Axis crossing, p.38
Axis Crossing, page 38
“Wait! Wait! I only followed orders,” Melondy nervously retorted. Pointing at Connor, she added, “If anyone’s guilty, he’s the one.”
The SADEs shared their humor at how swiftly Ceda had accomplished their purpose.
“Then you accept that Citizen Strasser is in charge of these domes until the board sends a replacement?” Cremsylon inquired of Melondy.
“Yes, yes,” Melondy said, acquiescing.
The SADEs noted a few disappointed expressions on the assistants’ faces. They had sensed the possibility of a promotion.
Cremsylon opened his hand toward the Naiad officers, and Johann said, “Director Phillips, I need to observe one of the clone bays.”
“Which type?” Melondy queried, which confused Johann and Stacey.
“Captain, you want a nanny bay,” Ceda interjected. “That would suit your purpose better than the other kinds.”
“This way,” Z said, having found and reviewed dome eight’s most recent plans.
Cremsylon beckoned a finger at Melondy, but the woman hesitated. One step from Miranda toward Melondy convinced the woman to hurry after Cremsylon.
Nate smothered his smirk. He’d never liked Melondy and wished one of the enormous SADEs would remain behind to enforce his future directives.
Z crossed the corridor, walked down it, and found a hatch labeled eight-alpha-six. He accessed the panel to open the hatch.
Like the corridor, the interior of the cavernous room gleamed. Its floor was white, and the lights were bright. Everywhere young girls cared for small children and babies.
“Where are the older boys?” Stacey asked.
Ceda regarded her sympathetically. “They won’t be in the nanny bays,” she explained. “These are female clone children caring for clone babies. It’s training for the girls. Soon, the older ones will be sent to fulfill company orders. The boys are somewhere else. They leave here at about five or six to be trained exclusively for labor jobs.”
Stacey stared aghast at Ceda. It took her a moment to shut her mouth. Then she turned angry eyes on Melondy, who backed toward Cremsylon for protection.
A young girl about eleven years old came toward the group. She wore loose clothing — a white top and a white pair of pants. Across the front of the shirt was stenciled a number.
“May I be of service?” the girl asked.
Ceda approached her and asked, “How are you called?”
The girl glanced toward Melondy before replying, “If you require identification, this is my number.” She’d pointed at the top’s stenciling.
At that time, two SADEs joined the group. A group of SADEs had dropped from the Alexander, when the links with their companions were lost. They’d already made entry into the shuttleport, when they received Cremsylon’s request that two of them accompany the officers to Naiad.
Ceda regarded the two new SADEs, received their comm IDs, and gestured toward them, while she asked Cremsylon, “May I?”
Cremsylon tipped his head approvingly.
“Emory, Violet,” Ceda said, addressing the two SADEs. “Would you be so kind as to take the captain’s prisoners and Director Phillips into the corridor? They’re polluting the atmosphere.”
“Our pleasure,” Violet said. Her eyes sparkled and spoke to the source of her name.
Then the three Beta One managers were escorted from the nanny bay.
Z sent privately to Miranda,
“Now,” Ceda said, turning to the young girl. “What’s your name?”
Ceda watched the girl’s eyes roam over the contingent arrayed in front of her, and the adult clone could see the girl’s reservations.
“These are my friends,” Ceda said. “We’re here to help.”
“How?” the young girl inquired, which in one word enveloped a complex situation.
Without missing a beat, Ceda replied, “That’s what we’re here to find out. Would you assist us?”
The young girl heard a baby’s wail. She spun and rushed to the infant’s side.
Ceda held out a hand to her companions, and she sent,
A quick check of the infant showed the girl that the baby’s bottom needed to be washed, which the girl did with practiced ease. When the baby was clean and dry, the girl picked her up, sat in a chair, and pulled on a tube to start the feeding drip.
Ceda knelt on the floor in front of the girl.
“You look like some of the others,” the girl said.
“That’s because I’m like you,” Ceda said. “I was raised here.”
Ceda was unsure what the girl knew about her existence. She was fifteen before she understood that she was a clone, less than a citizen.
“I’m Kadie,” the girl said.
“It’s nice to meet you, Kadie. I’m Ceda.”
“You said you needed help,” Kadie pointed out.
“We do,” Ceda replied. Over her conference link, she requested Cremsylon consult with Johann.
“Do you have a cid, a chip, Kadie?” Ceda asked. When the girl frowned, Ceda delicately grasped the feeding tube with one hand and held out the other. “Feel the back of my hand,” she instructed.
The touch of Kadie’s fingertips was sensitive.
“Do you feel the subtle change in the skin?” Ceda asked.
Kadie nodded. She touched Ceda’s hand to request she remove it from the tube. Then Kadie retracted the tube, turned the baby to face her chest, and rubbed its back. While doing that, she gently touched the back of each hand.
“I’ve the same thing,” Kadie replied, and Ceda relayed the information.
Cremsylon turned to Nate and asked, “Where do you manufacture the clone cids?”
“That I don’t know,” Nate replied. “They don’t fall under my purview. I would assume that it’s somewhere within these two domes.”
“Nothing on comtech servers,” Miranda noted.
Cremsylon relayed the request to the corridor.
“Which of you would like to point the way to the clone cid supply?” Emory asked. His answer was a pair of sullen expressions and one confused one.
“It’s obvious that the commander is ignorant,” Violet commented, and she pulled Mathew from where he stood to move him aside.
“Now let’s focus on you two,” Emory said. His voice was deep, resonant, and delivered in a strange manner. It had an unnerving effect on the CEO and the director.
Emory was channeling his patriarch, a descendant of Bortoth of the Logar, a Crocian. Due to working primarily with Cremsylon, Miranda, and Z, he chose to emulate their avatars. However, on occasion, he would don his imposing Crocian avatar and waddle around.
Violet stood directly in front of Melondy, and the woman pressed her back against the wall. Emory did the same to Connor.
Then the SADEs linked, and Emory asked the managers, “Are the cids manufactured on Beta One?”
“Are the cids manufactured in one of these two domes?” Emory pressed.
Emory continued to question in his deep rumbling voice to narrow the field. Despite the managers’ attempts to give nothing away, they were helpless in the face of two SADEs who recorded their every response no matter how small.
When Emory was finished, he sent,
The corridor’s air temperature was cool. That hadn’t stopped Connor and Melondy from breaking out in sweat from the relentless interrogation. Yet, neither had been touched.
Ceda’s conversations with Kadie were continuously interrupted as the girl hurried from infant to child. Old memories flooded into Ceda’s mind, and she shivered at the recall. Like Kadie, her every moment in the crèche was controlled by her training, which dictated a docile acceptance of her duties. She’d worked to please those individuals who instructed her.
While Kadie serviced the youngest clones, Ceda checked several infants and children. Every one of them had a cid, and every one would be identified as a clone, who would be available for sale.
It occurred to Ceda that most of the girls in the bay were already contracted. The corporations continued to expand their territories, which meant they hired more employees and required more clones for every job.
Ceda walked back to her group. “Every infant and child is chipped, Captain,” she reported.
“We’ll need three samples of the babies, children, and young caretakers,” Johann replied.
“Captain, we must document the cid production,” Stacey urged, and Johann agreed.
Cremsylon listened to a report from the Alexander. “Captain, we’ve a change of plans. You’ll be sailing with us.”
“What happened?” Johann asked.
“Seems that our actions here have created a bit of panic,” Cremsylon replied. “Shuttles have been lifting, and the Axis-ship captains have been inundated with demands for berths aboard their ships. Apparently, they aren’t even waiting for ore loads. Both ships are preparing to get underway.”
“Where are they headed?” Stacey asked.
“Unknown,” Cremsylon replied. “The captains probably wish to sail to any destination as long as they leave this system.”
Nate looked stricken by the news. He imagined a great many headaches if he lost key personnel.
“But you’re still headed for Beta Two, correct?” Stacey asked.
“Yes, but I suspect our time there will be short,” Cremsylon replied. “We’ll be unwelcome. Rivals ... that sort of thing,” he added, smiling.
“Then we take the longer route,” Johann said, accepting the inevitable.
“More than likely, Captain, we’ll be the quicker method by which you’ll return to Naiad,” Cremsylon replied. “May we board your prisoners?”
“Yes,” Johann replied.
“What of Director Phillips?” Ceda asked.
Johann’s first thought was that he hadn’t charged her with anything, but the look on Ceda’s face made him rethink that. It was clear that she was complicit in the production and the fostering of clones.
“Melondy Phillips will be accompanying us,” Johann pronounced. “That will give me time to see whether she wants to face charges or be a cooperating witness.”
The Naiad officers noted that Johann’s answer was most satisfactory to Ceda.
Cremsylon sent the message to Emory and Violet, and inside the bay, the group heard Melondy’s wail and saw Ceda’s smile.
“Lieutenant, we need to collect the sample females,” Johann directed.
“Let me do that for you, Captain,” Ceda interrupted.
“I require three babies, three children, and three caretakers,” Johann reiterated.
“Understood, Captain,” Ceda replied. She turned and searched for Kadie, but the girl was nowhere in sight.
Ceda’s implant received a vid. It was real-time and a view of the bay. The comm ID was Kelley’s. Within the view, a slender yellow ring circled Kadie, as she serviced her charges.
With a smile and a gentle touch to Kelley’s cheek, Ceda worked her way through the rows of cribs and play areas toward Kadie.
The group watched Ceda try to talk with Kadie, who continually moved from child to child. Ceda would point at them and then gesture in various directions.
Kadie’s calm demeanor slowly changed. At first, she frowned. Then confusion ruled her face. Finally, acceptance, with a hint of a smile, replaced the troubled expression.
The girl picked up the nearest baby, grasped the hand of a five-year-old, and walked toward two other caretakers. In turn, two nannies selected the nearest babies and younger children and followed Ceda and Kadie.
Other SADEs waited in the corridor, and the clone children were passed to them.
Ceda was emotionally drained by her experience in the nanny bay, and she returned to Escher’s side, who placed an arm around her shoulders.
“You closed your link,” Escher whispered in Ceda’s ear. “What did you say to Kadie to convince her to recruit others and select the children?”
Ceda linked privately to Escher.
When Ceda’s link didn’t drop, Escher waited.
Escher was flooded with Ceda’s emotions. He’d rarely felt such intensity, and he marveled at the implants’ capabilities to share.
“Transportation arranged, prisoners in custody, and clone children boarding a shuttle,” Johann summarized. “One thing left to do. We need to visit the cid lab.”
Turning to Nate, Johann added, “Director, we’ve no more need of your services, and I imagine you’ve got work to do to calm your citizenry. Please notify the families of the managers who are being transported to Naiad.”
Nate Strasser gratefully disappeared from the captain’s sight as fast as he could. He made a stop at Melondy’s office, located the senior assistant, and promoted her to director. Then he made for the administrative offices as fast as a transport could carry him.
The Naiad officers headed for the bay’s door, but the SADEs and the Genevans waited for Ceda, who was gazing at the length and breadth of the huge space, housing thousands of girls.
“I wish I could help the rest of you,” Ceda whispered. Then she turned and followed the officers.
In the corridor, Allie linked privately to Escher.
Escher’s amusement flooded Allie’s mind, and, in her implant, she received,
While the group’s transport made for dome nine, Cremsylon addressed Johann. “Captain, I probably don’t need to inform you of this, but you should allow the SADEs to manage the child clones. We’ve experience with helping races who’ve been programmed to feel less than fully entitled citizens.”
“In this regard, I’m prepared to follow your suggestions,” Johann replied, happy to have a subject he was unprepared to manage taken off his shoulders.
Within dome nine, the group took a freight elevator down to the beta level. In a corridor that had no comparison to the clone corridor in dome eight, the group walked through dim lighting to hatch nine-beta-fourteen.
As they approached the hatch, it slid aside. A tech, who was intent on leading a cart through the doorway, abruptly halted with his nose centimeters from Z’s broad chest.
“Dear man, are those cids?” Miranda inquired.
The tech twisted his neck to gaze up at the entity, who also stood close to him.
Unable to think of a convenient answer to the strangers, the tech offered the truth. “Um ... yes, sir ... I mean ma’am,” he stammered.
“We’ll take care of them,” Miranda said. With her fingers, she shooed the tech back inside the bay.
“Lieutenant, guard those,” Johann ordered.
Then the remainder of the group followed the retreating tech.
A supervisor approached the group and declared loudly, “This is a clean-room chip operation. You can’t be in here.”
“A little isolated down here, aren’t you?” Johann inquired. “I’m Captain Stegmeir of Naiad security headquarters. I’ve arrested the CEO and two other senior personnel. This cid manufacturing for clones is an illegal operation. You and your people are to cease operations.”
The supervisor’s mouth opened and closed several times, like a fish pumping water over its gills, while he tried to think of an adequate response. The sight of the two massive sentinels helped him make up his mind. With his jaw clicking shut, the supervisor strode to the wall near the hatch and smacked a panel.
In the bay, bright overhead lights blinked on and off, and a moderate wailing sound overrode the noise of humming machinery.
Across the bay, techs shut down their equipment and moved quickly to exit the bay. Supervisors and techs filed past the strangers. Their glances were furtive. No one wanted to draw the visitors’ attention, especially not the two mammoth sentinels.
“What do you wish done with the equipment and the presently completed cids, Captain?” Kelley requested.
“I’d like to smash them to pieces, but I haven’t the authority,” Johann said angrily. “I do need it documented. Is there a way to test the cids that are being produced by the final assembly line and the ones on the tray we confiscated?”
“Assuredly, Captain,” Kelley replied.
“I don’t mean aboard the Alexander,” Johann quickly corrected.
“Your meaning was clear, Captain,” Kelley replied.
When the Beta One employees cleared the bay, Miranda shut down the alarm system. The lights stopped blinking, and the cavernous room was bathed in silence.
Z exited the bay to test the cids on the tray. Opening a batch, he selected one. Then he accessed a small hatch in his upper arm and inserted the cid in a code reader. He did this with cids from several batches. His recording of the procedure was carefully stored for presentation later.
