Clone Crisis: Book 1 in the Clone Crisis Trilogy

by Melissa Faye

  “It’s fine,” I said. “We told him we know nothing, and he believed it. He didn’t say anything about you or anything else you should worry about.”

  “I’m not sure,” said Charlie. “It seemed like he was suspicious. But maybe that’s how he always is. You’d have to be, if you were holding so many secrets and lies.”

  Etta smiled. “Well, he left you alone if you were able to come down here. I’m sure he’s on his way to scaring the hell out of some other interns right about now.”

  I clasped my finger together. “When can you go home?” I asked. “Since it’s only low blood sugar.”

  “The doctor gave me some protein units. It was kind of nice to have some extra food. And a vacation from work this morning. But I can leave now, I think. The doctor said I could rest as long as I wanted, but I can leave when I want.”

  Charlie swiped through Etta’s current data on his TekCast. “Yup,” he said. “It looks like you’re good to go.”

  “OK,” I said. I looked Etta squarely in the face. “Don’t come back here. I mean it. You cannot end up back here.”

  “Yeah, don’t make my work go to waste!” Charlie added.

  We let Etta get dressed and walked her down to the lobby. I hugged her goodbye. “Really,” I whispered in her ear. “Stay away from here.”

  THE NEXT MORNING, I found myself in a now familiar situation. The Med was abuzz with gossip and whispering. I found Charlie alone in the intern room where we could talk privately.

  “What happened?”

  “They found out about the data breach,” he whispered to me as we sat in the interns work room. “I don’t get how they found out so fast! One night. It turned up when someone plugged in their TekCast this morning.” I leaned over his desk on my elbows and thought through what this would mean. Would Charlie be in trouble? Was his disappearance next?

  Soo Yen came into the room, as stoic as ever, her black hair flowing in a wave down her back. She didn’t seem surprised that the exact two people she was looking for were right where she was looking.

  “Charlie and Yami,” she said. It wasn’t a question or a greeting. Charlie hopped up out of his chair and stood next to me.

  “Do you know what happened with the data from the young woman who came in yesterday after fainting at work?” she asked. Again, it was with a casual tone layered with accusation and a command to be honest. Unfortunately, we could not be honest.

  “Etta?” I asked, raising my eyebrows with feigned surprise. “What happened with her data? Is she ok?” Charlie looked at me from the corner of his eye but I looked quickly away.

  “Yes,” Soo Yen said. “There was an issue with her medical data. Did you know that?”

  “No, Soo Yen,” he said. “I knew that she was Yami’s friend. I was with Yami when she found out her friend was coming, so I went down with her. But I didn’t see anything except the results showing that her blood sugar was low. What happened?” He was a better liar than I was.

  “Someone masked the real data,” Soo Yen said. She looked at me now, her eyes penetrating my own harsh stare until I felt my face collapse.

  “Is there something else going on with Etta?” I asked, trying to sound innocent.

  “She’s pregnant.”

  Soo Yen knew it, which meant everyone knew it. I didn’t need to check my TekCast. Everyone in the Med would be able to see the results, and everyone knew that somehow, a woman was pregnant.

  I also knew immediately that Charlie and I hadn’t responded accurately. Neither of us had budged an inch when Soo Yen told us something that should have caused us to gasp dramatically.

  “What’s going to happen to her?” I asked. I wanted to drop all pretense, but wasn’t sure if I could trust Soo Yen. Hopefully asking more questions would mask my slip up.

  “Someone was sent to collect her and her boyfriend,” Soo Yen said. I thought I detected a hint of empathy. Like Soo Yen wasn’t looking for a culprit. She was concerned.

  “Thank you for letting us know,” Charlie said. We both stood in silence to see how Soo Yen would continue.

  “I will let you know when they arrive.” She turned as if to leave, then changed her mind. “I’m not sure how the Chief of Medicine will handle this case. We’ve never seen anything like it in our lifetime. But if I were you, I would be concerned about your friends’ well-being.” She left.

  Charlie turned to me. “She knows,” he said. “You could see it in her eyes, right? She wasn’t angry. Just worried.”

  “If she knows you were responsible, why haven’t you gotten in trouble yet?” I pinched the bridge of my nose. I wasn’t supposed to have told Charlie what was going on. His safety was on the line now.

  “I’m fine so far, I –“

  Charlie paused in mid sentence and furrowed his brow. He leaned across me to grab his TekCast and started typing.

  “What’s happening? What are you doing?”

  “I have to check with Tomas. If they’re not blaming me, what if they’re blaming him? He was the one who wrote most of the code, and it was on his device.”

  Another person in danger. Someone else’s safety on the line.

  I watched Charlie send out messages. I looked at his holoscreen, and we waited for a response. A bead of sweat formed on Charlie’s brow as minutes passed.

  I received a buzz on my own TekCast. Soo Yen had sent a message: Breck and Etta were in the building now.

  “Charlie, what should I do?” I didn’t want him involved, but he was. He didn’t respond.

  I looked back at my screen. There were room numbers for Etta and Breck. I left Charlie where he was and went upstairs to find my friends.

  THE ROOM NUMBERS WERE up on the top floor. It was smaller than the other floors, with fewer rooms and a darker hallway. I had never seen patients up there. In fact, I’d never seen it used at all. I took the steps two at a time.

  The hallway was busy. There were doctors walking quickly in both directions. And there were guards standing outside two rooms. I approached them.

  “I’m sorry, miss,” said one of the guards. He was an older man I didn’t know, with a gray moustache that almost matched his silver insignia. He wore the standard community security uniform. I rarely saw security guards around town. They mostly showed up when a lock broke or when the Chancellor was around. I had never seen one in the Med.

  “That’s my friend in there,” I said. I was outside one of the rooms. There was no window on the cold metal door, though, and I couldn’t see inside.

  “I’m sorry,” the guard said again. “Only certain personnel are allowed inside this room.” He eyed my own gold insignia. He must have known I was a doctor, but still didn’t have permission to let me in.

  I looked around. One of the doctors, Georgine, approached the door wearing a red badge that clipped to her insignia. The guard stepped aside. I grabbed onto her shoulder before she could walk inside.

  “Let go, Yami,” she said sternly. “Get out of here. Interns aren’t allowed to be involved with this right now.” Her stern look turned into something softer as she looked me over. Then she turned and entered the room, letting the heavy door slam close behind her. I tried to peer over the guard’s shoulder as he stood back at his post and the door slammed shut. I couldn’t see anything.

  I messaged Etta and Breck a few times each, but got no response.

  BACK DOWNSTAIRS, CHARLIE was still frozen in front of his TekCast. He looked up at me slowly as I entered the room and approached him.

  “Tomas is missing,” Charlie said. “No messages back. I reached out to someone who works with him. He didn’t come in today. I think he’s...gone.”

  I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hand, squeezing my eyes tightly shut. Once again, I had let someone help, and once again, I had only caused more trouble. Etta and Breck were trapped behind guarded doors, and I had no way to help them. Who knows what had happened to Tomas! Maybe Charlie was next.

  I sat down on Charlie’s desk. I could feel
him staring at me, looking for my help. I couldn’t help him. I couldn’t let him stay involved.

  “I’m so sorry, Charlie,” I said quietly and slowly. “I think this is it. You should keep to yourself now. I don’t want you to be involved any further.”

  Charlie stood up and came around to sit next to me. I wouldn’t look at him.

  “I can’t walk away now,” he said. “You need my help. We need to stay on top of the tests being run upstairs. I can help. I want to help.” He touched my arm cautiously.

  “Stay out of it!” I said. I pushed myself up to my feet and looked at Charlie. His eyes were red. He looked eager and exhausted at the same time. I wouldn’t let him be involved any further. I strode out of the room.

  In the hallway, I pulled out my TekCast again. I could at least keep track of Etta and Breck from the medical program that listed all current patients. I swiped quickly through the list. Etta and Breck weren’t there. I swiped through again, this time more slowly. Again: nothing.

  Etta and Breck were physically and digitally locked up. I didn’t know what was happening to them. I couldn’t do anything to help them. This was my nightmare. With nothing else to do, I shut down my TekCast and took the stairs to the lobby. For once, Charlie wasn’t following me. I saw the receptionist but ignored her when she called my name. I walked out of the building, away from my job, and into the sunlight outside. I gulped some fresh air, and kept walking. Further and further away.

  Chapter Ten

  My phone buzzed with messages from Charlie, but I ignored them. I wasn’t sure where my feet were taking me. I eventually found myself standing in front of one of the education buildings. Vonna was in a class, but with one message, she heeded my call and met me outside. I noticed that she used her coat to cover up her silver insignia and TekCast.

  “Walk,” I said. She followed me without question. I didn’t know where I was going. This time I found us back at the park where I had sat with Etta and heard about her symptoms. Not that long ago. I sat down on the same bench where we talked, and Vonna took a seat next to me. It had snowed a little bit the night before, and the bench was dirty and wet. My boots slid around on a small patch of wet leaves at my feet. I waited as long as I could before speaking.

  “Etta is pregnant. Her and Breck are being held in the Med. I can’t get into their rooms, and I can’t see their patient files. A friend who helped us cover up her pregnancy has disappeared. This is why I didn’t want you to be involved.”

  Vonna processed this information slowly. She waited to see if I was going to talk more before finally speaking. “We need to go to the Underground. They can help.”

  I should have known this was how Vonna would react. Involving more people was out of the question. I stared at the ground.

  “Yami, I know what you’re thinking. I know you don’t like letting other people in. But what choice do you have at this point?”

  I didn’t respond. I was trying to decide if the idea was appropriate or potentially disastrous. On the one hand, everyone who had helped so far was in more danger than they were before they got involved. I couldn’t ask more people to risk their safety. On the other hand, I had no access to my friends. I couldn’t keep them safe anymore on my own.

  “The group is led by a man named Omer. He works in agriculture.” Vonna didn’t respond. As usual, she waited for me to lead the way. “Do you want to help?”

  Vonna bobbed her head up and down immediately. I hated myself for letting this happen, and pulled tightly on my curls, which sat precariously on top of my head, a few strands falling down past my ears. At least if I let Vonna be a part of this, I could control it. I would let her be a messenger. Hopefully it would feed her desire to help without involving her in anything too big.

  “Go to Omer and ask him for help. “

  “I can do that,” Vonna said. I watched her face as she alternated between grinning and forcing herself to look stern.

  I leaned forward on the bench and rested my forehead on my palms. I didn’t know how I could help Etta and Breck without more help. Vonna was taken care of with a small task. And for the bigger pieces, I would keep working with Charlie.

  “Great,” I said. “Talk to Omer and have him reach out to me. I need to go back to work to see if I can find out more about what’s happening. Don’t send me messages; I’m not sure if those can be tracked. If you need me, say something inconspicuous. I don’t want anything on a digital channel that will implicate you, okay?”

  Vonna nodded enthusiastically. I could see her ready herself to leap off the bench and finally play a part in all of this. I wondered if Alexis ever saw this enthusiasm in me, and what she had thought. What steps had she taken to protect me and the people she cared about?

  I sent Vonna back to her classes and walked back to work.

  CHARLIE WAS WITH A patient, so I went to the meeting room to check the screen with Sprain Week patient assignments. I was supposed to be with another intern, Linsie, seeing an older patient who had probably broken a hip. Linsie was uptight and wouldn’t appreciate my disappearance, but I doubted she would tell on me. I hurried off to the patient room.

  “Nice to see you,” Linsie said when I entered. She snickered at the sight of me, walking into the room in a daze, and obnoxiously threw her hair over her shoulder. She had already filled out the patient’s information, which I could review on my own TekCast. She had given the patient an appropriate dosage of painkillers and the Care Unit had found a small fracture in his hip. I smiled politely at him and Linsie.

  “How can I help?” I asked. Linsie glared at me, but seeing my unnaturally polite face, she realized I was being serious.

  “We need to set the fracture using the CasterPad, then George here needs to be set up with a wheelchair and given his healing instructions. Can you review the information I recorded and write up his diagnosis?”

  “Of course!” I said. This would allow me more time in the intern room. I could do the write up quickly and then find Charlie. With a fake smile, I excused myself and left.

  Charlie messaged me and met me in the intern room. He looked as worn out as ever. Seeing him like this, so out of character, was alarming.

  “I was able to get into the data storage where they’re keeping track of Etta and Breck’s tests and results,” Charlie said as we sat down.

  “No!” I said. “We’ll get caught again. And have you heard back from Tomas?”

  “Yami, if what we’re thinking is correct, if the government is no longer interested in breeding, your friends are in a lot of trouble. I’m willing to put myself on the line to keep them and the baby safe, and I know you are too. This is about more than just us, right? This could be about the future of our society.”

  It felt heavy-handed, but technically correct. I needed to stop fighting everyone around me for taking the risks we would all need to take.

  “Show me what you found,” I said. Charlie pulled up a screen with Etta’s information first. There was a long line of tests, each more invasive than the last. I didn’t know what several of them were even looking for.

  “What are they doing to her?”

  “I don’t understand it all,” Charlie said. “It’s partially that they’re trying to determine what it is about Etta – and the work they’re doing on Breck is similar – that allowed her to conceive. But it also looks like they’re doing it without concern for her and the baby’s health. I looked up this test-“ he pointed to one with a long name I didn’t recognize, “and it’s a test on the baby that shouldn’t be happening until it’s at least six months along. It’s not safe.”

  “Why the rush?” I thought aloud. The list was so long; who knew how the doctors were even getting this much done so quickly. “Why not wait? It’s not like they’re letting Etta go anywhere.”

  “Maybe they’re worried the baby won’t survive.”

  “Maybe they’re worried Etta won’t survive!” I said. “Maybe it’s all about the research and getting it in before Etta s
uffers a major health crisis.”

  “Or maybe they don’t care if any of them survive. If the government has stopped fertility research, maybe they’re only interested in cloning. And Etta and Breck are threatening their plans.” I let Charlie’s idea sink in with a shiver. Charlie returned to looking at the data, swiping back and forth between Etta and Breck.

  “They’re doing similarly invasive tests with Breck. Testing skin samples, DNA, spinal fluid, physical responses to advanced stimuli...and it looks like he’s under heavy sedation.”

  I read and reread the information. This was why I didn’t want anyone to know what was going on with Etta, but I had failed. Even with Charlie and Tomas’s help. Tomas was missing, and now Etta and Breck were going through who knows what at the hands of our own community doctors and scientists. Our own colleagues.

  “Can you keep an eye on this, Charlie? Keep me posted on what you’re finding. We both need to keep seeing patients to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. I’m going to find someone who can help us get them out of here.”

  “Someone from the Underground?” he asked. I glared. “Of course I’ll keep checking these results.” He knew better than to bring up the Underground again. I looked at his face. He looked five years older than he had a month ago; his cheerful demeanor was disappearing. I wondered how I looked to him.

  My TekCast buzzed. There was a message from Omer. Vonna had found him so quickly! “Meet me outside your building at 2 pm”

  “Charlie, how easily can messages be tracked by leadership?” I asked, showing him the message.

  “Very easily. I can work on it, though. Maybe we can set up a line of communication outside the regular signals we all use.”

  “Thank you,” I said. I found myself getting more and more polite every day. It was a change. “I need to get back to my Sprain Week schedule. I’ll see you later.” Charlie nodded. He started typing again, probably working on the messaging program or on his program that let us spy on Etta and Breck – who knows. I gathered myself and headed to the lab, where another intern was waiting for me. Late again. I could only hope no one would notice the pattern.