“Okay. You got to realize, I’m just a low level manager. I was only Alec’s handler for the assignment. All decisions were made at higher levels,” said Aaron holding up his hand submissively.
“And?” asked Dayton, as he leaned against the wall near the door, arms crossed over his chest. Aaron knew parts of Dayton’s file; after all Zentri was part of the greater Cosmic Conglomeration family, even if a far removed subsidiary. Without setting off alarms at other levels, he had accessed what information he could on the entire Carnegie family. That is when he realized Dayton could be a problem. Upper management simply wrote off his concerns stating Dayton is a good soldier who follows orders. But upper management had never been stuck in a secluded closet with their “good soldier” wanting to rip their heart out. Aaron wasn’t a brave man and he preferred to avoid pain. Choosing to cooperate at this moment was a no brainer.
“Alec was a near prime candidate. We don’t just look for orphans but candidates, like Alec, with weak family ties and a propensity to get into trouble are also preferred. Alec, alone and penniless, looking to make some currency. Of his own choice, he joined the Zentri Inc. family. Before any of us knew it, he had excelled through several of our programs. He began infiltrating entry and mid-levels of organized crime, colony administration or whatever we needed him to do. It seemed the skill set runs in the family.”
“Are you saying he’s undercover law enforcement?” asked Dayton.
“No. Nothing like that. You need to realize the Cosmic Conglomeration, or CC, is all about what the rumors say they are about. . .they will take over the universe as we know it. Yes, surveillance technology is used on all fronts and gives our mainframe computers billions of data every second. But nothing can replace the man on the ground, as they say.
“I thought I was doing something to help the system. Something to help others.” said Alec.
“Don’t kid yourself. The real Alec knew what he was what and for who. He, you, were always in it for yourself and a paycheck. Information continues to be the highest commodity. So when the CC wants to move into a new colony controlled by criminal elements, they already know who they need to quietly take out so the whole thing will collapse and not put up a fight when the CC takes over. If they need to start pushing colony administration in a certain direction, they have people like Alec who make suggestions here or there. Suggestions tailored to that specific administration, based on the information we’ve gathered about them. It’s that simple.”
“But what happened to me? Why don’t I remember anything prior to a few months ago? Why did Dayton say I’m a clone?” Alec’s face turned red with frustration. ”What am I? Who am I?”
“Oh,” said Aaron flatly. “You’re not going to like this part. Remember I’m just the handler.”
“Get to it,” said Dayton icily.
“The CC sent agents to New Hope colony to do some investigation. Around the same time we had Alec placed in Artum. He made fantastic progress with the unsavory element there, when in a freak accident he was. . .uh. . .killed during a training exercise.” Aaron looked away quickly, unwilling to meet the eyes of either man.
“And?” demanded Dayton, no longer leaning against the door, but clenching white knuckled fists.
“We were making huge progress in Artum colony. He was our main man in that town. Since Zentri had DNA files on all employees and we needed Alec. . .well. . .they started rumors that he was sick in bed. This bought them the days they needed to clone Alec and get him back into place.”
“My God! I can’t believe this. I’m not me!” cried Alec as he sank to the ground and buried his head in his hands.
“Why the made up story about his family?” asked Dayton.
“The cloning process is the easy part. Memories are a lot trickier. It’ll be years before we perfect the transfer process of a person’s memories. At this time he only has the bits and pieces that we gave him. We figured with a dead family he’d never think about leaving to track you down. We never thought you’d show up looking for him instead.”
“Well unlucky for you, I did.” say Dayton as he stepped forward. Aaron’s eyes went wide with fear.
“Please no. I’m a nobody,” pleaded Aaron.
* * *
Dayton watched as Alec gazed in amazement out the side viewport. The planet Primus VII fading in the distance, replaced with a blackness full of stars.
“Other than originally travelling here, have I visited any other planets?” asked an awed Alec without turning to face Dayton.
“One time, when you were six, we took a family trip to Moonbase. It was all our parents could afford at the time, but we loved every minute of it, especially you. You didn’t care it was a blank, dusty moon. You were just happy to explore.”
Alec turned to Dayton. “I guess I have a lot of my past to learn. Thanks for being there for me. I expect I’ll even start feeling like we’re real brothers eventually, even though I’m just. . .” he motioned to his body, “just a copy.”
Dayton gave him a sad smile, “I lost my brother years ago when he wanted to go off and do his own thing. He always thought he knew better than our parents and part of this is his own fault, as much as it pains me to say that. But I never thought to make it my mission to take care of my family, especially my brother. I’m just glad I found you and you’re here.” Alec nodded and turned back to the viewport.
Dayton leaned back intent on napping. I’m sorry Alec, Dayton thought to himself. I should have done right by you the first time. Maybe this is God’s way of giving us a second chance. I hope we make the most of it.
* * *
Aaron Pardey woke in his bed. He loved his life.
He loved his expensive sheet, as he moved around enjoying the feel of them on his skin. Today he started his new assignment and the excitement filled him. His boss had told him it offered huge rewards. Granted at first Aaron was concerned about some of the risks, but his boss said the risk was minimal and that Aaron had great job security with this type of assignment. Even though the details were sketchy, Aaron was still sold on the idea and he didn’t care what it was. Aaron’s smile broadened at the thought of the potential perks and job security.
He brushed up against a warm body. He turned to see an unfamiliar female face sleeping quietly next to him.
She was a dirty blond with high cheekbones. She inhaled deeply then let it out slowly. Her eyes flickered open and she smiled at him.
“Hi,” he said returning her smile.
“Hi,” she said.
“That was fun,” he said. Her smile broadened, as she propped herself up on one elbow looking at him. With her free hand she played with the hairs on his chest.
“Yes, it was. I’m glad we met last night,” she said as she peeked over him to the clock on his side table. She frowned. “I’ve got to get to work.” With that she turned and jumped out of bed heading to the restroom.
“Sorry, I forgot your name,” she called back from the open door. Aaron heard water running in the sink.
“Aaron,” he yelled back after hear, as he clasped his hands behind his head.
“By the way,” she yelled back, “You never told me what happened to you. How did you get those scars?”
Aaron looked down at the two sets of three scars on his chest; one above each nipple and two directly below. He frowned trying to remember what happened to him two weeks ago, but the details were fuzzy.
About The Authors
MARK FETTEROLF surpassing his parent’s wildest expectations, he learned to read and write along with all of the other children. Looking forward quite a few years and several Nanowrimo’s later, he has approximately 175,000 unpublished words under his belt. Unfortunately most of them were quite superfluous.
But when the trumpets sounded, this project came to fruition
ANTHONY PENDLETON (1981-current) was born and raised in San Diego, California, before moving to Sacramento in 2005. He attended school at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona a
nd currently works in the education field with Pearson. He is married with two young children, and publishes board games in his spare time.
ERIK R. VAN ASCH.is a guy who thrives off the variety of life. Between four kids, a fantastic wife, a full time job, attending college in his 40’s and a handful of other hobbies; he sometimes finds time to update his blog with the goal to encourage busy writers to write:
http://beingawriter.wordpress.com/
SUSAN BROOKSHIRE.is the author of the highly rated, Young Adult novel, Cave Crossing. She continues to have a love for Young Adult and Middle School fantasy writing.
TRAVIS GRUBER.is a stand up comedian when he’s not reading comics or watching pro-wrestling. Travis likes share his humor (and blunt opinions) in his blog, Whiskey for Breakfast.
Books By The Authors
SECRETS: Science Fiction Short Stories Book 1
LOST: Science Fiction Short Stories Book 2
One Last Thing...
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Science Fiction Short Stories Books 1 & 2: Twelve Engaging Sci-Fi Tales (One Mind, Different Voices Series) Page 12