by Melissa Faye
Clone Legacy
Melissa Faye
© 2018 Melissa Faye
All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Table of Contents
Clone Legacy
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Yami
Chapter 2 – Charlie
Chapter 3 – Yami
Chapter 4 – Charlie
Chapter 5 – Yami
Chapter 6 – Charlie
Chapter 7 – Yami
Chapter 8 – Charlie
Chapter 9 – Yami
Chapter 10 – Charlie
Chapter 11 – Yami
Chapter 12 – Charlie
Chapter 13 – Yami
Chapter 14 – Charlie
Chapter 15 – Yami
Chapter 16 – Charlie
Chapter 17 – Yami
Chapter 18 – Charlie
Chapter 19 – Yami
Chapter 20 – Charlie
Chapter 21 – Yami
Chapter 22 – Charlie
Chapter 23 - Charlie
Chapter 24 – Yami
Chapter 25 – Charlie
Chapter 26 – Yami
Chapter 27 – Charlie
Chapter 28 – Yami
Chapter 28 – Charlie
Chapter 29 – Yami
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About the Author
Chapter 1 - Yami
I drove at a steady pace along an empty road in the noncomm. The air was warm and humid, but driving along with the windows down, the breeze was cool against my face. My curly hair blew behind me, a welcome change from sweat and humidity sticking it firmly against the back of my neck. I let my left hand drag along outside the open window. After a few hours of driving with my entire body clenched up, I felt my body relax into the drive.
It would take a long time to get to Young Woods, the community where I grew up. I left Gentle Acres only a few hours ago with a truck, a gun, and a few bags of my stuff and some supplies. They’d probably be annoyed I took the truck and the gun. These were valuable commodities in a community of rebels trying to survive. At least I was taking the stuff to Young Woods. The people there only just overthrew their town leadership, and would need any help they could get.
Driving was risky. I was a member of the Underground, the rebel faction that was trying to take the country back from a government trying to control us, and it had been only a few days since I helped the rebels take over a government-run compound for biological kids. For hundreds of years, fertility rates stood still at zero and society used cloning to ensure the continuation of the human race. Now that more children were being born naturally, the government wanted to find and control the kids. They were indoctrinating them to the UCA motto: What’s Best for the Community is Best for Me. Rebels were working to find these kids’ parents so they could be with their families, but the work was slow.
Family. I wasn’t sure I had one of those. Growing up at Young Woods without parents or siblings, the community felt like what I imagined a family to be. But when my best friend Etta and her boyfriend Breck had a child biologically, I saw what families used to be. My boyfriend Charlie would have probably said we were family. But now that I found out Charlie would be able to have kids, and I was infertile like the rest of the population, I couldn’t get in his way. He could have a real family. Find a woman who has a similar fertility mutation and have children. He would make a great father.
It was getting later and I wasn’t exactly sure how long it would take to make the drive to Young Woods. Our vehicles were scarce and poorly maintained. I didn’t want to push the truck too hard. I let my friend Omer know I was on my way. He had helped orchestrate the rebellion at Young Woods and was serving as their leader until they could hold an election. I appreciated that Omer didn’t ask me why I was leaving Gentle Acres.
My TekCast buzzed on the passenger seat next to me. Another message, probably from Charlie. He had been sending them every few minutes for hours, and I didn’t respond to a single one. My heart hurt from leaving him behind, but I knew it was for the best.
If I was caught driving, I would certainly be detained. Chancellor Lorenzo, the former leader of Young Woods, had made a nationwide announcement promising severe punishments for anyone who wasn’t part of a government-run community. We only recently found out that the Chancellor had been creating clones of himself for years, and many versions of him existed around the country. His announcement meant he was a high-level country leader, or maybe even the head of the entire government. But there was no way to tell how many other Chancellor Lorenzo’s existed and how far his control reached. There could be ten of them. Or a hundred. Or more.
There was no law against driving in the noncomm, but that didn’t matter. I’d be brought in, and...I wasn’t sure what would happen. The worst punishment that used to exist was being banished from the community to try to stay alive out in the noncomm. Now that the Chancellor wanted everyone tested for a fertility mutation, banishment couldn’t be an option. He’d want me tested, and when he found out I was infertile, he would “put me to use.” Something like that. That’s what one of his clones told me, at least. I shivered at the thought and pulled my hand back inside the car.
My mind was empty while I drove, punctuated with little moments of abject terror when I thought I saw something else moving out there. The noncomm was almost empty, and even if Gray Suits were on patrol, the chances of them seeing me were slim. They were former Grays in their communities, with the lowest paying jobs and worst working conditions, and were promised the chance to advance to Silver if they served in the Chancellor’s army. In my experience, they could be turned. But it wouldn’t be easy if they found me alone out there.
I glanced briefly at the passenger seat. Next to my TekCast was the gun I had taken from Gentle Acres. I wasn’t very good with it, but it was all I had to defend myself with should anyone find me out there.
AFTER PULLING INTO a wooded area to sleep for a few hours, I got back on the road and arrived at Young Woods in the early morning. It was my first time there since before Etta had her baby, Hope, and as hard as things had been last time I was in the town, there was something comforting about returning to my childhood home.
This time was different. I had a truck and a gun. And there were community members stationed at the gate with their own weapons. They stood at attention when they saw me approach.
I drove up slowly with the windows down and waved politely. One of the citizens walked hesitantly towards my window with his gun raised.
“Who are you?” he asked. Like most of us, he didn’t know much about using a gun. His hands held it loosely like he was afraid of it.
“Omer knows I’m coming,” I said. I tried to remain polite and patient, and I was careful to keep my hands in the man’s sight. “My name is Yami. I’ve come to help the town. I grew up here.”
> I saw a glimmer of recognition pass over the man’s face. Communities were small, and growing up with the same group of people for so many years meant we all knew each other. If not by name, then by appearances. I had seen this man around. I remembered he was Bronze, retail. I smiled wistfully when I realized how I knew him. He worked at a small shop where I bought my dress for my senior social.
The man put down his weapon to send a message on his TekCast – not the smartest move if I was an actual threat. After a minute, he nodded to me, and his friends let me drive through the gate.
I drove right up to the center of town where the Chancellor’s mansion stood. The lawn was empty; people were walking to their jobs. The town bore clear scars from the rebellion just days earlier. People looked exhausted, like they hadn’t been sleeping. There was debris littering the streets around the town center. Flyers had been taped up everywhere and many flew around in the breeze. They outlined plans for the riots and spoke of a potential future without color assignments and government secrets. Some of the buildings were spray painted with anti-UCA messages. Some bore the symbol of the Underground: an oval with a V in the center. An owl, representing knowledge.
I parked out of the way at a corner between the town center and a side street. The mansion was still the government headquarters, though I doubted anyone actually lived there. It was the same at Gentle Acres, where they overthrew their community leaders a while ago. The elected leader, Ann, would never have moved into the mansion. It would have made her seem too much like the Chancellor.
The inside of the mansion was a jumble of people, posters, computers, tech screens, and meeting areas. Chairs littered the space, making it impossible to walk from one side of a room to the other in a straight line. No one noticed me when I arrived, so I circulated and looked for Omer.
I found him in a large room to the east side of the building. It must have been a meeting space for the city council. It was spacious and formal, with old-fashioned wooden desks and a podium. Tables at the front of the room still wore the nameplates of the former council members. The desks were pushed into the center of the room and a dozen people gathered around it. There was a musky scent from years of closed windows and stuffy meetings.
Omer saw me and smiled politely. He had never been impressed by my particular type of loyalty. I spent a long time wanting to avoid the Underground, focused only on protecting my friends Etta and Breck. I knew I could offer more, though, since I had lived at Gentle Acres and seen what they did to develop a new society.
I greeted Omer with a handshake and watched him carefully as he showed me around. I couldn’t read his face. He looked as exhausted as everyone else. He still wore his Bronze, agriculture uniform, but no longer wore the insignia that marked him as being in a lower social class. People repeatedly interrupted our tour with questions for Omer, and though he answered them, I sensed a hesitance. He helped plan a revolution; those skills don’t necessarily line up with reforming a society after the revolution is won.
We walked through a number of different rooms. Even in the early morning hours, the mansion were crowded and energy was high. Omer introduced me to a several people, all of whom were familiar, and most of whose names I forgot immediately.
“We’ve made a list of job responsibilities and are assigning them out to citizens,” a woman with light blonde hair told me. She spoke rapidly, the words tumbling out of her mouth so fast I could barely keep up. “The first priority is keeping everyone alive, and the second priority is cleaning things up. So people are mainly working on food and water, infrastructure, and maintenance. There’s a lot of cleaning up to do since the uprising. We need all the help we can get from everyone in town.”
I raised my eyebrows. “How is everyone taking that?” I imagined how the Golds would take it. They formerly had the highest level positions in the community, including leadership, medicine, and research. I used to be a Gold, medicine.
“Not well, but I’m not dealing with that.” She pointed to someone across the room. “He’s doing some outreach to people who are complaining or getting in the way of the work.”
“We don’t have time for it,” Omer said. “He has three team members, and they’re dealing with complaints and any incidences of looting or physical altercations, but we’re trying to be as clear as we can. Be a part of the town and do the work that needs to get done, or leave.”
“Where do people go if they leave?” I asked. I imagined some of the more arrogant Golds wouldn’t take too well to walking through the noncomm with only the bags on their shoulders. Some of my former friends would definitely struggle with that.
“Not sure,” the woman said. “We’ve given people maps of the closest UCA-sanctioned communities, so they can go there if they want. We’ve lost a few bitter Golds along with a group of other people who are scared of the Chancellor’s message.”
“Most people are willing to help,” Omer said. “Most of them are getting it. Meanwhile, we’re doing everything we can to keep the town running.”
I wasn’t there when Gentle Acres overthrew their leaders. Gentle Acres was still struggling a year into their independence. I suspected Young Woods would take just as long. Looking around the room, I knew the people here weren’t thinking long term. This was survival mode, and it was all they could do at the moment.
A woman with dark red hair ran into the room calling Omer’s name. She turned towards me and I recognized her: Gianna. I met her a long time ago at my first and only Underground meeting. I liked her then, and I thought I might like her even more now. She greeted me with a broad smile. The last time I saw her, she was serious and stern. Today she was still authoritative, but more genial than the others.
“We have a group of refugees at the gate,” she told us. “They said their camp was raided. What do you want me to do?”
Omer stood with his arms crossed, still concentrating on the list of people and tasks on the screen in front of us. Someone must have been adding notes to the list. Names moved around on the screen. People were highlighted in different colors.
“Take Yami and talk to them” he said. “I don’t want to turn people away if we can help it.”
A MASS OF PEOPLE STOOD at the southern gate of the town. They held bags spilling over with clothes, protein packs, water jugs, and medical supplies.
Gianna introduced herself to the man who appeared to be in charge.
“A group of Gray Suits approached our camp, but one of the campers was out checking on our water plant when they arrived. We had enough advance warning to get most of our people out.” His voice caught on the word “most,” and others around him looked away. The group must have been an ACer camp – formerly “anti-cloning,” though now the letters were more like “anti-community.” They lived on the outskirts of communities, and were used to surviving with just the basics. They would likely be positive additions to Young Woods.
“We need a new place to live,” the man continued. “Young Woods is the closest community we could find through that’s independent. I don’t want my people taken in for testing. And we’d like to help how we can.”
“We’ll make space for you,” Gianna said, shaking the man’s arm firmly. “But please understand that we’re only just a few days into this. We need workers right now, and we need people who can be patient while we get things up and running.”
The man nodded. “We’ll do what we need to contribute.”
I watched the campers while Gianna and their leader spoke. There weren’t as many of them as there had been at the ACer camp I had lived at, but there still were a lot. I scanned their faces. My heart leapt when I saw someone tall and blond standing towards the back – Charlie? I cursed myself silently. Of course Charlie wasn’t there. I was seeing things.
I mentally pushed Charlie from my head, imagining a wall between us growing taller and taller. I looked back at the crowd, then to Gianna.
“Where do you think they can stay?” I asked Gianna under my breath. “Is there e
nough space?”
“Yami, why don’t you take them to get set up in the rec room under the Gold commune,” Gianna said. She turned back to the leader. “There’s space there, and in the next few days we should be able to find you housing based on who has already left town. We’re also doubling up on houses. There are many Gold and Silver houses with plenty of room and only one occupant.”
I gestured for the man to follow me, and I walked them to the commune. He told me about their camp.
“We haven’t been around long,” he said. “Just a year or so. But we had a good location and several campers who could help get us set up.”
“That’s the kind of skill we’ll need here at Young Woods,” I said.
“I hope so. But what you really need here is more security.”
Young Woods didn’t have an armory. Rebel networks were sharing resources as best as they could, and I knew Omer had gotten a hold of weaponry before the uprising. I doubted it was enough to protect this large of a space and this many people.
“I just arrived,” I replied, “but I’m not sure what we can do to provide the security we need. They’re just living day to day here. Trying to keep everything going without government help.”
The man walked alongside me silently before speaking. “That’s going to have to change soon if we’re going to survive.”
I felt like we were standing in front of a levee about to break.
Chapter 2 – Charlie
After Yami disappeared, I messaged her again and again, waiting for a response. She made a mistake, or I had made a mistake, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Just because I could have kids, and Yami couldn’t? That didn’t mean anything. We were at Gentle Acres doing important work. She could stay here and work with me in the Med, helping the sick and wounded. We could be together, kids or not.
