Tool: Born for War, War for Bonds (Numbered Book 2) Read online

  “And then what?”

  “You work, continue doing as you are told, until you can't anymore. Once you're too old to drill effectively, you will be injected. The only exceptions are made for those with a particularly strong skill. They will teach the younger Clones, until someone comes along who's even more skilled and can take their place.”

  Aurelia put her empty coffee cup down. “And that's it,” she said.

  “And that's it.”

  The room was quiet except for the soft hum of electrical circuits powering the lights and ventilation system. What kind of life was that? Clones weren't robots. They might have been made, but they were still capable of emotion and feelings and everything else that made people people. Yes, Aurelia knew abstractly about the Military Class and understood their role in society as a whole, but she didn't understand why they were to be treated as nothing more than tools.

  “Why...” she started, but she couldn't think of a way to formulate the question.

  Nicholas understood what was on her mind, drained his coffee, and thought for a moment. “Because it's seen as efficient,” he said. “I mean, the Military should be focussed, undistracted—there's no room for emotion or feelings on the battlefield. There's room only for cold, hard logic. And in a way, keeping us in this fashion forces us to be cold and logical. That's quite apart from the biological dangers of Clone breeding.”

  “But that's not the way things should be!” she almost shouted, frustrated at not being able to put her feelings into a better argument.

  “Aurelia, I'm not saying that it is. I'm saying that I understand it, not that I condone it. And maybe, just maybe, in the past this was a good way of doing things. Maybe that's what we, the Clones, needed to do, to be, to prove our worth and to save Earth from the War. But now, now I can see no reason for it. We're no longer at war, and the chances of another war coming are slim. Everything is so strictly controlled that I don't see how the Empire could possibly go to war again. The Military Class are security, nothing more, and there's no reason for us to live like this any longer.”

  Suddenly, Aurelia could see what a powerful politician Nicholas could be if he were allowed to be. How clearly he could argue his point.

  “We have been created, and now we must be allowed more, or we must be destroyed. We have served our Military purpose.”

  The words rang through Aurelia's head. “You're saying that the Clones must be given freedom of choice or... or what?”

  “You heard me,” Nicholas said. “Or we must be destroyed. Injected. All of us. Put out of our misery.”

  “Those are your choices?” Aurelia asked quietly.

  “Yes. Those are the choices. No compromises. Just because you created us doesn't mean that you can use us.”

  Again, Aurelia was silent, trying to take all of this in. She knew that he was right, knew that what he was fighting for was the right thing, but she couldn't see how it could come down to a choice between freedom and death.

  Nicholas sensed her discomfort. “Come on, enough of this talk for now,” he said, patting her knee. “Do you know how to play chess?”

  She looked up at him, surprised. “No, of course not. Do you?”

  Chess was an old game, and very few played it, particularly those who weren't Ruling Class. Workers had little time for games in general, and definitely not for something as complicated as chess.

  “Sure,” Nicholas said, getting up and retrieving a box off a shelf. “That's one of the advantages of growing up in Lunar. You learn all kinds of weird things, mostly from rich Ruling Class teenagers who want to slum it with the Clones. I've got bunches of odd skills.”

  He set up the pieces and gave her a quick overview of the game, then demanded that she play with him. He beat her easily the first time, but Aurelia found her mind adapting to the strategy of play. It was a lot like diagnosis and treatment, something that she'd always been good at. You needed to look ahead at all possible paths and choose the one that was least likely to get you a dead patient, or a dead pawn in this case.

  Studying Nicholas's face as he contemplated a move, Aurelia could see what a brilliant strategist he was. Possibly that was something he had been trained for. She knew little about Clone training, so she asked.

  “Hmmm?” he said, without taking his eyes off the board.

  “I asked what you're trained in,” Aurelia said.

  He looked up. “All kinds of things. Drilling, exercise, lots of different combat techniques, both armed and unarmed. Then there's military strategy, electronics, tech support, er...” He closed his eyes as he tried to remember more. “Oh yes, mathematics, transport tech...”

  She was amazed. “All of that? Just to fight?”

  Nicholas laughed. “Sure. Well, not all of us learn everything, but you never know what you're going to need. Take tech support, for example. How else are you going to be able to override security measures that are keeping you out of a place you need to be in?”

  Aurelia shrugged; she'd never really thought about anything like that before. Then she had a thought. “You mean that you could get out of here if you wanted to?”

  “Yep, no problem. The security here is pretty elementary, mostly for show since Jonathon wants people to think that I'm under house arrest.”

  Aurelia shook her head. “You are quite unbelievable,” she said, sure that Jonathon had actually tried to secure Nicholas in, just in case.

  “And you are quite in check,” said Nicholas, moving a piece and looking at the board.

  Surveying the board, Aurelia could see that she was very clearly in check, and she couldn't see a way out of it. That might have been because she was so distracted by what Nicholas had told her. With skills like his, Nicholas could be invaluable to the Resistance, and that might be the key to persuading Jonathon to back his cause. She contemplated telling Nicholas to talk directly to Jonathon himself, but she decided not to. Given Jonathon's dislike of the Clone, he might not give him a fair hearing. Aurelia decided that this was something she had better do herself. Of course, all of this hinged on whether or not they could figure out a way to get Nicholas out and not killed.

  She tipped her king over. “I resign,” she said.

  “Good plan,” said Nicholas. “I couldn't see a way out of that, but you played superbly for only your second match. Sure you haven't played before?”

  Aurelia shook her head and yawned. “Sure,” she said.

  “Gods, you must be exhausted.” He began putting the chess pieces back into their box. “And I've been keeping you awake playing a game.”

  “No, it's been interesting, really,” Aurelia protested, then yawned again. “But yeah, I'm pretty tired.”

  “Thanks for coming,” Nicholas smiled. “Play again tomorrow?”

  She got up from her chair and grinned at him. “Try and keep me away,” she said.

  The night air was cool when she left the house, and she could still smell the fresh, sweet scent of the grass. A transport pod was already waiting for her, and she got in and closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep as soon as she reached her bed.

  The trip to the Hospital was uneventful, and Aurelia was leaning against the wall of the elevator cabin in a half-doze before she remembered that she hadn't been to see Elza that day. Crap. Well, best to do it. She didn't want the woman to think that she was avoiding her—though, truth be told, the fact that the hospital head had tried to kill her just a few days before did rankle her a little. Aurelia knew it had been the drugs acting, but she still felt a little weird around Elza. She pressed the elevator button for Elza's floor and promised her body that she'd go to sleep just as soon as she possibly could.

  Elza was lying propped up in bed, reading something on her screen when Aurelia came in.

  “Aurelia!” she said, rolling up her screen immediately.

  “Hey, Elza.” Aurelia had to admit that the woman seemed genuinely happy to see her. “How are you feeling?”

  Elza grimaced. “Okay, I guess. I'm down t
o one patch a day, and I'm exhausted all the time. But there's no more nausea. Now I just need to catch up with all the damn hospital paperwork.” She gestured towards the screen by her side. “And you?”

  “We're keeping on top of things, not to worry,” said Aurelia, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

  She quickly filled Elza in on Nicholas and his situation, and she told the woman what she'd learned about Clone training.

  “Hmm,” said Elza, impressed. “He's a dangerous man, indeed.”

  “And good to have on your side,” Aurelia added.

  Elza was the last person to accept the Clone Rights Movement; she had every Lunar inhabitant’s inbred distrust of the Military class.

  “Or bad to have against you,” Elza pointed out. “I see your point, Aurelia, but I think Jonathon's right. The best thing to do is to get Nicholas out of here, preferably off Lunar altogether so that he's out of danger and so are we.”

  Aurelia sighed. There was little point in discussing these things with Elza.

  Elza's face softened, and she took Aurelia's hand. “Look, we need to concentrate on what the Resistance is doing. Once we've achieved our goals and Jonathon is President, then maybe there'll be time for the goals of others.”

  “I guess,” said Aurelia, but she wasn't convinced. There was little chance of Clones achieving any kind of freedom or equality given the current attitudes of Lunar citizens, even the supposedly smart ones like Jonathon and Elza.

  “Aurelia, I owe you something. I owe you a lot.” Elza looked down at her bedclothes. She had apologized before, and Aurelia was coming around to the idea that the woman truly was sorry for what had happened and was quite blameless. “Maybe, I'm not sure, but maybe if there's time, you could arrange for Nicholas and I to talk?”

  Aurelia raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  Elza nodded. “Really. I'd be interested to hear what he has to say, for your sake if not for his.”

  Knowing that this was as close to a compromise on the issue as she was likely to get, Aurelia promised to try to arrange something. Then she left Elza to sleep, though it was really her own body that was craving rest.

  In her own living pod, she showered and then peeled back the bed sheets. She also had a pile of paperwork to take care of, but it could wait until morning. She was just about to close her eyes and drift off into oblivion when her intercom rang. For a second she considered ignoring it, but she was med staff, and she knew that she couldn't. She called out into the darkness so the intercom picked up. It was Jonathon, his voice bright with excitement and energy.

  “Aurelia! I was hoping to catch you before you left, but, well, I didn't. Are you in bed?”

  She yawned at the thought of sleep. “Yes, but not sleeping yet. What is it?”

  “I've got a way to get Nicholas out of this mess.”

  Chapter Two

  Aurelia hated both surprises and secrets. Until she’d moved to Lunar, she'd had no surprises. On a colony as rigidly organised as Earth, there were very few surprises to be found. As for secrets, as far as she had known there'd been none of those either, though she was now rapidly learning differently.

  Jonathon, on the other hand, appeared to be one of those people who enjoyed leaving others hanging. The previous night, he'd only laughed when Aurelia had begged him for the details of his plan, and he’d told her to go to sleep. Now she had to get through an entire day at work before she could get out to see him. If we’re going to have a relationship, she thought grimly, we are going to have to work on this.

  Fortunately, her morning had enough interesting cases that she didn't have time to dwell on Jonathon's plan. By lunchtime her feet were already aching, and she was glad when Jason, her deputy chief, brought her a sandwich and coffee.

  “Thought you might be able to use these,” he said with a grin as he stepped into her office.

  Jason seemed constantly to be grinning. He wasn't an especially attractive man, but his smile lit up his face in a way that was contagious. Aurelia smiled back at him.

  “Sure could. Thanks.” She began unwrapping the sandwich. “So how's Elza doing?” she asked before taking a bite.

  Jason was the only other hospital staff member who knew of Elza's problem, and he had shouldered most of the burden of taking care of her. He sat on a lab stool and shrugged.

  “Seems to be doing fine. I've cut her stim patch intake to almost a quarter of what it was in the last two days, and she's handling it. She had a little nausea at the beginning, but now she seems just tired.”

  That gelled with what Elza had told her the night before, which satisfied Aurelia. Not that she was checking up on the woman, but, well, yes, she was checking up on her. “How long before she can work properly?”

  Jason sucked his teeth. “Couple of days maybe, if she's up to it and not too tired. She should have her last patch tomorrow, I think. But it might take a bit longer for her to get her energy back.”

  Aurelia was incredibly grateful to Jason. He'd stepped in to help without question, knowing nothing about Aurelia and Jonathon or the Resistance, and was doing a great job of holding his curiosity in check. He must know that things didn't really add up from his point of view.

  “Listen, how about you take sixth and seventh day off this week,” said Aurelia, clicking her screen to look at the staff rota.

  Jason looked surprised. “Both?”

  She nodded. “Both. I can get cover for you. And you've been working plenty of overtime with Elza. Go for it.”

  “Awesome. Thanks, Aurelia.”

  He skipped off back to work, leaving Aurelia smiling. He was beginning to be one of her favourite parts of working in Lunar Hospital. Jason's grin and attitude not only made her job easier, but they also made her look forward to getting to her office. She was lucky indeed that Elza had chosen him for the job.

  By the time Aurelia rolled her screen up, paperwork done, the dome above Lunar was already fading into the darker night colours. She didn't even bother to go upstairs to her quarters but simply called a transport pod from her office. Once outside, she took a deep breath of clean, cool air and looked up.

  The dome was the most remarkable feat of human engineering ever realised. It was both flexible and solid, breathable enough to let old air out but strong enough not to let the Lunar atmosphere in, and it was self-healing as well. Not only that, but it was capable of producing a huge variety of different light levels, depending on the time of day, and a whole host of different colour shades to simulate the Earth sky. Aurelia had learned at some point the basic mechanics of it, but that was so long ago she could barely remember. What she did know was that it had taken almost a decade to perfect, and it had been the key factor in making a moon city viable.

  The entirety of Lunar City was under the dome, and a clever system of vacuum locks allowed shuttles to enter and leave through the dome itself. Stretching as far as the eye could see, in reality the dome covered an area only a little larger than that of City 01, where Aurelia had been born. The rest of the moon surface was left fairly uninhabitable, though there were always scientific Workers or resource projects going on out there. The dome made things safe: the air safe to breathe, the atmosphere safe to live in, and the city, contained as it was, mostly safe to live in. And it wasn't until she considered Nicholas that Aurelia could see how, whilst to her the dome made Lunar safe, for others it might make Lunar a prison.

  She was shocked out of her sky watching by the impatient metallic beep of her transport shuttle, which had obviously been waiting for her for some minutes.

  “Sorry,” she muttered, getting in, well aware of the fact that she was apologising to an inanimate object. These days, she was never sure who or what was listening to her.

  One of the first things that she'd learnt when arriving in Lunar was that you could trust no one. Everyone in the city was out for themselves, hoping to improve their status, at best to be elevated to the Elite Ruling Class, or at least to get more rations, more luxuries, or other favo
urs. She guessed that she'd been more than lucky in meeting the people she'd met when she had met them. Okay, she had sort of fallen into the Resistance, a decision she was more secure with now, knowing what they were fighting for, knowing what Lunar City was doing to Earth and her people, knowing that it had to stop. But it was still a risk, and one she had carefully chosen not to think about whenever possible.

  Thinking of Earth made her homesick. She missed her parents, and she resolved to intercom them as soon as she was able. She wondered if there was somewhere in Lunar she could go to at least see Earth. She should ask Nicholas.

  The transport pod slid to a stop at the security gates, and this time Aurelia didn't make an idiot out of herself by trying to unbuckle her safety belt. She waited until the pod had stopped safely in front of Jonathon's house before leaping out. He wasn't waiting for her this time, and she hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. Was she just supposed to walk in? That seemed kind of presumptuous. She wasn't used to the protocols of Lunar yet, especially when they involved the rich and famous. In the end, she settled for ringing the bell, which brought Jonathon to the door in seconds.

  “Um, you really don't need to ring,” he said, lowering his head to kiss her. “Next time, just come in and yell if you can't find me, okay?”

  She smiled. For someone both rich and famous, he was quite nicely normal and down to earth, which was really what had drawn her to him in the first place. “So what's the plan?”

  Jonathon shook his head. “You really are impatient, aren't you? Come on; we'll go downstairs, and I'll tell both of you at the same time. There's no point in telling the same story twice.”

  They started walking down the long white corridor. It was completely empty of furniture, and Aurelia couldn't help thinking that if she lived here, she'd at least hang some paintings or maybe put a side table in or something. Then she chided herself, half amused that she was already decorating the place in her head. Partly to stop herself from mentally redesigning Jonathon's entire house, she decided to tell him about the Clone training protocol whilst they walked.