He didn’t remember much about his biological dad. Flashes and glimpses more than anything. Instead of focusing on everything that made him angry, he directed his mind back to those few happy memories. As the memories of warm sun on his skin warmed his heart, his hands stopped shaking.
◆◆◆
For the second time in a day, Kubitz attempted to work through his problems in the facility’s weight room.
In Lune’s low gravity, it was imperative for residents to exercise regularly and with high intensity, though Kubitz was likely overdoing it. He enjoyed the exercise. He’d always been fit back on Earth, so it wasn’t hard for him to adjust to the heavy regimen. But the main reason he spent most of his time in the sparse gym was to concentrate.
The problem plaguing his intellect at the moment was the question of “what next?” He believed Avani had stumbled upon the Echo Code, as he’d begun to call it. His team of three had been working for over a year to find the Code, though many thought it a useless venture. Kubitz’ peers often pointed out that since all clones had implants—at least all the recovered clones—it would be far simpler to test for those implants, through X-Ray, metal detectors, or any number of tools.
What was the purpose of his program, then? Kubitz had argued while the tests were easy to perform, the process could be anything but. His main argument was that a clone would need to be in custody to do any such test. By comparison, DNA was far easier to obtain. His opponents still voiced their opinion and Kubitz was given minimal funding and treated more like a nuisance than an asset.
The man in the black suit seemed to be the only person in the galaxy who recognized the value in Kubitz’ work. Still, that he’d bothered to visit Lune was odd, if not surprising. From what little he knew of the man, Kubitz recognized a flair for the dramatic. Or at the least, Black Suit loved to see people on edge.
It was a test, Kubitz decided as he racked the tension bell and sat up, stretching his arm and chest muscles. It was a test to see if Kubitz had a plan. Unfortunately, he didn’t. Kubitz had long suspected that a day might come when the clones would attempt to infiltrate the human ranks in secret, not through brash assaults. He suspected it was only a matter of time before the war took on a different flavor.
Kubitz wished he had a good answer. He’d always assumed he would have more time. And if he was honest with himself, he had assumed a practical solution would present itself.
“Doctor?” Avani’s voice rang through the overhead speaker as Kubitz toweled his face dry. “I’m sorry to bother you, it’s just… well, you’re going to want to see this.”
Kubitz grimaced. This sort of thing never resulted in good news. He finished wiping his face and headed toward the lab control, bracing himself for the unfortunate news. Not that he wasn’t excited to see the results, but he was nervous about the next steps.
“Well,” Kubitz said as he entered the control room a few minutes later. “What do we have?”
Avani looked at him, concern etched on her face. “I should tell you that I haven’t looked at the specific findings yet. You need to be the one to see them first.” She pulled up a screen that showed six sets of DNA, scrolling too fast to read. “We used DNA from the three remaining clones. When the sequencer isolated the SEPT7 gene in each of them, the results were as expected: they all possessed the mutation. I then fed our DNA into the computer and allowed it to isolate the same gene and check it against what we know of the clones’ genes. This is what I found.”
She tapped a few keys, and the display changed to show the familiar gray-scale line pattern associated with cytogenetic bands. She turned to face Kubitz, eyes wide. Kubitz measured her expression for a moment and then studied the results. Once he realized what he was looking at, he leaned in to make sure he wasn’t missing something.
“This can’t be right,” he said.
“It is. There are four positive results.”
“There must be some contaminant. Check it again.” He stood and stepped away from the desk.
“I did. Twice. This is it, doctor. One of us is a clone.”
Kubitz rubbed his face with his hand. “And you didn’t see who? Not even to check for yourself?”
“I’m not a clone. So I thought you should be the one to see the results. And I wanted to see how you reacted to the news.”
Kubitz let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Maybe it’s not the Code. Maybe we’ve stumbled upon a remarkable coincidence.”
“Not likely. What’re the odds that we’ve discovered a brand new genetic mutation present in all clones and we just happen to have a natural-born who has this new mutation as well?” Avani shook her head. “Occam’s razor. This is the Code and we need to be ready to face this reality.”
“Well,” Kubitz said as he settled back into his chair. “I guess now or never. Should we do this together, for accountability?”
“I think that would be best.”
With Avani peering over his shoulder, Kubitz pushed the key to reveal the names above the results.
The doctors stared at the names for what could’ve been an eternity. Finally, Kubitz broke the silence. “It’s late. I want to try to sleep on this. If my mind will even let me. Tell Holden we’ll meet first thing in the morning.”
Revelation
Warm sunlight crept through the gaps in the leaves. An old oak tree swayed in the wind, towering far above Holden. It was almost involuntary: a smile parted his face as he grabbed the chains of the old tire swing.
His dad’s baritone laugh boomed as he pushed the swing. Holden had been looking forward to this all day. His favorite part of each day was when his dad came home to play with him. He begged his dad to push harder, the thrill of the wind racing past his ears and the ground disappearing below made his heart leap.
In the distance, a ship rocketed from the nearby spaceport, lancing through the sky toward space. Holden had never been up there. He knew his father had. Someday he would, too. As his dad pushed him, he shouted, “Higher! Higher!”
He flew upward, imagining he was on his own rocket ship bound for the stars. Giggles bubbled from his mouth as he felt the thrill in his gut. He closed his eyes against the wind, the atmosphere parted before him, inviting his ship into the heavens. Just when he wondered if he might actually touch the stars, the swing fell backward toward the Earth, continuing its arcing trajectory.
It was the perfect day.
As the swing twisted and arced through the air, his father’s laughter began to change. It became more staccato and rough, almost a buzzing tone.
Holden whirled toward his dad, confused. Every time he opened his mouth, the bleating tone came out. Holden tried to ask his dad what was wrong, but found his voice gone. He leaped from the swing into his dad’s open arms.
Holden woke with a start. Heart racing, he was fairly sure he’d almost fallen from his bunk.
As he lay in his bed trying to ignore his datapad’s alarm, he clenched his eyes and tried to remember his dad. He couldn’t picture his face. Just a hazy memory. Dark eyes. Sandy hair. Nothing more than faded dreams.
The intercom chimed.
“Holden, briefing in half an hour. Conference room. Thanks.”
The announcement from Dr. Kubitz was curt. Holden wondered what he’d missed. He groaned as he stretched, bones sore from the light gravity. Reluctantly, he stood and began to get ready for the day.
◆◆◆
Kubitz signed off the intercom and took a deep breath. How would he break this news? He had no frame of reference for this.
Oh, good morning. Guess what, you’re a clone. You take sugar in your coffee, right?
Not hardly.
He looked at himself in the mirror, deciding if his beard had grown scraggy enough to merit a shave. The bags under his eyes could’ve held back a flood. He wasn’t sure how much sleep he’d gotten, but it wasn’t much. He’d tossed and turned all night wrestling with the issue. After hours of turmoil, he still had no words.
&n
bsp; His stomach turned from the stress. What would Holden say? How would he react? He eyed his nightstand drawer in the reflection. He kept a compact pistol in there. Not as if he ever planned on using it up here. Habit, perhaps. He shook his head. What would he do, shoot his adopted kid?
Adopted.
The word had a weird taste now. Who was Holden, then? The group home had told him Holden was his sister’s kid. He hadn’t talked to his sister in almost twenty years, so he wasn’t surprised he’d never heard of Holden. Heck, the group home broke the news about his sister’s death.
Somehow, all of that was a lie. A headache threatened as he tried to wrap his mind around of all those implications. He had to focus on the now. Holden was waiting to find out that he was a clone. Kubitz had to tell him. He wasn’t ready. For all he knew, they’d programmed Holden to activate when he got caught. Maybe the pistol wasn’t a bad idea…
Shaking his head, he rubbed the scruff on his chin and buttoned up his shirt. No shave today. No guns, either.
Once he’d gotten reasonably presentable, he left his quarters and headed to meet his team in the conference room. Now desperate, he hoped words would just come to him. He stopped in the hallway near the comm station. He considered calling the man in the black suit and letting it be his problem. No, he should handle this himself. Holden deserved a familiar face.
Kubitz found Avani and Holden waiting in the small, sterile conference room. The dark gray walls stood in somber contrast to the white oval table that occupied the center of the room. Blue overhead diffuse lighting gave the room a dusky mood; the lights went well with the tired faces he saw before him. Avani stared forward with a clinical collectedness while Holden bounced his knee and studied the tile pattern on the ground.
“We have a problem,” Kubitz said. He grimaced. Not the best way to start. “We seem to have found the Echo Code.”
“Doesn’t sound like a problem to me,” Holden said.
“You’re right. That’s the good news. The bad news—”
“The bad news is that one of us is a clone. Avani already told me.”
Kubitz shot a look to Avani who shrugged.
“Well,” Holden said. “Who is it? I mean, I would know if it was me, right? It’s not like I could go my whole life without knowing that I was a clone. So what if clones aren’t all bad, right?”
“It’s not that simple, Holden,” Avani said. “From what we’ve observed, most clones aren’t even aware they are clones. They think they’re fighting for the good guys, as you might say. Whoever among us is the clone likely has no idea. That person can control their own destiny now.”
“I’m not sure I buy that,” Holden scoffed.
“Which part?” Kubitz asked.
“Honestly?” Holden leaned forward. “Both. You actually believe someone can be a clone and not realize it? Like they’d forget growing up in a test tube? What, raised by aliens?” He shook his head. “I don’t buy it.”
Avani narrowed her eyes. “The cloning process is, frankly, beyond us. Conditioning plays a significant role, that much is certain. They implant memories. The clones reach maturity convinced they’re humans from Earth, fighting the good fight.”
Holden buried his head in his hands. “You would have to know.”
“Not necessarily,” Kubitz said. “Clones also have the implants. The Sardaan likely feed the clones updated memories periodically to make sure it stays fresh. In fact, we know they do this, because we’ve intercepted some of the updates. They unpack in the clones’ minds as dreams and memories.”
Holden looked up. “What kinds of dreams?”
“Usually warm memories. Something to anchor them in humanity.”
“Humanity…” Holden trailed off. “It’s hard to know what to believe. I’ve never considered what it’s like to be a clone. Do they have thoughts?”
Avani nodded. “They are human. Sentient. Like us in every way. They experience sadness. They can be angry. They have pleasures: they enjoy ice cream and sex, just like—”
“Woah,” Holden said, blushing. “Don’t make it weird. I don’t want to picture them, well, you know…”
Avani looked to Kubitz with a raised eyebrow. “It’s a completely natural process, Holden, I merely seek to illustrate that they are human in every way we measure the notion.”
Holden’s eyes darted back and forth between Kubitz and Avani, as if deciding how comfortable he was with the idea.
“So what if the activists have it right?” He sat forward. “No, really. If we’re going to consider them human, doing human things—” he shot an awkward glance to Avani “—then we should talk about the testing, right?”
Kubitz mulled it over. In all the permutations of this conversation he’d considered in the previous few hours, sympathizer hadn’t made the list. “It’s complicated,” he said, forcing a smile.
“Doesn’t seem that way. But then again, you always say this is wartime, doc. So, maybe—ugh, I can’t wrap my head around this.”
Kubitz looked to Avani. She simply nodded toward the boy with a furrowed brow.
“Holden, I need you to listen carefully,” Kubitz said as he slid into a chair at the table. “We have to talk.”
“Wait.” Holden’s eyes widened. “If one of you is a clone, the other surely knows. And you’re still friends.” He looked back and forth. “You’re both in on it aren’t you?” He stood and backed away from the table.
“It’s not like that.”
“I see what you did. You tried to convince me that we can all be friends and sing kumbaya together, so I wouldn’t hate you. But you’re working together. If they program the clones, like you say, you would have to be. You can’t escape that. Both of you. Come in here trying to humanize the monsters they are. The monsters you are.”
“Just wait.” Kubitz held up a hand to try to diffuse Holden. “It’s important to remember that as humans, even genetically engineered, we can all control our own destiny. We can all choose who we want to be.”
Holden continued to back away, shaking his head. “I don’t see how. You are who you’re created to be. You’re—you’re—”
“Holden, you’re the clone.”
Holden opened his mouth and froze. He stood unblinking. Finally he slumped back into a chair. “It’s not possible.”
“It is very much possible,” Avani said.
“Doc, you’ve known me almost my whole life. You’d know.”
“Actually,” Kubitz said. “I wish I was able put this more delicately.” He rubbed his face. “Holden, I didn’t even realize you existed until you were fourteen. My sister and I have always had a… tenuous relationship. I hadn’t seen her in almost two decades.”
Holden looked at Kubitz with betrayal etched across his face. His eyes were already turning red and swollen. “I—I don’t understand.”
“I know. We’re having a tough time ourselves,” Avani offered.
“We,” Holden repeated. “It’s always you against me, isn’t it?”
“It’s not like that,” Kubitz said.
“Isn’t it?” Holden shook his head for the hundredth time that morning. “You two are always off working your problems. I’m just the errand boy. And I’m not smart enough to prove you wrong. And you.” He looked to Kubitz, eyes beginning to water. “You could’ve been like a father to me.”
“And I still can be,” Kubitz reached for Holden, but the young man jerked away. “It doesn’t have to be any different. You can still be who you are. Don’t you see?”
“Who you say I am. How can I be sure you’re telling the truth?”
Kubitz opened his mouth to respond, but Avani cut him off. “X-Rays,” she said.
“What?” Kubitz and Holden said in unison.
Avani looked back and forth between them. “We do an X-Ray to confirm. If Holden has the implant, it’s true. If not, then it’s just a freak coincidence. Though I’d hate to admit the latter.”
“Of course,” Kubitz said. He should’ve th
ought of that. How had he missed it? “Holden, here’s where we are: We have fairly compelling evidence that what we’ve said is true. It’s hard to process, I know. I’m having a difficult time with it myself. I—I can’t imagine what you’re going through. But we can do this test to see once and for all. That evidence will be undeniable.”
Holden rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay. Do whatever you have to do.”
“I think it’s best if you take a little time to process. Don’t worry about any of your usual responsibilities today, Holden. Avani and I will get the X-Ray set up and call you in about an hour, okay?”
“Yeah, whatever.” Holden trudged out of the room.
“Will he be okay?” Avani asked after he’d left earshot.
“I hope so,” Kubitz said. “Let’s get this X-Ray set up, yeah?”
“There’s something about this we haven’t discussed.”
“Just one thing?”
Avani rolled her eyes. “I’m being serious. If Holden has an implant—and as a clone he most assuredly does—is it receiving? Could the Sardaan activate him?”
“It’s a possibility,” Kubitz admitted. Holden was a veritable Manchurian candidate. He opened his mouth to say something else, but lost the words.
“You’re telling me this could all take a deadly turn at any moment.”
Kubitz nodded. “I won’t let it come to that.”
“What can you do about it? We should confine him. Possibly even sedate him.”
Kubitz sighed. “He’s still Holden, we—”
“For now.” Avani cut him off. “That could change at any moment. We shouldn’t take this lightly.”
“Should I call the man in the black suit?” Kubitz asked.
“If Holden is a clone, this could go very badly for us,” Avani said. “I would allege that we have done our job. To be honest, I’m not sure how safe I feel with him around here anymore.”
“The more we talk about it, the less safe I feel myself. But let’s at least do this X-Ray and confirm before we call in the cavalry. This is my nephew we’re talking about.”
Pulse Page 3
