Star Covenant

Chapter 7: Quantum Resonance and Specimens of Lies

Erin's fingertips traced star-track patterns on the condensing mist of the incubation chamber, and Clone 49's eyelashes suddenly fluttered.She jerked back and slammed into Kane's arms, the tentacles extending from the latter's spine wrapping around her waist in response, blue-violet bioelectric currents exploding in tiny flecks of light between their skin.

"It's an embryonic activation precursor."Kane's voice came against the back of Erin's ear as the mechanical prosthetic eye projected a hologram of the genetic strand, "Your DNA is rewriting the cloning program."

Erin tore off the straps of her lab coat as she broke free of her shackles, the old scar at her collarbone exposed to the cold light of the lamp.Kane's tentacles suddenly contracted in spasms - the bite marks from the Thrawn attack three months ago were now oozing fluorescent green bodily fluids.

"You knew these clones needed my gene stabilizer."Erin pressed the virus sampling tube against Kane's throat, the Thrawn parasitic spores suspended inside the test tube violently rushing against the walls, "You tested a sample of my blood on your wedding day."

The quantum wedding ring suddenly glowed with a blinding red light, and the blast door to the lab blasted shut.Kane took hold of Erin's wrist and pressed her back against the genetic mapping display as brainwave data from three hundred cloned embryos cascaded down behind them.

"The alarm system has been triggered."The tip of Kane's tentacle stabbed into the wedding ring interface and the holographic projection instantly switched to the outside of the station - twelve cruisers emblazoned with the symbol of the Earth Federation were aiming their guns at them, "Your adoptive father's rescue fleet arrived three days earlier than expected."

There was the sudden sound of glass shattering in the incubation bay.Clone #49 stepped barefoot out of the nutrient solution, her pupils taking on the same amber-colored bioluminescence as Erin's.The young girl c****d her head to gaze at the two men facing each other, her vocal cords vibrating with Serena's characteristic hive resonance tone, "Dear traitors, are you ready for a cosmic-level wedding surprise?"

Kane's mechanical prosthetic eyes flashed with a data storm as the tentacles wrapped around Erin and slammed into the emergency escape pod.In a final glimpse, Erin saw her clone raise her hand and disintegrate the blast doors as the cruiser's quantum cannon fire passed through her liquid-metalized form.

The moment the escape pod ejected into the meteor belt, Erin noticed unfamiliar coding floating on the back of Kane's neck-execution orders she'd seen in her adoptive father's classified files.