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  “Please, Thomas,” the Chancellor said as pleasantly as possible. “Call me Saundra.”

  "I think I'll stick to Chancellor if you don't mind."

  Frustrated by my attitude, Saundra pouted. She was still a beautiful woman. The stress of her political career had not aged the classic features of her face. But then it was just as likely Saundra could afford the skills of the best plastic surgeons money could buy. Her blonde hair fell to her shoulders. Dressed in the latest style of business suit for a woman the navy jacket and skirt contrasted perfectly with her skin and brown eyes. Ending just below her knees the skirt fashionably displayed beautiful legs in matching navy heels. The Chancellor wore no jewelry save a pair of exquisite pearl earrings.

  “There’s no need to be that way, Thomas.”

  “So you say, Chancellor.”

  “Thomas, please,” Saundra pleaded, the faintest hint of need in her voice.

  “Don’t play games. I’m not that kid in basic training that you Dear John’d.”

  “Dear John?” Sarah moved from behind me and positioned herself between Saundra and myself.

  “Sully, you dated this woman,” Sarah asked, exaggerating her disbelief sarcastically.

  It was my turn to be amused. If I wasn’t sure Sarah and I were nothing more than just friends and partners, I might have detected a note of jealousy in her voice.

  “It was a long time ago, Sarah. Before I shipped out for basic.”

  My ex from high school stared at Sarah. I suddenly felt a bit nervous as the two women sized each other up, not as professionals in their respective vocations, but as women.

  “Well, now,” the Ambassador interjected. “I do believe Cook has something prepared for us. It is, after all, nearly time for breakfast.”

  Chapter Five

  Father nathan ate enough for Sarah and me both. Sarah just picked at the food on her plate, making childish faces, expressing her distaste over the strange items served up as a gourmet breakfast. I wasn’t hungry. Seeing Saundra without warning brought up a lot of bad memories, memories from a tough time in my life.

  Mail is important to every boot in basic. It’s critical for morale. Most of us were on our own for the first time, truly on our own. Joining the Space Marines is a choice not to be taken lightly. Finishing basic is hard, a fact every boot knows. Some boots ring the bell and return to civilian life or lower their standards and join the army. Some boots are washed out by the Drill Instructor. The truly unlucky don't survive their live-fire space exercise.

  I almost rang the bell and washed myself out, all because of a short letter from the woman sitting to my left at the table. I’d gotten the dreaded Dear John letter. No explanation, just a short it’s over.

  Now the first love of my life was the Chancellor of a planet called Athens II. One of her political henchmen, this Ambassador Marshall had been the one to lure Sarah and me to the capital of Athens II, New Paris.

  Father Nathan was correct in his estimation of the situation. Whatever problem Saundra had, she couldn't use her police force or security detail. It was sensitive, private, and given her political position, involved high stakes.

  I didn’t know what I would do when Saundra got around to telling me what the problem was. I stood up and started pacing like Sarah when she feels caged. Out of the corner of my eye, I was surprised to notice how calm she appeared. Despite playing with her food, Sarah was at ease; her attention discreetly focused on the Chancellor.

  Seeing Saundra was a shock. Seeing someone that once had mattered so much to me in obvious emotional distress pulled at my heartstrings — the very sort of emotional baggage I and all men like me hate.

  “I’m tired Chancellor,” I complained. “Why are we here?”

  Saundra stood up and moved closer to me.

  “Somebody very close to me has been kidnapped.”

  I looked Saundra directly in the eyes. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. There was no shame in the display of raw emotion, only love and most of all, fear.

  “And you can’t use the regular Alliance police or your security people.”

  “No, I can’t. The kidnappers would kill her.”

  “Kidnappers all say that. What are their demands?”

  “That’s just it, Thomas. They haven’t made any.”

  I hate kidnappings. Kidnappers who are professionals and do it for the ransom money can be dealt with. Most of the time if they get the money they want, the odds are decent the victim will survive the experience physically. It's the ideological ones that are unpredictable. It seldom ends well.

  Before I committed to taking the case, I had to know the identity of the victim. Even then, if Sarah said no, we would leave Athens II that same day.

  “Who is the victim?”

  Saundra took a deep breath as if she didn’t want to tell me.

  “Our daughter, Thomas.”

  THE ICE FELT GOOD ON my eye. As hard as Sarah had hit me, I had no doubt her hand wasn’t hurting her. As a clone, her healing powers were amazing. Saundra avoided making eye contact with my partner who was taking turns shooting daggers first at Saundra and then me.

  Her anger finally boiled over, causing Sarah to snap at me. “You never told me you had a daughter!”

  “Up until a few minutes ago, I didn’t know I had one,” I shouted back. “What difference is it to you anyway? It’s not like I cheated on you!”

  “You didn’t tell me, that’s what,” Sarah shouted back.

  Saundra watched the exchange between Sarah and me with interest, raising an eyebrow. “Am I missing something, Thomas?”

  I leaned close and lowered my voice. “Sarah is my partner, my close friend. Partners don’t keep secrets from each other. Something you should learn, Chancellor.”

  My ex leaned back and gave me a nasty look hidden behind the false, well-practiced smile of a politician. “I was of the belief partners didn’t hit each other.”

  “I was of the belief fathers of children were usually informed of the fact, oh, around the time the mother got pregnant. Certainly, at childbirth.” I was angry enough to hit Saundra. She’d dropped a bombshell on me and embarrassed me in front of my partner and my best friend. “Oh, wait. I forgot,” I taunted. “Rich girls play by a different set of rules.

  "That is unfair," Saundra huffed. "It's not like you were a perfect boyfriend.”

  I ignored her spiteful reply. I’d been a far better boyfriend than she’d been a girlfriend.

  “You have some explaining to do,” I pointed out. “Especially since we never slept together while we were dating.”

  Sarah perked up at my remarks, her expression becoming serious.

  Taking note of Sarah’s change in demeanor, Saundra cleared her throat. “Can I trust your partner and the priest?”

  Sarcasm tinted my short laugh. “Sarah’s my partner, either you trust her or don’t say a word. As to him,” I nodded in the direction of Father Nathan, “the man’s a priest. He keeps secrets for a living.”

  Saundra said nothing, instead staring at the table for nearly a minute before looking up. “I suppose I don’t have any choice,” she muttered softly. “Do you remember I cut a lock of your hair for a keepsake before you shipped out?”

  “No,” I lied. “But you evidently do.”

  “I had my reasons for what I did,” Saundra blurted out. “They didn’t involve you, at least not directly. Then everything went horribly wrong.”

  Confused, tired, and growing more irritable by the minute, I was sharp with my words. “Get to the point, Chancellor! You need to prove to me I have a daughter in the next minute, or we’re getting back on the Europa and heading home!”

  Offended I suppose, the Ambassador leaped to his feet to defend the honor of the Chancellor. “Inspector, you will not address the Chancellor in that manner!”

  Saundra’s right hand shot out, dismissing the Ambassador’s outburst. “Ambassador Marshall, I think, given the topic, the Inspector has a right to be angry.”
r />   Embarrassed by his dismissal, Marshall stormed from the room, leaving Saundra to justify and explain her situation.

  “If you recall, my family has money,” Saundra said softly.

  “How could I forget,” I answered sourly. “Your mother reminded me every chance she got I wasn’t good enough, make that rich enough, to have you for a girlfriend. Your father just flat out didn’t like me.”

  “I could afford to do what I did.”

  I waited for the rest of the explanation. Saundra's sat silently, her tears freely flowing as she was unable to continue.

  "She took your DNA, a sample of her DNA, and had a clone created," Sarah blurted angrily. "People with money do that sort of thing. Like clones are a convenience, a throwaway object if things don't work out."

  Chapter Six

  It took nearly an hour to calm Sarah down. There wasn’t a lot of yelling on her part, mainly just bouts of pouting interspersed by crying jags. Periodically Sarah let me know in muted whispers what she thought of me for dating someone like the Chancellor followed by angry diatribes regarding people who ordered custom-made clones and what the fate of these people should be.

  Sarah finally relented when I got her to understand we'd be taking the Chancellor's money, but the clone was whom we were really working for. With that settled, Sarah moved on to her next point. The same point that had me worked up.

  The fact I had a daughter.

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about that piece of information. It's not like I had a say in the matter or even a hand in my daughter's creation. My daughter had been engineered by selective gene slicing, grown in a tank in a lab, and according to Sarah, birthed in a terrifying process fully-grown and quite aware of the universe.

  Still, the clone carried my DNA. Perhaps she resembled and acted like a child conceived naturally would if Saundra and I had such a child. I was curious. I couldn’t help it.

  I was also fighting to control my fury at having been left ignorant of the fact I had a child of sorts. Saundra knew how to get in touch with me. Another simple letter would have been sufficient to deliver the news.

  In the back of my mind was the nagging idea I was being manipulated, that Saundra could be lying to me. I didn’t doubt the young woman existed or that she was Saundra’s illegitimate daughter. Before I could be entirely convinced the girl was my daughter I would have to see the results of a paternity test. Conducted by Bones no less, so I could trust the results.

  Of one thing I was sure. Sarah hated Saundra, and the feeling was likely mutual. The job would be made more complicated by the need to keep the two females apart.

  I tasked Father Nathan with the job of supervising Sarah and keeping her calm. I asked for and was granted permission for the two of them to walk through the extensive gardens surrounding the mansion.

  A female servant dressed in uniform was summoned to guide Father Nathan and Sarah to the garden, leaving me alone with Saundra.

  Saundra looked at me defiantly. “I’m not going to explain why I did it. It’s really none of your business.”

  With clenched teeth, I forced myself to swallow the burning gall in my mouth. "None of my business? Fifty percent of this young woman is my DNA, and I would say that makes it my business. You drop this little bombshell in my lap and then act like I shouldn’t care.”

  My contempt couldn't have been greater. With a few simple words my relationship with my partner was severely damaged, perhaps permanently, and I had been embarrassed in front of my best friend, a priest no less, who took matters of this nature seriously.

  "It was my decision," Saundra repeated as if by doing so it made everything all right.

  "Then why tell me now? You could have just hired me to find your illegitimate daughter and waved enough money around. I would have finally agreed to the job."

  "I wanted you to be motivated," Saundra shouted, jumping to her feet. Pacing back and forth, not daring to cast a glance in my general direction, the Chancellor continued. "Her life is at stake. So is my career; everything I have fought for, everything I have accomplished, it's all at risk."

  “Better and better,” I announced sarcastically, astounded by the woman’s priorities. "Which is it now? The job I mean," I asked, hoping for clarification and the truth. "The girl's life or your precious career?"

  In chilling, emotionally dead tone of voice, the Chancellor, not Saundra, answered. “They are both tied together. If I lose one, the other doesn’t matter.”

  It was my turn to get up and pace. The urge to find and break open a bottle was almost overwhelming. So was the urge to run and ignore the entire situation, to forget I had ever heard Saundra tell me I had a daughter.

  “Calm down, Thomas,” the Chancellor ordered. The girl I had fallen for was gone now, replaced by a cold, calculating political robot. “You're the best. In the end, that's why I agreed for you to be summoned. I never intended to love the child; it just happened." The Chancellor paused, her thoughts hidden behind a stoic, unfeeling mask on her face. "Is your partner going to be a problem?"

  Angry and off balance emotionally, the question upset me further. “Why do you care?”

  The Chancellor stopped her pacing and looked me squarely in the eyes. “I’m the mother of a clone. Don’t you think I know one when I see one?

  “IS SHE REALLY SULLY’S daughter?”

  The question didn't surprise Father Nathan. He just didn't want to answer it. Sarah was more to him than a member of his parish. She was his best friend's partner, and when he was honest with himself, the closest thing he would ever have to a niece of his own. Father Nathan was also well aware Sarah was horribly conflicted about how she felt about Sully.

  The young woman was a mystery. Sarah had shared only bits and pieces of her past with him. None of it was happy. Tormented by the fact she was a clone, Sarah was fearful she had no soul, that her existence was empty and without meaning. Of that Father Nathan was certain. As Sarah's priest, he'd spent hours listening to her fears and providing counsel and comfort, teaching her the tenants of the faith. The promise of salvation by grace gave Sarah great comfort.

  With Sully, Sarah found a purpose for her life. Wearing the badge and protecting others was fulfilling. Sarah knew all too well what it meant to be helpless and vulnerable, your existence threatened by the whims of another who held power over you. The job had started as a way for Sully to keep an eye on the mysterious young woman. It had turned into a career, a vocation Sarah worked hard at.

  Then there was the little problem of how Sarah viewed Sully himself. Those who knew the pair well could never pinpoint the shifting variables of the relationship. There was no question Sully was Sarah’s boss, mentor, and in many ways protector, and she was happy for their relationship to be just that.

  But there were times it seemed like Sarah looked at Sully in a different way, one that she hid from everyone including herself. Father Nathan knew Sully terrified Sarah. For a woman who feared captivity and the control of others, the compulsion to be near Sully was frightening. His friend Sully had a hold over the young woman Sarah herself could not explain.

  Deciding truth was always the best course, Father Nathan reluctantly answered. “There would be many who would say no.” Sarah flinched at his words, hating the fact they needed to be said.

  “Because she’s a clone. She shouldn’t even be alive, like me.”

  "And those people would be wrong, Sarah. You're as alive as they are. Your method of conception was unique; that's all. This young woman is Sully's daughter. The two of them were done a great disservice by never being allowed to meet each other.”

  Father Nathan smiled at Sarah, hoping to comfort and encourage her. “Instead of being angry with Sully over something he had no knowledge of or control over, move forward. The girl needs rescuing." Leaning into Sarah and bumping her gently with his shoulder, the priest teased his companion. “Who knows, you might even like each other.”

  Chapter Seven

  I joined Father Nathan and S
arah in the garden. If the circumstances had been different, I would have enjoyed a long walk in the warm morning sun. The plants were magnificent, the flowers in bloom, and whoever the gardener was, immaculately pruned and maintained. Narrow paths wound their way through the lush green plant life, leaves covered with a fine layer of dew. The humidity and grime of the night before seemed gone in the soft, warm yellow light of the morning.

  As I wandered through the labyrinthine garden, I spotted my friends in a small clearing with a water fountain in the center. Seated on a bench set back into the hedge surrounding the clearing, it was likely I would have missed them was it not for the sound of their voices.

  Spotting me, Father Nathan waved for me to approach. He appeared calm and controlled. Sarah looked as if she'd weathered the storm. Puffy cheeks and swollen eyes told me she'd been crying. The look she gave me combined with the arms folded across her chest served as a warning. Sarah was furious with me.

  Father Nathan stood up and approached in a hurry. He cut his eyes over his shoulder towards Sarah without turning his head. Dealing with an emotional Sarah was not what I needed.

  "Walk with me," the good Father ordered. He guided me down a path lined by a strange type of border grass I'd never seen before. "I've got her calmed down," he whispered. "She'll get over being mad at you."

  "Mad at me," I protested. "I had no clue, why is Sarah mad at me?"

  "The last time I checked, Sarah's female," Father Nathan reminded me, a mischievous grin on his face. "That's all the reason she needs. At least that's what the married males of my parish tell me."

  "We have to decide about this case," I pointed out. "Kidnappings are time sensitive. We lost time traveling. The more time that passes, the more likely the girl won't be found. I'm not going to do this if Sarah is going to be a problem."

  Father Nathan’s expression grew serious. “Just keep Sarah away from the Chancellor, and things will work out.”