“Look over here. Look at me. Good. Now, I need your help again. Alright?” Tracy took shuddering breaths as she looked at the old man. He smiled at her. She felt him shielding her thoughts as her father had done when she was frightened as a child. “Tracy, have you ever babysat?”
The question threw her off, but she nodded and said, “My brothers.”
“Good. I need you to babysit this boy.” Dr. Arellano patted the clone. The clone to whom Dr. Arellano referred as a boy, wore pajamas, a robe, and slippers. However, the boy was in the body of a full-grown Parvac male, one who looked exactly like the clones from the ancient laundry room.
“They were going to kill me down there.”
“Tracy, he is different and only newly wakened. Sense him with your mind. Tell me what you find.” She reached out telepathically. The mind before her was intrigued by dark colors and shapes, like a baby. “See?” Dr. Arellano asked. “Just keep him in his seat and play with him. I won’t be far. Set the shield again once I’m out of the room.”
Tracy did as he asked. The soldiers were busy trying to account for their numbers. The clone began to fuss. Tracy saw a box of toys and handed him a stuffed animal. He held it close to his face and then put it in his mouth. “This day just keeps getting creepier. Yes, it does,” she said in the tone of voice she had used with her brothers when they were little.
The clone threw down the toy, so she handed him a rattle. That got his attention. Tracy screamed and pointed. A cryogenic freezer drawer had opened, and a clone emerged. Dr. Arellano shook his head sadly from where he had begun work on an antidote. The soldiers shut and locked the drawer with the clone inside.
“I thought the cold would stop it!” Tracy yelled to him through the plasti-glass.
Dr. Arellano said something to one of the mercenaries. The man walked over to her and tapped on the plasti-glass door. “Let me in. He needs your help.”
Tracy deactivated the shield. “My help?”
The man shrugged at her and took over playing with the clone to keep it calm. Tracy rushed over to the relative safety of the doctor where he worked. “The serum was based upon your father’s research with sea stars. Correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“To stop this, I need your help. What will destroy their ability to regenerate?”
“Disruption in their stem cells. If they don’t get the command to regenerate, they remain dormant.”
Dr. Arellano stared off at nothing for long moments. Then, he got to work. While he worked, he mumbled to Tracy to bring him different items. Unlike the mercenary who had been assisting him earlier, Tracy knew what those things were. When a familiar mind brushed against her own, Tracy swayed on her feet.
Telepathically, Jazon asked, “Where are you?”
“Are you alright?” Dr. Arellano asked as he steadied her.
“Yes, sir,” she answered. Then, she said, “Jazon, I’m in the lab. That weapon Lord Ajani used is regenerating the bodies of the dead, but they are gone inside.” She didn’t know how else to explain it.
“Stay there. We are on our way.”
“Okay.”
Dr. Arellano said, “He’s a strong telepath.”
“Yes, sir. You had better deal honestly with him, or you’ll answer to me.”
“I thought your family strongly disapproved of such forms of experimentation.”
Tracy watched as the doctor spliced genes with a quick, practiced precision. “Jazon has disproved to me all the theories of hybrids being abominations. To cling to such ideas would be ignorant in the face of such glaring evidence.”
Absently, he asked, “What evidence is that?”
“His character, honor, integrity, and bravery,” Tracy answered.
“You think highly of him.”
“I do, or I wouldn’t have become his wife.” He raised an eyebrow at her and then carefully transferred cells into a petri dish. “Jazon would have been able to change my father’s mind. I’m certain of it.”
“I’m sure Jazon’s father would be pleased to hear it. He was a student of mine once, long ago, before his wife died, and he vanished.”
“Stand down,” Jazon ordered as he, Agata, Vasco, and two mercenaries entered the lab with Lord Ajani.
“It’s okay, Jazon. These men work for me, now. I hired them. Isn’t that, right?” she asked as she turned to one of them.
He said, “Yes, Lady Tracy. How could I turn down a hundred credits?”
The other mercenaries within hearing distance chuckled. One of the mercenaries with Jazon said, “You drove a hard bargain for our services while we were away. Is our team sharing those credits?”
“She offered us a hundred credits each. We’ll cut you in. You know we’re suckers for a damsel in distress, especially one who can lower a shield and release us from a trap.”
An angry Newlin Ajani demanded, “What is the meaning of this?”
All of the men with Jazon sobered when they observed their formerly fallen team members. While Dr. Arellano explained their failed attempt to weaponize the serum, Tracy rushed to Jazon and threw her arms around his chest.
“What was your original team count?” Agata asked.
“Twenty,” one of the mercenaries answered. The men took a quick attendance of the living and the dead. “There are three of us roaming around out there,” a man said.
“Split up into teams, find them, and bring them back here. They must be treated,” Dr. Arellano said absently as he continued to work.
“Newlin Ajani, I’m placing you under arrest,” Jazon said. “Captain Agata, put out a distress call to the Galaxic Militia with a disease control beacon.”
“Yes, sir.”
A load lightened off of Tracy. Jazon and his men knew what procedures and protocols to follow in the event of a disaster. Jazon stroked her hair and empathically soothed her emotions. She hugged him again before returning to serve as the doctor’s lab assistant.
“He can’t stay cooped up in there any longer. It’s past his bedtime,” Dr. Arellano said of the clone.
“I can solve that problem,” Jazon said as he lifted his blaster.
“Jazon, no!” Tracy said.
“Tracy, I have a mission.” His face had an expression warning Tracy not to argue.
“Sense him with your mind. That’s all I ask.”
“Tracy,” Jazon said in warning.
“How many would have reacted in the same way with you? I’m ashamed of my own initial reaction to you. What if I had allowed my prejudices to prevent me from falling in love with you? Yes, he is the clone of your enemy, but his developing consciousness is his own. The clone is yet another of that criminal’s victims.” Tracy clutched her hands together. Her thoughts about the ethical dilemma of the clone’s existence were too new to her, and she didn’t understand her own feelings well enough to form a convincing argument. Deciding to place her trust in Jazon, she returned her attention to Dr. Arellano.
He observed her with watery eyes. “Thank you,” the old man said.
Jazon, Agata, and Vasco exchanged glances with each other in a silent conference. A loud roar entered the lab through an air vent. Tracy clutched at the chrome edge of a table and froze. Three mercenaries came into the laboratory at a run.
“Something freaky as hell is going on!” one of the men yelled.
“Report,” Agata ordered.
“There were two dead ice bears at the cave entrance. They don’t seem dead any longer!”
“They ate the clones that attacked Tracy,” Vasco said.
“Set up a detainment perimeter. Those bears can’t escape,” Dr. Arellano said.
“It will be two days before the nearest Galaxic Militia ship will be here,” Agata reported.
“Tracy, stay here. You are not to leave this lab.” Jazon ordered with an added compulsion to be obeyed.
Guards were stationed at the door to the confinement area with its grotesque inhabitants, as well as at the lab’s exits. Then, Jazon and the others
left to trap the reanimated ice bears. Tracy and Dr. Arellano proceeded to work for hours.
“I think we may have something here,” the doctor said. Tracy watched as he filled a canister with a dispersal spray and added a few drops of antidote. “I’ll need your help with this, my dear.”
Tracy followed behind him with a grimace on her face and bile rising in her throat. The bodies of the dead mercenaries moved about mindlessly in the plasti-glass walled room. They jerked away when they bumped into pieces of lab equipment. Tracy was glad the expensive equipment had been sealed within plasti-glass and was operated robotically. Otherwise, it would have been necessary to destroy it due to contamination.
“Could you depress this panel while I add this to the filtration system?” Dr. Arellano asked.
Tracy held down the lever he had indicated while he added the spray to the air inside of the containment room. Then, he took her by the wrist and took a few steps back. Tracy wanted to stare at either her boots or the stone floor, but curiosity got the better of her. A thick blue mist lightened in color as it dispersed in the air. Eventually, it was absorbed into the bodies of the soulless, mindless former mercenaries. They began to collapse.
“We will need to keep them under observation while creating more of the substance. I’m certain they will want to dose the ice bears,” Dr. Arellano said.
Tracy shuddered at the memory of the terrifying ice bears. “If it hadn’t been for Lieutenant Vasco, those bears would have eaten me.”
“If it hadn’t been for the adverse effects of the serum we purchased from Jarreau, the clones wouldn’t have been down there to chase you about in the first place. We could go on about such things for hours. Now, back to work. We have much to do.”
When Jazon and the others returned to the lab, they had good news. “We captured and chained the bears. They won’t be able to wander off. All other contaminated organic material has been incinerated,” Jazon said. “We’ve set up a radial defense shield to stop the possible spread of contamination.”
Dr. Arellano said, “There are others who must receive a similar treatment.” He gave a sad nod of his head to the mercenaries, now finally at rest.
Tracy shook her head. Hours ago, those men had been their enemies and had died in the fighting. Now, the surviving hired mercenaries had joined them. They were banded together for the sake of their continued existences. “Were you close friends?” Tracy asked the soldiers nearest her of their fallen comrades.
“Most of us just met to work security for this place,” a man said. “Don’t get all torn up about it. We all know the dangers inherent in our line of work, and none of us here are saints.”
Captain Agata said, “You each have your orders. We sleep in shifts. Dr. Arellano, put some of your machines to work on the antidote for a few hours. You need to rest.”
“I must complete my work!” he argued.
“Do you want to put that to bed, or not?” Agata asked of the clone.
Dr. Arellano looked over at the clone. “I suppose you are right.”
Aside to Vasco, Jazon said, “Wait until I get her out of here.” Then, he said, “Tracy, come on. You’ve been working for ten hours straight.” Jazon led Tracy, Dr. Arellano, the clone, and four of the mercenaries up to the floor of the fortress with the rug that ran the length of it. The mercenaries scanned all of the rooms before entering any of them. Jazon locked their door, put up a defensive shield, and began filling the tub. “Get in,” he said.
Tracy undressed while Jazon built a new fire. After their shared bath, they had a dinner of ration bars and bottled water. Then, they slept in their nest of blankets in front of the fire.
Chapter Ten
When Tracy woke up, Jazon was gone and Lieutenant Vasco slept curled up in a blanket nearby. Into her thoughts, Jazon said, “Go back to sleep. I am on duty.” Too tired to need permission, Tracy laid her head down and closed her eyes. When next she awoke, it was to a commotion in the hall. Vasco was at the door before she had managed to sit up. Quickly, Tracy dressed. Vasco had opened the door, and warmth from the fire escaped as the sounds of voices entered.
“The blizzard has gotten worse. The generators are shutting down, the ones in the basement. The ones in the laboratory continue to operate,” someone said.
“Tracy, stay here,” Vasco said as he left.
She reactivated the shielding as soon as the door closed. The blaster she had loaned to the big mercenary had been returned and was back on the table near the door. It comforted her to see it. The sounds out in the hall had quieted. Tracy went behind the screen to the waste unit and had just finished peeing when she heard a sound. Holding her breath to listen, she heard the noise again. It was coming from the fireplace. Tracy pressed the button on the waste unit, pulled up her pants, and crept closer to the fireplace.
“It must be a pinecone burning or something,” Tracy mumbled to herself. Then, she screamed.
Captain Agata kept Dr. Arellano and Newlin under observation as they produced more of the antidote. Jazon gave him a nod as he entered the lab. The mercenaries and clones who had died had been incinerated and their deaths properly recorded. He had requested that the necessary but gruesome task be postponed long enough for him to get Tracy out of the lab. Now, he sensed the Arellano and Newlin planned to escape.
“Should we allow them to work together?” Jazon asked Agata.
“I am certain that between our efforts and those of the Galaxic Militia that they won’t get far even if they manage to obtain temporary freedom.”
Making no effort to hide his telepathic scans of their thoughts, Jazon watched for a while as the two men worked. Newlin concentrated on escape. However, Arellano’s fears were of the contagion spreading and for the remaining clone’s life. Jazon looked over at the clone. Of course, he looked exactly like the former ambassador. However, the clone wore long tan play-pants, a red sweater, exercise shoes, and sat playing on the floor with a color shape. Babysitting duty had gone to a mercenary who had been injured by a swipe from one of the reanimated ice bears.
“He’s an innocent child in all of this. He didn’t ask to exist,” Dr. Arellano said.
Jazon looked over at him. “In a way, he did. He is Felix Jiri, down to the smallest molecule. Isn’t he?”
“Please, try to understand for his sake. Yes, he shares the same physical traits. However, without the memory transfer, he will grow and develop mentally as an individual. His own experiences and observations will mold him into the person he is to become if you give him the chance,” Dr. Arellano pleaded.
“It isn’t up to me. I’m following orders. However, for your complete cooperation, I will contact my superiors and ask permission to let you keep it. Perhaps, they will grant you a hearing,” Jazon said.
“Yes, yes, I will agree to those terms.” He swiveled back around to his work. “Tracy might be right about you. She believes you are honorable.”
Jazon stilled at the compliment.
“Stanley would be proud of the man you have become, married and an Imperial Guard. You should visit him,” Dr. Arellano suggested.
“You know Dr. Crispus?” Jazon asked.
“Yes, I thought I knew him quite well several years ago, but that was before everything changed.” The doctor tapped his head. “The need for a family is instinctual among Laconians. Your father and I both understand that intimately. However, there are some who come from large families who take it for granted. He lifted his chin back toward the clone. “For example, Lord Jiri cares more for power and wealth than for what truly matters. Family is what is important. That need is what drove me to my own research. I couldn’t sire a child. My clones are my children.”
Angrily, Jazon said, “They aren’t your children any more than my brothers and I are Dr. Crispus’ children.”
“Oh, is that so? Did he nurture and care for you? Did he teach you to care for yourself? Did he see to your education?”
“Yes, before he began killing us with his experiments,” Ja
zon said coldly.
Dr. Arellano met and held Jazon’s eyes with his own. “May you never understand the depth of pain it took to break your father’s mind.”
Even though his words were sincere, they chilled Jazon as he felt her fear. “Tracy,” he said before he ran from the lab.
From within the fireplace, beady eyes peered back at Tracy. She backed up and then ran for the blaster. Her hand closed upon the weapon just as she heard squeaking sounds. Tracy jumped up onto the table, fastened the holster around her hips, and leaned over trying to reach the defensive shield on the door. The table wobbled under her. The movement of the table had made her feet feel sweaty and had put a frightened ache into her knees. She settled and tried to balance.
The rat had crawled out of the fireplace and had been followed by another. The second one lifted upon its haunches and scented at the air. She could see its nose as it made its whiskers move. Then, it seemed to focus on her location, and it scurried toward her. Tracy set the blaster to the lowest level and fired before it could get farther than the center of the room. Stunned, the rat laid still. Two more rats came down from the chimney, heedless of the fire. The flames caught on the fur of one of the rats. Unconcerned with the flames that had begun to burn it alive, the rat, along with the others, attacked the stunned rat and began eating it alive.
Horrified at its screams, Tracy stunned them all and fumbled with the shielding. As she opened the door, Jazon was jogging toward her from down the hall. “Tracy, what’s wrong?” Tracy glanced into his solid black eyes and then grabbed ahold of his shirt and began climbing up his back. “Shit,” he said as he saw in her mind what had happened. Through a com-link on his wrist, he said, “Vasco, get to our room and bring a crate and some gloves.” Jazon stunned the rats again when they started moving.
After Vasco arrived and boxed up the rats, the three of them returned to the lab. The stun from the blasts had worn off, and they began to hurl themselves against the inside of the crate. The scaping of their claws and agitated sounds they made transitioned into that of fighting. It made Tracy’s hair stand on end.
Jazon: An Omnes Videntes Novel Page 9