With Doctor Peterson leading, and the three military officers close behind, the entire group moved towards the entrance of the underground chamber. The two Nordakians practically knocked Edmund Hill over as they rushed past him so they could walk directly behind Jenetta while Doctor Peterson gave a short commentary about their dig site discoveries and led the way to the tunnel. The walls, ceiling, and floor of the passageway had been scrubbed clean of all dirt. No national monument on Earth ever presented a more pristine appearance. As Doctor Peterson escorted the group into the circular chamber, he turned to face them, so as to gauge their reactions.
Captain Gavin, Jenetta, and Marine Captain Greene let their eyes take in the equipment lining the walls of the room. Illuminated indicator gauges measured unseen activity, and small lights winked incessantly.
"What have you built here, Doctor?" Gavin asked.
"Nothing, Captain. We found this just as you see it. Well, not exactly as you see it. When we first arrived the machinery was all inactive."
"You mean that this facility was already in place? In this condition? I was informed that the planet's civilization has been extinct for almost twenty thousand years?"
"That's the MAE assessment. We were as astounded as you are by this find. This room has somehow survived for thousands of years without any visible signs of decay. The metal door protecting this complex is some kind of unknown alloy."
"I see. Very interesting, Doctor. I'm sure that scientific and archeological minds will be suitably impressed, but it hardly justifies a stage-one emergency distress call."
"No, by itself it doesn't. Our problem is— um— we can't turn the equipment off."
Gavin looked around the room again. "It should be fairly simple. Just disconnect the power source you're using."
"That's part of the mystery. We're not using any power source."
Gavin looked at Dr. Peterson for a couple of seconds, then looked around the room once again. "You're saying that it's using a twenty-thousand-year-old source of power?"
"Exactly."
"How did you activate it?"
"We don't know. It was an accident. We're not sure how it was started or who is responsible."
"I see. Well, I'm sure that Space Command can send a team of scientists to solve your problem. Again, it hardly justifies an emergency distress call of the level that you placed."
"The power isn't the problem. Well, it is but it isn't."
"Doctor, I think it's about time you laid your cards on the table."
"Cards?"
"Just tell us what prompted the distress call."
"Yes, I— we— that is, all of us— umm— this group, were in this room immediately following the discovery. There were three laborers present also, but we were in the center of the room when the power first came on. We were caught in some kind of a beam that— paralyzed us. We have no recollection of what happened next, but we were later informed that we remained unconscious for several hours after the wall receded."
"What wall?" Gavin asked, looking towards the ceiling.
"According to the three laborers that survived, a clear wall, rather like a solid acrylic substance, rose up here from the floor after we were paralyzed. You can see a faint, circular outline in the floor. The enclosed area then reportedly filled with an unknown gas. The laborers ran for assistance, but when help arrived, the wall was gone and the gas had dissipated."
"The three laborers that survived? How many didn't?"
"One was crushed to death against the ceiling because the wall carried him up when it rose."
Gavin looked up at the ceiling again, then around at each of the scientists before saying, "An unfortunate incident, but you all appear to be healthy. Do you need medical assistance?"
"No, that's not the problem."
Gavin, tired of probing for the simple answers he needed, just stared at Doctor Peterson with a withering look, perfected over twenty-five years. Aboard ship, it was guaranteed to intimidate subordinates and turn them into quivering jellyfish without his having to say another word.
"Okay," Peterson said, "the problem is that we've been cloned."
Gavin continued to stare at him in silence.
"A number of times," the doctor added.
"Cloned? You're telling me that this equipment makes human beings?"
"Not just humans, it also makes Nordakians."
Gavin was quiet for a minute as he thought. "So you have a maternity ward around here somewhere, filled with infants this machine has created?"
"No, not infants, full size replicas of the original; all with the complete knowledge and memories of the subject. Doctor Huften theorizes that the clones begin as a single celled organism, perhaps created from vacuumed skin cells when the gas is sucked out. Then, with the introduction of an accelerated growth protein, the clone develops to full-size within an artificial womb. We don't know how the knowledge of the subject is imparted to the clone, but it's a hundred percent complete. And every six and two-thirds days now, a new batch hatches."
"Hatches?"
"Well, whatever you wish to call it. Those eleven doors over there, the ones with the blinking lights," the doctor said, pointing to them, "open, and fully developed beings step out. A work supervisor, arriving here early one morning, found the first group. He initially thought it was us. And since the group was totally naked, he discreetly slipped back out. But he mentioned it to a couple of co-workers. It didn't take long for the word to get around the camp that we must be having a sex orgy down here, but workers who had just finished eating breakfast knew that we were all still above ground. The labor supervisor informed us of the situation and we rushed down here. That's when we found the first batch of clones. They were trying to reason out their situation."
"That must have been an interesting meeting," Gavin said, the hint of a grin on his face.
Doctor Peterson grimaced but otherwise ignored the comment and continued. "Each of the clones thought they were the original, and that it was some sort of elaborate hoax. It took a lot of talking to get them to accept the truth."
"And where are all these 'new' people?" the Captain asked.
"To avoid confusion, we decided to establish satellite dig sites for each group, where they could continue to work until we resolve the problems associated with their creation. The nearest is about five kilometers from here."
"I'd like to see them."
"They can't offer you any more information than I've already told you."
"That may be, but I'd like to meet them anyway. Can you gather them at one location?"
"Yes, Captain."
"How many are there?"
"The first group took four months to gestate, as the equipment slowly came on-line. I suppose it's inactivity for so long caused the delay and it had to clean or prepare itself somehow, like a food synthesizer, but now we've had four groups emerge, the last being hatched this morning. Although the time between the first and second groups was almost two and a half months, the development time since then has been just six and two-third days. I imagine the equipment has completed all its maintenance cycles and is running at top speed now. There are forty-four duplicates so far."
"Okay, please send word for them to gather," Gavin said. Then turning to Jenetta and taking her aside, he said quietly, "Take over here, Jen, while I go to see these new people. You understand that this equipment violates Galactic Alliance laws against cloning and must be confiscated. These scientists are not going to be happy. Set up a camp, get whatever people you'll need to enforce the seizure, and shut this thing down."
"Yes sir."
"Carry on."
Gavin turned and walked from the rotunda, with Marine Captain Green and the archeologists following. Since CT's wouldn't function this far away from the ship on their own, Jenetta was wearing a small repeater with an independent power source on her belt. She spoke to the security officer on duty aboard the Prometheus, ordering him to send down another company of Marines, and sufficient food
, equipment, and supplies to secure the area and set up a complete base of operations. Then she called the medical center and arranged for several doctors and a complete mobile hospital unit and staff personnel.
Her last call was to engineering. When she reached the chief engineer, Lt. Commander Cameron, she said, "Bill, it's Jen. We need you on the surface. I'd like you to bring three, model thirty-ten portable shelters, a crew to erect them, and a dozen of your best people."
"What specialties?"
"Power systems initially. You'll be able to shift people around as things progress."
"Okay, Commander. We're on our way."
"Carver, out."
Over the next two hours the Prometheus' shuttles, MAT's, and tugs made repeated trips to the surface as they delivered the requested personnel and equipment. The marines arrived first, and with the four squads already on the surface, they began setting up a defensible perimeter. A number of the dig site workers objected to having their shelters moved, but the Marines assisted them, only using the force absolutely necessary to accomplish their task, in relocating to a newly cleared area one-half kilometer away. When the camp was secured, it encompassed an area one-hundred-meters from the tunnel entrance in every direction. Proximity sensors were then placed around the perimeter, and robots excavated a meter and a half deep trench, with a one-third-meter raised berm, seventy meters out from the tunnel entrance. That allowed Marines to circle the entire compound without exposing themselves to fire. Two Marine guards were posted at the underground facility's entrance with orders that no one except Prometheus personnel were to be passed. Engineering crewmen quickly erected the three, thirty-meter by ten-meter structures, complete with prefabricated floors. Once anchored, the structures are able to withstand hurricane force winds of two-hundred kilometers an hour, not that such wind was expected on this part of the planet.
When the Captain and Doctor Peterson returned from visiting the clones, Doctor Peterson exploded with anger. He stomped into the prefab shelter that Jenetta had selected for the command center and screamed, "What's the meaning of this? This is a scientific expedition, not an army camp. Your robots may have damaged valuable relics by digging in areas that we haven't touched yet. I demand that you remove these people and structures at once." Turning to Captain Gavin he said, "Captain, I hold you personally responsible for this officer's actions."
"I'm sorry, Doctor," Captain Gavin said calmly, "but Commander Carver has taken the proper action, and done exactly as I would have done, had I had been here. This is standard operating procedure when seizing illegal, non-transportable assets. The Marines and camp stay as they are until the cloning equipment is disabled and transported to a location to be determined by Space Command."
"You can't take that equipment. It's an archaeological treasure. It belongs to the galaxy. Its historical significance hasn't even begun to be determined."
"Space Command Supreme Headquarters will have to be the judge about its historical significance. My duty is clear, and that's to see that it's secured and sent to the nearest Space Command base, which happens to be Higgins at Vinnia. From that point it's someone else's responsibility."
"Exactly correct, Captain," someone said from the doorway.
Jenetta turned her head in time to see Captain Kanes enter the command shelter.
"I wasn't aware you'd come down to the planet, Captain Kanes," Gavin said.
"I hitched a ride on one of the shuttle runs. I've just been talking with the site laborers who were in the underground facility when the equipment was turned on."
"Did you learn who was responsible for starting the process?"
Kanes leaned comfortably against a wall of the shelter about three meters away and said, "They say they don't know. They deny that they did anything, and say they were just setting up portable light panels when the equipment suddenly came on by itself. They ran out and reported to their boss. When they returned, they found Doctor Peterson and the others unconscious on the floor."
Turning to face Jenetta, Gavin asked, "What have you determined so far, Commander?"
"I don't have any results to report yet, sir. I've been busy getting the camp established. I've instructed Commander Cameron to locate the source of the power, and he's trying to determine if it's solar, fusion, thermal, chemical, antimatter, or stored energy. At last report, they hadn't made much progress because the facility is heavily shielded and they haven't been able to gain access to most of the control panels. Topside, the site is secure and the medical staff is setting up a portable hospital unit in the shelter next to this one. I've asked Doctor Hong to have his staff give complete physicals to all eleven original members of the archeological team, and then start on the clones. I'm expecting science officer DiMarata on the next shuttle and we'll begin our examination of the equipment inside the facility as soon as she arrives. Marine sentries have been posted with orders to restrict underground access to military personnel only."
"Very good, Jen. I'm going to return to the ship and send an encrypted report to Space Command. You're in charge down here. This entire area is under martial law. Carry on, Commander."
"Aye, sir."
As Gavin turned and walked away, Doctor Peterson hurried after him, continuing his vociferous protests.
Kanes straightened up from where he had been leaning against the wall, and sauntered over to where Jenetta was standing. He grinned and said, "I guess that means I report to you."
Jenetta also grinned. "Of course not, sir. Captain Gavin was naturally only referring to other personnel from the Prometheus; certainly not to the Chief of Intelligence for this entire area of space."
"What do you make of all this, Commander?"
"It's mind-boggling, sir, to think that a society on this planet had this level of sophisticated technology twenty thousand years ago, and yet simply-- disappeared. If they were this advanced, they must have had space travel capability as well. Perhaps they simply left, and we haven't encountered them yet."
"Yes, but that's not what I mean. What do you think about cloning?"
"Personally, sir?"
"Yes."
"Personally, I'm appalled at the prospect. I can't imagine having duplicates of me running around. I mean, identical people with all of my memories, feelings, and values? It's shocking to think of the possible ramifications."
"I was thinking more about the possibilities."
Jenetta looked at the Intelligence officer intently. It was logical that he would immediately think of the applications possible if the technology was made available to SCI.
"Cloning has been strictly outlawed for more than two centuries, sir."
"I don't mean for general use. I mean just for special purposes. Imagine what it could mean for an operative being sent into highly-dangerous undercover situation. We could store his information, and then, only if something happened, make a duplicate. Operatives would no longer have to worry about their families being looked after, or about their children growing up without a parent. They'd be able to better concentrate on their mission."
"It sounds ideal, but it seems to me that the system would be open to abuse. What happens if an operative was away on a mission and something came up that's ideally suited to his or her specialized skills? Do you just cook up another duplicate and deploy them? What happens when their assignment is over? Do you imprison the clones— or simply dispose of them? And what happens if an operative was severely injured or disfigured, but not killed? Would you then kill the operative and replace them with a healthy clone version? And why should the option be limited to Intelligence agents? Why not to all Space Command personnel aboard warships? Why not to everyone who must travel in space for their work? Why not everyone? It seems a slippery slope, sir."
Kanes thought for a second. "Naturally, we'd have to work out a complete set of regulations for its use, but the use can be strictly controlled. It's imperative we dismantle this equipment without destroying it."
"Yes sir, we'll do our best."
<
br /> As Kanes left the command center, Jenetta could practically hear the wheels turning in his mind as he considered new possible uses and abuses of the cloning technology.
Lieutenant DiMarata arrived shortly and Jenetta led the way down into the facility. Of the twenty-five chambers arranged around the room, eleven were sealed and operating, but the opaque doors covering the artificial wombs had so far kept the process a complete mystery. An examination of an unused chamber failed to produce any insight. The interior, a meter wide and a meter deep by two-hundred-sixty-centimeters high, was a matte black color, with several small valve openings in the sidewalls, and one large valve opening in the roof. A ten centimeter depression around the perimeter of the floor appeared to be a drain, but was presently closed.
In another part of the room, eleven of twenty-five illuminated control sub-panels were displaying a plethora of changing information. The women were able to match up the symbols and figure which sub-panel represented which chamber, but there was no simple indication of what the gauges might be measuring, so the abundant information was useless. After copying every symbol or string of symbols from the sub-panels into an interface module that had a direct link to the ship's computer, the computer responded that it could find no matches in its archives. Lieutenant DiMarata also uploaded all the symbols that were cut into the floor, taking care to avoid the area where the archeologists had been standing when the machine was activated.
Several hours of additional study provided no new insights and the two women had to admit defeat in interpreting the language. They saw no means of translating it unless they found a key, so Jenetta returned topside to the command center while Lieutenant DiMarata returned to the Prometheus, where she would continue to work on the translation problem in her lab. While they'd worked below, the engineering people had frequently stopped into the room to take measurements. Commander Cameron was involved in animated conversation with several of his people when Jenetta arrived at the topside command center. She waited until he was done before interrupting.
The Clones of Mawcett Page 12
