The Clone Paradox (The Ark Project, Book I)

by J. W. Elliot

  “Besides,” Willow added, “they can get us out of here.”

  “And then what?” Kaiden asked.

  Willow looked away. “I don’t know,” she said. “First things first.”

  “You never said anything about joining a terrorist group,” Greyson said. “If I’d known that’s all you had planned, I would have stayed behind.”

  “No one’s stopping you,” Willow said with an angry gesture back down the tunnel. “No one knows you came with us.”

  “They do now,” Greyson said. He raised his hand to show her the new wrist terminal.

  “All right,” Birch said. “Greyson, if you want to go back and face the clowns, go for it. Otherwise, let’s get going. We’re wasting time.”

  “I think you mean face the music,” Jade corrected her.

  Birch’s lips shrank into a pout. “It’s all the same.”

  Kaiden glanced around at them, refusing to be distracted by Birch’s linguistic mess-ups. Had Willow really betrayed them? He didn’t want to believe it. What were the chances the terrorists would let any of them live? He tried to come up with an alternative to the options before him but failed. His chances couldn’t be any worse with the terrorists than with Noah. At least, he knew for certain Noah meant to kill him.

  “Let’s go then,” Kaiden said.

  “Right,” Hawk said. “Follow me.”

  His headlamp flashed against the stone walls that glistened with moisture as he spun to face the darkness.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Into the Dark

  Willow cast a glance at Kaiden, though she hoped he wouldn’t see it in the darkness of the tunnel. Then she spun to follow Hawk. She had known they wouldn’t like her escape plan. That’s why she hadn’t told them and why she had let Birch try her plan first. If it had worked, none of this would have been necessary. But after spending forty years at TAP with the accumulated memories that she was not supposed to have, Willow had known that Noah would be tracking them. And she knew it wasn’t just the wrist terminals. That’s why she had led them deep underground. Down here, with miles of rock around them, TAP wouldn’t be able to track them. TAP security might come down the elevator shaft and follow them, but they would be long gone by then if her plan worked.

  Willow had also been able to overhear Noah’s interview with Kaiden. Something about it bothered her. Why Kaiden? What was so special about him? Quill had simply been executed. Colt had disappeared. But Kaiden had been given several chances, and he was still alive. There were only two possible explanations. He was a plant Noah was using to uncover conspiracies inside TAP, or Noah had something more personal planned for him. Maybe Kaiden had some special genetic modification that Noah was testing. That would explain why Kaiden had been so slow to question what was going on at TAP and why he had such a visceral reaction to the fragmented memories of his pre-clone life.

  Willow had been watching Kaiden for a long time. She had selected him first because out of all the clones she had met at TAP, he was the only one she recognized from her pre-clone days. She had met him once while interning in a science lab, but the details were still fuzzy. He had been cloned at least as many times as she had, but he was apparently more important. She had a growing suspicion why, but she needed to do a bit more digging. She needed to have time to examine the files she had downloaded before they left.

  The tunnel narrowed, and the ceiling dropped so low that Willow had to crouch.

  “We seem to be running out of space,” Greyson called from behind her.

  “Just a bit farther,” Hawk said.

  He stopped and shined his light into a jagged crack in the side of the tunnel.

  “You’re kidding,” Birch said.

  “Nope,” Hawk replied. “You’ll have to remove your packs.”

  “And what’s on the other side?” Greyson asked.

  “You’ll see.” Hawk shoved his pack ahead of him and disappeared through the crack.

  Willow glanced back at the beams of light that marked the location of her companions. She couldn’t see their faces, but she could feel their gazes. They were angry with her. Maybe they should be.

  Willow slipped off her pack and squeezed into the crack behind Hawk. The space was tight for thirty yards, and then it widened into a narrow chamber barely high enough for her to stand up straight, but she couldn’t turn around. She had to force herself to think about something other than the confining space.

  Panic tightened her throat. The narrow gap made her sweat and breathe harder. She struggled to keep from scrambling over Hawk. She now understood the images of dark confined spaces that TAP used to punish her when she was disciplined. She tried to control her breathing as she squeezed through several narrow slits, shoving her pack in front of her with more desperation than she cared to admit.

  When they finally entered a long chamber with a sandy floor, she breathed a sigh of relief and shined her light on the walls. The pitted basalt rock glistened with moisture. It must have been a lava tube of some kind. The drops of moisture refracted the light of the flashlights, making the walls shimmer like sheets of silver inset with diamonds. It was an astonishingly beautiful sight in an otherwise dark and ordinary cavern. Water dripped somewhere. The echo magnified until it sounded like a rain shower. The air smelled fresher.

  Hawk slipped his backpack on and waited for the rest of them to join him. Willow hadn’t known him long, only a few days, but he was a brave man to sneak into TAP just to give her a message, and now he had risked his life to save them from certain death.

  “Thanks,” she said to him.

  He smiled. “Anything for an old sparring partner.”

  “Sorry about that,” she said.

  “I feel like a cockroach,” Birch said as she squeezed into the cavern. “Couldn’t you find a better tunnel?”

  “Sorry,” Hawk said. “That’s the best we could do.” He pointed his flashlight to the end of the tunnel, where a dim light could be seen. “We’re almost there. One more narrow crawl space, and we’ll be out.”

  “Out where?” Greyson asked with a glare of distrust.

  Willow glanced at him. She had brought Greyson and Iris in because they were already a part of Kaiden’s team, and she thought he trusted them. Birch had told her that they were all loyal to the team—that team loyalty was the most important thing for any security group. Since they hadn’t been actively involved in Kaiden’s other plotting, she thought they would be a good choice to prepare the ropes and harnesses at the elevator shaft. If Birch’s escape route worked, they could just return to their jobs without too much trouble. There was no evidence to connect them to Kaiden’s activities.

  “I’m not supposed to tell you where the entrance is,” Hawk said, “but our people will be there to get us out.”

  Greyson released the clip from his rifle, tucked it into a pocket, pulled out another clip, and clicked it into place. Iris followed his example.

  “What are you doing?” Birch demanded.

  Willow gave Kaiden a nervous glance.

  “I’m not walking out into a crowd of terrorists without some protection,” Greyson said. “I’ll go first.” He glanced at Iris.

  “That’s enough,” Kaiden said. “Greyson, you agreed to come. If you don’t like it, head back.”

  “I didn’t say I was going back,” Greyson said. “I said I’m not going out there unprepared.”

  “We can’t afford to have you do something stupid,” Kaiden said.

  Greyson smirked. “I’m not the one you have to worry about.”

  “Look,” Kaiden said, “once we’re out, you can take off if you want, but I won’t let you risk our lives by being an idiot.”

  Greyson sneered at Kaiden. “Man, you’re just hell-bent on believing we betrayed you even after we rescued you from Rio and helped you escape. What more do you want from us?”
<
br />   “Proof of your innocence,” Kaiden said. He stepped toward Greyson, the muscles in his jaw working. He held out his hand. “Give me the clip with the live rounds.”

  “We just betrayed TAP for you,” Greyson said. “I don’t have to follow your orders anymore.”

  Kaiden snapped his sidearm from its sheath and leveled it at Greyson’s head. Greyson blinked in surprise and started to raise his own rifle only to find Jade and Birch aiming their guns at him, as well.”

  “Hand it over,” Kaiden said. “Or you won’t walk out of here.”

  Greyson cursed and let the clip drop to the sand.

  “Unchamber that round,” Kaiden said.

  Greyson rammed the slide back, and the shell jumped out to fall with a quiet thump in the sand.

  “You too, Iris,” Kaiden said.

  She clicked her tongue in annoyance and followed Greyson’s example.

  “You’re a fool,” Greyson said.

  Kaiden pointed a finger at Greyson. “Once we’re out of here, I want you two gone.” He holstered his pistol.

  “Gladly,” Greyson snarled. “I thought maybe something was going to change around here, but I see it’s just the same old nonsense.”

  “You can reload the tranquilizer rounds, just in case,” Kaiden said. They both did. “But don’t fire unless I give the order.”

  Willow guessed that Kaiden didn’t want to leave them both unable to defend themselves when they were approaching a potentially hostile situation.

  “Keep a gun on each of them,” Kaiden whispered to Jade and Birch. Then he gestured to Hawk. “Now Hawk, lead the way.”

  Hawk cast Greyson a wary glance and waved a hand at them to follow. The beams from their lights flashed against the damp walls as the others fell in behind him. Greyson edged in behind Hawk with Birch right behind him. Kaiden and Willow followed her with Iris behind them. Jade took up the rear.

  “What’s he playing at?” Willow whispered to Kaiden.

  “You invited him,” Kaiden snapped.

  Willow shined her light on his face and found him scowling at Greyson’s back.

  “How was I supposed to know you didn’t trust him?”

  Hawk paused as they approached a large, V-shaped crack through which a fresh breeze blew. The warm, clear air tasted good after the stale damp of the tunnels. Pale daylight penetrated the darkness, illuminating Hawk’s thin face as he turned to look back at them. Greyson lunged toward Hawk. Their flashlights glinted off of steel, and Greyson plunged a knife up under Hawk’s ribs. Hawk fell sideways. Iris raced to Greyson’s side and spun with her rifle up. Kaiden grabbed Willow and dragged her down as Jade and Birch dove onto the sand. Greyson tossed a blinking grenade into the narrow gap that led to the exit.

  “Stay down,” Iris shouted. “And no one else will get hurt.”

  Two shots rang out from behind Willow and Kaiden. Willow flinched, but Kaiden snapped his rifle up, aiming at Greyson. Iris jerked with the impact of the bullet and sank to her knees with a grunt. The heavy sniper rifle slipped from her grasp. Greyson crumpled sideways, going limp as a rag. Then the stone cavern erupted with a flash of light. A shock wave from the detonation washed over them. The cavern shuddered, and the ceiling collapsed with a roar.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Trapped

  Willow lay on her stomach, with her hands clenched over her head as the debris rained down around her. The ringing in her ears was so loud it seemed as if her head were underwater. Her lungs contracted, trying to find some air in the thick cloud of dust that settled around them. Grit coated the inside of her mouth and ground between her teeth. How long could she stay conscious without clear air to breathe? Something pressed against her legs, and her head ached.

  Her flashlight lay beside her. Its beam pushed against the haze that surrounded them. Something shifted beside her. Kaiden laid a hand on her back. In the light of her flashlight, she could see his lips move, but she couldn’t hear anything over the ringing in her ears. Kaiden picked up her flashlight and swept it around them.

  They were lying in a tunnel of debris that was propped up by great slabs of stone. By some miracle, the slabs had fallen to either side of them. Kaiden crawled to his knees and then swiveled the light behind them. Willow tried to rise, but her feet wouldn’t budge. She squirmed around until she could peer over her shoulder. Her stomach clenched, and she struggled to remain conscious as a swooping nausea made it feel like the cavern was rolling onto its side. A slab of basalt lay across her legs from the knees down, pressing them into the sandy floor of the cavern. Why didn’t she feel any pain?

  Kaiden shook his head at her and motioned for her to stay still. She blinked, trying to control the panic. She couldn’t die down here. Not now. Not when she was so close. Forty years of laying the groundwork, watching, waiting, preparing. If she died without having her brain downloaded in preparation for a new synaptic upload, the knowledge of the last six years she had acquired since her last upload into this clone body would be lost. Her new clone, if they had even made one, would be blind to what she had so recently discovered. She thrashed against the weight on her knees.

  Kaiden laid a hand on her shoulder. She peered up at him through the haze. His lips were moving again. He gestured more urgently for her to remain still. She swallowed the panic and tried to breathe in the thick air. Kaiden crawled away, and Willow stared into the darkness. She pressed on her ears, trying to get the ringing to stop.

  Kaiden returned with Birch, who, like Kaiden, was covered in dirt. Birch said something and fished around in her pack until she drew out two little black earpieces and pushed them into Willow’s ears. Then, she clicked on a receiver. The ringing diminished but didn’t go away.

  “Can you hear me?” Birch whispered. Her voice sounded far away.

  Willow nodded. “Yes,” she murmured.

  Birch smiled in relief and exchanged a glance with Kaiden.

  “I’m going to find Jade,” Kaiden said. “Then, we’ll get you out.”

  “What about the others?” Willow asked.

  “I can’t find Greyson or Hawk,” Kaiden said. “Iris is alive. For now. She’s mumbling something about Noah and promises.” Kaiden laid a hand on Willow’s arm, and an expression of concern passed over his face. “I’ll be back,” he said. “Sit tight.”

  Then, he was gone.

  Jade covered her head with her arms and curled into a ball as the ceiling collapsed with a roar. The earth shook, and bits of stone pummeled her. The air became so thick with dust. She couldn’t breathe. And yet, her only thought was for Kaiden and the others.

  As soon as the rumbling quieted, she scrambled to her knees and drew her jacket up to cover her mouth and nose, hoping it would filter out the dust. She tasted the earthy grit as she flashed her light in the direction she had last seen Kaiden. She blinked in the shrouded haze.

  The beam fell on a great stone slab that had been driven into the earth. The only thing that saved her was that the slab above her had fallen at an angle instead of straight down. This left her trapped in a little triangle just high enough for her to stand and long enough for her to lie flat. Her ears still rang from the blast.

  Greyson and Iris had betrayed them. Kaiden had been right to suspect them. And she had been right in putting a bullet into each of them. Twice now, she had killed to save Kaiden’s life. He was likely trapped under the rubble.

  Tightness gripped her throat, but she fought it down. She wouldn’t despair. Her grandfather told her that she must survive, and she would. She hadn’t told Kaiden she ran out of tranquilizing rounds back at the landing bay and had loaded exploding rounds before they reached the elevator, but it was a good thing she had.

  Swinging her rifle onto her back where the sling held it, she scrambled through a narrow opening between the great slab and a pile of rubble. Kaiden had to be alive. He just had to be. Her gr
andfather had been ripped away from her, leaving her alone. Now, she had allowed herself to feel close to Kaiden, and he might have been taken from her, as well. Maybe she was supposed to be alone.

  She reached the top and shined her light up into the black crevice that expanded above her. They had to get out of there before any more rocks fell. The place had been unstable, and the rockfall probably wasn’t over yet.

  A beam of light flashed through the haze, and she almost cried out. Scrambling down the other side and over several more large boulders, she worked her way toward the bouncing beam of light. A dark figure stumbled behind the light.

  “Jade,” Kaiden called. His voice was muffled in the dirt-filled air. “Can you hear me?”

  Warmth burst into her chest. Kaiden had come for her. “Over here,” she called and clawed up another pile of rubble. Kaiden slid down a stone slab. He grabbed her shoulders.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “I’m fine. How are the others?”

  “Willow’s trapped, but Birch is with her.”

  Jade peered up into his face, gray from the dust that clung to his sweat, and shuffled her feet. An awkward silence fell between them as pressure expanded in her chest. He had come for her. He had been concerned about her. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone cared whether she lived or died. She grabbed him in a hug.

  “I was afraid you were dead,” she said into his shoulder.

  His arms encircled her. “I got you,” he said.

  Willow rubbed at the sting in her eyes. She raised her head to blink at Birch. “Are you all right?”

  “Just a few bruises and having a hard time hearing,” Birch said, “but I’ll be all right. Those little nano dudes they injected into our blood are already repairing the damage.”

  “Why did he do that?” Willow said.

  Birch bowed her head. “Greyson? I don’t know. I never thought he would try to kill us.”