Tool

Chapter two

Studying Nicholas's face as he contemplated a move, Aurelia could see what a brilliant strategist he was. Possibly that was something he had been trained for. She knew little about clone training, so she asked.

"Hmmm?" he said, without taking his eyes off the board.

"I asked what field you're trained in," Aurelia said.

He looked up. "All kinds of things. Drilling, exercise, lots of different combat techniques, both armed and unarmed. Then, there's military strategy, electronics, tech support, er . . ." He closed his eyes as he tried to remember more. "Oh, yes, mathematics, transport tech . . ."

She was amazed. "All of that? Just to fight?"

Nicholas laughed. "Sure. Well, not all of us learn everything, but you never know what you're going to need. Take tech support, for example. How else are you going to be able to override security measures keeping you out of a place you need to be in?"

Aurelia shrugged; she'd never really thought about anything like that before. Then, she had a thought. "You mean that you could get out of here if you wanted to?"

"Yep, no problem. The security here is pretty elementary, mostly for show since Jonathon wants people to think I'm under house arrest."

Aurelia shook her head. "You are quite unbelievable," she said, sure that Jonathon had actually tried to secure Nicholas within, just in case.

"And you are quite in check," said Nicholas, moving a piece and looking at the board.

Surveying the checkered squares, Aurelia could see that she was very clearly in check, and she couldn't see a way out of it. That might have been because she was so distracted by what Nicholas had told her. With skills like his, Nicholas could be invaluable to the resistance, and that might be the key to persuading Jonathon to back his cause. She contemplated telling Nicholas to talk directly to Jonathon himself, but she decided not to. Given Jonathon's dislike of the clone, he might not give him a fair hearing. Aurelia decided this was something she had better do herself. Of course, all of it hinged on whether or not they could figure out a way to get Nicholas out and not killed.

She tipped her king over. "I resign," she said.

"Good plan," said Nicholas. "I couldn't see a way out of my attack, but you moved superbly for only your second match. Sure you haven't played before?"

Aurelia shook her head and yawned. "Quite sure," she said.

"Gods, you must be exhausted." He put the chess pieces back into their box. "I've been keeping you awake learning a game."

"No, it's been interesting, really," Aurelia protested, then yawned again. "But yeah, I'm pretty tired."

"Thanks for coming," Nicholas smiled. "Play again tomorrow?"

She got up from her chair and grinned at him. "Try and keep me away," she said.

***

The night air was cool when she left the house, and she could still smell the fresh, sweet scent of the grass. A transport pod was already waiting for her, and she got in and closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep as soon as she reached her bed.

The trip to the hospital was uneventful, and Aurelia was leaning against the wall of the elevator cabin in a half-doze before she remembered she hadn't been to see Elza that day. Crap. Well, best to do it. She didn't want the woman to think she was being avoided—though, truth be told, the fact that the hospital head had tried to kill her a few days before did rankle her a little. Aurelia knew it had been the drugs acting, but she still felt a little weird around Elza. She pressed the elevator button for Elza's floor and promised her body she'd go to sleep as soon as she possibly could.

Elza was lying propped up in bed, reading something on her screen when Aurelia came in.

"Aurelia!" she said, rolling up her screen immediately.

"Hey, Elza." Aurelia had to admit the woman seemed genuinely happy to see her. "How are you feeling?"

Elza grimaced. "Okay, I guess. I'm down to one patch a day, and I'm exhausted all the time. But there's no more nausea. Now, I just need to catch up with all the damn hospital paperwork." She gestured towards the screen by her side. "And you?"

"We're keeping on top of things . . . not to worry," said Aurelia, sitting on the edge of the bed.

She quickly filled Elza in on Nicholas and his situation, and she told the woman what she'd learned about clone training.

"Hmm," said Elza, impressed. "He's a dangerous man, indeed."

"Which makes him good to have on your side," Aurelia added.

Elza was the last person to accept the clone rights movement; she had every Lunar inhabitant's inbred distrust of the military class.

"Or bad to have against you," Elza pointed out. "I see your point, Aurelia, but I think Jonathon's right. The best thing to do is to get Nicholas out of here, preferably off Lunar altogether so he's out of danger, and so are we."

Aurelia sighed. There was little point in discussing these things with Elza.

Elza's face softened, and she took Aurelia's hand. "Look, we need to concentrate on what the resistance is doing. Once we've achieved our goals and Jonathon is President, then maybe there'll be time for the goals of others."

"I guess," said Aurelia, but she wasn't convinced. There was little chance of clones achieving any kind of freedom or equality given the current attitudes of Lunar citizens, even the supposedly smart ones like Jonathon and Elza.

"Aurelia, I owe you something. I owe you a lot." Elza looked down at her bedclothes. She had apologized before, and Aurelia was coming around to the idea that the woman truly was sorry for what had happened and was quite blameless. "Maybe, I'm not sure, but maybe if there's time, you could arrange for Nicholas and me to talk?"

Aurelia raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Elza nodded. "Really. I'd be interested to hear what he has to say, for your sake if not for his."

Knowing that this was as close to a compromise on the issue as she was likely to get, Aurelia promised to try to arrange something. Then, she left Elza to sleep, though it was really her own body that was craving rest.

In her own living pod, she showered and peeled back the bedsheets. She also had a pile of paperwork to take care of, but it could wait until morning. She was about to close her eyes and drift off into oblivion when her intercom rang. For a second, she considered ignoring it, but she was med staff, and she knew that she couldn't. She called out into the darkness so the intercom picked up. It was Jonathon, his voice bright with excitement and energy.

"Aurelia! I was hoping to catch you before you left, but, well, I didn't. Are you in bed?"

She yawned at the thought of sleep. "Yes, but not sleeping yet. What is it?"

"I've got a way to get Nicholas out of this mess."