her home and has parents she’s very close to on her planet. I promised to find a way to get her back to them.” His anger faded as fast as it rose. “It’s going to break my heart to let her go…but better mine than hers. That’s what would happen if I kept her away from them. She’d also grow to hate me.”
Big’s features softened, and he dropped his hands to his sides. “You love her.”
“I do.”
“Does she know?”
“I haven’t told her that exactly.”
“Maybe she’ll stay if you do.”
Blade felt a jab to his heart. “You haven’t seen her talk about her mother and father. I can’t make her chose between them and me. It would be cruel.”
“Damn.”
“I need you to make it possible for her to contact them, to let them know she’s alive. I couldn’t risk it on the shuttle.”
“Her planet’s transmission system would read the computer signatures on that shuttle. And you didn’t reprogram it.”
“I contacted you right after I got away from the pirates.”
“That’s going to be a complicated job that takes weeks.”
“Unless Fig or Free are here. Are they?”
“No. It’s just me.” Big paused. “And another clone.” A grin spread across his face. “Also the love of my life.”
Blade frowned in confusion.
“I hit a transport for plasma and met with a repair robot—and behind it stood Gemma. My disabling the transport and docking with it had triggered her stasis unit to open.”
“How desperate were you for plasma to attack a protected transport?”
“That’s the thing. It didn’t have an escort.”
“JDJ Clone Corp doesn’t ship clones without extra security.”
“They do if she’s an illegally created clone with a mind that wasn’t blanked.”
Blade’s mouth dropped open. He was too astounded to talk. At least at first. Then worry hit. Unblanked clones were illegal for a reason. “Shit!”
“Gemma is a strong woman. She’s sane, Blade. I’ll tell you all about her later. She’s looking forward to meeting you. I asked her to stay back while we spoke, in case you freaked out when I let you know about her origins. I also wasn’t sure if it was safe since you were bringing a human here. Gemma woke thinking it was 2020. I’m the only person she’s ever seen. I didn’t want to subject her to prejudice. Telling her about how clones are treated was hard enough.”
“Hailey isn’t like that.”
“Good. I’d like to meet her to make sure first, before I let Gemma anywhere near her. No offense. I consider Gemma my wife, and I’ll do anything to protect her. She’s been through a lot.”
“She’s adjusting?” It seemed like an incredible feat to Blade. The first dozen clones woken with the memories of their source bodies intact had turned out so horrible, Earth passed a law against ever doing it again. All twelve had lost their perfectly replicated minds.
Big smiled. “Yeah. I make damn sure of it. As I said, Gemma is my life now. I love her like you can’t imagine.”
“I think I can.” He thought about Hailey. They’d just had a few days together, but he already wanted her to stay with him.
Big probably guessed his thoughts and reached out, clasping his arm. “Tell her that you love her. It can make a huge difference. It did with Gemma. I let her know from the start that I belong to her, and I’ll be with her for the rest of our lives.”
He just nodded. Big didn’t understand. He’d not only be taking Hailey from her family if he managed to talk her into staying, but she’d be giving up having children. She could have them with someone else if he returned her to her home.
“Introduce me to your human.”
“Promise me that you’ll be polite. She doesn’t know where we are. I blanked out the main windows as we flew in.”
“I appreciate that.” Big hesitated. “She’ll figure out where we are if you let her enter the station.”
“I trust her.”
“I don’t.”
“I figured that’s how you’d feel.”
Big’s face filled with regret.
“I know. You don’t have to say it. Only one human saw us as worthy of saving from the fate we were handed on Clone World. Hailey is a stranger to you, but you’ll learn how special she is. Just give her a chance.”
“You love her. So of course I will.”
Blade took a deep breath. “Come on.” He turned, going up the ramp and entering the Morgan with Big on his heels.
* * * * *
“This is a really nice model,” a deep male voice said that didn’t belong to