Authors: Stuart Keane
The door started to close.
And the soldiers started to run towards them, but it was too late.
Kathryn and Hannah moved into the plastic tunnel and ran.
They were free!
A few seconds later, they emerged from the tunnel.
Kathryn’s face registered pure astonishment, while Hannah just smiled. Together, as a team, they stepped out of the tunnel, back into the real world.
They were the first people to ever do so.
The Company had failed.
Iain’s quest had been realised.
FORTY-TWO
Kieran backed up towards Heather. They both stared at their father in confusion and fear.
“Whatever happens, Heather, I have your back, okay?” Kieran didn’t look at her, focused on the clones as he was.
Heather didn’t object. Delta had clearly lost his mind. Heather was still doubting that this man really was their father, but had no reason to believe otherwise. After all, he knew all there was to know about her mother. All that seemed relevant was the things that had happened to her. In some weird way, she realised she was glad that her father was not dead, but at the same time, she thanked her mother for protecting her from this lunatic.
The last forty-eight hours were suddenly very clear to her. In hindsight, it was clear that her mother had been right to protect her from this beast.
For that reason she would do all she could to survive, for her mother’s sake.
Somehow.
Even though the odds were against it.
At least she wasn’t alone. She looked at Kieran. Sorrow wracked her body, and sympathy would have to wait.
Delta regarded them. “My, my, solidarity in my offspring, how quaint. Might as well kill you together. Two birds, one stone and all that nonsense.” Delta had stepped away from the clones. He held his hand out for the jacket and the clone returned it to him slowly. He put his arms through the sleeves and put it on, standing and watching them as he smiled. “This
will
be fun.”
Kieran looked around. The clones were tense, primed, and ready to go. He felt Heather’s body against his, pressed up behind him. “So, Dad,” she called out to him. “How are you going to do it? Kill us, I mean. I assume you have some sick ideas in that head of yours?”
Delta’s white teeth gleamed in the light as he gave a slow smile. “Quite the opposite. You see, I have plans, have had all along. I want to start slow, make it painful for you. This may not seem like a fatherly thing to do, but I hate making mistakes as much as the next person. I like to atone for them, though. Be it banging a whore or dating a drunk, you decide. I’m not proud of either. You both remind me of the fuck-ups I made along the way. If I'm joining The Company, I don’t want any baggage.”
Heather stifled a sob. She felt the tears coming, but didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. “You’re a sick fuck, you know that? We are your
children!
How can you do this to us?”
The smile disappeared from Delta’s face. “Like this.” A hand rose into the air and Delta clicked his fingers.
A clone stepped forward with startling speed and slammed a fist into Kieran’s face. The impact knocked him back a few feet. Kieran spat blood almost immediately. He felt a tooth loosen and moaned in pain. The clone stood inert, staring down at him. He didn’t move. Kieran looked up into blue, empty eyes.
Heather held her hands to her face. Fear paralysed her for a few moments. She looked at Kieran and back at her father. “What are you
doing
?”
“My job as a responsible father.” Delta clicked his fingers and the clone booted Kieran in the ribs. Kieran stumbled over and landed with a thud on the ground. He spat out his tooth, and it bounced across the platform. He had trouble breathing as more blood oozed from his mouth.
Heather screamed at her father, “
Stop it!
”
Delta snapped his fingers again. This time, the clone backhanded Heather. She fell awkwardly to the side, toppling off the platform. She landed heavily on a rail and instantly felt the crack to her ribs. She groaned in agony. Heather touched her face, felt the throbbing of a welt. Blood oozed from her nose.
Then something odd happened.
Four clones stepped past Delta and approached the attacking clone. The attacker didn’t even turn as they each grabbed a limb. They picked him up and tossed him into the air. The clone landed on the platform. The other four then proceeded to kick and punch him repeatedly, over and over again.
Kieran looked on, Heather heard the commotion from the rails and managed to crawl across and peer over the edge of the platform to watch. After two minutes, the clones stopped beating their colleague and returned to their positions. The clone on the ground lay motionless, bloodied and broken. His head seemed to be shattered, now a deformed shape, the skull smashed by the repeated blows. His arms were bent at an awkward angle, his left leg broken, only attached by the skin around the bone. The skin of the body was a mass of welts and bloody footprints.
Silence filled the room. Heather stood up, wincing in pain. She rolled herself onto the platform, breathing heavily. Kieran used the bench to pull himself up to a standing position.
Delta looked at the clones, confused. “I didn’t order that.” He turned to the clones. “Why did you do that? You answer to me. I didn’t give that order.”
The clones didn’t answer. They all had the same blank stare. None of them moved. As Heather moved across the platform, their eyes moved to watch her. Delta turned back to face them. He selected a clone to his left. “You,” he ordered. “Grab her.” He pointed to Heather.
The clone snapped to attention and strode over to her. Kieran stood in its way, but the clone kneed him in the ribs, so that he fell to his knees in agony, fighting to breathe. The clone stepped past him and grabbed Heather by the arm.
Another clone, from a group closer to Heather, stepped forward and slammed a fist into the first clone’s face, his fist pulverising bone and muscle. The clone punched again, this time into the side of the other clone’s head and the impact snapped his neck. The head wobbled as the body fell down. Blood splattered the platform behind him. The stricken creature released its grip from Heather’s arm. The clone who'd protected her stepped back into position.
Delta’s voice had lost its confident edge. “What the fuck is this? I breed an army of super soldiers and they all get their fucking panties in a twist for a woman? Seriously?
What do I pay these scientists for?”
He walked over to Heather, stepped past her and slapped the clone in the face. Nothing happened. He stared at the clone and turned around. He grabbed Heather by the arm and started to drag her to the end of the platform. Three clones moved towards him. Delta immediately released Heather and stepped back. The clones paused. After a moment, the clones returned to their original position. Delta faced Heather. “Seems they have a real hard on for you, Heather. Must be a glitch or something.”
Kieran stood up, coughing. Blood had dried on his face. “These clones. What did you do to make them obey you?”
Delta paused and rubbed his chin. “Trade secret, I'm afraid. If I told you that, I would have to kill you. Which I am going to do anyway. I don’t have time for this.” Delta stepped over to Kieran and swung a punch. Kieran saw it coming. He ducked and grabbed Delta’s arm, and tried to wrestle him to the ground, succeeding in bringing him down as they grappled together. Heather, holding her injured ribs, ran over and jumped on Delta’s body, attempting to separate them. “Get off him, you fuck!”
Delta swung an arm out, knocking Heather off her feet. She collapsed to the ground, her head hitting the platform. Lights and pain filled her eyes and brain for a moment. She closed her eyes and saw stars. Through blurred vision, she could see the two men struggle.
What she didn’t see was the five clones who stepped forward and pulled Delta off Kieran. Delta screamed in annoyance and whipped around to confront them. “What the
fuck
are you—?”
The first clone punched Delta in the face with a resounding crack. His two front teeth were immediately dislodged, his lip split, releasing a spurt of blood as his chin rocked back. Delta collapsed like a puppet with the strings cut, eventually landing face first on the platform. The second clone grabbed him by the arm and snapped his forearm clean in two. Delta screamed, the noise making Kieran’s blood curdle. Delta tried to crawl away, his arm hanging limply. The third and fourth clones rabbit-punched him in the back, aiming for the kidneys, then the fifth clone pulled Delta up to his feet. The injured man was groaning, half conscious. When Delta was upright, the clone delivered a blistering head-butt straight into his face. Delta’s nose shattered, blood erupted from both nostrils and he went down again, blood and spittle arcing in the air as the body dropped like a sack of potatoes.
Kieran cowered for a long time. But to his surprise, the clones didn’t come for him, simply choosing to return to their previous positions. The young man stood up and brushed himself down. He looked across at the clones. They were still regarding Heather. Kieran reached for his sister’s hand. As he did so, he noticed the clones tense, in unison. He helped her get up, then let go of her hand and the clones relaxed. He smiled.
Heather looked at him, confused. “What?”
Kieran pointed to them. “If I was a betting man, which I am not, I’d say your dad over there produced these clones using his own DNA. Which is your DNA. And for some reason, the clones are responding to that. They haven’t taken their eyes off you all this time. When I grabbed your hand, they all prepared themselves to attack. When I let go, they stopped. The wonders of human genetics, eh?”
Heather couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It sounded like something out of a science fiction movie. She turned to look at her father. She instantly looked back at Kieran. “If that’s the case, then why didn’t they defend you? You’re my brother, according to that arsehole over there. We’d both have the same DNA.”
“Maybe I’m
not
your brother. Think about it. They only reacted when you were threatened. I took a pounding from that clone and nothing happened. One backhand for you, and they beat the living shit out of him. It makes sense, I suppose. But I think your dad is mistaken. He isn’t my father. He got the wrong kid. Which is a relief, I have to say.”
Heather thought about it. She looked at her dad. He was a broken man, crawling along like an upended turtle laying on its shell. His face was a broken blood covered mess, his arm hung at strange angle and he was making moaning and groaning noises. She walked over to him and bent down to talk. Delta looked up at her. He tried to speak, but all that came from his mouth was blood and bile.
“Dad, what did you do to these clones? Whose DNA did you use?”
Delta tried to lean on his elbow, but pain made it impossible, as he was reminded that his arm was broken. He twisted to lean on his other side. Heather moved closer so she could look him in the eye. After a moment he spat a wad of blood onto the floor. “I. . . I used. . . my blood. I’m a fucking genius, why would I use anyone else’s DNA? With my brains and their superior physiques it was, well it was guaranteed money.” Delta managed to sit up, holding his arm. The undamaged parts of his battered face looked deathly pale against the splattered nose and broken lips.
Heather nodded. “That’s a hell of an ego you have there. I certainly got my personality from my mother.”
Delta spat again. “Your mother was a drunk. A good-for-nothing lush. How dare you prefer her over me? I’m your fucking father!”
“Well, my mother didn’t try to kill me, feed me to a bunch of clones or use me as a human guinea pig. Plus, you didn’t do anything to earn any of my respect. Fuck you. We’re finished.”
Heather stood up and turned to walk away. Delta tried to grab her leg. Kieran stepped into his line of vision. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. The clones look pissed off.”
Delta pulled his arm back as if he’d been stung by a wasp. He laid flat on his back. “Well, in that case, I invoke Plan B.”
At the mention of the words, the lights dimmed. Heather stopped walking as Kieran turned around. Nothing happened for a moment. Then suddenly, the door opened behind the clones. They stepped aside again, to make room for four heavily armed soldiers, dressed similarly to the dead soldiers they’d encountered earlier on. The soldiers approached, and, as they got nearer, the pair could see a non-military man with them, a mobile phone pinned to his ear. The soldiers spread out and stood to attention when they reached the siblings. The first in line grabbed Delta by his intact arm and hauled him to his feet. Delta groaned in agony, but he had a smile etched on his face, as if he knew some great secret. The man accompanying the soldiers stepped forward to confront Heather and Kieran.
He could have walked straight out of a Calvin Klein photoshoot. The man was the epitome of physical fitness. His tan was perfect, his skin smooth and unblemished, and the hand holding the phone displayed a perfect manicure. His hair was cropped immaculately and he had bright blue eyes, brimful of charm and personality. Heather found herself mesmerised by him, and even Kieran looked impressed by his immaculate dark suit and shiny shoes. The man said nothing. He lowered the phone from his ear and slid it into his top pocket. His eyes darted from Heather to Kieran, then to Delta. They lingered on Delta.
“Delta, I’m sorry. But Plan B has been denied.”
His voice was level and calm. He was in total control of the situation
Delta looked at the stranger in disgust. “What? You can’t do that.”
The stranger didn’t move. “I can do anything I want, Delta, because I'm in charge here. You’ve disgraced The Company. A first, I might add, for no one has ever managed to do that before. A winner who serves up his own family does not deserve a position on our board. Don’t get me wrong, my customers are, shall we say, specialist, but they don’t want to see that crap. You realise some of our income comes from the social services, surely?”