Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance (56 page)

"That
explains why you look younger, " the woman said. She glanced at
her companion, who seemed incapable of speech. "My name is
Satele Shan. What do you mean-purer?"

"The
fluid I'm breathing suppresses my Force abilities. There's something
in it-a metal, I think, or an extract from something that feeds on
metal. It keeps me safe. "

"Safe?"
Now the other Cinzia spoke. "Dead, more like it. "

The
sneer on her own face-beautiful, she was pleased to see, with the
addition of a couple more years-was simply horrid to behold.

"See?"
her mother whispered. "She thinks you a monster. Call the
droids, now. She must be stopped!"

"No,
" Cinzia said. "Let me talk to her first. I want to know
what happened to her. I want to know why she's here. "

"She's
come to destroy everything. That's what they do. They take and they
destroy. They will show you no kindness, just as they showed none to
her. "

"I
told you to be quiet. Mother. Besides, I don't trust the droids
anymore. You know why. "

That
did the trick. The eddying swirls of the fluid around her grew
quieter.

"Have
you lived here all your life?" the woman called Satele Shan
asked.

"Yes.
I can access all the complex's cams. Much of it's automated, you
know. The droids are my eyes and ears. "

"You
control them?"

"If
I want to, " she said, although she was less sure of that now
than she had been.

"So
you're responsible for what's happening out there?" asked the
other Cinzia.

"To
be honest, " she said, "I don't know what's going on out
there. They do seem rather busy, though. They're designed to protect
me, and the definition of protect is a bit vague. I guess at the
moment that means not telling me stuff. Whatever they're up to, I'm
sure they mean well. "

"You
should take a look, Cinzia, " said Satele Shan. "The hexes
are killing people. "

"Are
you sure?"

"Positive.
"

"They
would only do that if they were attacked. Why did you attack them?"

"They
are a threat to the entire galaxy. "

"I
don't believe you, " she said. The thought was entirely too
preposterous. "You're just trying to distract me. This is a
momentous day. The two Cinzias finally meet! I've been waiting for
this, well, ever since I was born. At last we are together! I want to
hear everything about your life. I want to know if we like the same
things, think the same thoughts..."

"I'm
not you, " said the older version of herself. "My name is
Eldon Ax. "

"Don't
say that. "

"I'll
say whatever I like. You're a freak, a mistake. I should kill you
now, just for existing. "

The
other Cinzia produced a glowing red sword and held it up between
them.

"See?"
hissed her mother. "She will do you great harm if you let her,
perhaps even kill you!"

"Don't
be cruel, " said Cinzia to both her mother and her twin. "It
doesn't have to be this way. "

"She's
right, " said Satele Shan, putting a hand on the other Cinzia's
arm. "Don't act rashly. "

"Yes.
" The red blade came down. "We need what she knows-about
the hexes, about Lema Xandret. "

"How
did your mother die?" asked Satele Shan.

"The
droids killed her, " Cinzia said, "and the others as well,
but she's not really dead. "

"Don't
tell them, " whispered the voice in her ear. "Don't tell
them!"

"Why
did the hexes kill her?"

"They
didn't want to sign a treaty with anyone. When the ship left..."

"The
ship named after you?"

"Yes-Mother
built that before she made me, and she never came up with another
name. The droids didn't want people coming here, ever. It wasn't safe
for me. " She almost shied away from the thought of what had
happened next, but she forced herself not to. The disclosure was
important, if she and herself were ever to become one. "The
droids killed my mother to stop her sending any more ships. The
others tried to stop them, so the droids killed them, too. It was all
very stupid, really. Mother should have known how the droids would
feel. "

Satele
Shan nodded slowly. "So she wasn't on the ship?"

"No,
that was Kenev and Marg Sar. "

"Why
didn't she go with them, if she was their leader?"

"They
had no leaders. They didn't want to live like they had before. They
wanted a change. "

"All
right, but Kenev and Marg Sar never came back, did they? They killed
themselves when the ship was intercepted by a privateer. They blew up
the ship. "

That
was a shock. The fluid rippled all over her skin, and she hugged
herself tightly. "They would've wanted to keep the cargo a
secret, " she said, thinking it through.

"The
droid factory?"

"The
plant. That's what we call them. "

"Something
interfered with the explosion, " said Satele Shan. "The
plant wasn't destroyed. "

"It
must've been one of the droids. They wouldn't want to die, even
though they had to. "

"That's
what led us here, Cinzia. We came to find your mother, to ask her
what she wanted to tell the outside world. That's all. "

Cinzia
waited for her mother to say something. For once, though, she was
quiet.

"I
don't think she wants to talk to you, " Cinzia said.

"You
said she was dead. "

"She
is, mostly. The droids took her body away, probably for recycling.
But she's still here, talking to me. "

"Don't
tell them!"

"She
doesn't want me to talk to you, either. "

The
two women outside the tank exchanged a concerned glance.

"I'm
not mad" Cinzia said, feeling affronted.

"I
don't see how you could be anything but. "

"We
just don't understand, " said Satele Shan, shushing the other
Cinzia.

"No,
you don't. My mother protects me. That's why the hexes are the way
they are. She put herself into them, too. "

"We
worked that out. Both her flesh and her philosophy. They are flexible
and single-minded at the same time, combining the very best qualities
of machines and organics in one creature. Your mother must have been
quite brilliant to think of doing that. "

"I
still am, " whispered Lema Xandret.

"She
says she still is. "

"Don't
you see how the hexes could be a threat?" said Satele Shan,
ignoring her comment. "They acknowledge no leader and they want
to be left alone. They don't want to die and they want to protect
you. How better to keep you safe than to destroy everyone else,
including your mother?"

"It's
logical, " she admitted, remembering how they had disobeyed her,
too. Cinzia had begged them to leave the original Lema Xandret alone,
but there had been no turning them back, not once their creator had
betrayed them. Cinzia's mother had programmed them too well.

"It's
insane, " muttered the other Cinzia.

"You
have to understand them, " she insisted. "If what you say
is true, then it does make sense. It'll be hard to talk them out of
attacking your friends. "

"Do
you think you could?" asked Satele Shan.

"I
could try. But you'd have to promise to leave and never come back. "

"I
don't think that would be possible. "

"Why
not?"

"Your
world is too valuable. Too many people know it exists now. "

"So?
They don't have to come here. You have the whole galaxy. I just want
one world. Is that too much to ask?"

"For
some it is. "

"Well,
then. We're at an impasse. "

"Yes.
I'm afraid so. "

Cinzia
didn't like the way her other self was looking at her. There was such
fury and hurt in those familiar features. She could never imagine
looking that way, having that amazing hair.

"Why
do the hexes protect you, " the other Cinzia asked, "and
not me?"

"Because
they don't know you. You don't look exactly like me, or live like me,
in here. You look like one of the people who took you away. "

"I
am one of the people who took me away. "

"But
you're me, too, even though you try to deny it. You don't have to be
the way you are now. "

"How
else can I be? I don't remember anything else. "

"Really?"

"Yes,
really. And what's the point of trying? The droids will kill me
anyway. "

"Maybe
if we gave them a taste of your genetic code. Maybe then they
wouldn't kill you. "

"So
it'd just be me and you in a galaxy full of hexes. Is that what you
want?"

She
shook her head. "I just want everyone to go away. Everyone else,
I mean. Not you. We've got so much to catch up on. "

"I've
got nothing to tell you. "

"But
you have! Where you live, what you do. I don't know anything about
anywhere. All I know is Sebaddon, where I was cloned. You can tell me
about where I was born. "

"I
don't remember any of that, " said the other Cinzia. "All I
know is the Empire. "

"The
what?"

Satele
Shan stared at her in frank surprise. "You've never heard of the
Empire?"

"No.
Should I have?"

"What
about the Sith? The Republic? The Mandalorians?"

Cinzia
shook her head in irritation. "Stop showing off. You're making
me feel stupid. "

"I'm
not showing off. I'm just amazed that you've been so isolated here.
It doesn't seem fair to me that your mother did that to you. "

"She's
trying to turn you against me, " whispered the voice. "Be
careful of that one. "

"Mother
says I should be careful of you. Why is that?"

"Maybe
she's afraid I'll take you from her. I promise I won't try to do
that, Cinzia. " Satele Shan's face was as expressionless as
someone trying very hard not to have an expression. "Is your
mother with you now? In the tank?"

"Yes.
"

"Is
she another clone?"

"Not
exactly. "

The
fluid swirled around her, agitated and wild. Cinzia was pulled away
from the glass, into the center of the tank.

"I
said, don't talk to them! Why don't you ever listen to me?"

"I
always listen to you. Mother. "

"But
you never do as I say. I told you not to tell them about me!"

"They'd
guess anyway. Why make it harder for them?"

"They
won't understand, Cinzia. You have to tell the droids to take them
away. They'll obey you this time. You know they will. When there's a
clearly defined threat, they have to act against it. "

"Just
like they acted against you. "

"Yes!
Even me! The logic was impeccable. I was stupid to try to fight it. "

Cinzia
remembered the days leading up to that terrible moment all too well.
There was no suppressing them entirely.

"I
think you saw it coming, Mother. You were afraid of the droids. You
gave me the overrides in the hope that they would listen to me, but I
didn't use them. " She remembered her passivity with painful
keenness. Sometimes she felt bad for not intervening. "The
droids are my protectors. You are my protector. I still have both.
Was it wrong to do nothing?"