by MJ Blehart
“We were frequently told your grade were ‘local experts.’”
Kara chuckled, “Ironically, yes. That was actually part of why, once the AECC took over, planetary security forces at my level were rejected from joining their new law enforcement agencies. The Confederation wanted planetary law enforcement to have a more interplanetary perspective.”
Onima sighed. “I remember reading about an early debate on that topic. There was concern that, since the AECC government was more hands-off and focused on broader oversight — while allowing for more planetary and system self-governance — ‘local experts’ might get a mind for independence.”
“I learned that later,” Kara agreed. “What’s funny is, while many of the planets were less familiar with the IHCF’s hands-off approach to governing, they’ve all thrived far more than they did under either the NEEA or NECC. Going independent might have had an appeal back when there were more specific national or planetary identities. Both approaches stifled that, though.”
Jace found the politics involved in all the forms of government fascinating, but baffling at the same time.
During the war, Jace had known the chain of command. Above all, they had served the Alliance. But when the NEEA was gone, he and the rest of the clones were kites with their strings cut. They floated away at the whim of the winds.
Kites were the wrong analogy. Clones were less like kites on the wind, and more like obsolete electronics. Still useful - but discarded for something seemingly better.
“I’ve always found it interesting,” Jace began, “how after the war, it was like everything got a reset. I didn’t know the galaxy before the war, but that’s the sense I get. It’s like everything prior was erased by the war and its aftermath.”
“In some ways, it was,” Onima agreed. She turned to Kara. “You said when you left Aarde after your service to the planetary security forces ended, you went to Bumi Prime and got recruited to the CBI, right?”
“Yes,” Kara said.
“Have you been to Aarde since?” Onima asked.
Kara shook her head. “No. I left over nine years ago and never went back. My parents aren’t even there anymore. They moved to Bumi Prime five years ago.”
Jace asked, “But you will be able to serve as a guide when we get to Aarde, right?”
Kara sighed. “To some degree, yes. But you should know that I spent over 80 percent of my time in and around Gerritwereldstad and the continent. I made one or two trips to the other side of the world, but never for long. But whatever help I can give you, I will.”
Jace nodded and took a bite of his sandwich, wondering what it must be like to return to somewhere you called home for a long time.
To him, “home” was an abstract concept, though he’d returned to the same old transport in Copy Slum outside Garden Mesa on Raven for years.
Lacking a childhood also included lacking a childhood home. It was still a curiosity. But the conversation made Jace feel that he had a bit more insight into Kara, and he hoped the trust he was starting to feel toward her was not misplaced.
12
The warp to Kapteyn’s Star and planet Aarde was relatively uneventful.
Onima had considered reaching out to Samarin to update him, but she’d determined that it might be best not to. While they had security in their conversations, it was possible that the fact they were conversing was itself a risk: the less Samarin knew, the less he could be made to reveal to the Gray and Chuang mole.
Once they were in orbit of Aarde, Onima assigned Feroz to determine where on the planet Bettani might be.
Aarde, being an exceptionally large planet, had many vast cities across its continents.
Fortunately, Vladimir Bettani was not hiding. Feroz discovered he had four known residences, one inside the planetary capital city of Jacobastad, another in the mountains a few miles from the city. One home was on a continent on the other side of the planet in the megalopolis of Gerritwereldstad.
The last was on the same continent as Jacobastad, but on the opposite coast, in a city called Henriettaby.
“Four homes....” Onima said as she, Jace, Kara, and Feroz were gathered at his station in the MBCC. “How old is Mr. Bettani?”
“According to the records, he was born in Earth-year 2495,” Feroz supplied.
“That makes him seventy-seven,” Onima said. “Four places of residence aren’t cheap to maintain, even for rent, anywhere in the galaxy that I am aware of.”
“What does he do for a living?” Jace asked.
Feroz tapped at his screens. “He is an executive for a company called Cornelius Consulting. Some sort of executive placement firm specializing in service-industry executives, from what I can tell.”
“You’re thinking,” Kara began, “that Mr. Bettani seems to live well above the means of a former politician from a defunct government.”
“It sure looks that way to me,” Onima said. “I know career politicians tend to be quite wealthy. But a man who’s been out of politics for ten years owning four homes implies quite a lot about his character.”
“There is a certain arrogance to owning multiple homes,” Feroz agreed.
“I have an idea,” Kara said.
“What would that be?” Onima asked.
“I think we should split up. You and I each take a few agents, take a continent, and go put eyes on each home. That way we can determine where Mr. Bettani can currently be found.”
Onima had no reason to distrust Kara. But after the warnings from Samarin, plus knowing who Kara’s governor was, she was not about to allow the deputy marshal to take agents and possibly meet up with a person of interest unobserved. What was more, Onima couldn’t just send Jace or Feroz along without Kara realizing she was suspicious of her.
Instead, Onima replied, “No, I think before we get boots on the ground, we should take a simpler, observational approach. Feroz, since you traced him here, do you have a current image of him?”
A moment later, a holographic image appeared in front of Onima, Jace, and Kara, showing the bust of an older, distinguished-looking gentleman.
“Vladimir Bettani,” Feroz stated unnecessarily.
“Good,” Onima said. “How good is the CCTV coverage of the cities of Aarde?”
“Clever,” Feroz said. “We should be able to get eyes on all of his residences, save the one in the mountains outside Jacobastad.”
Onima took her datacard and accessed Aarde’s planetary info. “It’s...midday in Jacobastad, and after midnight in Gerritwereldstad. Run a search of footage for the last twenty-four hours for the latter, the last fifteen hours for the former, as well as Henriettaby.”
“It’s going to take me a little time to gain full access and run the search through this many camera sources,” Feroz said.
“Narrow the search,” Onima suggested. “Focus on a three-kilometer radius of his homes and the offices for Cornelius Consulting.”
“That will take much less time,” Feroz said. “Maybe fifteen minutes to a half an hour?”
“Great,” Onima said. “Jace, we need to talk about something. Feroz, Kara, pardon us a moment.”
“Sure, boss,” Feroz said, eyes fixed on his screens.
Onima led Jace to her office, where she closed the door but didn’t take a seat. “We need to talk about Kara.”
“Right,” Jace said, unconsciously looking over his shoulder toward the closed door. “I know she is the prime suspect for Samarin’s mole, but thus far, she’s proven largely trustworthy.”
“Agreed,” said Onima. “But can you think of a better way to infiltrate a position to cause a disruption than by creating trust and fellowship?”
Jace chuckled. “No. But I also am quite literal-minded. My kind are capable of abstract thought—that’s one reason we were created for war rather than using automatons. Creating spies among clones, however, was never a thing.”
Onima considered that a moment. “But there were infiltrators, right?”
“Of cours
e,” Jace replied. “But that was mostly getting into somewhere you were not supposed to be and causing a disruption by blowing something or someone up.”
“Ah,” Onima said.
“I have been keeping, and will continue to keep, an eye on Kara. For what it’s worth, based on all my interactions with her, I think she’s on the level. I must admit that I hope my sense that we can trust her is not misplaced.”
“Mine too,” Onima said. “Mine, too.”
They returned to the MBCC. Kara had left Feroz’s station and gone to her own.
Dr. Patel appeared, and Onima noted how she paused to look toward Feroz. Onima had heard gossip that the two of them might have become engaged in more than a professional relationship.
But it wasn’t against Bureau rules to fraternize between disciplines and ranks. It only became problematic when potential impropriety in advancement was involved.
Dr. Patel returned to the medical bay. It wasn’t long after that Feroz requested that Onima, Jace, and Kara join him.
“Okay,” he began, presenting a holographic 3D screen to the trio. “This is a quick look into Mr. Bettani’s various domiciles. As you can see, he hasn’t appeared in any of them within the timeframe you requested.”
“Damn,” Onima said. “Perhaps he is in his more secluded home.”
“Or spending time with someone else,” Kara suggested.
“Before you jump to those conclusions,” Feroz said, “check out what adding twelve hours to all the searches yielded.”
Forwarding at high speed through the images, Feroz paused as one showed Mr. Bettani depart his home, then return to it an hour later.
“That,” Feroz told them, “is the house in Jacobastad. Yesterday morning.”
“In theory, he’s still there,” Onima said.
“Yes,” Feroz agreed.
Onima checked the local time for Jacobastad. “Let’s keep an eye on the place tonight, and if he goes nowhere, we move in on it first thing tomorrow morning, local time.”
“I found something else of interest,” Feroz said.
“What’s that?” Onima asked.
Feroz’s fingers flew across a screen. After a moment, a new holographic screen appeared before Onima and Jace. “Within the information we received from Dr. Steingarten, there were a few different names. Some are rather inconsequential. But this one stuck out.”
Onima looked at what Feroz had shared—an older woman. Her name popped up on the screen. “I see. Eslem Hansen....Who is she?”
“Not entirely certain,” Feroz said. “While I don’t believe that she is a scientist like Dr. Steingarten, she was an engineer. Though the notes we have are incomplete, and don’t fully explain who she is or how Dr. Steingarten knew her, it’s not hard to make a connection.”
“That’s interesting,” Jace said. “As far as I know, though, the majority of people involved in creating clones were doctors and scientists. It makes a lot of sense that they would have employed engineers to build the machinery necessary to create us.”
“And,” Onima added, “the software to perform brain scans, then alter them and upload them into each clone.”
“That too,” Jace agreed.
Feroz grinned. “And it just so happens that her last known residence was just outside of the village of Barnedorp, on the eastern shore of the Werelddeel-Een continent.”
“Kara,” Onima called.
The deputy marshal arose from her station and joined them. “What can I do for you?”
Onima pointed. “Are you familiar with Barnedorp?”
Kara raised an eyebrow. “Yes. It’s a wealthy resort village. Lots of influential Gerritwereldstad residences have second homes there. Fairly exclusive, overall.”
“I can get you complete info on her and her residence,” Feroz said.
“Is there any camera feed in Barnedorp?” asked Onima.
Feroz’s fingers flew across his screens. “Yes. It’s a private system, but I can get into it.”
“See if Ms. Hansen went into her home last night.”
Feroz once again got busy at his screens.
“What are you thinking?” Kara asked.
“Most of the people involved in the cloning process either passed away, were locked away, or have otherwise disappeared,” Onima stated. “But to find one, and find her somewhere like Barnedorp, is intriguing. I want to get a look at her—and see what she is doing now.”
“You don’t intend to visit her like you do Mr. Bettani, do you?” Kara asked.
“No,” Onima said. “All we have here regarding Ms. Hansen is her name and a fuzzy connection to the late Dr. Steingarten. But I wanted to know if, like the late doctor, she is laying low and hiding out, or active in something that may offer further insight into this entire thing.”
“And make the most of our time on Aarde,” Jace said.
“That too,” Onima agreed.
“Alright,” Feroz spoke up. “I got a feed on the block where Ms. Hansen lives, and she entered her home at about seven local time.”
“So she is still there,” Onima surmised.
“Yes,” Feroz said. “Am I putting all of this on a datacard for you?”
“Do so,” Onima said. “In six hours, we head down to observe Ms. Hansen. After that, if you can confirm Mr. Bettani hasn’t left the residence he seems to be in, we’ll fly across the planet and visit him, too.”
13
Onima recognized immediately that Barnedorp was a resort town.
The beach was a gorgeous blue-gold sand against the green sea. No building in the entire village was more than two stories tall.
Every home had a small courtyard, and many had swimming pools. There was no clear distinction between residential and commercial, but then Kara explained that Barnedorp was very upscale and catered to an especially “persnickety” population.
Or—as Yael put it—snobs.
A very specific flight corridor kept air traffic away from flying over the village. The spaceport was several kilometers inland and surprisingly large.
No motorized vehicles of any sort were allowed in Barnedorp. Rickshaws and bicycles, Kara explained, were the norm.
“You’ve been here before?” Onima had asked as they landed, the morning sun streaming through the shuttle’s viewport.
“Yes,” Kara had replied. “There are houses on the coast that, since they are second homes of Gerritwereldstad residents, get rented to tourists. My parents brought me here to visit when I was twelve.”
Yael remained with the shuttle as Onima, Jace, and Kara rode the monorail into the village.
Because the village was so small, it could be walked east to west in an hour, and north to south in four or five hours.
Kara pointed out that, in the manner of snobbery already evident, the bicycles, tricycles, and rickshaws had small solar motors: pedaling was an option, not a requirement. But it kept their speed regulated to never more than sixteen kilometers per hour.
Ms. Hansen’s home was near the village’s center. Onima carefully consulted her datacard from time to time to make sure they were going in the right direction.
The largest problem was that Jace stood out. He had offered to return to the ship and send Yael to join them, but Onima wanted him with them.
“Clones are rare,” Kara said, “but not completely foreign to people here. Like I said before, Aarde saw a lot of the war.”
“I presume there are clone communities outside of the larger cities or in tenements on city outskirts?” Jace asked.
“Yes,” Kara said. “Jacobastad, to my knowledge, has a clone shantytown to the west somewhere. Gerritwereldstad, on the other hand, has tenements for clones at a couple of points on the outskirts.”
Jace nodded. “We do get variable housing options, depending on the planet. I always find it interesting when a city sets up tenements for clones.”
“Given that Gerritwereldstad is a megalopolis, it should come as no surprise,” Kara said. “There are few cities l
arger.”
“How big is it?” asked Jace.
“At its widest point, nearly a hundred and twenty kilometers,” Kara said. “Population is about fifteen million or so.”
“Not counting clones,” Jace commented.
“Probably not,” Kara agreed.
“So, why would there be clones here, in a semi-private village like this?” Jace asked.
“Like I said before, residents of Gerritwereldstad have vacation homes here.” Kara paused for a moment. “Listen.”