Part 29 (1/2)
”Sorry?”
”Mereel's been slicing the data from Tipoca for a while, to see which genes they were targeting in the accelerated aging process.”
”I had no idea you were doing this.”
”Not something we'd want to advertise, is it?”
”Tell me. Please. I need to know.”
”Some of the genes they use to accelerate aging are recessive, and others have to be switched on and off chemically. The kaminiise tailored us at every stage, you see. If we were hybrid plants, they'd say we didn't breed true. That's the interesting thing about epigenetics...”
Ordo stopped dead because Etain had put her hand to her mouth and her eyes were screwed tight shut. His immediate thought was that she was miscarrying, and while he would never use the word panic, he was stuck between systems in a small shuttle with just a first-aid kit and his eidetic recall of the medbay manual.
Then he realized she was crying, and trying not to sob out loud. She'd never struck him as the crying type. Kal'buir would have rushed to comfort her, but Ordo wasn't quite up to that. Eventually she opened her eyes and wiped her face with the sleeve of her frayed brown Jedi robe.
”I'm sorry,” she said. ”I've worried about that so much. Kal's right-outliving your children is the worst thing imaginable. I can handle whatever comes down the line as long as Venku gets a normal life span.”
”Trust me, the aiwha-bait wouldn't want their rivals to be able to just breed clone characteristics like that-they'd want total control over their product. But Mereel's getting very adept at this, so he knows what to test for.”
The relief was transformational. Etain's pinched little face softened into something approaching prettiness, and she settled back in the copilot's seat with a beatific smile on her lips. Ordo thought of all the times that Kal'buir had told him how being a father to the Nulls had been his salvation; maybe it would be the same for him, although he had a range of mountains to climb before that could even be mentioned to Besany Wennen, who he had never even kissed, despite the strong bond between them.
”Do you think Kal ever wonders where his first family is?” Etain asked. ”It seems so unfair on him. He'd been divorced for years.”
It was a delicate point, the one secret that Kal had kept from his Null boys: that his biological sons had declared him dar'buir-no longer a father, parental divorce Mando-style-when he vanished from the galaxy with the rest of the Mandalorian training sergeants. The army-in-waiting on Kamino was so secret that they could tell n.o.body where they'd gone.
Yes, Skirata's sons still denounced him for vanis.h.i.+ng, even though they would have been grown men themselves by that time. Two sons and a daughter: Tor, Ijaat, and Ruusaan.
”He gave them every spare credit he had after the divorce,” Ordo said. ”For years. It's why he had to accept the Kamino contract.”
”Mandalorians take family duties to extremes, don't they?”
”It beats the alternative.”
”Ordo, whatever arguments I've had with Kal, I respect his commitment to you all. I'm not sure I'd have had the guts to let my kids denounce me rather than tell them about the clone program.”
”It's hard to live with being the cause of that.”
”Maybe, but to have someone care about your welfare that much is a wonderful thing.”
Etain and Jusik were the only Jedi Ordo had met who seemed to yearn for the imagined family they'd been taken from, because Zey, Camas, and Mas Missur seemed perfectly content with their lot in life, and so did all the little Padawans who danced attendance on them. For all Etain knew, her mother could have been a religious fanatic and her father a domineering brute, like Walon Vau's parents. Maybe the Jedi had done her a favor. She'd never know.
”Not much farther,” he said, struggling to learn unfamiliar social skills. ”Then I can comm Kal'buir and we'll find you somewhere relaxing while we get on with the business.”
”You know what would make me feel better, Ordo?”
Ah, a lifeline. He grabbed it. ”Just say.”
”I'd like to know exactly where Darman is and what's happening to him. I used to be able to call or at least get information from Brigade HQ, but it's hard to talk to him without feeling that urge to tell him about Venku.”
”I'll check as soon as we drop below light speed.”
”Thank you.”
”No trouble at all.”
”And she doesn't just mean dinner.”
”Who doesn't?”
”Besany. You asked.”
”Ah. So I did.”
Ordo debated whether to call in advice from Mereel, who was the expert on that sort of thing, and suddenly found that the neon indicators on the shuttle's console were absolutely riveting at times like this. Eventually he brought the vessel down to sublight velocity to drop out of the Corellian Run, and the galaxy came to a crash stop as the stars snapped back into points of light. However many times he did it, he still felt as if he were falling forward for a few moments after-ward. He corrected the course for Dorumaa and took out his comlink.
”Before you ask, Kal'buir” he said, ”Etain's better. No more bleeding or pain.”
Skirata sounded breathless. ”Where are you?”
”Not on Qiilura .. .”
”Did something go wrong?”
”No, but Etain can rest more comfortably on Dorumaa than she can on Qiilura. Levet's finished up there and you need all the help you can get.”
”You're a naughty boy, Ord'ika.”
”I'm sorry, Buir.”
”Ahh, c'mon.” There was a loud grunt as if someone had winded Skirata in a fight, then a series of hollow thuds. ”You know I'm always happier when you're around.”
”Mind my asking what you're doing?”
”Mereel's got a brand-new toy for hunting kaminiise. It made me throw up. We're just practicing with it.”
Ordo tried to imagine a weapon that would turn Skirata's durasteel stomach. ”Any news?”
”Oh yes. It's just a matter of infiltration.”
”She's there?” The elation made his stomach lurch. ”Is that confirmed?”
”High probability. Not certainty.”
”When are we going in?”
”Right now.”
But the shuttle was still a couple of hours away from Dorumaa. Ordo took a moment to register that and felt oddly betrayed, then instantly ashamed at harboring even the slightest resentment. My father's putting himself on the line again to save us, just like he did when we were kids. I don't have the right to be annoyed. He summoned up all the acting skills he'd learned while pa.s.sing himself off as Trooper Corr so as not to ruin Skirata's moment of triumph.