Chapter Two
Chapter Two
The Present
Fig always experienced an adrenaline rush when he attacked a DJD Clone Corp transport with his shuttle and took out their engines. He hadn’t always been a thief. He’d become one after escaping from Clone World. It was the only way to survive. He’d grown quite skilled at space piracy.
DJD Clone Corp made a fortune selling living beings and made those clones dependent on needing specially designed plasma every three months. It was not only how they kept their creations enslaved but ensured a steady stream of profit. A clone’s body began to deteriorate and break down without those transfusions. Only legal owners of clones could purchase that plasma to keep their investments alive.
It was a bonus that Fig got to steal from an extremely wealthy human who’d made owning clones his business empire. Clone World had become one of the top vacation spots for other rich people. He held no sympathy for Rico Florigo. That’s also why he felt zero guilt about using Clone World funds to order what was on the transport he was currently targeting. That money was owed to him for all he’d previously endured. It wasn’t like clones were paid wages.
His mind switched to thoughts of Anna. She’d haunted him since her death. He’d finally met a human who’d seen him as a real person instead of something to fear or loathe. She hadn’t deserved to be murdered. It had spurred him into doing something drastic and dangerous.
Fig’s next thought was about how grateful he’d been after getting word that Blade was alive. His fellow clone had been forced to live with human criminals until he’d escaped the space pirates to rescue a human. Both were now safely living on the abandoned mining station with Big and his female, Gemma.
Fig docked with the transport he’d disabled the engines on and checked his weapons as he left the cockpit. Live guards wouldn’t be traveling on a lone ship, but sometimes there were automated defense systems to deal with.
He’d checked the manifest twice. The container he sought was listed as cargo. The difficult part had been waiting for it to ship from Earth. Patience wasn’t something Fig had much of. Every day had dragged on as he’d repeatedly waited for the shipment to leave Earth and be sent toward Clone World.
Fig shorted out the door to the transport’s cargo port and forced it open. An alarm blared inside as he drew his weapon. He inched inside, scanning for any signs of movement. There were none.
He glanced up at the ceiling. His mouth pressed into a grim line when he spotted the automated motion lasers. He fired at both, taking them out before they took shots at him.
He made one more sweep to make certain he’d destroyed any threats before he strode forward. He’d memorized the crate label number in case they were shipping plasma in the larger cryo units.
He found four that were the right size and shape. He read off the first label, but it wasn’t the one he sought. It turned out to be the third one. He smiled.
“Finally.”
He bent down and found the controls. It was tempting to rip it open to get to the contents, but he wanted to reach a safer location first. The transport ship’s computer pilot would be sending out a distress signal after being attacked. There weren’t any other ships in the vicinity, but this was one time he wasn’t willing to risk someone responding and him getting into a fight.
He turned on the mini hover jets, and the large unit lifted from the floor once he cut the straps. He grabbed the handle and pulled, leading it over to his own ship. He returned to the cargo hold of the transport. Fig needed to grab a few of the smaller units holding plasma. He wanted to stockpile as much as possible so he wouldn’t have to hit another transport for a long time.
The alarm on his wrist vibrated, and he cursed. The long-range sensors had picked up traffic. He didn’t take the time to hover the unit closest to him. Fig just hefted the heavy freezer unit and carried it back to his shuttle, thankful for his clone strength. He dumped it inside his hold but didn’t bother to close the other hatch. He sealed his side of the shuttle and ran toward the cockpit.
He detached from the transport as soon as his ass landed in the seat and took off fast. He didn’t care about the cargo he’d left behind being destroyed. He’d grabbed what mattered and enough extra clone plasma to make sure he wouldn’t need to steal more for at least a year.
Sensors showed another ship in the distance, but it was too small to be an authority cruiser. He quickly deduced that it was probably a privately owned shuttle carrying passengers to visit Clone World. It was a very popular human vacation destination spot.
The other option was it could be a pirate team. If so, they’d quickly realize he wasn’t some rich human tourist when they came across the destroyed supply transport. Not many humans bothered to attack them since they wouldn’t gain any profit. Clone plasma was deadly to humans, and no one wanted to buy it on the black market. Wealthy owners of clones couldn’t be sure it was the real stuff and didn’t want their expensive property dying.
He burned thrusters hard in case it was pirates coming after his shuttle, regardless of what they’d consider worthless cargo. There was no way he’d allow anyone to take what he’d stolen. Sensors suddenly showed the other ship again. Then it disappeared.
Figs cursed, knowing what the other ship was doing. The pilot wasn’t skilled enough to prevent his sensors from registering their presence. It just confirmed that it must be a pirate team. They were known to group together in larger numbers, forming gangs. Whoever was out there was probably hoping he’d lead them to other pirates they could steal from. It would give them an opportunity to kill the competition.
He changed course, using a patch of large floating asteroids to dodge between. Most sensible pilots would have avoided flying through them. Fig was counting on that to lose the pirate shuttle pursuing him. They’d have to fly around, and he”d be well hidden by the time they did.
After Fig cleared the field, he drove into a deep crater of a dead moon. It had a hidden cave large enough for him to park his shuttle inside. He’d never seen evidence that anyone else had ever found the hiding spot, and it was a regular place he used to lie low when he needed a new supply of plasma. It was close to the shipping lanes from Earth to Clone World.
He killed the engines and threw out the docking lines. They embedded deeply into the rock ceiling and floor, tethering his shuttle in place so it wouldn’t float out. He set an alarm to let him know if anything came within range again.
Fig knew he should wait it out in the cockpit to make certain he’d lost the other shuttle, but he felt impatient about opening the unit he’d stolen. He hesitated, though, his mind turning to paranoid thoughts. It was possible the shuttle that tried to follow him might not be a pirate team.
What if the finance department on Clone World has discovered the hidden account since we escaped?They’ll have figured out we originally used funds from it to help us escape. What if they were using that transport as bait to send a secret enforcement team to capture us?
It made him sick just contemplating that possibility. He’d known placing an order with DJD Clone Corp had been extremely dangerous.
Their finance department shouldn’t have detected the money he’d spent. He knew their systems inside out and had created that hidden stash of funds with another clone. It had once been his job on Clone World to pay bills and keep track of all purchases. He felt certain that the account remained safe to use.
If I’m wrong…
That would mean that humans had figured out his order was fraudulent. Fear of that being true had him quickly leaving the cockpit and hurrying through his ship to the cargo hold.
“Be there,” he muttered, feeling frantic as he reached the cryo unit and began to disengage it.
He keyed in the number on the lock that would gain him access to open the lid. It made a slight hissing sound as the seals broke, and he yanked the lid up with a little too much force. A big grin spread across his lips when he got his first look at what was waiting inside.
The woman inside the cryo unit appeared to be peacefully sleeping. She had very pale blonde hair and delicate features and was more beautiful than he’d imagined. Fig crouched near her upper body, reached inside, and gently grasped her hand.
She felt chilled to the touch, but she’d been in cold storage during transit. The skimpy two-piece outfit she wore was standard issue, but he regretted not taking the time to grab a blanket. Clones were always shipped in nothing more than undergarments.
He typed more commands into the controls. A soft whirl of a motor sounded as the unit withdrew the needle from her hip. The drug being given to her to keep her asleep had ceased. The minutes passed slowly as he waited.
The magnitude of what he’d done hit full force. What if he’d made a huge mistake? What if she woke and hated him for the decision he’d made? It was possible that his thinking had been majorly flawed. It was too late to change anything, though.
Her breathing suddenly increased, and Fig knew she had begun to wake.
“Open your eyes,” he rasped, leaning in closer.
Her eyelashes parted, and he stared into her green eyes. They were even more lovely and lively in color than he remembered. She focused on his face inches above hers, blinking a few times.
“Fig?”
He nearly groaned from relief as she softly whispered his name. Anna remembered him. It meant he had done everything right by getting her into cold storage before extreme damage had occurred to her brain. The freezer he’d stored her body inside hadn’t malfunctioned on the trip to Earth either. “It’s me.”
“Am I in a hospital?” Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper.
“No.”
Anna looked above him at the ceiling. “It looks sterile like one. Is it some kind of medical clinic on the station? I thought I was a goner for sure.” She met his gaze. “I don’t have the credits to pay for this. It was kind of you to do, but they will be mad when I can’t pay the bill.”
Fig grinned, amused at her words. She was worrying for nothing. Anna’s voice was a little different from what he remembered, but it was understandable. She still sounded pleasant to his ears. “You’re not in a clinic, and no one is going to demand payment. I promise you. I’m going to lift you out of there, okay?”
“I feel strange.”
“I have a lot of explaining to do, Anna. You said you like adventure, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” Fig was suddenly nervous. What if she wasn’t happy with what he’d done? She could hate him. It wasn’t the first time he’d debated everything that could go wrong. He released her hand and carefully slipped his arms under her body.
“Up we go, Anna. I want you to close your eyes. I have a surprise for you.”
She wrapped her arm around his neck and closed her eyes. It felt right as Anna rested her cheek on his chest. The female was petite and didn’t weigh much. It was easy to carry her away from his cargo hold.
“What kind of surprise?”
“I hope you think it’s a good one.”
“I’m cold.”
“I know. I’m going to get you warm. Just hang on for a few more minutes. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes.”
He walked down the corridor. Fig had left the stateroom door open and the lights on. Fig laid her out on the already turned-down bed. He’d had a lot of time to plan for the day he got her back.
Fig covered Anna up, tucking the blankets snuggly against her chin. He took a seat next to her on the edge of his bed. “Is that better?”
“Yes. Can I open my eyes now?”
“Of course.”
She glanced around, and her mouth parted. “This is a ship bedroom cabin, isn’t it? It’s nicer than any I’ve seen.”
“Yes. We’re on the Dori. That’s my shuttle. I live aboard it. You are completely safe here.”
She smiled. “You are such a peach to bring me here, but I told you I rented a room.” She sobered. “I’m not in any pain. That’s bad. It felt like I was cut in half, but now it’s all gone. I think I’m dying.”
He leaned forward and braced his hands on each side of her shoulders to keep the blankets pinning her to the bed. “Do you remember what happened inside the bar?”
“Some son of a bitch shot me with one of those fancy laser beam guns, didn’t he?”
“Yes. Do you remember my secret?”
“There’s nothing wrong with being a clone. Anyone who has a problem with that is a fool. Never listen to those.”
That was a big relief for him to hear. All her memories were indeed intact. “I’m glad you think so. I hope you mean it.”
“I do.”
He bit his lip. There was no more stalling. “Anna, I don’t know how to say this gently, so I’m just going to be blunt. The news I’m about to share will come as a shock, but I’m hoping you will be happy about it.”
“What?”
The words seemed stuck inside his throat.
“Just spit it out. I know I’m a goner. That’s not a surprise. I’m a tough old lady. Trust me. I can take it.”
“That’s the thing.” Fig had mentally gone over what he’d say to her a thousand times over the past few months, but now that the moment had finally arrived, he couldn’t remember his prepared speech. “Damn. I don’t even know how to tell you this.”
She tried to move her arm but must have realized he had her pinned under the blankets. She glanced down.
“Anna?”
She met his gaze.
“You did die. I couldn’t save you in that bar, but it wasn’t fair. Honestly, I was so angry over your life ending that way in sudden violence. You’re so kind, and you didn’t deserve to be shot by a human committing a crime. I carried you out of the bar, and then I saw this meat vendor.”
Fig rushed the explanation, the words pouring out. “He had cryo freezers, and the idea just came to me. I froze your body and shipped it to Earth. I hacked into one of Clone World’s financial accounts with DJD Corp and ordered them to make an illegal clone. I told them you were Rico Florigo’s deceased sister who’d been murdered. They’ve done that for him in the past.”
She appeared confused.
He kept going with the facts before he lost his nerve. “You had a big hole burned into your side. There was no hiding that. DJD Clone Corp has made unblanked clones for him in the past, so I knew they’d do it again. He’s their biggest client. They did it. I had them clone you with your memories fully intact. I didn’t want you to lose who you are.”
Anna paled a little.
“Unblanked is what we call clones completely replicated from the source body. Memories are included. Legally, the company isn’t supposed to do that. Earth banned them from doing that after the first dozen test subjects never stabilized and accepted that they were clones. The brains grown inside clones are called blanks because their only knowledge is what is programmed into them during their growing time inside a tank.”
Anna continued to stare at him.
“Did you hear what I said?”
She nodded her head slightly, still staring at him.
“I kept checking for updates on the order until it let me know that you’d been shipped from DJD Clone Corp. I tracked what transport you were on and attacked it. I stole you before you could reach Clone World and brought you onboard my shuttle. Are you angry?”