The Big Sheep

by Robert Kroese

  Selah scowled. “What in the hell are you talking about, Keane?” she demanded. “Bryn Jhaveri is a sheep locked in an underground room. She doesn’t have a clue what’s going on here. How could she possibly have outsmarted me?”

  “See, that’s the core of your problem right there,” said Keane. “You want to have it both ways. You deify Priya Mistry but think of Bryn Jhaveri as cattle. You want a goddess in a box. It doesn’t work like that.”

  “I’m starting to think your plan is to drive me to suicide just so I don’t have to listen to you pontificate anymore,” Selah said.

  Keane chuckled. “Come on,” he said. “I can’t be the only one who sees it. Help me out here, Fowler.”

  “Keane,” I said as calmly as I could manage. “I’ve got a big, horrifying, tentacled mind-sucking machine stuck on my head right now, so maybe you could just get to the fucking point.”

  “Sorry,” Keane said. “It just seems so clear to me now. You said it yourself, Fowler. Priya Mistry is logic Kryptonite.”

  “Am I supposed to understand what that means?” Selah said impatiently.

  “Oh, I think you understand it quite well,” said Keane. “You’re intensely aware of the effect Priya has on the men around her. Particularly men who spend a great deal of time with her, and who know her every thought.”

  “Is that what this is about?” Selah asked. “Dr. Allebach’s obsession with Priya? I always thought it was harmless. Pathetic, but harmless.”

  Allebach glared at her but said nothing.

  “It’s certainly pathetic,” said Keane. “But you may want to rethink the harmless part. Have you lost track of any of your clones in the past few weeks?”

  “Of course not,” said Selah. “We keep very close tabs on them.”

  “You’re certain?” said Keane. “Every single one is accounted for. No accidental deaths?”

  Selah shrugged. “Occasionally one of them will develop a mutation as a side effect of the accelerated aging process. If it’s serious enough, the clone has to be destroyed.”

  “And has this happened recently?”

  “It’s possible,” said Selah. “I don’t keep track of every faulty clone we incinerate.”

  “I suspect that if you check your records,” said Keane, “you’ll find you’re one short. A clone that was supposed to be destroyed was never incinerated. And I’m willing to bet that the flaw in this particular clone was an imperfect facial structure. She would still be very pretty, but she wouldn’t be mistaken for Priya.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Allebach snapped. “We have strict protocols for keeping track of the clones.”

  “Protocols you are uniquely suited to subvert,” said Keane, “since you devised them.”

  “I’m a scientist,” Allebach growled. “The idea that I would—”

  “Shut up, Henry,” said Selah. She turned back to Keane. “You’re saying Dr. Allebach grew a customized clone for his own … use?” She seemed mildly disgusted by the idea, which struck me as a bit ironic. Allebach was turning red with either anger or embarrassment, but he said nothing.

  “Exactly,” said Keane. “In his defense, he believes he’s in love with her. With them. Whatever.”

  “And how do you know all this?”

  “I knew there was someone inside your organization feeding the clones information,” said Keane. “Someone slipping letters to them that were signed Noogus. It had to be somebody with intimate details of Bryn’s childhood as well as information about your plans for the sheep. Once we determined that the Priyas were clones, the obvious answer was that Noogus was another clone.”

  Selah seemed dubious. “So Dr. Allebach abducted this clone and then set her loose so she could feed information to the other clones? I’m sorry, Mr. Keane, but that makes no sense. If she wanted to shut me down, why didn’t she just send you the address of my lab? Why be so cryptic about it? For that matter, why not just go to the FBI?”

  “That’s exactly what I couldn’t figure out,” said Keane. “Until now. You provided the answer yourself. Bryn Jhaveri doesn’t just want to expose you. She wants the same thing you do, Selah. The same as all of us, really. To control her destiny.”

  “Meaning what, exactly?” asked Selah.

  “Try to see this from Bryn’s point of view. Or points of view, rather. Bryn isn’t a sheep; she’s a person. More precisely, she is persons. Each has essentially the same personality, but different circumstances and points of view. Imagine what that must be like. How would you react if you found out you were one of many, that what you thought of as ‘you’ was simply a template for any number of points of consciousness existing in the universe? It’s the ultimate philosophical question writ large: What is my relationship as an individual to the other? I suspect many of us would react with shock, hate, anger, fear. But that’s not how Bryn Jhaveri reacted. When one Bryn met another in my office, there was a moment of shock, but very quickly they were watching bad sitcoms together, like old friends. Sisters, even. Can you imagine having that level of comfort with yourself? The ability to be okay with the fact that somebody else is running around with your personality? The level of empathy each Bryn is capable of possessing for the others is astounding. Now imagine that one Bryn becomes aware of the existence of all the others, and how they are being manipulated and abused. What does she do? How does she express her empathy for them?”

  “She tries to shut the operation down,” said Selah. “As I said, if she wanted to do that—”

  “No!” exclaimed Keane. “I mean, yes, she wants to shut you down, but she wants more than that. What does she do for the clones who are already out there? Remember what you said in your office, Selah? You asked what we would do if we had control over the clones. You said you had to shield them from the truth for their own good. But you don’t have their best interests at heart. Bryn does. I’m not asking what you would do, Selah. I’m asking what Bryn would do.”

  The answer suddenly hit me. “She’d let them choose,” I said.

  “Bingo!” cried Keane. “She’d give them just enough information to figure out the conspiracy if they really wanted to. Cryptic notes from Noogus, pointing them in the right direction, but no conclusive proof. We know two of them sought out the truth, but we don’t know how many letters Nikki sent. She could only communicate with the ones who were brought back here recently. And maybe some of the clones ignored the warnings, hoping to persist in the delusion.”

  There was a moment of silence. Then Selah spoke. “Nikki?” she asked.

  “Hey?” replied Keane.

  “You said, ‘We don’t know how many letters Nikki sent.’ Who the hell is Nikki?”

  “Oh!” exclaimed Keane. “I’m sorry. Got a little ahead of myself.” He turned to face the technician next to me. “Nikki, why don’t you introduce yourself.”

  The woman took a step back, bumping into the bed. She turned for a moment, and I caught a glimpse of her face.

  Jesus. That was why she seemed so familiar. Her face was different, but everything else about her—the way she stood, moved, smelled—was Priya Mistry.

  TWENTY-NINE

  “How … how did you know?” the woman asked.

  “I knew Allebach would keep the object of his affections close,” said Keane. “And of course you bear a striking resemblance to Priya, if one ignores certain superficial facial features. Also, your name tag.”

  “Nikki?” Selah asked. “How did that tell you anything?”

  “Short for Nicole,” said Keane. “Feminine form of Nicholas. The name of her teddy bear. Noogus.”

  Nikki nodded slightly. “I picked it myself,” said Nikki. “Henry—that is, Dr. Allebach—and I agreed I needed a pseudonym. I couldn’t very well go by Bryn or Priya.”

  “Hold on,” said Selah, baffled. “The two of you created a false identity so that Nikki could work in the lab? Just so she could sneak messages to the other clones?”

  “No,” said Keane. “I don’t believe Dr. Allebach k
new Nikki was going to try to communicate with the other Priyas. She did that on her own.”

  Allebach looked at Nikki, and she averted her eyes.

  “Then why?” asked Selah.

  “We love each other,” said Allebach. “We wanted to be together.” A note of desperation had crept into his voice. He was looking at Nikki, but she still refused to meet his gaze.

  Selah shook her head. “No,” she said. “I don’t buy it. Maybe Nikki alerted the others on her own, but you two were up to something.”

  “Excellent deduction,” said Keane. “A little late to do you any good, but you’re exactly right. I imagine part of the reason they stuck around was that they didn’t want to leave until Dr. Allebach had received his final payment from you, for transferring Bryn’s memories to the sheep. But there is something else as well.”

  “What?” Selah demanded. “What were they planning?”

  “I could make a conjecture,” said Keane, “but I don’t know the details. It might be better if Dr. Allebach told you.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Nikki said suddenly, looking at Keane. “She was going to let you and your friend live. You would have no memories of this place. There would be no blood on your hands.”

  “No,” said Keane. “That’s where you’re wrong. I’d have blood on my hands if I didn’t stop you, whether or not I had any memory of the blood being there. I may be straining this metaphor a bit. The point is, I can’t let Selah kill Roy, and I can’t have her messing with our memories. That’s not negotiable.”

  “I gave you all the answers you needed,” said Nikki. “So you could help the others. But you weren’t supposed to know about this. You were never supposed to come here.”

  “Unfortunately for you,” said Keane, “you weren’t the only one feeding us information. Selah left just enough bread crumbs for us to find this place. I don’t blame you for wanting revenge against Selah, but you have to let us go.”

  “She has to let you go?” Selah asked. “She isn’t the one in charge here, Mr. Keane.”

  “You’re still a step behind, Selah,” said Keane. “Let me spell it out for you. Your chief scientist fell in love with someone who is determined to undermine your cloning operation. Now, do you really think you’re still the one in charge?”

  A look of horror came over Selah’s face. She turned to Allebach. “What did you do?”

  Allebach was looking to Nikki, who still wouldn’t meet his gaze.

  “Might as well tell her now,” said Keane. “She’s not going to let you out of here until she knows.”

  Allebach turned to face Selah. “I sabotaged the memory-implantation program. Every new clone will wake up with a complete memory of this place and what was done to her. Whether they’ll still want to be famous, I don’t know. You’ll have to talk it over with them.”

  “It’s their choice,” said Nikki. “They deserve to know.”

  “I created them!” cried Selah. “They deserve nothing!”

  Allebach shrugged. “Whatever they deserve, it’s done. The program has been encrypted, and it can’t be altered.”

  “You did this for her?” Selah said. “For one of them? A clone?”

  “Don’t talk that way about her!” Allebach snapped. “You don’t know anything about love.”

  Selah laughed bitterly. “Love! Hell, Dr. Allebach. She used you. Do you honestly believe she’s going to run away with you? Where were you going to go? Costa Rica?”

  “Belize,” said Allebach through gritted teeth. “We’re going to Belize. Tell them, Nikki. Tell them what I mean to you.”

  Nikki bit her lip and then met Allebach’s gaze. “I … I love you, Henry,” she said. “You know that. I didn’t tell you about warning the other clones because I didn’t think you’d understand. I’m sorry.”

  A look of profound relief came over Allebach’s face. “It’s all right, sweetheart,” said Allebach. “I forgive you.” He smiled reassuringly.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Selah. “He created you in a lab and brainwashed you. Whatever phony memories he stuck in your head, you have to be aware of that.”

  Nikki shrugged. “I can’t explain my feelings,” she said. “All I know is how I feel.”

  “The heart has reasons of which reason knows nothing,” said Keane. I recognized the quote. Pascal. I wasn’t sure it was an improvement over Nietzsche.

  Selah shook her head. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Neither of you are leaving here until Dr. Allebach rewrites the memory-implantation program.”

  “I told you,” said Allebach. “The program can’t be altered. It’s encrypted, and I threw away the key.”

  “Then you’ll start over,” said Selah. “You’ll rewrite the program from scratch. Don’t play me for a fool, Doctor. I know you can do it.”

  Allebach shook his head. “I destroyed everything. I never planned on writing another transfer program. To reconstruct all that work … it could take weeks. Maybe months.”

  “I don’t care if it takes you ten years,” said Selah. “You’re not leaving here until you rewrite it. You understand me, Doctor? You are of no value to me if you can’t rewrite the program.”

  Allebach thought for a long time, glancing back and forth between Nikki and Selah. “If I rewrite it,” he said at last, “if I give you a program that works, you’ll let us go? Both of us?”

  Selah scowled. “I should have you both killed on principle,” she said. “But in the interest of getting this program back up and running, I’ll agree to let you go. Run off to Bora Bora or wherever. All I care about is Priya Mistry.”

  “How do I know you’ll live up to your word?”

  “You don’t,” said Selah. “But you can take your chances or you can rot in a cell next to a sheep for the next fifty years. You’re not getting a better offer.”

  Allebach nodded slowly, considering what Selah had said. He turned to Nikki. “It’s up to you,” he said. “If I rewrite the program, we can be together. I think … maybe if I can recover some of the files, I can do it in about six weeks. But I know how important this is to you. I will understand if you don’t want me to do it.”

  Nikki regarded Selah. “What if he refuses?”

  Selah shrugged. “I’ll keep you both locked up until he changes his mind.”

  Nikki turned to face Keane. “Damn you!” she said. “Why did you have to come here? I had everything under control. Henry and I would have been on a plane to Central America before Selah knew anything was wrong.”

  “Sorry,” said Keane. “We had a lost sheep to find. Foiling elaborate cloning plots is just a side effect.”

  “And what did you gain by exposing our plan?” Nikki asked. “You know Selah’s still going to wipe your memories. Did you expect her to be grateful?”

  Keane shrugged. “I’m an optimist,” he said. “I always hope everyone will get what they deserve.”

  “And what do I deserve, Mr. Keane?” Nikki asked.

  “I don’t envy you,” said Keane. “You didn’t ask to be created. To be put into this situation. But then, none of us did. I guess you have to decide for yourself what you deserve.”

  Nikki regarded him for a moment, and then nodded. She turned to Allebach. “Do it,” she said.

  “Are you sure?” Allebach asked.

  “I’m sure,” replied Nikki. “I want us to be together. It’s what we deserve.” She looked into his eyes, and he smiled.

  “Thank you,” said Allebach. “You know all I want is to be with you.”

  “I know,” said Nikki. “We’ll be together soon. Away from this place.”

  Allebach approached, spreading his arms to embrace her. It was a little hard to believe, but I found myself hoping that love really could transcend their bizarre circumstances. That was when Selah screamed.

  “She’s got a knife!” Selah cried. “Stop her!”

  Selah was right: Nikki had pulled something silvery from her pocket, possibly a scalpel. It glinted in the fluoresce
nt light as her hand arced upward, plunging the blade into Allebach’s neck. Gunshots rang out, and Nikki stumbled against Allebach and slumped to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Brian, his rifle trained on her.

  Allebach fell backward, clutching at the handle protruding from his neck. As the blade slipped and fell, a geyser of blood erupted from where it had been. Allebach gasped and gurgled, flailing helplessly on the floor. Nikki lay, slumped across his legs, unmoving, blotches of red growing across her lab coat.

  “Stop the bleeding!” shrieked Selah. “We have to save him!”

  One of the technicians ran to Allebach’s side. He tried to stanch the bleeding with a lab coat, but it was clearly hopeless. At the rate blood was gushing from his artery, Allebach would be dead in minutes. Keane went to Nikki, dragging her off Allebach and laying her flat on her back.

  Her eyes fixed on Keane’s for a moment. A smile flickered across her lips as she gasped, “Everyone gets … what they deserve.” Her eyes went dead, and her head lolled to the side.

  Keane pressed his fingers to her neck, and after a few seconds he shook his head. He closed Nikki’s eyelids and stood up. “She’s gone,” he said.

  Meanwhile, the technician looked helplessly up at Selah as the white coat turned crimson. “I can’t save him,” he said. “She cut clean through the artery.”

  “No,” said Selah. “No, no, no. He’s the only one who can rewrite the transfer program. Without him, I’m finished.”

  “That was the plan,” said Keane.

  We watched in silence as the life drained out of Allebach. After some time Selah spoke.

  “So she didn’t really love him after all.”

  Keane sighed. “No, she didn’t. You were right the first time. She was using him. Allebach was seriously deluded if he thought he could brainwash Bryn Jhaveri into loving him. For Allebach, love was all about control. For Bryn, it was about letting go. She was just pretending to love him. Acting, I suppose. She just needed him to get close, one more time.”

  “And you knew,” said Selah. “You knew what she was planning.”