The Other James
1828 Words
The man in the mirror looked exactly like him.
Same face. Same build. Same scar on the left palm. But the eyes were different. Colder. Emptier.
He had awakened three days ago in a facility beneath the Arctic ice. No memories. No identity. Just a voice in his head telling him who he was supposed to be.
You are James Cole. You are the original. The man in Wyoming is the copy. He stole your life. Your wife. Your children. You must take them back.
The voice was his own. Or someone else's. He couldn't tell.
He flexed his hands. Stronger than he expected. Faster too. The enhancements were working.
"Subject One," a technician said. "Your vitals are stable. You're ready for deployment."
"Deployment where?"
"Wyoming. The ranch. Your target is waiting."
The other James. The man who had everything.
---
James woke from a nightmare.
Not the usual one. This time, he was fighting himself. A mirror image with cold eyes and a cruel smile.
He sat up, breathing hard.
Evelyn stirred. "What is it?"
"Someone's coming."
"Who?"
"I don't know. But we need to get ready."
---
David met him in the kitchen. "Steven picked up movement. North of the ranch. One man. Moving fast."
"A scout?"
"Maybe. Or something else."
James checked his rifle. "Wake Harper. I'm going to take a look."
"Not alone."
"Then come with me."
---
They moved through the forest in the dark.
The moon was hidden behind clouds. The only light came from their flashlights, hooded and dim.
Steven's voice crackled through the earpiece. "He's stopped. About two hundred yards ahead."
James held up his hand. David froze.
They waited.
A twig snapped.
James raised his rifle.
A figure stepped out of the shadows.
Same height. Same build. Same face.
"Hello, James," the figure said. "I've been looking for you."
---
James stared at his own face.
"Who are you?"
"I'm you. The real you. The one Morrison created to replace the defective original."
"I'm not defective."
"You let your wife betray you. You let your children be used as bait. You let the Network escape. I would have done better."
The clone stepped closer.
"Morrison built me to be stronger. Faster. Smarter. Without the weaknesses of emotion and doubt."
"Emotion isn't a weakness."
"It is when it gets people killed."
The clone lunged.
James barely blocked the punch. The force threw him backward.
David fired. The clone dodged, faster than humanly possible.
He grabbed David's rifle and crushed it.
David fell back, stunned.
The clone turned to James. "I'm going to take your life now. Your wife. Your children. Your future. Everything you have, I will have."
"Over my dead body."
"That can be arranged."
---
The fight was brutal.
The clone was stronger, faster, more precise.
But James had something the clone didn't. Desperation.
He fought for his family. For his children. For Evelyn.
The clone fought for nothing.
James tackled him. They rolled across the forest floor, punching, kicking.
The clone pinned him. Raised a knife.
"You lose."
Evelyn's shot rang out.
The clone's hand exploded. The knife flew.
He screamed, stumbled back.
Evelyn stepped out of the shadows, rifle smoking.
"You should have stayed in the facility."
The clone looked at his ruined hand. At Evelyn. At James.
"This isn't over."
He ran.
James tried to chase him, but his legs wouldn't move.
"Let him go," Evelyn said. "We'll find him."
"How?"
"He'll come back. He wants what you have."
---
They returned to the ranch.
Harper patched James's wounds. David's pride was hurt more than his body.
"What the hell was that?" David asked.
"A clone. Of me. Built by Morrison."
"Can there be more?"
"Probably."
Steven's fingers flew across the keyboard. "I'm searching for similar genetic signatures. There are at least three more. Maybe more."
"Three more James Clones?"
"Three more enhanced Subjects. They could look like anyone."
James sat down heavily. "We need to find them before they find us."
"How? They're ghosts."
"Then we hire a ghost hunter."
---
Harper had a contact in the intelligence community. A woman known only as "The Tracker."
She found people who didn't want to be found.
The Tracker arrived at the ranch two days later. She was small, quiet, with gray eyes that missed nothing.
"James Cole. I've heard of you."
"Good things, I hope."
"Mixed."
She set up her equipment in the barn.
"The clones are using encrypted communications. Military-grade. But I've seen it before."
"Can you break it?"
"Already did."
She turned her screen.
Three dots on a map. One in Wyoming, near the ranch. One in Montana. One in Colorado.
"The clone you fought is the Wyoming dot. He's moving south. Probably regrouping."
"The others?"
"Montana is stationary. Colorado is moving east."
"Toward what?"
"Population centers. Cities. They're going to cause chaos."
"We need to stop them."
"Agreed. But you can't be everywhere."
James looked at David. At Harper. At Evelyn.
"No. But we can try."
---
The plan was simple.
James would go after the Wyoming clone. David and Harper would take Montana. Evelyn would stay at the ranch with the children.
"I'm not staying," Evelyn said.
"You're pregnant."
"I'm also a fighter."
"Evelyn—"
"I'm going to Colorado."
"The clone there is dangerous."
"So am I."
James looked at her belly. At her eyes.
"Promise me you'll be careful."
"I promise."
---
James tracked the Wyoming clone to a cabin in the mountains.
Same cabin where Morrison had kept Lily.
The clone was waiting on the porch.
"You're predictable, James."
"And you're lonely."
The clone's expression flickered. "I'm not lonely. I'm complete."
"You have no one. No family. No friends. No purpose except revenge. That's not complete. That's empty."
The clone stepped off the porch.
"Morrison gave me a purpose."
"Morrison is dead."
"His mission isn't."
"What mission?"
"To replace the flawed originals with perfect copies. To create a new world. To make humanity better."
"You're not better. You're just angrier."
The clone lunged.
James was ready.
---
They fought across the clearing.
Punches, kicks, grunts.
The clone was stronger, but James was smarter.
He used the terrain. Trees. Rocks. The porch.
The clone stumbled.
James tackled him.
They rolled.
James pinned the clone.
"Give up."
"Never."
The clone's eyes glazed over. Poison. Same as the others.
James sat back, breathing hard.
Another one dead.
---
David and Harper found the Montana clone in an abandoned mine.
He was waiting too. Ready to fight.
David took the lead, his military training giving him an edge.
The clone was strong, but David was experienced.
He disarmed the clone, pinned him.
"Who sent you?"
"The Network."
"Where are they?"
"Everywhere."
The clone's eyes glazed over.
David stood up. "We need to find the Colorado clone before Evelyn does."
---
Evelyn reached Colorado first.
The clone was in a hotel in Denver, surrounded by civilians.
She couldn't use a rifle. Too many bystanders.
She went in alone.
The clone was in the penthouse, watching the news.
"Evelyn. I was wondering when you'd come."
"You know me?"
"I know everything about you. Your weaknesses. Your fears. Your love for a man who doesn't deserve you."
"He deserves more than me."
"He deserves death."
The clone lunged.
Evelyn was smaller, slower. But she was smarter.
She used the furniture, the walls, the windows.
The clone threw a lamp. She ducked.
She grabbed a broken bottle and stabbed.
The clone screamed.
Evelyn pinned him.
"Where's the Network?"
"Everywhere. Nowhere. You'll never find us."
The clone's eyes glazed over.
Evelyn stepped back, breathing hard.
---
James met her at the hotel.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. The baby's fine."
He hugged her.
"Let's go home."
---
They returned to the ranch.
The children ran to them.
"Daddy! Mommy!"
James held them close.
"Is it over?" Chloe asked.
"Not yet. But we're closer."
"When will it be over?"
"Soon. I promise."
---
The Tracker found something in the clone's communications.
A name. A location.
The new leader of the Network.
A woman named Cassandra. Former Aether Sciences executive. She had been hiding in plain sight, running the remnants of the protocol from a corporate office in New York.
"We need to go to New York," James said.
"Not alone," David replied.
"Then come with me."
---
The flight to New York was short.
The office was in Manhattan, high above the streets.
Cassandra was waiting.
"James Cole. I've heard so much about you."
"Then you know why I'm here."
"To kill me?"
"To arrest you."
Cassandra laughed. "You have no authority. No jurisdiction. No backup. It's just you and your friends against a multinational corporation."
"We have the truth."
"The truth doesn't matter. Power matters. And I have power."
Cassandra pressed a button.
Guards emerged from the shadows.
James raised his hands. "I came alone."
"Liar."
She pressed another button. Screens showed David and Harper, pinned down in the lobby.
"You brought an army."
"I brought friends."
"Same thing."
Cassandra walked toward him.
"I'm going to give you one chance. Walk away. Forget about the Network. Go back to your ranch and live a quiet life."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then your friends die. Your family dies. And you die last, so you can watch."
James looked at the screens. At David and Harper, fighting for their lives.
"Okay."
He reached into his pocket.
Cassandra's guards raised their weapons.
He pulled out a small device. "This is a dead man's switch. If I die, every file we have on the Network goes public. Your name. Your crimes. Your victims."
Cassandra's expression flickered.
"You're bluffing."
"Try me."
She stared at him for a long moment.
Then she laughed.
"You're insane."
"So I've been told."
Cassandra turned to her guards. "Let them go."
"Cassandra—"
"Let them go. We'll fight another day."
The guards lowered their weapons.
James walked to the elevator.
"One more thing," he said. "The next time we meet, I won't be so friendly."
Cassandra smiled. "I'm counting on it."
---
They regrouped in the lobby.
David was bleeding from a graze. Harper was helping him walk.
"We need to get him to a hospital."
"No hospitals," David said. "The Network has eyes everywhere."
"Then we go back to the ranch. Patch him up there."
---
The flight home was silent.
James stared out the window at the clouds.
Evelyn sat beside him.
"She's going to come after us."
"I know."
"We need to be ready."
"We will be."
He took her hand.
"Together."
"Together."
---
The ranch was quiet when they returned.
The children were asleep. Bill was on watch.
James sat on the porch, watching the stars.
His phone buzzed.
A message from Cassandra.
Good fight today. Next time, I won't be so generous. Sleep well, James. You'll need your rest.
He deleted the message.
"Evelyn."
"Yes?"
"Tomorrow, we start planning. Tonight, we rest."
She leaned against him.
The stars watched over them.
- Writer
