[Republic Commando] - 03(154)
“The father of your child is one of the clone units, isn’t he?”
Etain had never heard them called unite before. But Darman-all of them-were just organic machines built to order as far as the Kaminoans were concerned: product, merchandise, units. “Yes. Imagine it. One genome you know intimately, combined with one you’ve never been able to get your hands on.”
Ko Sai’s face didn’t exactly light up, but Etain sensed a slight lifting of her dark mood. “How can I trust you?”
“I’ll give you a cryosuspended sample of my blood now.” Etain wasn’t sure where she might get a cryocontainer out here, but Rav Bralor would know. It was the kind of kit that even veterinarians kept for sending livestock samples for testing, so the next farm might have some. “You give me a list of some of the genes you regulated to achieve rapid aging, and how they’re switched to reverse the process. I’m not even asking for them all at this stage. Just a demonstration that we understand we both have something to lose and gain in this.”
“And what after that?”
“When the baby’s born? Multipotent stem cells, maybe, from the umbilical cord.”
Ko Sai did seem taken aback by that. “You’ve done your homework, Jedi.”
Well, Mereel had, but Etain was reassured that she could still act convincingly. “Do we have a deal? Is it really worth holding out just to remind a few clones that you had that power over their life span, when you could move into a whole new area of research?”
Ko Sai went very quiet and made that odd weaving movement of her head, back and forth, very snake-like. It struck Etain as the equivalent of a human drumming her fingers on the table while thinking hard.
“Very well,” she said. “There are many things I can cite from memory, even without the research from Tipoca.”
Etain sat down and tried not to look triumphant. The heartburn helped a lot. Ko Sai marked screen after screen on her datapad, and then handed it to Etain.
“Those are the first sequences that can be switched back with zinc and methylation,” she said. “Mereel should be able to check that those are valid.”
“Thank you.” Etain still wondered if the scientist actually knew the whole solution yet, but even if she didn’t, they now had an extra something they didn’t have before. “I’ll get the blood container, and you can keep the sample with you. It need never leave your sight. Can I get you anything else?”
Ko Sai swayed her head. “Without my datapad connection to the HoloNet, I have little to read. Could you obtain the lat-est edition of the Republic Institute Journal of Endocrinology for me?”
“I’m sure I can.”
Etain closed the doors behind her and breathed again. Sorry, Venku, but she’s never going to be able to put it to use, is she? When she walked into the main room, which she’d come to think of as a cross between a kitchen and a salon, Mereel was finishing off the nerf. She wondered if slowing down the aging process would reduce the clones’ prodigious appetites.
“Here,” she said, laying the datapad in front of him. “All you have to do is offer her your firstborn and she’s as good as gold.”
Mereel stopped chewing and swallowed hard. He stared at the data.
“Et’ika,” he said, “you’re not just good for opening doors, are you?”
“We’re taking it a step at a time.”
“What did you offer her? Seriously?”
“First payment? A cryosample of my blood, and a holozine-the Journal of Endocrinology.”
“Maybe she misses the jokes page.”
“Let’s keep her as sweet as we can keep a Kaminoan, shall we?”
“Seriously-well done, Etain.”
“Jedi stuff.” She was starting to feel good again, useful and competent. “And I’ve found that most beings can’t look away from a pregnant female. Psyched her out a little, especially given her life’s work.”
It was a job well done, for the time being. Mereel made her a pot of shig-a tisane made from a plant called behot-before getting on with examining the data.
“I’ll have to get this checked,” he said, “and that means farming it out in sections so they don’t know what it is I’m working on, but it’s a hopeful start.”
Etain sipped. The shig was citrus-flavored and kinder to her stomach than caf. “It’s just such a shame that all that other data was… lost.”
It felt too cruel to say blown to pieces by your crazy brother.
“Yeah,” Mereel said, and squatted down next to her seat. He put his finger to his lips for silence and opened one of his belt pouches. Then he drew out a container, the kind that datachips were stored in, took her hand, and laid it on the little box. “Indeed.”