“Who knows?” Jack replied. “I guess they’re just more advanced than we thought. Just look at all these babies - they all look the same.”
“Jack,” Megan turned to him, “they’re all my clones. They’re all minnie mees!” Jack was dumbfounded.
The pair stared wide-eyed into the cribs.
“I was a beautiful baby, wasn’t I?” Megan cooed, falling instantly in love with her duplicates. She approached a crib and ‘Clone 14’ looked up at her and smiled, her little eyes twinkling as she did so. Megan and Jack both ‘awed’ at the same time. Megan wanted to pick the baby up and cuddle her.
“Well, why shouldn’t you?” Jack prompted, “You have a right to; she’s part of you.”
Megan hesitated. “Shall I?”
“Go on,” he urged.
With her heart in her mouth, Megan gently rolled the baby over to her side, lifted her out of the crib and up against her chest. The baby smelt adorable, the special new-baby smell. She snuggled into Megan’s neck and clung on with her tiny little hands, babbling. Megan was over the moon. It felt so strange to be cuddling a baby that would have been herself, fifteen years earlier. She held the baby out from her face, the baby grinning and thrusting out her little arms and pulling herself in, giving Megan a sucky kiss.
Megan laughed and gave her one more cuddle and kiss before placing her back in the crib. She went over to another crib and picked up the little girl who gave her the same smile, and who had the same lovely temperament.
Before long they had spent an hour in the large nursery, and still hadn’t cuddled all the babies.
Megan was suddenly overcome with sadness.
“What is it?” Jack asked, anxious.
“These babies all need loving, Jack. Who’s going to love them and care for them? As far as those creeps are concerned they’re just a bunch of experiments destined to be brainwashed.”
They were in mid-conversation when they heard the door shut, and turned around to see Sobek standing there.
“We are the caregivers of your clones,” Sobek said to Megan. “It is your duty and mine to care for these babies until they are old enough to participate in the program, which will take five years, the duration of time that you will be required to stay. After that they will be under the jurisdiction of the Jovian Secret Service.”
“But there are too many of them. How are we going to love and care for them all?” Megan asserted.
“There are twenty-four clones, and all we are required to do is to cuddle and spend time with them. Their food intake and toiletries are taken care of by the cribs they sleep in. They will never go hungry. Nor do they need to wear uncomfortable nappies, as the cribs have their own cleaning system. They will also, by instinct, be toilet trained by the time they are three months old, and will learn all their fundamental necessities, such as feeding themselves, by the time they are six months old.” Sobek carried on explaining to Megan her duties and obligations while Jack listened on.
That night, while he and Megan ate their dinner, they talked at great length about the huge and daunting task that lay ahead.
“Megan, I came here for a purpose, and that was to take you home,” Jack stated. “But now we’re faced with this, and so if I can’t take you back with me, then I’m staying for the job too. I’m going to be here for as long as it takes. There are twenty-four charges to look after and they can’t expect you and Sobek to cope with them all by yourselves.” Megan grabbed him, planting a kiss on his forehead.
Over the next few weeks Jack had to convince Timos and his team of men that he, alongside Megan, was capable of being the main caregiver to twenty-four babies, with the help of Sobek. Timos quietly agreed, and provided them with a salubrious homestead with surrounding gardens of four hectares, complete with gardeners, a chef, and house staff. He appeared quite keen on Jack staying and helping, something that Jack couldn’t quite fathom.
The babies grew rapidly and had learned to do their own ablutions and feed themselves by the time they were six months old, although they appeared much older. Jack and Megan had to keep bearing in mind that as soon as their job was done, they had to hand over their charges to the Jovian Secret Service, for them to feed their brains with whatever they intended.
Jack, Megan and Sobek gave each clone a name, although to identify each little girl they had to memorise the name alongside their clone numbers, a number which had painlessly been branded at the top of each left arm. Thankfully the branding was small and inconspicuous.
For the best part of the first year their large family was a happy one, with lots of love and laughter and a heap of cuddles every day. The girls were no trouble to care for, although it appeared quite strange to see a one-year old baby girl dress herself and brush her own teeth. The toddlers even knew what to put on and when. Their bathtime consisted of six at a time, in three large tubs that took up the entire huge bathroom. The baths would always be run by the house staff and refilled after each group had finished. The girls would be in the bath for a maximum of ten minutes each in order to get through and leave plenty of time for storytelling. Once the lights went out not a peep out was heard.
Over the following weeks Sobek became withdrawn, and it seemed to Megan like she was concerned about something, retiring to her own wing straight after the girls’ bedtime and without her usual chat with Megan and Jack. The two were becoming increasingly worried about her, so decided to tactfully confront her about it. Sobek sat down and sighed like she was about to release a huge load off her shoulders.
“I know it isn’t fair not to keep you informed about what is going on around here,” she began. “Megan, do you remember when the alarms went off and I told you about the tropopause layer?”
“Yes, how could I forget?” she answered. Jack chipped in and asked what was going on. It was all news to him.
“Sorry, Jack,” Megan apologised, “I’d meant to explain to you some time ago, but I thought, was hoping, that the problem had gone away as the alarms haven’t gone off for ages. Sobek, can you please tell Jack about the layer?”
Sobek duly explained to Jack about the tropopause layer and the possibility of disaster. Jack was flabbergasted as was Megan on Sobek’s initial explanation.
“Anyway,” Sobek continued, “as I was about to explain, they have been having problems with the system again and had a close call last week when we came fifty-two seconds away from devastation. One of the scientists was able to rectify the fault, literally within the last minute.”
“Bloody hell! What about the girls?” Jack asked, shocked.
“Everyone could have been annihilated, Jack,” Sobek soberly stated, “including our girls.”
After collecting his thoughts, Jack affirmed, “That’s it! We have to get them out of here. Stuff the Jovian Secret Service and their selfish greed for power, we’re going to take our girls home!”
Megan faced him squarely. “Jack, how? The Lucre Boxes are gone. There’s no way to travel.”
“There’s got to be a way,” he asserted, turning to Sobek. “Sobek, there’s got to be a way, hasn’t there?”
“No, there isn’t,” she replied flatly, “We are in a dome five miles across which is guarded at every outlet. You may not realise it but they keep watch over us all the time.”
“Really? Twenty-four-seven?” Jack asked, feeling threatened.
Oh man, they’ve probably seen me do private stuff, he thought, a hot flush reddening his cheeks. He quickly turned away. “Pull yourself together,” he muttered to himself. Talk about The Truman Show!
The two girls were unaware of Jack’s discomfort, as Sobek was consoling Megan. Jack excused himself and remained in his room for the rest of the night.
The next morning he awoke bright and early, even before the baby girls did, and rose to dress, thinking all the while of a way out of this place.
“That’s it!” he said aloud. All I need to do is find a computer.
Not that he missed it, but it was then and there that it occurred to him th
at they hadn’t been provided with a computer, supposedly for that very reason – to have no contact with the outside. Neither were they provided with the link phones that everyone on Jovian possessed. He had to find a computer soon. Today.
Jack wolfed down his breakfast and quietly slipped out of the house without waking anyone. He drove slowly down the drive and out onto the road, heading off to the laboratory.
He made up some plausible excuse to the staff as to why he was there, and made his way into an area that would be the likeliest place for computers. In fact, they were everywhere; he just hadn’t noticed them before. They didn’t look the same as his, all with curved flatscreens, although basically the same design. Jack keyed in his personal code to reach his own computer at the Thebes Federation of Science. When he did so he was immediately rejected by some defence warning. Its message read that if the code number was re-entered, an alert would appear on all computers that were linked on the Jovian Secret Service network.
“Shit!” he said aloud, “I guess they would’ve thought of that.” He wondered now, how on earth he was going to contact the Government of Thebes without causing an alert? He had to think of some way of bypassing it.
Hmm, I wonder? He tried out an idea of instigating a message via his computer back in his home country, which would, in turn, transmit a message to the computer where he’d initially been contacted by his parents all that time ago. He typed nimbly and rapidly, as he didn’t have time to spare, and within a minute, which seemed like an eternity to Jack as he sat there expecting the worst, he received an answer.
It read,“We are currently ascertaining your location…..We have instigated an air-rescue operation.”
“Yes!” Jack cried out triumphantly. He continued his communication with Thebes, explaining how they were trapped in a dome that covered the whole city, and that it shouldn’t be too hard to find from the air. After a few moments of waiting their reply, he heard the alarms sound.
Oh cripes! Of course! The aircraft will interfere with the tropopause layer, he comprehended. He frantically called off the rescue, knowing that everyone would be dead within a few minutes. He would have to devise some other way of escaping.
Though now they know our whereabouts they’ll be on a mission, Jack told himself, feeling pleased with himself.
On his request the air fleet was called off, and over the next hour was given instructions as to what to do. He was to collect everyone together, and that night make their way to the northern end of the compound.
At the designated time that evening, Jack, Megan, their twenty-four charges and Sobek commenced their dangerous journey in the three utility air vehicles that had earlier been provided for them.
Jack lead the way in the first AV with eight of the babies secured in their seats, Megan in the second AV with eight babies, and Sobek at the rear with the remaining eight babies. They were unable to use their global positioning system in case it was intercepted by the Jovian Secret Service, which could have been alerted by this time that their ‘potential super-powers’ were missing. The groups had to negotiate thick vegetation alien to their normal thoroughfare. Their utilities glided quietly deeper into the foliage, and even though they were in an incredibly dangerous situation, they couldn’t help but marvel at the highly unusual and colourful flora. Even in the dark they could see plants of striking colour, some that gave off a spray of gold dust that sparkled in the air. A patch of wild flowers looked like they were from the orchid family, only that the flower heads were the size of dinner plates, and patterns of dazzling array.
They heard the alarms sound off again, this time the alarms did not cease. They feared the worst. Jack led the way out to the clearing and signalled the others to stop, forming a circle. They gathered their respective charges up and scrambled out into the night air. Feeling a chill they made a huddle, not knowing if they were going to be rescued or disintegrated. Something alerted them to look skyward, the starry night sky turning grey black, then breaking violently into an electrical storm. No rain or thunder accompanied the lightning that struck in a dome-like shape.
“Oh Heavenly Mother of God!” Sobek screamed. “The tropopause layer is malfunctioning!” It was the first time Megan had seen Sobek lose her composure, and it frightened her. The three of them felt gripped with fear that this was going to be it.
An oval-shaped aircraft appeared overhead with its lights illuminating them. The group didn’t know whether or not it was the rescue aircraft or the Jovian Secret Service. The light blinded them, Jack barely making out some Egyptian lettering on the side of the aircraft. He pointed them out to Megan who read and translated them.
“J.I.M.R.O.” she spelled out. Jack figured it stood for Jovian International Military Rescue Operations. He grouped everyone tighter together, the light so bright at this point that the aircraft was impossible to look at. A flash and an ear-shattering explosion occurred, and an intense green light enveloped them. Within seconds they were raised into the aircraft, the vehicle jetting away from the explosions that caused mass destruction of the compound and its occupants in a matter of seconds. The huge balls of flame billowed after them at lightning speed, and for a few scary moments it appeared like the fireballs were advancing upon them when their aircraft thrust into full power, barely escaping.
Where once was the dome-shaped Underworld of the Jovian Secret Service, there remained a crater in its place, five miles wide.
Jack, Megan, Sobek and their twenty-four babies were safe and on their way back to Thebes, back home.
The rescue team couldn’t believe their eyes; twenty-four babies with exactly the same faces. And to observe them walking around and acting in a manner much older than their years simply baffled them.
Sobek drew quiet. Although her younger brother Timos had been a criminal, he was still her brother, and once a happy, honest and intelligent young man. She remembered how they used to share a great deal of laughter within their family unit. Megan saw her sadness and wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tight.
Chapter 15
It was hot news enough that the newcomers to Jovian had been rescued from the Jovian reprobates, but it was even hotter news that they’d returned with twenty-four babies in tow. Twenty-four clones of Megan. The girls became celebrities overnight. They were the topic of the day, and were talked about right throughout the entire world of Jovian. Jack, however, was very protective of them and made it clear to the media that they should not be turned into a freak show but to be accepted as normal citizens, even though they were prototypes and perhaps had superior intelligence to other children of their age.
Megan, Jack, his parents, and Sobek met with the Government of Thebes to discuss how they would plan a suitable future for the girls.
Jack’s parents were made legal guardians of the girls, and the large extended family lived in a twenty-room mansion fully staffed by five assistants, a chef and general duty staff, so that Jack, Megan, Ben, Nancy and Sobek were free to enjoy and have fun with their girls, shaping them into well-behaved, considerate young ladies with thoughtfulness towards one another. In fact, they never argued and enjoyed an especially strong bonding with each another.
There was one exception to Jack and Megan’s happiness, however. The fact that they were still unable to live as they wished, although love and affection still prevailed. They reluctantly accepted that that would have to be enough for them.
Sobek was an incredibly attractive woman, so there was a certain degree of anxiety for Megan that Jack would be tempted into a liaison with her. Sobek, on the other hand, had no attraction whatsoever for Jack, as he was too young for her and too different from the men she had grown up with. Besides, to her he had a funny accent.
Ben and Nancy grew attached to their children. The girls referred to them as ‘Mummy and Daddy’ and lavished kisses and cuddles on them.
Jack eventually returned to his post at the Thebes Federation of Science and resumed his research programme. He’d found out a great deal wh
ile he’d been away.
Neither was there ever a dull moment in the Dunlop household, with interesting things happening every day, new things the girls came out with. There was the incident when one of the girls, Kamilah, had picked up and started playing with her laser doodle - a glass screen that can be written or drawn on with a laser-tipped pen then simply wiped clean with a slide bar. Kamilah had effortlessly drawn a picture of a flower with detail that was fit for framing, and with remarkable speed. The girls never ceased to astonish everyone with their skills. When Kamilah finished drawing, some of her sisters gathered around to admire her work. Then it was all on to see who could do a better picture of a flower in five minutes. Eshe set the timer and they were off.
Eleven girls had each completed their own flower, one complete with a caterpillar, and Jack was the elected judge. Each picture was very different and all were so detailed that it was impossible for Jack to decide which was best. With reluctance he singled out one that Sakmet had done because its colours were so vibrant that it was hard to tell it apart from a real flower. However, he still gave each of the eleven girls a special present - a piggyback ride around the grounds, which just about killed him. The girls were energetically demanding, and he loved it.
He and Megan had been invited to a reunion of people that had arrived on Jovian as they had, through the Bermuda Triangle. Once again, Thebes Government representatives would be in attendance doing the usual welcoming speeches and such. Megan was keen, but Jack was rather nonplussed about the whole idea. He wasn’t really big on all the pomp and paraphernalia, regarding himself as a simple Kiwi boy. Ben and Nancy decided to accompany them.
Jack was introduced to a middle-aged man who had been on an ore carrier called the Sylvia L Ossa that had ‘gone missing’ about 140 nautical miles west of Bermuda with a crew of thirty-seven. He sat down by Jack and they immersed themselves in deep conversation while Megan excused herself and set off to mingle with other people. Ben and Nancy had been milling around all evening as they’d already been to several of these reunions, so were fairly well-known to many of the guests.
The Jovian Legacy Page 13