyes and fell into a meditative state. Prayer didn't always work despite her absolute faith. She wondered if she had traveled so far the gods of her world could no longer hear her? She prayed for guidance, for strength, and above all, for an inner comforting connection. 

In her mind's eye, she saw an ethereal light bringing life to a vibrating universe; itself a proof of the existence of all-powerful beings. The gods sat on thrones of gold in a heaven of clouds far above reality. They watched her and judged her by her deeds. Had she done the right thing venturing out into space? She trusted Melock, he had saved her life, and he was good. She was sure of that much, but what of her purpose to drive evil out of the world? Was she still on that path? She hadn't spoken to Melock in a fortnight. She wasn't sure she was cut out for the tedium of space travel. 

She understood solitude among conformity. She understood being ignored. Often it was preferred compared with the watchful attention she received in the diabolical clutches of the monastery. The rules, rituals, and denials. The masochism of daily self-torment. The sadistic strictness of the priests and nuns of the order. The days of strident prayer. The nights of unwanted trespasses and, even darker, the ones that became desirable. The forbidden. The secret pleasures. The endless mental entrapment and punishment. When she left the nunnery and embarked on her personal crusade, she found in battle the true meaning of her life. 

The ease of life on the clone ship left her restless. 

Blood filled her head and the pounding in her brain felt like the heartbeat of god. The pain was exquisite. She silently mouthed a prayer of thanks and at the point of pain's sharp crescendo opened her eyes with a start. The female clone stood in front of her. Their heads and eyes aligned at the midpoint between floor and ceiling. Dark black met emerald green. 

"Your destination is approaching," she said using her voice. "Is there anything you need before you depart?"

"My hammer," said Murphy. 

The ambassador brought her arm out from behind her back to reveal the grav-hammer.

"For one of your species, I find your lack of possessions admirable." 

"Thank you, abbot." Murphy flashed an upsidedown smirk and the ambassador returned the expression. "I spent my seventeenth summer studying meditation with the monks of the silver mountains. They taught me how the universe provides all and a warrior needs only the weapon that is her body."

"So it would seem," she said. "I enjoy that title; abbot. I see how you might feel it suits me. Reggie sends his regards and farewells. Please understand that is hard for us to accept the individual identities you attempt to give us. The concept is an abstraction in the mind of the collective. I, myself, have enjoyed having another woman nearby, a sensation I can assure you is equally abstract to us. Nonetheless, you've been our most welcome guest, sister." 

The ambassador's smile washed away Murphy's swirling mental state. She tapped her heels together, dropped to the deck, and gave her latest abbot a hug. When the ambassador broke her stoicism and wrapped her arms around the young woman the entire population developed a maternal appreciation for Melody Cherrycoke Murphy. 

The ship's gravity drive disengaged and a star system came into view. 

For the last several weeks, Melock was engrossed in a study of the memory banks of the 71EEB8's network of quantum computers. He was plugged in telepathically to a set of four Hexagon Memorizers in the core of the vessel. Three clone librarians assisted with his in-depth study of the species, their genetic engineering practices, and their relations with the Ibi-Ero Makina. 

In the corners of the hexagonal computer room were metallic blue beehives and flowering plant-filled hydroponics bays. Insects buzzed about the room and traveled down tubular conduits throughout the ship. Melock trapped a beaker full of the bees when he pulled out a chunk of honeycomb. It was sweet dark-colored honey with a thick viscous texture. Melock licked it as he opened his eyes and released his mind from the virtual interface. 

"Have you completed your initial research?" asked a clone.

"Assuredly. The Makina's technological advancement is impressive considering their binary language. Astonishing creatures, they've really taken becoming sentient seriously." He bowed to the librarians. "The 71 have been most helpful in this endeavor."

The clones nodded in return. They liked when he referred to them as a single entity, a superorganism. It was how they identified. 

Melock snapped his fingers, vanished from the computer room, and appeared on the bridge next to the hugging Murphy and ambassador. He smiled at the sight of it and rocked back and forth from heel to toe not wanting to interrupt the moment. When they let go and Murphy opened her eyes, she saw him. The expression of the childlike joy of hugging one's mother was not easy for her to remove from her face. 

"It is time for us to depart," said Melock. 

The ambassador turned to face him. "Once again, we do not send you on this mission to Makina space. Nor do the 71EEB8 endorse your attempt to recover the Technowizard. We helped you as we help all those in need of assistance but we now must part ways. As you choose to embark on this quest, we must inform you with all certainty that our treaties with the Ibi-Ero Makina strictly restrict our movement in their territory and that we respect the sovereignty of the machine species. Once you enter their space, you are on your own. We cannot interfere nor be called upon. We will deny any responsibility or involvement."

"Abbot, your trust is safe with us unto death," said Murphy returning to her normal serious self. 

"I doubt I could convince you more," added Melock. He turned his head and faced the clone in charge of their sensor array. "Do you have their exact position?"

The clone looked up at this, tilted his head like a dog, then spoke using his voice, "I have sent you the coordinates." 

Melock glanced around the room making eye contact with any clone that was looking at them and said, "Thank you." Then he looked directly at the ambassador. "I've come to realize it was unnecessary for me to single you out because of your genetic difference in our seeking help from the 71EEB8 and you have my humble apologies for that. I bid you farewell, Madam Ambassador." 

She bowed slightly as the magician and female warrior vanished from her ship. She didn't have to ask as the clones already knew that they transported to the hangar physicality on the junkyard moon and were in the vicinity of the life signs of their traveling companions. She pulled a scanner from her robe and took every reading she could from the area where they had just been standing. 

The massive ship moved out beyond the edge of the solar system and continued to monitor activity.