by Rena Marks
Grumpy snickered.
“What’s happening?” Everly asked.
“Time for us to go,” Happy said. “We’re being sucked back into Pax.”
“Will you come back?” she asked, alarmed.
“Of course, my new friend. While you have a bubble suit, you should go and meet Ava. She’s one of my favorite human persons.” Happy grinned widely and then turned to watch as the second clone stepped into Pax and was reabsorbed by his body. Then, waving, Happy stepped in and was returned to Pax.
“It’s much quieter with them gone,” she said.
“And it’s going to confuse Robyn since she’s actively working on the counts,” Pax said, panting from the chair where he’d been groaning softly for a few moments.
“Let’s go let her know,” Thane said, holding his arm out to tuck Everly in. He sensed that she missed the multiples. It was hard for her to understand they didn’t disappear—they were still present within Pax. They were still Pax, just manifested parts of his personality.
He and Everly entered the office first to find Robyn staring perplexed at the hologram centered before her.
“I can’t figure it out.” Robyn dropped her head on the desk.
“I know you need a moment,” Thane said, fighting the urge to grin. “But we’re here. And the three multiples are gone.”
Robyn looked up and glared, bleary-eyed like it was their fault. Probably it was. She recalculated the hologram.
“It makes no sense,” she said. “Every DNA strand in the city is accounted for. But there’s still a head count of one extra person. It’s like someone’s being counted twice.”
“There must be some mistake.”
“Numbers don’t lie.” Robyn sighed. “Still, I guess there’s no real panic about it. Everyone’s safe. Zealish even seems to be doing a bit better, staying in his dug-out during the day and coming out at night for the food we’re supplying without causing a ruckus. He’s not communicating, but he’s not growling and prowling and sinking into his animalistic urges. He’s even eating the human meals whereas before he was ignoring prepared food for raw meat.”
“And he’s actually sleeping in a den instead of being out in the wild. That’s got to be a step back toward civilization, right?”
“I guess you’re right.” She still stared at the hologram screen. “Everly, how are you? Any issues from being cooped up?”
Everly smiled. “I think you forget who you’re asking.”
For a second, Robyn looked startled. “Oh, I guess that makes sense,” she laughed. “You’ve been used to being on lockdown, haven’t you?”
“And since being released, this is the most luxury I’ve had. You forget I’ve been living in tents on the other side of the wall.”
“The wall…” Robyn mumbled. “Your side of the wall, the unused gate. That’s where the extra DNA count came from. It has to do with you. Some kind of error…”
Steele smiled at his wife. “Apologies. She can’t let it go until she figures it out.”
“It’s all right,” Everly said.
“Sorry. The numbers also fluctuate up to six because of Pax’s other multiples being released every now and then. But he swears he doesn’t have any extras besides the six. Not that it would matter because it’s your DNA that reads twice. I just can’t figure out why.”
“The twins?” Steele asked.
“No, they’re accounted for.”
“Twins? What does that have to do with anything?” Everly sounded perplexed.
“We have a set of Xeno Sapien twins. They’re DNA registers the same, but the head count shows two. So the DNA count is always one short. Add to that Pax’s head counts which can vary between one and six, but with only one DNA reading. My numbers fluctuate and I shouldn’t depend on them so much. But those are the expectations and this one extra number...”
“Well, if my sister wasn’t dead, I’d say there’s your extra count. She was my twin.”
Everyone around the table froze.
“You have a twin?” Robyn’s voice was a whisper. “Why isn’t it on file?”
Everly wasn’t sure what file Robyn was referring to, but it seemed to be important. “I don’t know? And I no longer have a twin. Angela’s been dead for seven years. I was notified of her death my first year of conviction.”
“That’s got to be it,” Robyn said, standing so abruptly her hologram popped out with a blink. “Somewhere…”
“Did you hear me? She’s dead.” Everly’s voice was flat.
Robyn continued on as if she didn’t hear her. “There’s one place where a person could be trapped. Hiding. A new place.”
“Zee’s new den. We thought he was quiet with Everly’s DNA…but what if it was something else? Someone else? Someone he thought was Everly?” Steele asked.
“Should we tranq him?”
“We’ll have to. We need to search the den.” As an afterthought, she turned to Everly. “Bring her. Don’t worry about putting on the bubbles. If I’m on track with my thinking, we’re beyond Zealish noticing your combined scents.”
By the time they reached the main steps to leave, there was a crew of security waiting for them. Everly recognized Blaze and Renegade, Dr. Amanda’s significant other. Even some of the human members of patrol were present.
The shuttles were parked outside the main steps. It took two, full-sized vehicles to load them all. She sat next to Thane, squeezing his hand nervously. Sure, there was a lot of protection this time. But she couldn’t help but remember how scary Zealish was the last time she’d seen him. And supposedly, he was much worse now. Much more aggressive now that he’d returned to his other state.
As soon as they arrived near the electric pen, Zealish became aware of their presence. He came from his newly dug den, roaring and snarling as he slunk around, warning them from his territory. Then he stopped as if confused and stared past the men at Everly.
That was the point where a flagged dart barreled into the pen and stuck into his leg. He roared, pulling it out, but another landed in his bicep to replace it.
“Damn, he’s strong,” Thane said as Zealish stumbled around but refused to fall.
“But suddenly distracted and confused with Everly’s presence,” Jason said. “And we’re about to find out why.”
Finally, Zee hit the ground.
“He’s out. Someone search the den.”
“Shit,” someone else yelled, already at the mouth of the dugout. “What the fuck?”
Robyn scrambled across the pen to the front of the den where a crowd had formed. “Everly!” she yelled out.
The crowd parted and Everly saw for herself what the commotion was.
The woman emerging from the den was her same height. She was more muscular than Everly remembered was and pale as snow. No suntan for her. Consequently, her hair appeared darker without the natural lightening from the sun that Everly had obtained from living outdoors.
“Angela.” Her voice was barely a whisper. Surely this person couldn’t be real.
“Everly.” Her sister’s voice matched hers exactly, and suddenly she knew. She knew this was Angela.
All of the noise around them was drowned out, and the only person in the world was across from her. Her dead twin.
Chapter Eleven
Very slowly, Everly walked toward her sister, the human patrol and the Xeno Sapiens parting for them. She stopped less than a foot from Angela, staring into a face that was as familiar as her own, studying the slight changes since she’d seen her twin last.
“You’re not dead?” she whispered, reaching out to caress her cheek.
Angela twisted her head into her touch, bringing her hand up to hold Everly’s in place against her cheek.
“No, baby girl. I came looking for you. Imagine my surprise when I saw you on the live feeds because I thought you were dead, too.”
“They told you I died?”
“Yes. The first year you went to prison. But then I had two accidents, and I realized that maybe
your death had been planned. So I went into hiding.”
“And it kept you alive all this time.” Angela’s skin was so soft that Everly couldn’t stop caressing her cheek.
Somehow, she ended up in her arms and she squeezed her sister’s frame to her. They aligned perfectly, the same height, the same size. Now just slightly different coloring and different lengths of hair. This was what she’d missed when she’d seen the multiples of Pax. Seeing the multiple of…her. It had been as normal as breathing, and one day, it was just gone.
Everly was barely aware of the tears that flowed down her cheeks, wetting the gray shirt into darker splotches of mottled black.
Then she pulled away to see her sister’s face as wet as hers. The Xeno Sapiens around them stared, stunned into silence.
“Angela, this is Thane.” She pulled him forward, her fingers staying laced with his but her left arm unable to leave her sister’s embrace.
“Angela,” he rumbled, his eyes roving over her form.
“Thane. I hope you’ve been taking care of my baby sister.”
Everly snorted. “She’s older by about ten minutes.” It was a running joke with them.
“I’ll take care of her ‘til the end of time. How in the world did you get here?” Thane asked.
“I watched when you pulled Everly up the wall one night. I realized you’d done it before by seeing how comfortable you both were. I was too far back to yell out, but I realized the electrical current must be inactive for that section of wall when someone is on top. So I waited until the guards were out on top of the gate and then I pretended to be her.”
“What? Who would pull you over?” Thane sounded shocked.
“Huge fellow. Black and gold stripes.”
Thane groaned. “Beast. He knew I was sneaking out to see Everly. He figured I’d be sneaking her in.”
Angela nodded. “He helped me up, and then he jumped down the other side and held out his arms for me. I figured it must be how Everly got up and down, so I jumped. Sure enough, he caught me and lowered me. Then I said thanks, and I’d just wait right there near the wall for my ‘green guy.’ Since I didn’t know your name.”
“Does no one respect the computer generated population counts?” Robyn groaned. “I even complained to Beast that they were off by one. No wonder he pointed out that Everly was here even though I tried to explain I realized that and took her count into consideration.”
“So Beast must have snuck Angela inside at the same time I brought Everly in,” Thane said. “He thought they were one and the same.”
“You’ve been here all this time?” Everly turned to her sister. Goddess, she hoped she wasn’t in the scary Zealish’s pen all this time.
Her worst fears were confirmed when Angela nodded.
“Did he hurt you?” Robyn asked.
“No. He was roaring pretty loudly when I first approached outside the pen. But when I neared the electrical field, he calmed so easily. He lay at the bottom of the fence like he knew I could cross and he couldn’t. I preferred the quiet to all his noise, and I figured there was no better place to hide than in his lair.”
Everly knew her sister. Angela wasn’t one to blush and her pale cheeks were definitely stained pink.
“But once I was there, he wouldn’t let me leave.”
“He’s starting to stir!” One of the guys watching Zealish yelled out.
Everly stared in shock as Angela broke away from her and hurried over to Zealish. She figured Angela would avoid him as much as she did, but no. Instead, Angela kneeled over the huge figure, calming him with her words and her touch.
“Shh, big guy. These are your friends. They’re going to help you, all right? Go back to sleep.”
To her amazement, Zealish let out a croaked whine from deep in his throat.
“It’s okay. Give me your hand and let her give you the injection that’ll help you sleep.”
His huge paw was gentle in her hand as she stroked him, his eyes fluttered closed. Amanda pressed onto his neck with the injection, and his breathing evened out.
The rest of them approached.
“Let’s get him into medical since he’s so heavily dosed,” Amanda said. “Robyn, you’ll be able to restrain him there?”
She nodded.
Angela stood, tucking Zealish’s hands carefully around his naked body. A few of the Xeno Sapiens leaned in to grip him, struggling to heave him onto a hovercraft stretcher.
“Gently!” she snapped. “Just because he’s big doesn’t mean he doesn’t hurt.”
“Yeah, he’s a big ole softie who didn’t try to eat Thane the last time we drugged him,” Blaze said.
“Hunger makes everyone cranky,” Angela justified. “If you would have been feeding him properly, I’m sure that wouldn’t have happened.”
She didn’t seem to catch the grins on the faces of the Xeno Sapiens who lifted him.
“We’ll ride in the hovercraft with him to monitor his vitals,” Robyn said to Angela. “Why don’t you ride with your sister and Thane?”
Angela nodded as Everly pulled her into her, unable to keep her hands off her twin. The ride to their apartment felt short. For the first time, she noticed the dirt crusted onto Angela from being outdoors in the muddy dug-out.
Back at their place, Angela showered. Everly pulled one of her outfits from her closet for her. It was a sleek pants and T-shirt jumpsuit, which seemed to suit Angela’s muscular frame.
“This is the first time we’ve had different hair,” she said, watching as Angela toweled hers dry. It fell into the sleek, shoulder length bob that angled longer in the front than the back.
“It’s faster to do than long hair. But yours is so gorgeous with all those highlights. Don’t you dare cut it,” she warned, smiling at Everly before she squeezed her into her embrace. They couldn’t seem to stop touching each other.
“I can’t believe you’re still alive.”
“I was so shocked when I saw you on the news feeds. And everyone wondered who you were, but I knew they wouldn’t be able to find your name because no one would think to check a prison roster.”
“Who would have pretended you were dead?” Everly asked.
“I’m guessing the same people who led me to believe you were.”
“Ladies,” Thane said softly. “They’re waiting for us in the conference room.”
He led the way down the hallways, leaving them to link arms together as they walked. Three guys were standing in the larger hall of the main hub of the building room where the conference room was located. Even from a distance, Everly recognized the thatch of red hair. Blaze winked at her.
“Everly, Angela.” He nodded. “The guys and I have a bet. We’ve never met human twins. We’d like to know if you were born or hatched.”
Angela stared at him, wondering if this was a joke.
He faltered. “Oh, is that too personal?” he asked.
The purple guy next to him started to laugh. “Your mate’s a doctor, dude. Go ask her, and give me my twenty credits.”
Thane scowled at the three, and pulled Everly and Angela down the hallway.
“You two give me twenty,” the third guy called out after them. “’Cause I can easily tell them apart.”
Blaze gave an obvious snort as they continued down the hall.
“Ignore them,” Thane muttered. “No one likes those three.”
Seated in the conference room were Robyn and Steele, Jason from security, and several other Xeno Sapiens that she’d seen around but couldn’t name. Since Amanda and Renegade were missing, Everly assumed they were in medical looking after Zealish.
He was the first thing Angela asked about as they entered the room.
“How is he?”
Robyn looked at her shrewdly. “We’re keeping him unconscious while we figure out why he can’t pull himself from his other state, but at least he’s drug free now. We have other ways of inducing Xeno Sapiens into a coma. How are you? Do you need to visit medical also? You’v
e been out in the elements and…I’m not sure what you experienced at the mercy of Zealish.”
“What? Nothing! Nothing happened. He had a hard time understanding me, but he didn’t try to hurt me. He just wanted me to stay inside his dug-out, and he wanted to feed me and care for me. Like I was a newfound pet.”
“He didn’t get…touchy-feely?” Robyn asked.
Everly was too stunned by the question to be appalled at the un-sophisticated phrase.
Angela’s cheeks were pink. “No!”
Robyn nodded and let the matter drop.
But the new subject wasn’t much better. “I didn’t want to press you for information on your sealed records, Everly. But in lieu of what’s going on…I’m going to need to know facts. I’m sorry, I know it’s uncomfortable. If you prefer, I can have a one on one with the two of you.”
Everly nodded. She’d been expecting this. “Our father was an employee of Crested Ute Labs.”
She heard Thane’s intake of breath. It made her pause with the story, but Angela picked up.
“We believe we were spliced from the same embryo in order to go through tests using one of us as a control study. We’d come upon some records in the lab when we were exploring as children, though we didn’t understand a lot at the time. I think the study was on twins and our father decided to use his own seed since he and his brother were twins. From what I understand, our mother was also a twin, though hers died at birth. Our parents weren’t a love match. We didn’t realize it growing up, but we believe they were business associates raising children to be studied.”
“I never knew we weren’t normal children growing up,” Everly said softly. “And one day, it became too much. The pain my sister had to take during her ‘sessions’ was like a knife to my heart.” She recalled the scene as vividly as if it was yesterday, barely aware of the far-away, monotone pitch her voice had taken as she was transported into her memories.
“He’d promised us the studies would be stopped when we turned eighteen. That when we graduated into becoming adults, we’d no longer be test subjects. But when our birthday rolled around, suddenly there was no mention of it. No acknowledgement of any kind. It was okay because we knew.” She reached for Angela’s hand where it was clenched on the table. Angela’s hand opened immediately, clasping hers tightly. “I could feel something was wrong. Angela was closed off to me—the way she would get when she didn’t want me to feel what she was going through. I searched the house for her, but the whole time I knew. I knew where she’d be. I headed down the wing of the house we avoided at all costs. The lab. I burst in to see him cutting her.”
