Cloneward Bound (24 page)

“What—? How did you—? How in the world—?” Amanda stuttered.

“We saw you get eaten!” GG trumpeted.

“You saw what I wanted you to see,” Two said, grinning. “Or rather, what I wanted Dr. X to see. I had a bunch of Spot-Rite sample packets in my pockets—strawberry flavored. Red as blood. I ripped them open and the squi-ranhas went crazy for it. I guess they weren’t too hungry for meat afterward.”

“But …” Fisher shook his head wonderingly. “You really looked dead!”

“I know,” said Two proudly. “Not a bad performance, right?”

“Oscar worthy.”

Dr. X’s voice sent a chill down Fisher’s spine. He had emerged from the Producer’s booth, and his eyes were narrowed with hatred. “It’s too bad you won’t be around to receive your nomination.” He picked up Three’s weapon and leveled it at Fisher.

“Ah-ah-ahhh,” Two said, shaking his finger in the air. “When I was climbing back up here from the pool, I found a backup computer terminal. I took the liberty of posting a special event invitation on the
Entertainment Now
website. Kevin Keels
and
Dr. Devilish—two beloved stars—will be signing autographs at dawn today in Studio Lot 44, the very place that
Sci-Fi: Survivor
is being filmed. The crowd will be gathering as we speak.” Two grinned.
“If anything happens to us now, there will be thousands of witnesses.”

As if on cue, the distant sounds of screaming, clapping, and squealing began to penetrate the walls of the studio.

“I could kill all of you before they enter the building,” Dr. X snarled.

“Maybe,” Two said, “but you’d have a big mess on your hands and a lot of explaining to do. When celebrities disappear, everyone shows up to ask questions. The fans, then reporters, then police …”

Dr. X hissed through his teeth in frustration. The crowd noises got louder, and they heard exterior doors opening. Voices echoed toward them through the vast space. “Kevin? Kevin, I love you!”

Kevin, who was still passed out on his back, kicked out one leg and muttered sleepily, “I love you, too.”

For a second that felt like an eternity, Dr. X kept the gun pointed at Fisher’s head.

“Clever,” he said at last, lowering Three’s gun. Fisher let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “On the other hand, nobody will care, or even notice, if
we
disappear. I believe that’s our cue.”

Without another word, he helped a still-groggy Three to his feet and back to the Producer’s booth, using one hand to keep the weapon aimed at Fisher and his group
until they’d slipped through the door. They heard what sounded like a metal door clanking shut, and then the Producer’s booth began to sink. Like a high-speed elevator, the triangular structure disappeared into the pyramid, where it would no doubt take them down to a secret exit.

Once again, Dr. X had planned for everything.

Fisher clenched his fists at his sides. Granger had come back from defeat before, and he would do it again. And now there was a warped, dark duplicate of Fisher by his side.

For a moment, there was silence, except for the continued sounds of squealing and babbling that filtered in to them from the parking lot. Dr. Devilish was fixing his hair with one shaking hand. GG McGee was rubbing her eyes, as though expecting her vision to clear and reveal a totally different scene. Kevin Keels had woken up thanks to a determined hoof-prodding by FP.

“Basley,” said GG, looking at Fisher, “will you please tell me what is going on?”

“I’m not Basley,” Fisher said. Immediately, he felt a little better, as though he’d just been given permission to take off a fur coat in July. “He is.” He pointed at Two, whom Amanda had finally let go of, although FP was
still nuzzling one of his calves. Keels was starting to stir.

“But earlier you said that—”

“Earlier I
lied
!!” Fisher burst out, making GG jump. “I lied, and nearly got us all killed. I’m not lying anymore.” He walked up to Two and bowed his head in shame. “The simple fact is that I made you. I wanted somebody else to live my life for me, because I didn’t have the strength to live it myself. I can’t apologize enough.”

“No,” Two said, his face turning grim. “I don’t suppose you can. I’ve had a lot of time to think since I escaped TechX, Fisher. Quite a lot. It’s embarrassing that I didn’t figure out the truth sooner. But what can I say? I wanted to believe.”

Fisher was physically shaking. Every muscle in his body ached, and his knees wavered like their caps had disappeared. He had been expending so much energy, gone through such constant stress, to keep his secret. Now that it was finally out, it felt like a hundred ropes pulling him in different directions had all been severed.

“Just a few more things I need to clear up,” Two said, crossing his arms. “The woman I’ve been calling our mother—she’s not really our mother.”

“No,” Fisher said. His face was heating up.

“She was just … a person on TV?” Two said blankly.

“Yes,” said Fisher, feeling like someone who’d made a career out of knocking ice-cream cones from the hands of happy children.

“And you’ve been trying to keep my existence secret,” Two said.

“Yes,” Fisher choked out.

Two stared at him with an expression Fisher couldn’t identify. “Is that why you were so desperate to get me back to Palo Alto?”

“Yes. I mean, that’s part of it.” Fisher swallowed. “The aftermath of the first incident with Granger made the government agency Mom’s been working with freak out a little. They’re concerned about possible security breaches everywhere. The unauthorized possession or use of the AGH has been made punishable by decades in prison. They noticed the sample, which I used to make you, missing from her batch and dispatched a team specifically tasked with locating the person involved in such a crime.”

Two said nothing. He just stared at Fisher, his mouth set in a thin line.

“Hello?” a voice cut through the quiet.

Everyone turned in its direction. There was a man standing near the top of the stairs.

It was Henry. The sound guy from
Strange Science
who moonlighted as a DJ.

“What in the world are you doing here?” said Fisher, jaw sinking.

Henry chuckled. “I was on my way to save you, but I guess you didn’t need the help.”

CHAPTER 23

“
Save
us?” Fisher said. “But how did you—Why did you—?” He shook his head. “Just who are you, anyway?”

“My name’s Syd,” said the man formerly known as Henry. “Special Agent Syd Mason.” He flipped a slim, black wallet open, revealing an FBI badge. Fisher’s heart must have been getting tired of stopping; this time, it decided to try and escape right through his chest. Fisher had just faced down an army of mechanized destruction and gotten through it, only to come face-to-face with imminent doom.

“FBI?” Dr. Devilish said. “Have you … have you been pursuing my brother?”

“He was
one
suspect in my investigation,” Syd said, taking a step forward. Fisher instinctively took a step backward. “We’ve been tracking an extremely dangerous chemical compound, which seems to have come into the possession of one or more civilians.” He seemed to be deliberately not looking at Two. “We knew that Dr. X was
somewhere in the city, but we didn’t know where. Fortunately, I had a special insider working for me—a mole that no one could have suspected.”

Fisher was puzzled for a moment, then turned and gaped at the barely conscious Kevin Keels. “
You??
You’re working for the FBI?”

Syd turned to look at Keels, then broke into a powerful, roaring laugh.

“No, no,” he said, still recovering. “That would have been disastrous.… No offense, kid.” Keels wasn’t quite yet aware enough to understand what was going on and nodded in confusion. “It was … Oh, look, here he comes now!”

Syd pointed as a small, revolving panel opened in the floor, and out popped Wally the Wombat.

“Wally?” Fisher said. “Your mole was a
wombat
?”

“That’s right,” Syd said. “I suspected that Granger would go after the two of you,” he said, indicating Fisher and McGee with his head, “and that he might try to lure you to him by taking possession of your own animal friends. I outfitted Wally with a tracking device, hoping he’d get snatched up along with the other two. Speaking of which …”

Molly the Maltese hopped out from behind Wally, and ran to GG McGee, yipping excitedly.

“Molly!” GG shrieked. “Oh, my Molly!” She crushed
the little dog in her arms to the point that Fisher feared for the dog’s life.

“It looks like he’s got something for me, too,” Syd said, as Wally ran up to him with a small object in his teeth. Syd took it and held it between his forefinger and his thumb.

It was a test tube. Fisher held his breath as Syd took a small metal box, containing a single syringe, out of one pocket. He inserted the syringe into the tube and studied it carefully.

“AGH,” he said, then looked at the measurement on the side. “Exactly one centiliter.” Fisher stifled a gasp. Wally must have retrieved Granger’s replicated sample.

Syd nodded. “This is what I came for. As far as I’m concerned, the investigation is closed. Some of my fellow agents, as lively as they may be on the dance floor,” he winked at Fisher, “are rather more ruthless than I. They’re insisting that we pursue the matter further, not only retrieving any samples of the substance, but closely following any reports of its use, and retrieving any
results
of that use for further study.” He finally turned his head to regard Two. “But this is my investigation. I’m in charge, and I say it’s over.”

Fisher felt warmth slowly, cautiously start to flow back into his face.

“That said,” the agent went on, “Dr. X is still at large, and it’s anyone’s guess what he might be planning to do next, or where he’ll show up. You
twins
,” he said, smiling knowingly at Fisher and Two, “seem to be pretty good at taking him on. If you come up against him again and need some backup, just give me a call.” He deftly slipped a card into Fisher’s hand with his name and number. “Well, I should be going before that big crowd gets here. Take care, all of you. Come on, Wally.”

Without another word, he turned and walked back
down the pyramid, his wombat companion close on his heels.

Fisher stared after him. That was it. The last of his problems just walking away.…

Well,
almost
the last. Dr. X was still on the loose. And there was still a newly enlightened, very angry clone to try and talk to. Even as the thought entered his head, Two walked up to him. He looked surprisingly calm.

“Listen, Two—” Fisher started to say, but Two cut him off.

“When Granger kidnapped me the first time,” Two said, “you didn’t have to save me. Dr. X would have killed me, and you would have gone on with your life. You could’ve just left me there.”

“No,” Fisher said, “I couldn’t have.”

“I know,” said Two, and to Fisher’s amazement, he actually
smiled
. “You may have lied about a lot of things, but Harold Granger really is a deranged, twisted maniac with dreams of world conquest, and we’ll have to work together if we want to stop him for good.”