Sheena cleared her throat. "First, I will just ask my burning question. Are you two clones of my parents?"
"No," Angus said, frowning. "We aren't clones-at least not from what we read about clones in the tablet Toorg gave Erin. Isn't the making of clones illegal here?"
Sheena nodded. "Yes. But it's still done. Can I test you to make sure you're not clones?"
"Will it hurt?" Erin asked.
Sheena shook her head. "No. I can do it with a mouth swab."
At their blank looks, her gaze went to Bri who was looking concerned over their discomfort. She looked back at the couple. "A mouth swab is where I brush the inside of your jaw with a wad of cotton on a stick. The saliva and other material on the cotton will provide me with enough of a DNA sample to check if you're clones."
"And this test is important to you?" Angus asked.
Sheena paused, and then nodded. "Yes. If Nate has cloned our parents, Bri and I have a right to know."
Angus looked down when Erin reached over and put a hand on his knee. He finally brought his gaze to Erin's face. "What do ya think about doing this?" he asked.
Erin gave a half shrug. "Sheena is a scientist. I suppose it's her nature to be looking for such answers."
Angus nodded. "Okay. But I still think it's a waste of time."
"Why do you say that?" Sheena asked.
Angus shrugged. "What does yer gut tell ya about us, Sheena?"
"My gut?"
"He means your instincts, Sheena … your feelings," Bri explained with a grin.
Sheena shook her head. "I don't trust those any more, but I trust my mind. It says I need to test you so I can figure out what you are."
When Angus sighed, he sounded so much like her father that Sheena found herself staring again. She swallowed hard as she waited for his answer.
"Yer test won't tell ya the important stuff, but do what ya must," Angus finally said.
Sheena disappeared into her room and moments later returned with her medical satchel. She dug around in the bag until she pulled out two swabbing kits. She had to give them credit for voluntarily going along with her.
Dropping each swab stick into a separate processing solution, she gave them both her full polite attention again. In fifteen minutes, she would have enough to know if they were clones. Give her two weeks and some blood, and she could know everything about them.
"Thank you," Sheena said. "Bri tells me you're continuing the work our parents were doing."
"If you mean the fecking alien matchmaking, yes that's what we're doing," Erin said tightly. She nodded towards Brianna. "Yer sister is the next woman on our list."
Sheena turned to glare. "You didn't tell me that. Why did you come up so soon? How long have you been here?"
Bri crossed her arms. "Not long. Someone is obviously pushing me through the channels faster. And I'm here because this is my decision … which I did tell you, Sheena."
Erin waved a hand between the sisters. "Are ya saying Bri has other options?"
Sheena turned back to Erin. "Yes," she said tightly. "Bri has other options. She's just too hard-headed to consider them."
Angus chuckled and rose. "Before the three of ya gang up on me and start taking the McNamara name in vain, I'm getting us all some ale. Perhaps it will help lighten the mood."
Sheena watched Angus leave. The resemblance to her father was uncanny. No clone could possibly have been created with so many subtle personality quirks.
"Told you," Bri said solemnly, watching Sheena's face as Angus disappeared into the kitchen.
Sheena turned back to her sister and made a growling sound under her breath. Erin snickered and broke her glaring contest with Bri. When she turned in the woman's direction, Erin waved a hand at the two vials on the table.
"Ya can test whatever ya want, Dr. McNamara, but yar still going to come up as family … no matter how bad ya might be wishing not to be. Yer sister spouts some theory that gives her peace about it."
"High Science," Bri interjected, grinning at Sheena who was frowning at Erin. "Familial DNA. You remember, Sheena … from medical school. I know it's been a while." The glare her sister gave her had her grin widening across her entire face.
Erin nodded. "Yes. That's the one. It's sounds so educated. Explain it to yer sister so she can stop glaring at us. Bri."
"I'm not glaring," Sheena denied.
"Yes, ya are," Bri argued, mocking Angus and Erin's accent perfectly, which earned a giggle from Erin.
Angus came back to find two gigglers and Sheena frowning hard. He handed her a glass of ale first. "Don't let them mess with ya, lass. I'm still in shock too, but there's so fecking much strange shit here that Erin and I are starting to become immune."