Clones

by John Whitman

  base? My uncle is there."

  Maga took a step back. "No. My people do not cross the river. And I must

  search for any that escaped."

  "But-"

  "Do not question the garoo," Maga said proudly. "I must take care of my

  people." With that, he turned and trotted off. She watched him for a moment,

  amazed at how quickly and quietly he moved his large body through the tall

  grasses.

  Tash turned toward the river. Crossing the river meant crossing the

  bridge. And that meant she might run into her dark-side self again. But she

  had to risk it.

  Tash approached the bridge cautiously. The ruins were to her right, and

  they seemed deserted. But on the far side of the bridge, a crowd had gathered.

  There were quite a few Rebels standing on the open ground between the bridge

  and their base, crowding around Uncle Hoole.

  Tash made her way through the crowd toward her uncle. One of the people

  she bumped into was Eyal.

  "What's going on?" she said.

  "Your uncle says that your ship is making its approach," Eyal replied.

  "It should be here in a moment.

  We are very excited. The timing is perfect. Our leader is on his way back

  in from his collections."

  "Great," Tash said. "Excuse me."

  She pushed her way deeper into the crowd until she found Hoole. The

  Shi'ido was scanning the sky, waiting for the remote-controlled Shroud to

  appear.

  "Uncle Hoole, you've got to listen to me," she said. "There's something

  very wrong with this place-"

  "I know," Hoole replied softly. "But there is nothing we can do but get

  aboard the ship as fast as possible. I did not want all these people around,

  but they insisted on following me."

  "Where's Zak?" Tash asked, realizing he was missing.

  "That I do not know," her uncle replied. She saw a wrinkle on his

  forehead, and knew what it meant. Hoole was worried. "I could not locate him.

  But once the ship arrives we will use its sensors to find him."

  "Is it almost here?" asked a voice Tash recognized. It was Eyal. But she

  had just seen him on the far side of the crowd!

  "Where did you come from?" she asked.

  "Over there," he said, pointing away from the bridge.

  "Didn't I just see you by the bridge?" she demanded.

  Eyal shook his head. "It couldn't have been me."

  Tash was bewildered. How could Eyal be in two places at once? "But I

  just-"

  "There it is," Hoole said, pointing up. A silvery gleam appeared in the

  sky, growing larger. At the same time, the distant whine of sublight engines

  reached their ears.

  "Well timed!" Eyal said. "Our leader is just arriving." He pointed back

  to the bridge. Over the heads of the crowd, Tash could see a long line of

  people marching toward them from the far side of the river. They were marching

  in single file. The leader was dressed in dark clothing, and even from this

  distance, Tash could tell that the others were Dantari. Her stomach tightened

  into a knot.

  "Just a few more seconds," Hoole muttered. He was holding the remote

  control in his hands, watching its readings as the ship descended.

  "Uncle Hoole, there's something wrong here," she started to say.

  "Almost here," Hoole muttered, almost to himself. The ship was nearly on

  top of them. Its landing gear lowered, and it descended slowly toward the

  ground. The crowd parted to give it plenty of room. Only a few hundred feet to

  go.

  "This is a great day!" Eyal said. "Our leader will finally be able to get

  off this planet!"

  "Uncle Hoole, look!" Tash said, her voice rising in terror.

  They both looked back at the bridge. Now that the marchers were closer,

  Tash could see why they marched in such a straight line. They were all bound

  at the neck, one after the other, by a long rope. Tash knew they were the

  Dantari of Maga's tribe, and she could see that they were prisoners.

  But that wasn't what terrified her.

  The man in the dark clothing who led the line of captives was clearly

  visible now.

  It was Darth Vader.

  CHAPTER 12

  Darth Vader was here.

  On Dantooine.

  As soon as he crossed the bridge, several of the Rebels hurried to take

  control of the Dantari prisoners. Vader himself strode forward, his dark cape

  swirling behind him. Tash was frozen. All she could do was stare at Vader's

  breath mask. It reminded her of a skull.

  The dark man with no face, Maga had said.

  Of course.

  "At last," the Dark Lord of the Sith boomed, "a ship to take me off this

  accursed world."

  The spell over Tash seemed to break. "Uncle Hoole. The ship!" she

  shouted.

  Hoole, who had apparently been just as stunned to see Vader, realized

  what Tash meant. Raising his remote control, Hoole punched in a command.

  "Stop him!" Vader ordered, and a dozen hands grabbed at Hoole. But they

  were too late. The Shi'ido had managed to enter a new command, and the Shroud

  reversed direction just a few meters above the ground. It began to rise and,

  turning slowly in its place, the ship began to fly away.

  "No!" Vader bellowed. "My ship!"

  The Dark Lord lunged forward. His followers scattered to let him through.

  Something caught Tash's eye as Vader stormed forward. The Dark Lord's

  appearance was different. She didn't know what it was, and she had no time to

  think as the Dark Lord reached Hoole and snatched at the remote control. Hoole

  struggled with him briefly, but Vader wrenched the control pad from his hands.

  The Dark Lord raised it toward the departing ship and punched the keypad.

  Nothing happened.

  "It's encoded!" Vader roared. From behind his mask he snarled at Hoole.

  "Give me the code."

  "No," Hoole replied.

  In a smooth, swift motion, Vader drew his lightsaber and ignited it with

  a loud thrummm! He held it over his head, ready to strike the Shi'ido down.

  "The code."

  Hoole stiffened. Tash could see that he wanted to move but he seemed to

  be stuck in place, as though held there by Vader's will.

  "No," the Shi'ido repeated.

  Vader struck.

  Tash screamed as the lightsaber came down in a flashing arc. The light

  blade passed cleanly through Hoole's midsection and came out the other side.

  Hoole winced. Then he opened his eyes and looked down. He touched the

  spot where the lightsaber had passed through him.

  He was untouched.

  It was at that moment that Tash realized what was bothering her about

  Vader. It was his armor. It looked similar to the armor that Vader wore, but

  it didn't seem to function. Like the makeshift starship, it was a cheap

  imitation.

  "Tash, run!" the Shi'ido yelled. A moment later he shape-shifted into the

  form of a bantha.

  The power of Hoole's voice set Tash's feet in motion. She shoved her way

  through the crowd of Rebels, who were focused on the bantha that had appeared

  among them. Breaking free of the mob, she ran across the bridge and toward the

  only place she knew to hide.

  The Jedi ruins.

  She didn't care if she
saw her dark-side self again. Her evil twin was

  nothing compared to Vader. She only hoped that Hoole could escape as easily.

  Tash heard a few voices call after her, but she had a head start. She reached

  the outer ring of stones and entered the ruins.

  Tash meant to lose herself in the confusing maze of the abandoned

  fortress, but her feet seemed to carry her automatically to the center of the

  ruins. The round building was in front of her before she knew it. Knowing the

  room was empty, Tash started to turn away, looking for a better hiding place,

  when voices drifted toward her. She ducked inside the building.

  Pressing herself against the wall near the door, Tash caught her breath

  and tried to think. She was alone. Zak had vanished, and Hoole was either

  hiding or captured by these so-called Rebels. And Vader was here.

  But what had happened to Vader's lightsaber? Why hadn't it cut Hoole in

  half?

  Tash knew the answer. The saber was a fake. She'd seen the light beam

  pass right through Hoole without hurting him. It wasn't a real saber-it was a

  mocked-up version, just like the ridiculously mocked-up starship these

  castaways were building.

  It was obvious to Tash that these people were impostors. They weren't

  real Rebels-they couldn't be. But if they were lying to her, why hadn't she

  felt it in the Force? In the past, she'd often gotten a sinking feeling in her

  stomach when people were lying to her and meant to do her or her family harm.

  Why hadn't the Force warned her about these strangers?

  Thinking of Eyal and the others, Tash knew the answer. They believed they

  were Rebels. Whatever he really was, Eyal thought he was working for the

  Rebellion. She had seen the honesty in his eyes when he spoke. Almost, she

  thought, the way Maga saw the honesty in my eyes when I spoke.

  So these stranded beings thought they were Rebels, but really weren't.

  Why do they think they are, though? Tash wondered. Did Vader brainwash

  them? But that wouldn't explain where they came from. Maga had said "the man

  with no face"-Vader-had appeared first, then the others. But they hadn't come

  in ships.

  Could Vader have made them somehow? Created them, using the dark side of

  the Force?

  No, she decided. That isn't possible.

  But he could have made them some other way. Maybe they weren't really

  alive. Maybe they were androids of some kind. That would explain why she'd

  seen several copies of the same person. And it would also explain why she

  couldn't tell if they were lying. Maybe they were programmed to believe they

  were Rebels. If Vader was building androids of some kind, it might even

  explain why Tash had seen a copy of herself.

  It was the best answer Tash could come up with. But it didn't solve all

  her riddles.

  For instance, why would Vader carry a fake lightsaber? And how had the

  second most powerful being in the galaxy become stranded on a barren planet?

  Tash heard voices.

  She looked around for a stick or a stone, anything she could use as a

  weapon.

  That was when she noticed the crack in the floor.

  It started on the spot where her evil twin had dashed the stone. The rock

  had shattered, but it had also left its mark on the floor. There was a crack

  about one meter long.

  Not a crack. A line. A very thin, very straight line. The impact of the

  rock hadn't made this line. She was surprised she hadn't noticed it before,

  but without the broken stone to draw attention to that particular spot on the

  floor, it was hardly visible.

  Tash could see that it was a door. Dropping to her knees, she felt around

  for some sort of lever. The line was too small for her fingers to fit into, so

  she ran her fingernail down the length of the line. At the very end she felt

  something click.

  A section of the floor sank, revealing a stairway leading down into

  darkness. Tash took it.

  When she'd gone a few steps, the stone slid back into place. For a moment

  she was blinded by the darkness, but as her eyes adjusted, she realized there

  was dim light below. Tash crept down the stairs, counting as she went. When

  she reached the twenty-fifth step, she knew she was at the bottom.

  She was in a long, narrow chamber that was almost a tunnel. The chamber

  walls were lined with vats filled with bubbling green fluid. They reminded her

  of the bacta tanks doctors used to heal injured people, but something told her

  these weren't bacta tanks.

  Tash sensed movement.

  She crouched, trying to hide in the shadows as something passed nearby.

  It was a droid of some kind. It had a small triangular head with two lenses

  for eyes. Its head swiveled on a long, thin neck attached to a squat body that

  rolled on wheels. The machine had several mechanical arms. She could tell by

  its rickety movements that it was very old. The droid almost passed her by.

  Then it stopped, turned, and rolled toward Tash, but it didn't threaten her.

  The droid's eyes lit up in a light blue color as it sent some sort of scanning

  beam onto Tash's arm.

  "Genetic material analysis," the droid said to itself. "This sample has

  already been harvested. Vats two-two six through two-four-one."

  The droid then looked up at Tash, and another blue beam settled onto her

  forehead. When it did, Tash felt the same electrical sensation she'd felt when

  she first entered the room above. She was being scanned. "Mind scan in

  progress. This brain pattern has already been harvested."

  The droid then lost interest and turned away.

  Tash followed the droid into the room. What did it mean by harvested?

  She looked at the nearest vat. It was number 222. Tash walked down the

  row until she found number 226. She looked into the tank filled with green,

  bubbling slime. There was something bobbing inside.

  She leaned over to get a closer look, and saw a small figure curled up

  like a baby, floating in the liquid. Its back was to her so that all she could

  see were its shoulders and a thick mane of hair. But then the figure bobbed in

  the bubbling goo and rolled toward her. She saw two familiar-looking eyes,

  wide open, staring at her through the slime-bath.

  Tash had seen those eyes in the mirror every day of her life.

  Tash was again staring at herself.

  CHAPTER 13

  Clones.

  Tash was in a room full of cloning tanks. And this tank, and the next,

  and the one after that, and maybe others, were full of clones of Tash herself

  "How can that be?" she whispered to herself. She knew she was right.

  She'd once learned about cloning from an Ithorian named Fandomar. Cloning

  technology was possible. Scientists could take DNA from anything-blood or hair

  or a few flakes of skin-and use the genetic code inside to grow an exact copy

  of the original person. But it took years to let the clone grow, and Tash had

  only been on Dantooine for a few weeks!

  "Query?"

  Tash nearly jumped. The droid had come up behind her. It must have heard

  her speak.

  "Query?" the droid asked again.

  "Urn, yes," she said. "How can these clones be grown so quickly?"

 
; The droid paused. "Information on rapid cloning process is restricted."

  The droid turned away.

  Rapid cloning. Obviously Vader had developed some sort of quick cloning

  method that allowed him to grow clones not in years, or even months or days,

  but hours! But why was Vader here?

  Tash had a thousand questions, but she knew she would get no response

  from the droid. While it obviously wasn't programmed to guard against

  intruders, it wasn't going to be helpful, either.

  She looked around for anything that might prove useful. But aside from

  the cloning tanks and the droid, there wasn't much else in the room. Just a

  container full of flight suits. Tash guessed that when the real Rebels had

  vacated the base, they'd left their laundry behind. Now Vader was using it to

  clothe his clone army.

  She was about to turn away from the container when she had an idea.

  Quickly, she pulled out a flight suit that would fit her, shucked off her

  clothes, tossed them aside, and slipped into her new outfit.

  Just in time. Stone ground against stone at the top of the stairs. Tash