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the memory that still exists in my own human, living brain.
    Private recording One.Alpha scrambler. Autoerase program.
    You were right, Evelyn, and I was wrong. Even though I am the oldest man on the ship, it seems that I can still be useful.
    When I awoke, Captain Bey was standing beside me. I felt flattered – as soon as I was able to feel anything.
    “Well, Captain,” I said, “this is quite a surprise. I half expected you to dump me in space as unnecessary mass.”
    He laughed and answered. “It could still happen, Moses; the voyage isn’t over yet. But we certainly need you now. The Mission planners were wiser than you gave them credit.”
    “They listed me on the ship’s manifest as quote Ambassador-Counsellor unquote. In which capacity am I required?”
    “Probably both. And perhaps in your even better-known role as – ”
    “Don’t hesitate if you wanted to say crusader, even though I never liked the word and never regarded myself as a leader of any movement. I only tried to make people think for themselves – I never wanted anyone to follow me blindly. History has seen too many leaders.”
    “Yes, but not all have been bad ones. Consider your namesake.”
    “Much overrated, though I can understand if you admire him. After all, you, too, have the task of leading homeless tribes into a promised land. I assume that some slight problem has arisen.”
    The captain smiled and answered. “I’m happy to see that you’re fully alert. At this stage, there’s not even a problem, and there’s no reason why there should be. But a situation has arisen that no one expected, and you’re our official diplomat. You have the one skill we never thought we’d need.”
    I can tell you, Evelyn, that gave me a shock. Captain Bey must have read my mind very accurately when he saw my jaw drop.
    “Oh,” he said quickly, “we haven’t run into aliens! But it turns out that the human colony on Thalassa wasn’t destroyed as we’d imagined. In fact, it’s doing very well.”
    That, of course, was another surprise, though quite a pleasant one. Thalassa – the Sea, the Sea! – was a world I had never expected to set eyes upon. When I awoke, it should have been light-years behind and centuries ago.
    “What are the people like? Have you made contact with them?”
    “Not yet; that’s your job. You know better than anyone else the mistakes that were made in the past. We don’t want to repeat them here. Now, if you’re ready to come up to the bridge, I’ll give you a bird’s-eye view of our long-lost cousins.”
    That was a week ago, Evelyn; how pleasant it is to have no time pressures after decades of unbreakable – and all too literal – deadlines! Now we know as much about the Thalassans as we can hope to do without actually meeting them face-to-face. And this we shall do tonight.
    We have chosen common ground to show that we recognize our kinship. The site of the first landing is clearly visible and has been well kept, like a park – possibly a shrine. That’s a very good sign: I only hope that our landing there won’t be taken as sacrilege. Perhaps it will confirm that we are gods, which should make it easier for us. If the Thalassans have invented gods – that’s one thing I want to find out.
    I am beginning to live again, my darling. Yes, yes – you were wiser than I, the so-called philosopher! No man has a right to die while he can still help his fellows. It was selfish of me to have wished otherwise … to have hoped to lie forever beside you, in the spot we had chosen, so long ago, so far away … Now I can even accept the fact that you are scattered across the solar system, with all else that I ever loved on Earth.
    But now there is work to be done; and while I talk to your memory, you are still alive.

9. The Quest for Superspace

    O f all the psychological hammer blows that the scientists of the twentieth century had to endure, perhaps the most devastating – and unexpected – was the discovery