A Murder of Clones: A Retrieval Artist Universe Novel by Kristine Kathryn Rusch Read Free Book Online

better health for clones. None of that was done here. In fact, some of the things I saw here could be considered serious mistakes.”
    “Serious how?” Gomez asked.
    “Well,” Simiaar said, “in human cultures outside of the Earth Alliance, clones get sold, but the person or companies selling the clones have to guarantee the clone’s health and the fact that it will have a ‘natural’ lifespan.”
    Gomez had heard about clone sales, but she had never encountered one. She was glad she’d been spared that part of the Frontier—at least so far.
    “So these clones weren’t made for selling?” Gomez asked.
    “I don’t know what they were for,” Simiaar said. “But I can tell you this. Whoever cloned them didn’t really care about them. Or only knew enough science to make a clone. They didn’t know much else.”
    “Enough science,” Gomez said. “What do you mean by that?”
    “It’s not as hard to clone someone as the companies make it sound,” Simiaar said. “I could do it with the technology in this room. You couldn’t, though. You don’t have the scientific skills.”
    “Such a vote of confidence,” Gomez said with a smile.
    “Well, you don’t have the training—”
    “It’s all right,” Gomez said. “I have to admit, though, that I’m surprised the process isn’t hard. So, could the clones have been made here, on Epriccom?”
    Simiaar’s lips pursed. “I don’t know how I could tell you that. There’s nothing in the science or the bodies that would show where the clones were made if they weren’t marked with some kind of company tag. It—”
    “That’s not what I’m asking, Lashante,” Gomez said. “I’m asking if the science is easy enough that some half-assed scientist could have run a lab in that enclave and made their own clones.”
    Simiaar let out small sigh. “You don’t ask easy questions, do you? You know I don’t like speculating.”
    “I’m not asking you if they did it,” Gomez said. “I’m asking you if they could.”
    Simiaar looked at the images of the intact bodies floating over the mess that the corpses had become.
    She sighed. “These poor boys got created somewhere, under pretty primitive conditions. Or at least, with an inept scientist who only knew how to clone, not how to make a clone anything more than viable.”
    “So,” Gomez said again, “the cloning could have happened on Epriccom in that enclave.”
    “Or on a ship on the way here or in a city a thousand light years away. I’m telling you, Judita, I don’t know and I have no way of finding out.”
    Gomez stared at the bodies just like Simiaar was doing. Gomez had never understood why clones were treated differently under the law. People could argue that everyone got made, just using different methods.
    But she knew that the laws she upheld—at least for now—made unlicensed cloning illegal.
    “But,” Gomez said, “you can’t rule out the fact that they could have been made here.”
    “Good grief, Judita. Are you sure you weren’t trained as a lawyer? Yes. Okay? I can’t rule it out. But this isn’t a damn court of law.” Simiaar ran a hand through her thick, curly hair.
    Gomez smiled at the backward compliment. Simiaar hated lawyers.
    “I know it’s not a court of law,” Gomez said. “Still, I thank you for your answer.”
    “You shouldn’t thank me,” Simiaar snapped. “Because if these clones were created here, we stumbled onto something both big and dangerous.”
    “I know,” Gomez said.
    “An illegal cloning operation could be worth millions,” Simiaar said.
    “I’m aware,” Gomez said.
    “And they’ll kill to defend it. Human life is cheap to people like that.”
    “I know that, too,” Gomez said. Simiaar was about to start a rant, so Gomez had to retake control of the conversation. “So, do you know how they died?”
    Simiaar sighed. She ran a hand across her mouth and then studied those intact images. The boys almost looked angelic. The imagery