Entry 32

Recovered Memory

Den came into the cargo area early the next morning. I could tell by his cryptic questions he was trying to figure out if I still believed I was a married man. I guess he didn't want to say anything to upset my mental balance.

"Soooo," Den said slowly. "How do you feel?"

Since I usually am the brunt of Den's teasing I decided to be a bit mischievous today. "Great why?"

He looked at the door of Magash's cabin and then to my cot obviously trying to figure out where I slept the night before. "How did you sleep? Was your cot comfortable?"

I gave him a mock look of confusion as I pointed to the cot behind me. "That cot? Why would I sleep on that cot?"

Den's jaw dropped as he stood there trying to formulate a question. "Where did you sleep then?"

"Why, with my wife, of course." I grinned and gave Den a wink. "Although not much sleeping was going on, if you know what I mean."

I could see a blush crawl across Den's dewflaps as he struggled to find his voice. "Oh, no." He walked over to a small packing crate and sat down on it. "Oh kriff. Magash said she could handle it."

A wide grin crossed my face. "Oh she handled it alright."

My friend suddenly became speechless. I was able to keep a straight face for only a few seconds before I burst out laughing. "I'm joking. I must have rebooted after I went into sleep mode. I still retain the memories of a fabricated human past, but I believe my recollections from the time of my first brain injury until my most recent damage is intact and accurate. The only missing time I am experiencing now starts right after I escaped from the medical facility and until the time I rebooted during sleep."

A slight smile tugged on the corners of Den's mouth. "So, you don't remember what you did from the time you received your second brain injury and when you woke up last night?"

I shook my head. "No, but after my memory returned Magash told me I had been under the misconception that we were married."

"Is that all she told you?" Now it was Den's turn to grin widely.

I nodded. "Yes."

"You don't remember grabbing Magash up in your arms and giving her a long, passionate kiss before announcing that she was your wife?"

I frowned. Magash didn't mention that fact. "Now you are joking with me."

Den laughed louder. "No, ask Jax or Magash. You kissed her soundly…and I think it was an open mouth kiss."

"Stop it. I did not."

"You did."

I sat down my cot and dropped my head into my hands. "How could I do that? Magash must have been horrified."

"Oh, I don't know. She looked surprised but she didn't struggle."

I groaned in embarrassment. At that moment I heard the door to Magash's cabin open and the sound of her stepping outside. "What is wrong?"

Den smirked. "He's just embarrassed about last night."

I looked over at Magash. She was still wearing her sleep outfit, but now a blush accessorized her nightwear darkening her light red skin to a deep maroon color. "There is no reason for him to be embarrassed. Nothing happened," she said adamantly. "We only slept together. We slept. Nothing of a sexual nature happened."

"What?!" Den exclaimed. He looked at me wide-eyed. "You two slept together?"

I laid down on my cot and groaned. "Magash. He was telling me about the kiss. Something you forgot to mention. Thanks for letting him know we ended up in bed together."

Den doubled over in laughter. "This story is getting better and better by the moment."

"Don't tell Jax or Sacha," I begged him.

It took him a few minutes to stop laughing. "But it is such a good story."

Magash walked over to Den and placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a beseeching gaze. "A true friend keeps confidences."

"Arrggghhh," Den groaned. "I don't know if I can hold in such hilarious secret."

Magash crossed her arms across her chest and scowled. "I will make a deal with you. If you keep this secret from Jax, Sacha and Norro I will tell you how I-Five ended up in my room and how he reacted when he woke up next to me confused as to why he was there."

"Ohh ho ho," Den gave a toothy grin. "I like that deal."

I waved my hands at Magash. "Wait. Why would you make such an agreement?"

She grinned mischievously. "Because I don't know if I can hold in such a hilarious secret."

I threw up my hands in defeat. At least I only had to deal with Den knowing all the details.

Entry 33

Recovered Memory

We spent the day watching news reports and waiting for Sondra's father to contact us.

The initial newscasts said there was a fire at the Drogan Medical Building. A second report mentioned two people were removed from the building in an ambulance. About an hour later Ralf Soren, Sondra's father, contacted us elated that his daughter had been found. He thanked us and promised to wire us the full payment for our services.

Sacha had done some research on the other women and was able to ascertain their locations based on their new identities. She contacted the various people searching for their relatives and provided them the information on their whereabouts and where to wire the reward money if our information lead to the discovery of their lost loved ones. She had set up an untraceable shell company to funnel monetary transactions. She said she called the business Confidential Security Services.

The news of a possible slavery ring caused a major uproar on the planet. When a reporter commented that the Empire was looking into the matter and was sending an Inquisitor to investigate, we decided it was best to watch this story unfold somewhere other than on Phindar. Ralf Soren had provided us with enough money for fuel, food and other supplies to last at least a month. If any of the other reward money came in we might be set for two or three months…long enough for us to find other employment.

Entry 34

Recovered Memory

We are currently on our way to Yavin IV, a forested moon orbiting an orange gas giant called Yavin. The habitable moon is on our short list of possible worlds to settle down on. To ensure we are not followed we have taken the precaution of making a number of short hyperspace jumps on the way to Yavin IV. Whenever we exited hyperspace we downloaded as much information about the ongoing investigation on Phindar. The news reports were difficult to watch. There was a lot of finger pointing, crying relatives and confused victims. When I found Sacha on the flight deck gazing at her datapad and crying I knew something bad had transpired.

I put my hand on her shoulder and looked over to the datapad. "Sacha, what happened?"

She pulled back a wayward wisp of her black hair as she wiped tears from her eyes. She gazed up at me with a heartbroken expression as she struggled to regain her voice. "I know none of this is our fault, but some of these women that were given new memories married and are either currently pregnant or already had a baby with their new husband."

"Oh," I whispered sadly. "Well, their husbands didn't know about their wives' backgrounds did they? If the men are innocent and the women truly love them, they could stay married."

Sacha ran a hand over her face in frustration. "Two of the women were previously married and had children with their original husbands. They now face the fact that they have two families and they are torn as to what to do. They don't remember their past life or children…but their kids remember their mother."

My shoulders slumped at the news. We thought it would be all happy reunions, but that doesn't seem to be the case with the exception of maybe the last two women kidnapped. "How about the others?"

Sacha shook her head. "Two of them were legitimate patients of the clinic. One was trying to forget a decade of child abuse and the other was trying to escape the memories of years of domestic violence perpetrated against her by a possessive and psychotic ex-husband. Now that their families know where they live the women are vulnerable to future harassment."

I dropped down into the copilot seat next to her. "I'm sorry Sacha."

She nodded sadly. "At least the kidnapping ring was uncovered and I heard three men are in custody."

I gave a weak smile. "That's something good."

"Yeah, but the Drogan Medical facility is under attack and being sued by the victims. It doesn't look like they knew about the criminal activities, but they own the building and the equipment used to erase the memories. They are temporarily closed and may never reopen. It is just another victim of this crime ring."

I reached over and put a reassuring hand on her arm. "Sacha, I feel bad for the two women who went to the clinic for help on their own. Hopefully they can get personal protection orders to keep their dysfunctional family members and ex-husband away from them, but the other cases should have come to light. I know it is difficult for the women, but they have a right to know and their families deserve to know the truth. The children from their previous lives must have been suffering. They probably thought their mother was dead or she abandoned them. This is a very bad situation...and it was not created by us."

She looked down and rubbed her hand over her baby bump. "It must be awful having a baby and then losing the memory of his existence and now you are torn between two families…two lives. Maybe it would have been better if they remained oblivious."

I sighed deeply realizing her pregnancy was making this situation so much harder for her to handle. "Sacha, the problem was escalating. You heard what the kidnapper said. He wanted the women's memories erased quicker and he was willing to risk damage to their brains thinking he could sell them to brothels. He didn't care if the machine left them as empty shells. The situation was devolving into something beyond depraved and cruel. You have to think of all the potential future victims we saved."

She nodded sadly as she turned off her datapad. "You're right."

We both sat quietly for some time before she spoke again. "With all that has been happening I never got the chance to say how proud I am of you…overcoming your fears and switching bodies just to help strangers." She gave me a furtive glance. "How are you holding up…emotionally?"

I gave a faint smile. "I'm doing better. I still have memories of growing up human, but I know the truth. It is hard to not accept reality when your brain is put into a servo droid. I'm a droid. I know it. I accept it. Hopefully one day I will self-repair and I will stop having these false memories."

She stared at me for a long moment before tentatively broaching a sensitive subject. "Is that what you want? To regain your droid memories and give up your belief that you are human?"

I nodded. "I want to remember what I am...to remember my true life experiences because those events created who I am today."

She reached over and gave me a friendly pat on my arm. "I can understand that because who you are today is a truly remarkable person."

I simply nodded as we fell back into companionable silence.