Forbidden Knowledge

infobox Book |
name = Forbidden Knowledge
orig title =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Stephen R. Donaldson
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series = The Gap Cycle
genre = Science fiction novel
publisher = Bantam Books/Spectra
release_date = 1991
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages =
isbn = ISBN 0-553-29760-0 (USA hardback)
preceded_by = The Real Story
followed_by = A Dark and Hungry God Arises

Forbidden Knowledge (or officially "The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge") is the second book of "The Gap Cycle" by Stephen Donaldson, a science fiction series.

Plot introduction

After Angus Thermopyle was framed and arrested for stealing station supplies from Com-Mine, Morn Hyland escaped with Captain Nick Succorso aboard his ship, the Captain's Fancy. As part of a deal Morn made with Angus, she will not reveal to anyone that she has a zone implant - a device Angus installed in her brain allowing him to control her while he raped and abused her - meaning that Angus will not face death for unauthorized use of a zone implant, and in turn Angus gave Morn the zone implant control. With the control in her hands she soon becomes addicted to the effects of a zone implant.

Because she cannot stand the touch of another man because of Angus, Morn uses the implant to allow her to give Nick what he wants, sex, all the while loathing everything about him but not letting on.

While on board the Captain's Fancy, the data first Orn Vorbuld repeatedly molests Morn whenever they end up alone together, eventually leading to a showdown between he and Nick after Orn attempts to rape her. Orn planted a virus in the ship's computer that, if not deactivated by him, will wipe the computer's memory leaving them effectively dead in the water. With this knowledge Orn attempts to hold the ship hostage and have Nick spare his life, but Nick kills him in the heat of the moment, ignoring his warning. Morn discovers a temporary fix for the computers by using her UCMP ID tag to read the ship's datacore and restore the ship's systems, but the ship still has to deal with occasional memory wipes as the virus is still present.

Throughout these events Morn realizes that she has become pregnant, but the age of the fetus means that there is no way that Nick could be the father. Morn resolves to get rid of it as soon as she can, but when the time comes she reflects on the death of her entire family and keeps it. She eventually tells Nick about it, lying and saying it's his. He insists that she abort it and, when she insists on keeping it, makes a deal with her that, if she can remove the virus from the ship's computer, he'll let her have her baby.

Because the ship continues to wipe the data even when Morn uses archived data from before Orn arrived on the ship, Morn deduces that the virus must be hardwired into the computer, not 'softwired' as she and everyone else assumed. After the hardwired virus is removed Nick keeps his end of the bargain, but not in a way Morn expected: Nick sets course for Enablement Station, an outpost in Forbidden Space, a region of space controlled by the mysterious Amnion.

The Amnion are a race of creatures whose society is centered around a rather advanced ability to manipulate DNA. They intend on dominating the human species through use of mutagens that would turn humans into Amnion themselves, but for now are held at bay in their section of the universe - what humans call forbidden space. No one but pirates and other illegals ever deal with the Amnion for fear that they themselves will be turned into Amnion, but Nick maintains that they would never go back on their word for fear that if they did no humans would deal with them.

Once they arrive at the station Nick convinces the Amnion to give them enough credit to fix their gap drive (which was damaged previously) and to force grow Morn's unborn child to adulthood, in exchange for a phial of Nick's blood. Nick explains to Morn that he visited the station previously to test out the UCMP's anti-mutagen drug and allowed the Amnion to inject him with their mutagens. Because he survived the process, humanity in tact, his blood is worth something to the Amnion so that they can study it to find out why he was not transformed. Because the anti-mutagen is a pill that the body metabolizes soon after ingestion, Nick does not jeopardize the safety of the drug.

The Amnion keep their promises and give Nick the credit he asked for and force grow Morn's baby to the approximate age of 16. The Amnion explain that in order for the child to be functional, they must imprint the mother's mind onto the child, a process that renders humans insane. Nick protests but Morn insists on it for the sake of her child. Morn somehow survives without the predicted insanity and the procedure is a success, but Nick becomes enraged when he sees Morn child, which she has named Davies Hyland, after her father; Davies is the spitting image of his real father, Angus Thermopyle.

After getting back to the ship the Amnion reveal Morn's secret zone implant after explaining that it protected her from the brain damage a mind imprint would cause. Nick realizes that Morn's love for him was all a masque and when the Amnion request that they return Davies Hyland to them for experimentation, Nick complies in return for parts to fix his gap drive.

Morn does not agree with this trade and manages to hold the ship and Enablement station hostage by putting the ship's self destruct on a pressure release trigger so she can get her child back, as well as the parts needed to fix the ship. They enable their gap drive, which they soon learn was sabotaged by the Amnion to self destruct, but the engineer Vector Shaheed manages to avert a disaster and they survive, coming 'back into tard' with a slagged gap drive far from Enablement, but still in Amnion space. At this point Morn is subjugated and imprisoned and Nick resumes command of his ship.

Setting course for Thanatos Minor where an illegal trade outpost called Billingate resides, two Amnion warships catch up and Nick negotiates to have Davies transferred to one in an ejection pod. Morn manages to get the pod reprogrammed so that it misses the Amnion ship and heads toward Billingate.

In the meantime, Angus Thermopyle is tortured and interrogated on Com-Mine by Milos Taverner, a member of Com-Mine security. Eventually he is visited by Min Donner, the Director of the Enforcement Division of the United Mining Companies Police. She explains that Angus has been requisitioned under the newly passed Preemptive Act which grants universal jurisdiction within human space to the UMCP. Angus is placed into cryogenic stasis and transported to Earth, where he is 'welded', a term which means that he was turned into a cyborg against his will, by Hashi Lebwohl, the Data Acquisition Director for the UMCP. It is explained that he and Milos (also reqqed under the preemptive act to act as Angus' cover) are to be used in a UMCP plot involving Thanatos Minor.