“There she is!” someone yelled.
Tash turned around to see a horde of Arranda clones charging at them. It was too late to run. All she could do was brace herself against the mob.
But all the Zak and Tash clones parted and flowed around her, descending on the Tash who sat on the rock. The crying Tash let out a shriek, then vanished behind a pile of bodies.
It was over in a few seconds. Tash barely had time to register the swarming clones before they backed away from their victim.
Tash saw herself lying, unmoving, on the ground. There was no life in her. Tash let out a strangled yell and backed away in horror. It was like a nightmare, seeing her own body dropped into the dust.
One of the Zaks looked at her, then at one of the Tashes. “Could we have gotten the wrong one?” he asked.
“The clothes,” another Zak groaned. “We forgot about the clothes.”
Tash didn’t wait to hear the answer. She was off and running again.
If it hadn’t been for the confusing design of the original Jedi fortress, Tash would have been captured in the first few minutes. But there were so many twists and turns, so many dead ends caused by toppled stones, that one wrong turn took her pursuers down a completely different path. Still, they kept up the chase. Now and then one of the clones would spot her down a corridor, but she was able to stay one step ahead, climbing over a wall or ducking between two fallen pillars, and slip away. She was trying to make her way to the edge of the ruins, but every time she reached the edge, one of her enemies would spot her, forcing her back into the maze.
Tash ran, but her steps began to slow. The throbbing in her head was subsiding, but the memory of the other Tash lingered. Why had the other Tash claimed to be the real thing? It was ridiculous, of course. Tash knew who she was. Yet the other girl had seemed certain. And she was wearing the right clothes.
Tash tried to remember changing her clothes. Hadn’t she put on a jumpsuit? Maybe. Or maybe not.
Once Tash opened her mind to doubt, the confusion of the day poured in. She allowed a terrible thought to creep in. Am I a clone?
“Ridiculous,” she said out loud.
That’s what the other clone said, too.
“But I’m not a clone,” she insisted. “Besides, all the clones are loyal to Vader. I’m not.”
Maybe the cloning process is imperfect, the doubting part of herself replied. Maybe you’re an imperfect clone.
Tash tried to push the doubt from her mind. She was who she was. Nothing could change that. But the clones seemed to feel exactly the same way.
Tash stopped. She heard voices approaching, but she didn’t move. Would it matter if she were a clone? Wouldn’t she be the same person?
No, she realized. A clone wouldn’t have her experiences, her life. A clone wouldn’t feel the way she felt, wouldn’t know what it was like to lose a mother and father.
At the thought of her mother and father, Tash put her hand to her chest. She felt something hard and firm beneath her fingertips.
Her pendant.
Tash pulled at the chain around her neck until the pendant slid free of her jumpsuit. Vader could clone her body. He could even scan her mind. But he couldn’t copy everything. Not Tash’s love for her parents. No clone could feel that way.
In a split second, Tash recalled her earlier wish to talk with her parents, to ask them how she would know her true self. Now she knew what they would have told her. Emotions like love and kindness and caring-the same feelings that allowed her to use the light side of the Force-would help her see herself clearly.
But Tash’s resolution came a little too late. Vader’s clones had found her.
Zaks and Tashes surrounded her. Tash saw instantly that flight was impossible. So she didn’t run. She tucked the pendant back into her jumpsuit. Then she charged full speed into the mob of clones.
CHAPTER 16
Tash plunged into the of the clone army. She pushed her way through until she was in the very middle of the crowd.
Then she grabbed the nearest clone Tash by the wrist and shouted, “I’ve got her! I’ve got her!”
“Good work!” one of the Zaks yelled.
“Huh?” said the other Tash, trying to pull away.
“Help me! She’s a fighter!” Tash screamed. Several clones grabbed at the captured Tash clone.
“All right!” said a Zak clone. “Let’s get her back to the leader. He’ll want to question her with the others.”
The cloned Tash protested, but her struggles only convinced the others that she was their target. They grabbed her arms and legs and lifted her off the ground. As she kicked and fought with them, they carried her out of the ruins.
Tash followed, hiding her smile.
The small clone army hurried across the bridge and into the Rebel base. Tash followed them up to the central building, the one that housed the mock starship.