FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

C H A P T E R T H I R T Y-E I G H T

"What?..." My eyes enlarged with deception. That—that isn't right...I'm supposed to be receiving punishment. I'm too valuable to their research to...to decommission... As the Kaminoans' true intentions imposed every other logical thought in my mind, I watched Nala Se step away from the table I laid strapped to and give an authoritative nod to Tahde Su. My vision blurred with an emotion I was not familiar with...

Fear.

"Wait! I thought I was getting disciplined for my actions, not—No, you can't kill me!" My voice cracked as I began wildly twisting my body to break free. I watched Nala Se and Lama Su silently depart the medical room without a single glance, as if I was a mere pest about to be exterminated. I was to be disposed — dehumanized into nothing but a failed experiment to eliminate without a single consideration for my beating heart.

I stopped mindlessly struggling, my chest heaving and my bulging eyes staring at the bright, white ceiling. Tahde Su and the clone captain were the only ones in the room with me. To my right, the Kaminoan doctor was drawing liquid from a jar into a syringe. "Do not fret. It will be as if you are falling asleep." She turned to me with an emotionless nod, then, in a Kaminoan fashion, swayed her head to her left. "Captain, will you assist me in holding her arm while I apply the serum?"

"No, wait, don't do this." I begged. The clone quietly approached my left and reached over me with both arms. His gloved hands clasped my bare forearm and pushed back my sleeve from my bicep before grabbing it as well. He avoided all eye contact with me. I continued to plead, "I will train harder. I will gain control. I can follow orders!" I attempted to jerk my right arm from the captain's strong grasp, but to no avail. "You cannot just destroy me and throw me away like I am nothing! I want to live! I have the right to live!"

When Tahde Su tilted the needle only inches from my arm, time froze...

Biting my bottom lip until skin broke, my left fingers stretched as thin as they could. With one tug, they slipped out of their bondage. Simultaneously, my peripheral vision zoomed in on the clone's blaster hanging on his belt. In an instant, my hand snatched it and shot him point-blank in his chest. His body stumbling backwards before crumbling to the floor. I did not hesitate to flip around and fire twice into the Kaminoan's shoulder and sternum.

My stomach churned with nausea. The back of my wrist covered my mouth to keep me from hurling. My mind imitated a broken record. What have I done? What have I done?!

I swallowed my anxiety and frantically freed my other hand and both my legs. Gripping the weapon, I scurried off the metal table. My heart beated violently against my ribcage. At first, my thoughts on what to do next were disoriented... My short, shaky breaths were not helping.

I need to get out...I have to—to get off Kamino. I decided, wiping the blood from my lip. They were going to kill me anyway, and now...they'll shoot me on site.

I sprinted for the ship bay. It was my only chance to escape. Clinging to the blaster against my chest, I dashed down the brightly-lit corridor. I prayed I avoid any confrontations... But, when I curved around the bend, two clones were casually strolled in the opposite direction. Instinctively, I shot both of them.

"Scrag! No, no, no, stun. Stun! Set it on stun, you idiot!" I cursed myself. But when my frenetic fingers fumbled for the stun switch, two more clones raced around the corner with blasters in hand. They shouted at me. I panicked and killed them as well. "Dank ferrik!" I grunted with frustration.