The Clone Conundrum (Forgotten Fodder Book 2)

by MJ Blehart

  “Has he made any use of his bank accounts? Is he spending any ESCA?” Onima asked.

  “No,” Feroz replied. “I suspect, though, that he might have dummy accounts set up under aliases. And yes, before you ask, I am running a search to see if I can find any potential aliases that Bettani has used before—and signs of possible dummy accounts.”

  “Do you have any information on the various underground facilities of Jacobastad?” Onima asked. “Have you checked into any video recording and monitoring systems in use?”

  “Yes,” Feroz said. “Unfortunately, it’s mostly just the drive tunnels between points. The various car pools and private tunnels, however, are not monitored—or, at least, not with the public system. Yes, before you ask, I am running some searches in the background to see if there are private video systems I can hack.”

  “Is there an underground connection to either spaceport?” Jace asked.

  “Publicly, no,” Feroz said. “At least, not that I have seen. Privately? Maybe.”

  “Does Gray and Chuang have offices in Jacobastad?” Onima asked.

  “No,” Feroz said. “Their corporate office on Aarde is in Gerritwereldstad.”

  “Interesting,” Onima remarked. She looked to Jace. “Given that Gerritwereldstad is on the other side of the planet from Jacobastad, even the fastest transport could not have gotten them to Bettani’s office the morning we set out.”

  “I mean, maybe,” Jace said, considering it. “But they were clearly ready for us. Kara must have contacted Bettani the night before we arrived.”

  “So it seems,” Onima said.

  Dr. Patel and Yael entered the MBCC and approached Feroz’s station to join them.

  “Sorry we had to leave you on Aarde, Yael,” Onima said.

  “I understand,” Yael replied. “Maybe you can take Deputy Marshal Martinez apart and get ahold of that secure comm tech of hers. We could certainly make use of that.”

  “Agent Amber,” Dr. Patel said, “you know that the Bureau doesn’t condone torture.”

  “Who said anything about torture?” Yael smirked, then looked to Onima. “Have I missed anything else?”

  “Not really,” Onima said. “Mr. Bettani has vanished. Tracking him presents a lot of different problems. What’s more, given the number of underground complexes across Jacobastad—and lack of video coverage—he can move unseen quite a bit.”

  A thought occurred to Jace. “Feroz,” he said, “has there been any chatter between Gray and Chuang’s offices and Jacobastad of late? Since the thugs who took us were theirs, they must know we escaped them.”

  “What are you thinking?” Onima asked.

  “Presuming Bettani either worked alone or had a partner, somebody must have relayed what happened to their people back to the company by now.”

  “Interesting thought,” Yael said. “Might place Bettani somewhere that can be traced.”

  “Feroz?” Onima prompted.

  “Yes,” Feroz replied. He paused and looked up. “It will take me a bit because I need to get into Gray and Chuang’s secure info, and they likely process thousands of comm signals a day.”

  “You can probably prioritize those,” Onima said. “Specifically, see whoever Gray and Chuang’s local security head is, and the local company director.”

  “I’ll get on that,” Feroz said.

  “I wanted to share with the team what I learned from that comm I received from Vuk,” Dr. Patel said.

  “Something useful?” asked Onima.

  “Could be,” Dr. Patel said. “Since we left Dr. Steingarten’s body in her apartment, Giseladorf’s local law enforcement arranged for an autopsy. They had to fly a medical examiner in from another city to look her over.

  “Marshal Gwok had shared her report of our encounter with the armor-shelled attackers, and that while we did some damage in response to their attack, most was their doing. Further, we reported that Dr. Steingarten had been killed in the crossfire. That’s where they found an anomaly.”

  “What do you mean?” Onima asked.

  “The medical examiner was certain that crossfire was not what killed Dr. Steingarten. They ran multiple tests, but the plasma bolt that killed her was fired at point-blank range,” Dr. Patel reported.

  Onima looked at Dr. Patel before shifting her gaze. “I seem to recall that you and Feroz were the ones protecting the doctor.”

  Jace joined the others in looking at Feroz.

  Feroz stopped working and looked at them in turn. He shook his head. “Really? How long have you known me? I have been working with you for years. Do any of you really believe I could murder an old woman in cold blood like that?”

  “No,” a voice said from just behind them.

  Jace looked up—Kara had joined them.

  She stepped up beside him. “But that’s how you got away with it. Until now.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be in the brig?” Feroz asked Kara.

  “I would be, if I were the mole,” Kara said. “But I’m not. You are.”

  Feroz looked to Onima. “You can’t believe her word over mine, after all we’ve been through...?”

  “You’re right,” Onima said. “But I do believe Maira when she tells me she didn’t kill Dr. Steingarten.”

  “The medical examiner could be mistaken,” Feroz said. “I doubt they’ve seen many plasma-bolt shooting victims in their tenure. How could they possibly know a point-blank shot form a high-powered laser rifle shot? We were all there. She got caught in the crossfire.”

  “Oh, Feroz,” Dr. Patel said. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. “It’s a matter of the angle of impact, and there is a degree of degradation when a plasma bolt travels from the barrel of the gun to the target. A point-blank shot burrows deeper than a distance shot and leaves a different energy signature in its wake. There is no mistake, and you and I were the only ones with her when she was hit. How could you?”

  “I didn’t kill the old woman,” Feroz pressed.

  When they’d reached the medical bay, Dr. Patel had shared the entirety of the conversation with the medical examiner from Vuk, as well as the full forensic report they had transmitted. She’d told Onima she had not done it and had offered to prove her pistol had not been fired in Dr. Steingarten’s apartment.

  But that meant it had to be Feroz.

  Both Jace and Onima had needed little convincing that Dr. Patel was not their mole. Given her recently developing intimate relationship with Feroz, she’d been on the verge of tears the whole time. What was more, Dr. Patel could have erased the data and never reported to Onima.

  Once she had finished treating Jace and Onima’s wounds, she had gone to treat Kara’s and to release her.

  Feroz continued talking. “How long have we worked together, Onima? I’m your friend. What makes you think I could betray you? It has to be Martinez. Besides, you know her governor is Jiro Rand.”

  “She does,” Kara agreed. “But what do you know about Jiro Rand?”

  “You mean aside from him being a director of the CBI?” asked Feroz. “I know that Onima and Samarin have suspicions about him and his connections to Gray and Chuang.”

  “Interesting,” Onima said. “I don’t recall ever mentioning to you any time Samarin has expressed concerns about Director Rand.”

  “Jace,” Feroz pressed now. “We were an excellent team when we raided the information vault in Ariadne. Do you really think I could betray you?”

  Jace shook his head. “I don’t know, Feroz. One thing I have learned since that war, however, is that everybody has their price.”

  Onima drew her pistol, as did Kara and Yael. Feroz continued to sit at his station, looking nonplused.

  “After all this time, you think I am the mole?” Feroz asked.

  “So, here’s the other issue, Agent Jones,” Onima began. “You see, you have had all the access to all the data. You also are an amazing hacker. I have made use of those skills many times, and while I know all cryptanalysts can hack
, you’re the best I’ve ever worked with. And of all the people who knew the true scope of this investigation, you are the only one who has had access to everything. You have the ability and the tech to cover your tracks, and there are just too many coincidences, with all this investigation’s problems being connected to you and your abilities.”

  Feroz was silent. He looked at them each in turn. Finally, he sighed dramatically. “You’re right. I am the best. And yes, I killed Dr. Steingarten. But she had already shared too much, and we couldn’t leave her to keep talking.”

  “But why, Feroz?” asked Dr. Patel.

  He smirked. “As you know, I was given a choice to ‘work for the Bureau or go to jail.’ That’s the truth of how I got this job with the CBI. But there was another option.”

  He leaned back. “I love information. I love knowing things. Hacking and delving into systems I didn’t belong in was all I cared about. But I had freedom and ESCA from that. I received another offer at the same time as the one from the Bureau. I would employ the vast resources and tech of the Bureau to assist Gray and Chuang, as well as some other influential people and businesses. And, by having me on their payroll and on the inside, they had extra insurance against an investigation such as this one.”

  “You said,” Jace recalled, “that you were made the offer by Marshal Bianchi and his governor. Was his governor Jiro Rand?”

  “Shit,” Feroz said, smirking again. “You’re damned smart for a clone, Jace Rojas.”

  “Why?” Onima asked. “For the thrill? The money?”

  “Partially,” Feroz admitted. “But also, the truth. If you believe that the Alliance of Earth Colonies Confederation is a stable government, you’re less bright than I believed. The NEEA and NECC were the most powerful governments to ever exist—but they let their petty war and the clones they to made fight it get way out of hand. The IHCF stood apart from them, and when it was clear the war had become a for-profit operation, they enlisted their alien allies to help them overthrow the two more powerful governments.

  “But the IHCF was only powerful because they had their alliance with their alien friends. When they formed the AECC, they created a new government, just one, to cover all the ground that three had held before. But it was modeled on the Independent Human Colonies Federation idea, with which the independent worlds had more autonomy, and the government mere oversight.”

  “Neither the NEEA or NECC operated like that, and it created a lot of instability. Then, once the canutus left, the AECC was left with a weak military and a government that served little purpose and gained nothing for anyone. If someone doesn’t act to topple them, the AECC will collapse all on its own, sooner or later. And I agree that that would be a terrible idea—so sooner is preferable.”

  “So you betrayed your friends and the Bureau for a profit and...what, promises of something after they succeed?” asked Dr. Patel.

  “You betrayed yourselves,” Feroz said. “The AECC is a joke, and though the CBI is still an independent entity, it is directly tied to that. What do you think this will become when the AECC topples, huh? All your work is for naught, at least in this iteration. I just looked ahead and chose to work for the people who will be running the show next.”

  Jace’s heart sank in disappointment. Perhaps it was the lack of ambition inherent in all clones, but he was sad that Feroz had betrayed them. And that he showed no remorse at all.

  “Feroz Jones,” Onima said formally, her pistol aimed at the cryptanalyst’s chest. “You are under arrest for crimes against the Bureau, including treason and obstructing an investigation, as well as the murder of Dr. Raima Steingarten.”

  Feroz nodded. “Well done. But I thought something like this might happen, despite all my best efforts.”

  All the lights in the MBCC, even computer displays and indicators, simultaneously went black.

  23

  Onima began to pull the trigger to shoot Feroz before he could escape, but before she could, she was thrown off her feet.

  The explosion was unmistakable.

  A few seconds later, the darkness gave way to the starship’s emergency lights. Onima was on her butt and could see that not only were those previously on their feet knocked down, but most of the people in the MBCC had been thrown from their seats.

  Feroz was nowhere to be seen.

  Onima cursed and got to her feet. The rest of her team was getting up too. Nobody looked hurt.

  “I’m coming around to check on everyone,” Dr. Patel called. Her voice was too calm, Onima thought. She surmised it was due to her lover’s betrayal. But this was not the time to ask personal questions.

  A few people called out for Dr. Patel, but overall, most of the people in the MBCC seemed to be okay.

  “Htah muh duh,” Onima cursed. “I can’t believe he did that.”

  “That explosion must have been something big,” Kara remarked. “Is it just me, or does it feel like the ship is less stable?”

  Jace closed his eyes a moment. “Always hard to tell, but yeah, it feels wrong. Engines have stopped, too.”

  Kara tapped on her arm and called up a holographic 3D screen. She was tapping at the screen, and though Onima couldn’t see what she was looking at, she trusted Kara was using her advanced implanted tech to check on the ship.

  “Damn,” Kara said. “It looks like the explosion took out the Alcubierre-Natario Warp Drive. Breeched the hull and damaged the Aquila’s keel. Looks like the antimatter power source is undamaged.” She looked to Onima. “Of course, if the antimatter was breached, we’d be dead.”

  “Feroz knew how to screw us over good,” Onima said. She gestured to Kara’s arm and said, “Can you track him at all?”

  “No.” Kara shook her head. “I didn’t get a chance to put a tracer of any sort on him. And even if I did, I am pretty sure he’d be able to overcome it.”

  Onima went to a nearby terminal, presuming that Feroz’s was disabled. She couldn’t bring up any data. In fact, the screens were all blank.

  “Computers are shut down,” Onima said. Then she called out, “Does anyone have an active terminal?”

  Numerous variations of “no” rang out in response.

  Kara was looking at something else with her own augmented implant. “It looks like not only are the computers out, but I think the only system not affected is life support.”

  “We can’t just stand here while he gets away,” Onima said. “Onboard sensors are going to be useless. Kara, Yael, head for the escape pods at the rear. Jace and I are going to head for the forward pods.”

  Onima’s comm beeped, and she was gratified to see Captain Barr contacting her. “Captain?”

  “Onima,” he replied. Matters were grave if Barr was using her first name. “As you may have already learned, internal comms are out, internal sensors are down, drive systems are down, and the warp drive has been destroyed. We have no idea how it happened, but it had to be a bombing.”

  “It was, Captain,” Onima informed him. “We discovered the mole, and it was Agent Feroz Jones. He must have, as a contingency for his escape, set those explosions. I have no doubt the damage is worse than that.”

  “We have one very specific problem,” Barr informed her. “The explosion altered the Aquila’s orbit, and we are getting pulled toward Aarde. My crew is doing all they can to restore systems, but it looks like it set off a systems-wide cascade failure alongside the explosion, so the extent of the damage is going to be hard to ascertain.”

  Onima shook her head. “Hopefully Feroz is still on the ship. Please keep me apprised of our situation and let me know if you need me to assign any of my people to the crew.”

  “Thank you, Onima. Barr out.”

  Onima looked to her team. “Let’s go.”

  Kara and Yael trotted off toward the rear of the ship and the escape pods there, while Onima and Jace left the MBCC to check the forward pods.

  Despite it being the forward pod bay, it was still aft of the MBCC.

  “All this tim
e,” Onima said to Jace, “he was not just the best cryptanalyst I have ever known: he was funny, a great conversationalist...and I thought he was a friend.”

  Jace said, “I haven’t been with you long, but I thought Feroz was a friend too. And I haven’t many people I call ‘friend’ in my life.”

  Onima glanced toward Jace. She had stopped thinking of him as a clone quite some time ago. He had become a trusted colleague and a friend. Onima owed her life to him, and he owed his to her.

  Before she’d gotten to know Jace, clones were things, not people. Her previous interactions with them had been limited and often second- or third-hand. Jace Rojas might have been one of the more common clone types to be found, but he was an uncommon person.