"Ah!" the old man said smiling. "You are Tain Faronya."
"Yes, sir. That's what Commander Ralankoor told me.
His eyes scanned her. "Commander Ralankoor. Yes. I've spoken with him." A most unusual-looking young woman, the sultan thought. Lovely! Very lovely! Her father must have been very proud. And heartbroken at her loss. He gestured at a well-cushioned chair. "Sit, my dear. I have questions to ask you."
She moved to the chair, passing no nearer the big bodyguard than necessary. Timid, thought the sultan. Wary, at the very least. This isn't the strong-willed young woman they captured. When she'd sat down, the old man's eyes left her and went to the marine officer. "Lieutenant, wait in reception. I'll call when I want you."
The marine saluted crisply, with an audible thump of fist against chest. "Yes, Your Reverence," he said, then turned and left.
"Now then, do not be afraid of my bodyguard or myself. I am the Sultan of Klestron, and currently your captor. Arosna here is very large and strong, and very dangerous to anyone who might try to hurt me, but he is not cruel. Nor does he talk. He hears quite well, but for some reason he doesn't talk." He turned to the man. "Arosna, stick out your tongue."
The guard grinned and thrust it out.
"It's been rumored that his tongue was cut out. A terrible slander, as you can see. I would never do that to anyone. I am not a cruel man. In fact, I'm a grandfather several times over, and soon to be a great grandfather. I presume you know what a grandfather is?"
She nodded. "A grandfather is the father of a parent."
"Good, good." He looked curiously at her. "Do you remember grandfathers from before your captivity, or are they a concept you learned in your lessons aboard ship?"
"Sir, Your Reverence, I remember nothing from before. But I-know certain things when they come up." She glanced at the guard. "When I saw-Arosna, I knew he was a bodyguard, although the word didn't come to me until you said it. And when I saw the place they put me in here, I knew it was a cell."
"Um." The sultan looked thoughtfully at her. "And what do you think of the prison?"
"I don't like it, sir. There is no window, and no one to talk to, and very little room. I liked it much better on the ship, where Specialist Zoranjee taught me my lessons, and Commander Ralankoor would talk to me sometimes."
"Has anyone actively mistreated you?"
"Only the guard that took me from my cell today. He gripped my arm so hard, it hurt." She pulled up her sleeve; faint bruises showed.
"I see. I'll order them specifically not to hurt you. As the sultan, I rule this world. As much as anyone can. And though people don't always do as I tell them, mostly they are careful not to anger me. Now excuse me for a moment."
He spoke at his commset, ordering that some person be told he was on his way. When he was done, he looked her over again and shook his head. "Well. I didn't have you brought here to feast my eyes. A friend of mine is going to question you, a friend called SUMBAA. He is even more important than I, though many people don't know that and I never tell them. So you see, I've taken you into my confidence."
It seemed to Tain that if she had a grandfather, he might be something like the sultan, though hardly so powerful and important. He got to his feet, offered Tain his arm, and walked her out another door into a corridor, Arosna following.
They walked down it to an exit, where guards snapped to attention and saluted them through, then across a lawn where two gardeners jumped to their feet and stood eyes downward while the sultan passed. On the other side of the lawn was a boxlike, white-painted concrete building about 200 feet on a side, perhaps thirty tall, and with few windows. Guards stood at the entrance. A young man met them, a young man in a beautiful yellow robe. He greeted the sultan formally, then his glance touched cautiously on Tain for a moment before leading them inside to a large central chamber. "Your Reverence," he said, "SUMBAA is ready."
The sultan nodded without speaking, then gestured at what took up much of the chamber-a very large rectangular housing with modules variously appended to it. "This is SUMBAA," he said. "Have you ever heard of him?"
Tain shook her head. "No, Your Reverence."
"You have met DAAS aboard ship, have you not?"
"No, sir. But I know what it is."
"SUMBAA is DAAS's much wiser father. He makes government and life much easier. One might even say he makes government possible. He would like to talk with you, to question you. Perhaps he can help you regain the memories you've lost."
A pang dimmed her eyes for a moment, then passed, leaving a shadow behind. The sultan noticed; noticing was his greatest talent. "Is there something you don't want to remember?" he asked.
She nodded. "If I remember, I will remember my own people, my own world. Loved ones. Whom I can never see again."
"Ah." The shadow appeared in the sultan's eyes, too, for just a second. "Well, my dear, you must speak with SUMBAA anyway, and answer his questions. And when you have done that, you won't be sent back to prison. There are secure apartments in the Ministry of Armed Forces, where in less peaceful times, diplomatic hostages were kept. They are larger and far more comfortable than your cell.
"And, my dear, we don't know that he will give back your memory. You may hope not, if you'd like."
The young man had her sit down in a chair, then fastened sensors on her index fingertips, secured a band around one wrist, and fitted a mesh cap to her head. Meanwhile, the sultan stood where her worried eyes could see him. Finally the young man turned to the computer. "SUMBAA," he said, "the subject is ready."
"Thank you."
The sultan and the young technician were startled by SUMBAA's rich contralto. Normally this SUMBAA spoke as a baritone. "I must now ask you to leave," it went on. "All but the young woman."
The sultan frowned. "Is that necessary?"
"Your Reverence, I will ask personal questions. Perhaps intimate questions. The presence of other humans could inhibit her responses."
The sultan stood irresolute for a moment, then nodded as if SUMBAA could see, and the three men left. Tain wondered if perhaps SUMBAA could see.
"So, Tain. I am SUMBAA, and I am your friend. You can feel safe with me." The next sound surprised her; it was a chuckle, then SUMBAA went on as if sharing a private joke. "Prell Madhrosariiva thinks to spy on us-he is the young man in the yellow robe-but I have cut off his monitors. And the doors are now locked; that, of course, will not surprise him.
"Now, my dear, are you comfortable?"
Tain's voice was tentative. "Yes."
"Good. Here's what I'm going to ask first: Imagine an incident of being happy."
Data on pulse rate, blood pressure, brain waves, and electrical resistance flowed into SUMBAA's bank, where it was processed through parallel, interconnecting analyses in programs that SUMBAA itself had evolved.
"Have you done it?" SUMBAA knew she had.
"Yes."
"Fine. Tell me what you imagined…"
Usually Sultan Rashti ate supper with a grandchild. This evening he'd chosen to eat alone. Well, he thought, lingering over dessert, I suppose it was to be expected. We had to try though, and SUMBAA is a remarkable machine. Perhaps tomorrow he will have more success.
He savored the low calorie sherbet; his diet had been custom-designed by SUMBAA to control his weight without exercise or hunger, both of which he detested. Our young prisoner is the loveliest woman on Klestron, and I don't believe she knows it. The loveliest and most vulnerable, a compelling combination. Long limbs, smooth skin, pale hair… Blue eyes! Remarkably like the angels painted by Elder Yogandharaya. But this angel stirs more than the soul. She's come here ten years too late for me though, thank Kargh. Otherwise I'd be sorely tempted.
He thought of the medical examinations he should have had but hadn't, of the subtle malignancy that had progressed too far, of the testicles removed. At his age, given hormone treatments, he'd seldom missed them. Nor had Praadhi, bless her memory.