[Republic Commando] - 03(108)

“Did you realize he’ll probably have a normal life span?”

“Sorry?”

“Mereel’s been slicing the data from Tipoca for a while, to see which genes they were targeting in the accelerated aging process.”

“I had no idea you were doing this.”

“Not something we’d want to advertise, is it?”

“Tell me. Please. I need to know.”

“Some of the genes they use to accelerate aging are recessive, and others have to be switched on and off chemically. The kaminiise tailored us at every stage, you see. If we were hybrid plants, they’d say we didn’t breed true. That’s the interesting thing about epigenetics…”

Ordo stopped dead because Etain had put her hand to her mouth and her eyes were screwed tight shut. His immediate thought was that she was miscarrying, and while he would never use the word panic, he was stuck between systems in a small shuttle with just a first-aid kit and his eidetic recall of the medbay manual.

Then he realized she was crying, and trying not to sob out loud. She’d never struck him as the crying type. Kal’buir would have rushed to comfort her, but Ordo wasn’t quite up to that. Eventually she opened her eyes and wiped her face with the sleeve of her frayed brown Jedi robe.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve worried about that so much. Kal’s right-outliving your children is the worst thing imaginable. I can handle whatever comes down the line as long as Venku gets a normal life span.”

“Trust me, the aiwha-bait wouldn’t want their rivals to be able to just breed clone characteristics like that-they’d want total control over their product. But Mereel’s getting very adept at this, so he knows what to test for.”

The relief was transformational. Etain’s pinched little face softened into something approaching prettiness, and she settled back in the copilot’s seat with a beatific smile on her lips. Ordo thought of all the times that Kal’buir had told him how being a father to the Nulls had been his salvation; maybe it would be the same for him, although he had a range of mountains to climb before that could even be mentioned to Besany Wennen, who he had never even kissed, despite the strong bond between them.

“Do you think Kal ever wonders where his first family is?” Etain asked. “It seems so unfair on him. He’d been divorced for years.”

It was a delicate point, the one secret that Kal had kept from his Null boys: that his biological sons had declared him dar’buir-no longer a father, parental divorce Mando-style-when he vanished from the galaxy with the rest of the Mandalorian training sergeants. The army-in-waiting on Kamino was so secret that they could tell nobody where they’d gone.

Yes, Skirata’s sons still denounced him for vanishing, even though they would have been grown men themselves by that time. Two sons and a daughter: Tor, Ijaat, and Ruusaan.

“He gave them every spare credit he had after the divorce,” Ordo said. “For years. It’s why he had to accept the Kamino contract.”

“Mandalorians take family duties to extremes, don’t they?”

“It beats the alternative.”

“Ordo, whatever arguments I’ve had with Kal, I respect his commitment to you all. I’m not sure I’d have had the guts to let my kids denounce me rather than tell them about the clone program.”

“It’s hard to live with being the cause of that.”

“Maybe, but to have someone care about your welfare that much is a wonderful thing.”

Etain and Jusik were the only Jedi Ordo had met who seemed to yearn for the imagined family they’d been taken from, because Zey, Camas, and Mas Missur seemed perfectly content with their lot in life, and so did all the little Padawans who danced attendance on them. For all Etain knew, her mother could have been a religious fanatic and her father a domineering brute, like Walon Vau’s parents. Maybe the Jedi had done her a favor. She’d never know.

“Not much farther,” he said, struggling to learn unfamiliar social skills. “Then I can comm Kal’buir and we’ll find you somewhere relaxing while we get on with the business.”

“You know what would make me feel better, Ordo?”

Ah, a lifeline. He grabbed it. “Just say.”

“I’d like to know exactly where Darman is and what’s happening to him. I used to be able to call or at least get information from Brigade HQ, but it’s hard to talk to him without feeling that urge to tell him about Venku.”

“I’ll check as soon as we drop below light speed.”

“Thank you.”

“No trouble at all.”