Invaded (Alienated, #2)(72)
We’re taking precautions, Alona assured her. Nothing more than that. There’s no need to panic.
But Alona’s fear betrayed her. Cara felt the knot in the woman’s chest as if it were her own. It was Cara’s concern for the future of L’eihr that had her sharing her suspicions of Jaxen and Aisly, specifically her fear that the pair might belong to an outside race.
The subject caught Alona off guard, and she surprised Cara by quickly scrambling to block her thoughts. Not quickly enough, though. In the nanosecond she’d left her mind open, Cara saw an image—a memory—in which younger versions of Jaxen and Aisly blinked up at Alona with blue eyes. Vivid blue eyes. Before Cara had time to grasp the significance behind that juicy tidbit, Alona opened her mouth to chastise her.
“I assure you the pair is very much L’eihr. And members of The Way, which, if you’ve forgotten, you have vowed to obey in all matters.”
Cara blushed more deeply at the reproach. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Do not tell anyone what you know of the Aribol,” Alona ordered. “And instruct Aelyx to do the same.”
“I will.”
“And don’t worry.” Alona’s gaze seemed to warm by a few degrees. “I have no intention of deploying you to the front lines of battle, should that day ever come.”
Cara offered a hesitant smile. “Good, because I’d shoot the wrong person.”
“The iphal makes friendly fire virtually impossible.”
“Trust me, I’d find a way,” Cara said flatly. “But allow me to change the subject. The colony development panel needs your input.” She explained the impasse they’d reached regarding the occupation program. “I’d like to allow colonists some freedom in choosing their jobs.”
“No.”
The instantaneous response was surprising, and pure instinct had Cara drawing a breath to argue her case.
“Do you require further assistance?” Alona asked, cutting her off.
Cara got the impression she should shut up, so she shook her head.
“Then you may depart at your leisure.”
The defeat brought Cara down a few notches, leaving her more conflicted than ever about colony life. Just when she’d begun to feel the slightest bit of optimism, Alona’s snap judgment had made her doubt the future. It was like emotional whiplash, and Cara didn’t know how much longer she could keep this up.
But she put the defeat behind her and paid a visit to her favorite academic scholar. Cara had a theory about the Wonder Siblings’ blue eyes, and she needed it confirmed. If nothing else, she would leave here knowing the truth about Jaxen and Aisly.
“During the exchange,” Cara said to Larish while relaxing into her plush seat, “Aelyx told me the Elders had gone too far with organized breeding, so they backtracked and began cloning from the archives.” When Larish nodded in confirmation, she continued. “But why didn’t they go way back and clone the ancients? Then they wouldn’t need human DNA to diversify the gene pool.”
“That’s a good question.” Larish sipped the steaming h’ali Cara had brought to butter him up and loosen his tongue. “Genetic material loses its integrity after about two thousand years, even under the ideal storage conditions of the archives. It’s possible to clone from older samples, but not without manipulating the genetic code.”
“Manipulating it?” she echoed. “How?”
Larish set down his mug and tapped the data table that stood between them. An illustration appeared of the double helix structure. He used an index finger to swipe at the chains, forming cracks and breaks in the DNA. “This is what time does to an archived sample in perfect, sub-frozen storage.” With the side of his fist, he took it further, scrubbing out entire rungs of the helix ladder. “And this is what you’d face if you wanted to clone the ancients—assuming you could find their remains.”
“But it could be done?” Cara asked.
“In theory. We could use artificial material to fill in the missing links. But it wouldn’t be a true clone. Odds are, the replicates would be…” He searched for the right word, then settled on the very definition of Jaxen and Aisly. “Different from the original.”
Cara parted her lips in mock fascination, trying to appear innocent. “Different how? Like, could scientists give the replicates special powers and stuff?”
Mind control, for example.
Larish’s countenance brightened and a sly grin curved his mouth. He leaned in, lowering his voice as if to share a secret. “Many years ago, a rumor was circulating that The Way had commissioned just such a project.”
Cara mirrored his position, resting both elbows on her knees and summoning her most trustworthy face. “Really?”
He flashed a palm. “Just hearsay, you understand.”
“Of course.” She gave a solemn nod, silently willing him to spill it.
“Remember the remains taken from the colony?”
“The bodies of the pregnant queen and her consort?”
Larish nodded. “Supposedly, the true reason The Way exhumed the remains was because they’d exhausted their supply of ancient DNA. They transported the bodies here, to the capital’s genetics laboratory. According to rumor, the lead geneticists were instructed to clone the pair and heighten the replicates’ abilities with alien DNA.”