The Clones of Mawcett (17 page)

Lastly, Jenetta looked at the light panel that had been placed on the table several meters in from the entrance door. The light from that lamp was aimed downward, at the floor where the scientists were standing when the process was initiated, while all other lights were aimed up at the reflective ceiling. It's possible that a photoelectric switch had been activated by the beam as the light was positioned. Jenetta carefully examined the floor for signs of a photocell before returning to examine the table.

The table top appeared to be constructed of the same smooth, black, composite material as the doors and outside wall. It was eight centimeters thick, with support pedestals near each end, and another pedestal across the center between the end pedestals for complete longitudinal support. Jenetta ran her fingers lightly over the surface, but pulled her hand back quickly as several mellifluous tones emanated from the table. A dot of light now glowed brightly from the surface where she had touched it. She had been hoping to find some new lead. This certainly qualified.

The_Clones_of_Mawcett

Chapter Nine

~ January 12th, 2270 ~

Jenetta was still contemplating her next move when she received a query from the ship through her CT. A portable Space Command radio system had been set up when the camp was established. She activated a carrier to respond and was told by the com operator to standby for the Captain.

“Jen, we've just received a distress call from a freighter,” Gavin said. “It's not a Raider attack; they've lost their main power systems and are operating on backup power. They're two months out, between here and Ulakkon, and we're the nearest GSC ship so we have to respond. We can't leave that artifact unguarded, so I want you to remain here until we get back.”

“Yes sir. We'll be fine. I'm sure that we'll have the problems solved by the time you return.”

“Good. I'd like you to have Doctor Hong return to the ship with most of his people because we might need them. Keep one of the doctors for the base.”

“Yes sir. We'll need additional supplies if we're to be here for four months.”

“I've already taken care of that. Food, clothing, and other supplies are being loaded into a shipping container as we speak. I'm going to leave you three shuttles. That should be sufficient.”

“Yes sir. How soon do you expect to leave orbit?”

“As soon as we can take care of these final details; I estimate about thirty minutes.”

“Very good, sir. Safe journey.”

“Gavin out.”

“Carver out.”

Hurrying up to the surface, Jenetta relayed the Captain's orders to Doctor Hong, who immediately began organizing his staff for return to the ship. He selected Doctor Rowans to remain on the planet to handle medical needs. Jenetta found Lt. Commander Cameron working in the command center, and after discussing the situation, Jenetta decided to send him back to the ship with the medical staff. His skills might be badly needed when the Prometheus reached the crippled freighter. Cameron placed Lieutenant Crocker in charge of the five-person power source investigation team left behind. Kanes, upon being informed of the distress call, decided to return to the ship just in case it was a Raider trick.

* * *

“I knew this would happen,” Dr. Peterson said to the other scientists at the dinner table in the mess shelter. “As soon as they arrived they started ripping up the place and shoving people around. I wish there had been some way that we could have avoided summoning them. Damn.”

“It was necessary, Edward,” Dr. Huften said. “We couldn't stand by while that machine continued to spit out duplicates of us, and we couldn't figure out how to stop it without possibly destroying both it and the life forms already in the early stages of creation.”

“It might as well be destroyed. They'll never let us near it again. Any secrets it contains will be lost forever.”

“That might be for the best,” Dr. Ramilo said. “The galaxy isn't ready for such knowledge. We already have burgeoning populations on Earth and several colonized planets. We don't need the ability to breed people faster.”

“Perhaps, Anthony. I just hate being shut out of our find.”

“What do you think they'll do with our duplicates?” Dr. Vlashsku asked.

“I don't know. As Captain Gavin said, cloning has been illegal for centuries. By the way, Dakshiku, why were you and Glawth bowing and scraping to that impertinent Space Command officer?”

“Didn't you recognize her, Edward?”

“No, she doesn't look familiar.”

“Edward,” Dr. Huften said in surprise, “for the past two years her image has been spread across the front page of every newspaper, magazine, and vid news broadcast in the galaxy.”

“I don't watch the news. It depresses me. Damn newsies never get the story straight anyway. They're not concerned with the truth. They just want sensationalism so they can sell more advertising. Better off if they all found honest work.”

“She's Jenetta Carver, Edward,” Dr. Vlashsku said. "She recently received the Medal of Honor from the Galactic Alliance for battling Raiders, and the Tawroole Medal of Valor for her military services to the people of Obotymot and Nordakia. She's a member of our Nordakian nobility; an Azula.

“An Azula?”

“It's her aristocratic title. She ranks immediately below the King and Queen on our world. She's been proclaimed a Lady of the Royal House for her special services to the Crown.”

“Nordakian nobility? Humph! She has Terran ears.”

“She was born on Earth, but she's also a Nordakian citizen. She's a Captain in the Nordakian Space Force, on permanent assignment with Space Command.”

“Humph! Just another damn military drone.”

Both Dr. Vlashsku and Glawth Djetch jumped up, their skin flashing shades of red, orange, and yellow, a sure indication of their ire.

“Do not speak of Azula Carver like that,” Dr. Vlashsku said fiercely. “She is a great lady. She saved the life of my brother when she rescued a convoy carrying desperately needed food supplies for Obotymot. She then safely escorted the freighters to the planet. Those supplies saved many thousands of our people. Glawth's entire family lives on Obotymot. I only wish that she had been with us when we were cloned. The galaxy needs more people like her.”

Everyone in the mess shelter had stopped eating or talking and was staring in the direction of the table occupied by the scientists. Dr. Peterson looked up at the two men, and said apologetically, “Uh, I'm sorry, Dakshiku. I'm sorry, Glawth. I didn't realize you felt this strongly about her. Perhaps I misspoke. I'm just upset about losing the underground complex. Please forgive me.”

Dr. Vlashsku looked at Glawth and nodded. Both men sat back down as their flashing slowed and finally stopped.

* * *

Jenetta remained in the command center until the Prometheus left orbit in case something else was required of her. By then her stomach was reminding her, in no uncertain terms, that she hadn't eaten all day, so she walked to the back of the medical shelter where a kitchen had been set up. Marine Captain Greene, the most senior Marine officer of the three that came down to the surface with the two companies, came in as Jenetta was starting in on her first tray of food. After he had gotten his chow, he stopped at Jenetta's table.

“All quiet, Commander. I've established patrols and the rest of my people have turned in. Lieutenant Taggert will relieve me in four hours and then I'll get some sleep.”

Jenetta nodded. “Care to join me, Captain?”

“Yes ma'am. Thank you.”

The officer put his tray down and took a seat. He'd heard of her incredible appetite, but looking now at the two trays overflowing with food he wondered how she remained so fit and trim if she ate like that all the time. Just slightly shorter than Jenetta, at five-foot nine-inches, he probably outweighed her by sixty pounds. Of African ancestry, Greene's skin color was a rich medium brown. His powerful physique made it obvious that he spent a lot of time in the gym and he'd often seen Jenetta there, practicing her kickboxing. He knew that she was fast, incredibly fast. His preference ran to regular pugilism, where he could use his upper body strength and stamina, and he'd often speculated who would win if they fought. He felt that if he could avoid those deadly feet of hers, he could wear her down and outlast her. He held no animosity for Jenetta, and actually admired her greatly. His musings were just the natural tendency for one aggressive fighter to size up another.

“The Prometheus has left orbit,” she said. “It's gone to help a crippled freighter.”

“Yes ma'am. I heard when the tug arrived with enough additional supplies for a year.”

“I certainly hope that we're not stuck here that long, but it's possible. Once we complete our mission, we'll reevaluate the situation. We're only a month from Vinnia so they might be able to send transport for us if the Prometheus' return is going to be delayed. The supplies are only an emergency reserve.”

“Yes ma'am. Assuming that we'll be here for at least a month, may I have your permission to set up a running track and workout area for my people?”

“Yes, we have ample room within the compound for that.”

“Thank you, ma'am.”

“Captain?”

“Ma'am?”

“How would you feel about being cloned?”

Greene was silent as he thought about the question. Intense concentration briefly contorted his ruggedly handsome face. Finally he said, “Commander, I honestly don't know. I've seen these cloned people talking with their duplicates like brothers and sisters. I'm an only child, and I always wished that I had a brother, but I don't know if I'd want one that was an exact duplicate of me. I'd rather have one with his own feelings and attitudes, not mine. I guess that I wouldn't like it.”

“What do you think should be done with the clones?”

“I'm glad that I don't have to make that decision. I mean, they're real people, right? Just because they happen to have the exact same DNA and memories of someone else, and didn't develop from the natural interaction between a sperm and egg doesn't mean they're not real people, right?”

“They certainly fit my definition of real people,” Jenetta said.

“Even the ones that haven't hatched yet?”

“That's an entirely different issue, Captain.”

“Is it? Really? Aren't those chambers just artificial wombs? Wouldn't halting the machines be like aborting a child?”

“I suppose that parallels could be drawn. The question is: 'At what point has life begun?' It took a hundred years for the courts on Earth to finally settle that issue once and for all as it pertains to human fetuses.”

“Maybe we should apply the same rule here.”

“The trouble is that we don't know what's going on inside those chambers. We have no idea at what point the heart first beats. And at what point does this manufactured life form fit the court definition of sentient life?”

“Like I said, ma'am, I'm glad that I don't have to make the decision.”

“Yes, but unfortunately I do; at least as it pertains to shutting down those machines.”

“Yes ma'am.”

When Jenetta had finished her dinners, she stood up and picked up her trays. “I'm going to try to get some sleep. Good night, Captain.”

“Good night, Commander.”

Jenetta rose just before dawn. After eating a couple of hearty breakfasts, and then receiving a security status report from Lt. Taggert, she returned to the underground facility to resume her investigation of the equipment there.

The point of light was still glowing brightly, and Jenetta bent over it in an attempt to examine the table without touching it. A person would have to be incredibly naïve not to realize that it wasn't really a table, but rather a control console of some sort. The cloning process must have been initiated when a leg of the tripod stand holding the Chembrite lamp panel was placed atop an activation switch. Jenetta carefully lifted the light stand off the console, hoping that the process might shut down if pressure on a switch was removed, but she observed no changes anywhere.

Examining the top surface for another ten minutes without learning anything new, Jenetta ran her hand lightly and slowly along the side of what she assumed would be the console's front edge; the one facing an operator. Gently feeling for any indications of switches, she knew that there was a danger that she might activate something, but also knew that it was a necessary risk. When her search failed to reveal anything but a perfectly smooth surface, she did the same with the other three edges, also without success. The single dot of light on the console continued to glow brightly, but nothing changed.