First Watch: A Watcher Bay Adventure (15 page)

Levra looked at Morgan, who stared at the hologram, incredulous. She shook her head, obviously confused. They both turned their attention back to Gunnar as he spoke to them seemingly from the grave.

“I had no way of knowing if they would get to Morgan, so I had to take some precautions. I don’t have much time. I think they are coming for me next. Destroy the Tortian outpost, including all the technology for cloning. Blake Colton is the one who needs to be stopped. He’s Ana Chekhov's brother. He and his crew are trying to build an army of clones using Ddaeran abilities on Tortia. They plan to use it to launch an attack against New Seattle. He’s acting under the direction of a rogue splinter group from Abramov’s highest ranks. Neither Morgan nor I have been able to ascertain the reason behind these attacks. I don’t know what their end game is.”

Levra risked a glance at Gunnar’s body, dead on the ground at her feet, and then focused back on the memory of Gunnar.

“I love you, Levra. Stay with the Ddaerans, you’ll be safest there, I think. Hug Enric for me. I’m so sorry I couldn’t come home to you.”

The hologram winked out, and Gunnar was gone, his last words echoing through the small hut. The memory of
her
Gunnar, larger than life, shattered her already traumatized heart. He’d tried to warn her, even as he’d faced his own doom.

“Do you think I could have saved him? Brought him back?” Levra’s voice was small, even to her own ears and she felt lost. Her eyes connected with Morgan's, searching for an answer that would help her feel better about the events of the last few minutes.

Morgan shook her head, her eyes compassionate. “I don’t think so. I didn’t see even a little bit of the former Gunnar in there. I’m so sorry.” Morgan took off the necklace and handed it to Levra. “I guess this is yours. You should have it.”

Levra slipped it onto her neck. It was the last bit of her sister and her husband. It would be the last thing Enric would see of his father. She was suddenly overwhelmed with not only the grief of losing Gunnar but with gratitude for this last glimpse of him. One last memory she’d be able to revisit and share with her son.

Levra stood up and helped Morgan to her feet. “I’ll ask the villagers to deal with him,” she said, glancing at Gunnar’s body. “We need to get to the Outpost and make sure any remaining DNA from the Ddaerans, as well as any cloning technology, is destroyed. I won’t let Gunnar’s loss be for nothing.”

CHAPTER 19

Watcher Bay Outpost, Rasia, New Eden

October 17, 12 AA

Levra and Morgan arrived at the Outpost and made their way to the underground bunker where the Ddaerans had been held. Morgan ordered the crew to show her where the Ddaeran DNA was stored and supervised the incineration of it while Levra watched over the crew who was destroying the cloning technology in a neighboring area of the lab.

Levra watched a crewman report to Morgan and noticed their conversation becoming intense. She strained to hear and walked closer.

“What do you mean there is a top-secret area?”

The crewman shrugged his shoulders. “We didn’t know it was here. One of the men discovered it when we were following your orders to purge every last piece of DNA from these premises. There’s something you need to see, ma’am. The guys and I, well, we aren’t real sure what to make of it.”

Morgan followed the crewman and motioned for Levra to join them. They wound through corridors and doorways until they came to a double door. The crewman punched in a code on the keypad.

“How did you know what code to use, if you didn’t even know this was here?”

The crewman answered as the door opened. “It took us a few minutes to hack in, but we got it. As soon as we saw the, uh, contents of the room, we rushed to get you.”

“Okay, lead the way, soldier.”

He stepped into the room, and Levra followed him and Morgan around a corner into the main area of what looked to be another lab.

“What is this?”

“These are cryo-beds.”

“There’s got to be at least twenty beds here. Are they inhabited?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the crewman answered Morgan’s inquiry. “You’ll not believe who we found asleep in here. We haven’t started the process of bringing them out of cryo-sleep, because we weren’t sure what you’d want us to do with them.”

He led them down the aisles of beds to the far end of the lab. Morgan and the crewman stopped, and Morgan gasped aloud when she saw the identity of the man in the cryo-bed.

“Levra?”

Morgan reached out a hand behind her and took Levra’s hand. Levra stepped forward and read the nameplate on the bed.

“Flight Engineer Gunnar Shield.”

CHAPTER 20

Watcher Bay Outpost, Rasia, New Eden

October 17, 12 AA

Levra stared at the name, the letters of her husband’s name calling to her but making no sense. What did it mean? Was this a clone of him? What was she supposed to do now?

She heard Morgan speak, but her voice was hollow and ragged. “Levra? Levra. Look.”

Levra looked at the bed next to Gunnar and saw Morgan’s name staring back at them.

“Holy shit, you were cloned too? Now what?”

Levra and Morgan stared at the clones asleep in front of them, speechless for a moment.

“What, indeed,” Morgan said. “There’s at least twenty clones in here.”

Levra’s gaze traveled over the names of other clones. Solomon
Reach
.
Wow
. She had heard about him and his Reacher ship, the fabled eleventh Asteria-class spaceship that had never made it through the Sideris Gate wormhole to the Paradisi System. How strange that he didn’t make it out of the Milky Way, but his DNA had. “This cloning operation has been in the works for a long time, hasn’t it?”

Morgan nodded. “We don’t know for sure how far back, but we always suspected that DNA was saved from Earth’s elite population.”

“What are we supposed to do with them? Cloning is illegal, not to mention creepy as hell.”

“Tell me about it. I’m staring at my own clone. We have to destroy the clones. It’s the only responsible thing to do. Right?”

Levra nodded absentmindedly as she touched the plastic cover over Gunnar’s body. She couldn’t stop thinking of him as Gunnar, even though she knew it was a fictional, twisted version of him.

“Morgan?” She felt like a child. “I need to wake him up. At least this once. I don’t know. I need to hear his voice one more time, see if this version is as bad as the one they made him into. Do you understand?”

She nodded. “I thought you might say that. I can’t guarantee what happens next, but I understand if you feel you need some closure.”

Levra swallowed hard and nodded. “Okay. How long will it take to bring him out of cryo?”

“I’ll start it now. Should only be about thirty minutes before he’s out and ready to interact. But I have to warn you, we have no idea what to expect in terms of behavior. We don’t know what they used to clone him in terms of mental capacities, etc. He could be trained to kill on sight for all we know. We’ll restrain him for your interview, just to be safe. And one more thing . . . If we have to put him—it—down, I’ll do it. Nobody should have to kill their own husband twice.”

She winked at Levra, but compassion shone in her eyes. This was a tough, surreal moment, and Levra appreciated her attempt at levity.

“What about her?” Levra looked at the clone of Morgan. “Are you going to wake her?”

Morgan shook her head. “Not yet. Let’s wake one at a time, shall we? In case things go sideways.”

“Good plan.”

Levra watched from behind the bed, feeling as though she were outside her own body, as Gunnar’s clone was brought into consciousness, restrained, and prepped for their interview. During cryo-sleep he’d been getting all the nutrients one needed to survive, but his voice would be hoarse. It would take a few minutes for him—it—to be able to speak after the techs gave him fluids to drink.

In some ways, it was like watching Lazarus being raised from the dead, but she had to keep telling herself this was merely an iteration of her husband. This version wouldn’t love her back, not like the real Gunnar. The real Gunnar who had apparently stopped loving her. She clenched her fists, looking around for something to hit.

Levra and Morgan agreed Morgan would start the interview and Levra would join only if she was up to it, depending on how the clone behaved.

When he fully awakened and fixed his gaze on Morgan, his eyes widened. He tried to speak but couldn’t yet. He attempted to reach for her, but his hands were restrained, cuffed to the bed.

Levra nodded at Morgan. The interview was being recorded for any possible information the clone might be able to give them about the operation, though they doubted he’d know much. Neither Levra nor Morgan had forgotten Gunnar’s last message, sent via hologram, that Commander Colton needed to be found—possibly off planet—and that the cloning operation needed to be dismantled. Any information they could get from this clone might help. Levra was determined to stop the operation that had turned her husband against her. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—let that lie.

Morgan cleared her throat. “Sir, we have a few questions for you. We are recording this interview. You are at an Outpost in Watcher Bay, Rasia, New Eden. The year is 12 AA. Can you please tell us who you are?”

He tried to speak again, but no words came out. Morgan signaled for one of the crew to help him take another drink.

The clone cleared his throat and tried again.

“This is New Eden?”

Morgan nodded. “Can you tell us what year you went into cryo-sleep, clone?”

The clone nodded. “It was 9 AA. I was in the Altius system, with you, Morgan. Where is my wife? Did you find her?”

“Sir, you are a clone. We believe you have been given the memories of Commander Gunnar Shield. Can you tell us what you remember before you went into the cryo-chamber?”

“Morgan, listen to me. I am not a clone. I am Gunnar. I think they did clone me, but I am not the clone.”

He looked at her neck. “Where is the necklace I gave you? Before they took me?”

Levra gasped when he referenced the necklace. The clone heard and turned his head.

“Levra. Baby, thank goodness you are okay. Where is Enric? Did you get my message?”

She was speechless. Her mind raced.

The clone spoke again. “Did you find the coin?”

She watched his eyes travel to her neck, where she’d placed the necklace after Morgan gave it to her.

“Gunnar? Is it you?”

“Yes. It’s really me. I knew they were getting ready to bring me in, clone me, and put me in the cryo-chamber so I recorded the message and attached it to the coin. I programmed it so only your prints could activate it.”

Levra glanced between Morgan and Gunnar, desperate to believe this really was Gunnar, but was it? If Colton and his men could implant memories, this clone could still have Gunnar’s memories but not really be him.

Morgan spoke, looking at Levra. “I’m not sure what to think, Levra.”

“Ask me anything, Levra. Anything.”

She took a deep breath and began drilling Gunnar—the clone—whoever he was. “What made that coin significant?”

“It was your grandfather’s. Mitchell Enric. Your sister was named after him. Our son is named after him. Mitch gave you the coin before the elevator bombing. You gave it to me before I left on the SS
Northern Light
for Altius.”

Was this possible? Was the nightmare she’d been living over now? Had she not killed her husband? Was he still alive?

She wanted to believe. That was the problem, of course. She was desperate to believe this was Gunnar. Especially since he wasn’t an asshole.

“They could have implanted that memory. The other Gunnar, he had some of your memories. If that wasn’t really him, and this is really you.”

Her head hurt trying to decipher reality in this impossible situation.

“So they did clone me? Morgan,” he said, turning his head to address Morgan. “Which one are you?”

She paled visibly at his question. “What do you mean?”

“They cloned you. Are you the clone or are you the real Morgan?”

“Of course I’m the real Morgan.”

“Have you found the clone of yourself, then?”

She tilted her head toward her clone in the next cryo-bed.

“Morgan. They cloned her. But I think you are the clone. I couldn’t get to Morgan to free her. But I could get to you. The clone is who I gave the necklace to.”

“Do you have memories of Abramov? Of the cloning plot? Our orders to infiltrate the cloning ring?”

“Of course. That’s why we are here.”

Gunnar took a deep breath. “Before they cloned her, I removed Morgan’s memories of our secret mission. I knew once they cloned her, they would tap into her memory and discover our secret. She knew it too. She asked me to take her memories and then give them to her clone if I couldn’t get her back. They shipped her cryo-chamber away, and I couldn’t get to her.