As he spoke, several dozen figures stepped out of the shadows cast by the huge stones and appeared from around corners. Tash looked at them and swallowed a startled cry. Looking back at her were dozens of images of herself, and dozens of versions of Zak.
An army of clones.
As one, the massed clones surged forward.
Just as she had when the earlier clone hurled the rock, Tash felt herself move without thinking. Instead of running, she jumped up onto a stone wall to her left. Somehow she found a foothold and scrambled to the top. But as she did, she lost her grip on the remote activator, and it clattered back down to the ground.
“No!” she said, but she couldn’t stop. Already some of the clones were trying to follow her up the wall.
Tash tried to lower herself down the other side as she heard a Tash clone say, “She won’t get far without her ship. Spread out! Let’s find her.”
Hanging from the edge of the wall, Tash looked down. The ground seemed far away. How had she jumped so high?
Hurry! she told herself. The clones would be coming around the end of the wall at any moment.
But Tash couldn’t make herself let go. The ground seemed as far away as the stars. Steeling herself, she promised she would count to three, then let go.
But she didn’t have to. The wall was old and decayed by weather. Before she could loosen her grip, a whole section of the top gave way. Tash fell, hitting the ground hard. She felt gravel and stone rain down on her. She felt larger stones batter her shoulders. She felt something heavy slam into her head.
Then she didn’t feel anything at all.
Tash woke with a sneeze. Every time she tried to breathe, dust filled her nose. And as she woke, she realized just how hard it was to breathe at all.
She opened her eyes. Darkness surrounded her. She was lying down, but something heavy lay on top of her. With effort, she pushed herself up to a sitting position and felt a mound of sand and gravel slide off her arms and down into her clothes. Her head rang, and she felt a lump throbbing behind her ear.
Near her head lay a small chunk of stone. And only a few centimeters in front of her face sat another chunk, much bigger and very jagged.
She had fallen off the wall when it collapsed. The debris had followed and one of the stone chunks had knocked her out. If it had been the larger piece… She didn’t want to think about it.
Tash climbed to her feet, using the wall for support. Twilight was approaching. This had to be the longest day of her life.
She was covered in dust, and she could feel more sand sliding down the inside of her clothes. The clothes she wore startled her. Why was she wearing this jumpsuit? Where were her own clothes? She couldn’t remember changing… but her head felt as if it would explode, and she couldn’t think very clearly.
Tash listened. For a moment she heard nothing. No sounds of pursuit, no shouting voices. All was quiet.
Then she heard the crying. It came faintly at first, then more loudly. Walking on tiptoes, Tash followed the sound. Slowly, cautiously, she peeked around a corner.
She saw herself sitting on a chunk of stone, her knees drawn up to her chest, sobbing. This Tash wasn’t wearing a jumpsuit. She was wearing Tash’s own white overshirt and trousers.
What was going on here?
Tash thought she ought to run, but she was too weak from her fall. If the clones were going to capture her at this moment, there wasn’t much she could do about it.
Instead, she staggered toward the other Tash. “Why are you crying?” she asked.
The other Tash jumped as though she’d been stung. As soon as she saw Tash, she backed away, pleading, “Don’t hurt me; please don’t hurt me!”
Tash shook the cobwebs out of her head. “I’m not going to hurt you. Tell me why you’re crying.”
The other Tash sobbed, “Because they’re going to find me.”
“Who?”
“The clones,” the other girl answered.
Tash blinked. “But you’re a clone.”
“No, I’m not,” the other girl said, “I’m the real Tash Arranda!”
CHAPTER 15
“You’re not the real Tash,” Tash said to her twin.
“Of course I am,” the other girl said. “Don’t you think I’d know if I were a clone?”
“I guess you don’t know,” Tash said, “because, I’m sorry to tell you, I’m the real Tash.”
The other girl sobbed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Look at you.”
Tash shrugged. “We look alike.”
“But your clothes,” the other Tash insisted. “You’re wearing a jumpsuit just like the rest of them. And I’m wearing my own clothes.”
Tash scowled. What was happening? The blow to her head was making the last few minutes all run together.