and there are gases that can harm us. And any pregnant women can’t work there for their safety. They won’t stay pregnant long, or the few babies who survive are born with heartbreaking defects. We aren’t medically advanced enough to do much to help them. My colony is too poor.”
He grimaced.
“Exactly. Girls are encouraged to follow in their mothers’ footsteps and sons work in the mines.”
“Did you follow in your mother’s footsteps?”
“Yes. She teaches math. I was never good with numbers, but that’s okay because that job was already taken by her. The school is small in my town. I only have thirty-one kids in my class, all ranging in different ages, and nearly a dozen adults for the evening ones.”
“Your father works in the mines?”
“Yes. He always dreams about leaving Prospect, but that’s all it is. A dream.”
“Why?”
“I’m part of the second generation born on the planet. My grandfather was one of the first settlers on Prospect, when they opened the mines. Once there, you’re kind of trapped. The pay isn’t great and it’s expensive to resettle. Besides, mining is all my dad knows. We’d just exchange one rock for another if we moved. I’ve been saving up, though, to gift him and my mom with a vacation.”
“Where do you want to send them?”
She bit her lip.
“Is it a secret?”
She shook her head.
“Then where?”
“They watch a lot of those old films that come from Earth…”
“Clone World.” He scowled.
“I didn’t want to upset you. And I won’t be sending them there now, after what you’ve told me. Maybe they can visit Jebler, though I’ll be saving up a lot longer in that case, since that planet is farther away. It doesn’t offer discount packages.”
“You’ve done a lot of research.”
“I grew up hearing my father talk about how much he wanted to see the stars and visit another world at least once before he dies. It’s been a lifelong dream of his. He goes down to the space port to watch vessels take off and land in his free time. He’s made friends with security, and they’ll let him sneak a peek inside vessels when one is docked for any length of time. It’s how I knew about some of the features of the captain’s quarters on the Morgan.”
Blade nodded. “What were you thinking about when I first walked in?” he asked, abruptly changing the subject.
“Nothing worth sharing.”
“I disagree.” Blade smiled. It changed his features from just handsome, to making it difficult for her to breathe. He was far too good-looking.
“I was just contemplating my life.”
“I’ll keep you safe, Hailey. Stop worrying about whether you have a future. You do. I’ll get you home somehow, at some point. That’s a promise.”
“I was thinking more about my past,” she admitted.
“What about it?”
She decided to change the subject again. “What’s it like being a clone?”
His smile faded. “I’m as alive as you are. I feel the same emotions that you do. Is that what you want to know?”
“I wasn’t trying to insult you. I’m just curious. You’re the first one I’ve ever met, and I don’t know much about your kind.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Do you eat food?”
“Of course.”
“I already know you sleep…”
“I need less than you do, but that’s genetics.”
“But you’re basically human?”
“Basically. We were created from human genetic material and then those were manipulated inside a laboratory. They screen out any hereditary flaws, and to put it in very simple terms, they screw with us until we’re stronger and healthier than most humans. At that point, they grow us in a type of artificial womb, although much larger than a real one, since they grow us until we’re at the age they desire. It depends on the use the clone was created for. Medical clones, for example, appear older than I do. I heard that it makes humans feel more at ease with their skill set. At the desired age, they stunt the growth and lock it in.”
“How do they do that?”
“They sequence the cells to duplicate in the same way, over and over. It means I don’t age. Without those cells being fed by new ones every three months, my body would begin to decay. I’d die in a matter of months. It’s not a pretty death, either. Lesions will open and I won’t heal. My internal organs will begin to fail.” His voice deepened. “That’s how we’re different.”
“How are you alive if you left Clone World?”
“I stole clone plasma from transports. The pirates I lived with had plenty