Read Online Starbase Human by Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kristine Kathryn Rusch
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issues.
But first, he had to confirm his suspicion.
“You checked for clone marks, right?” Deshin asked. “I know you did. We always do.”
The Earth Alliance required human clones to have a mark on the back of their neck or behind their ear that gave their number. If they were the second clone from an original, the number would be “2.”
Clones also did not have birth certificates. They had day of creation documents. Deshin had a strict policy for Deshin Enterprises: every person he hired had to have a birth certificate or a document showing that they, as a clone, had been legally adopted by an original human and therefore could be considered human under the law.
When it came to human clones, Earth Alliance and Armstrong laws were the same: clones were property. They were created and owned by their creator. They could be bought or sold, and they had no rights of their own. The law did not distinguish between slow-grow clones, which were raised like any naturally born human child, and fast-grow clones, which reached full adult size in days, but never had a full-grown human intelligence.
The laws were an injustice, but only clones seemed to protest it, and they, as property, had no real standing.
Koos’s lips thinned. He didn’t answer right away.
Deshin cursed. He hated having clones in his business and didn’t own any, even though he could take advantage of the loopholes in the law.
Clones made identity theft too easy, and made an organization vulnerable.
Deshin always made certain his organization remained protected.
Or he had, until now.
“We did check like we do with all new hires.” Koos’s voice was strangled. “And we also checked her birth certificate. It was all in order.”
“But now you’re telling me it’s not,” Deshin said.
Koos’s eyes narrowed a little, not with anger, but with tension.
“The first snag we hit,” he said, “was that we were not able to get Sonja Mycenae’s DNA from the service. According to them, she’s currently employed and not available for hire, so the standard service-subsidized searches are inactive. She likes her job. I looked: the job is the old one, not the one with you.”
Deshin crossed his arms. “If that’s the case, then how did we get the service comparison in the first place?”
“At first, I worried that someone had spoofed our system,” Koos said. “They hadn’t. There was a redundancy in the service’s files that got repaired. I checked with a tech at the service. The tech said they’d been hit with an attack that replicated everything inside their system. It lasted for about two days.”
“Let me guess,” Deshin said. “Two days around the point we’d hired Sonja.”
Koos nodded.
“I’m amazed the tech admitted it,” Deshin said.
“It wasn’t their glitch,” Koos said. “It happened because of some government program.”
“Government?” Deshin asked.
“The Earth Alliance required some changes in their software,” Koos said. “They made the changes and the glitch appeared. The service caught it, removed the Earth Alliance changes, and petitioned to return to their old way of doing things. Their petition was granted.”
Deshin couldn’t sit still with this. “Did Sonja know this glitch was going to happen?”
Koos shrugged. “I don’t know what she knew.”
Deshin let out a small breath. He felt a little off-balance. “I assume the birth certificate was stolen.”
“It was real. We checked it. I double-checked it today,” Koos said.
Deshin rubbed his forehead. “So, was the Sonja Mycenae I hired a clone or is the clone at the other job? Or does Sonja Mycenae have a biological twin?”
Koos looked down, which was all the answer Deshin needed. The Sonja Mycenae he had hired was a clone.
“She left a lot of DNA this morning,” Koos said. “Tears, you name it. We checked it all.”
Deshin waited, even though he knew.
He knew, and he was getting furious.
“She had no clone mark,” Koos
But first, he had to confirm his suspicion.
“You checked for clone marks, right?” Deshin asked. “I know you did. We always do.”
The Earth Alliance required human clones to have a mark on the back of their neck or behind their ear that gave their number. If they were the second clone from an original, the number would be “2.”
Clones also did not have birth certificates. They had day of creation documents. Deshin had a strict policy for Deshin Enterprises: every person he hired had to have a birth certificate or a document showing that they, as a clone, had been legally adopted by an original human and therefore could be considered human under the law.
When it came to human clones, Earth Alliance and Armstrong laws were the same: clones were property. They were created and owned by their creator. They could be bought or sold, and they had no rights of their own. The law did not distinguish between slow-grow clones, which were raised like any naturally born human child, and fast-grow clones, which reached full adult size in days, but never had a full-grown human intelligence.
The laws were an injustice, but only clones seemed to protest it, and they, as property, had no real standing.
Koos’s lips thinned. He didn’t answer right away.
Deshin cursed. He hated having clones in his business and didn’t own any, even though he could take advantage of the loopholes in the law.
Clones made identity theft too easy, and made an organization vulnerable.
Deshin always made certain his organization remained protected.
Or he had, until now.
“We did check like we do with all new hires.” Koos’s voice was strangled. “And we also checked her birth certificate. It was all in order.”
“But now you’re telling me it’s not,” Deshin said.
Koos’s eyes narrowed a little, not with anger, but with tension.
“The first snag we hit,” he said, “was that we were not able to get Sonja Mycenae’s DNA from the service. According to them, she’s currently employed and not available for hire, so the standard service-subsidized searches are inactive. She likes her job. I looked: the job is the old one, not the one with you.”
Deshin crossed his arms. “If that’s the case, then how did we get the service comparison in the first place?”
“At first, I worried that someone had spoofed our system,” Koos said. “They hadn’t. There was a redundancy in the service’s files that got repaired. I checked with a tech at the service. The tech said they’d been hit with an attack that replicated everything inside their system. It lasted for about two days.”
“Let me guess,” Deshin said. “Two days around the point we’d hired Sonja.”
Koos nodded.
“I’m amazed the tech admitted it,” Deshin said.
“It wasn’t their glitch,” Koos said. “It happened because of some government program.”
“Government?” Deshin asked.
“The Earth Alliance required some changes in their software,” Koos said. “They made the changes and the glitch appeared. The service caught it, removed the Earth Alliance changes, and petitioned to return to their old way of doing things. Their petition was granted.”
Deshin couldn’t sit still with this. “Did Sonja know this glitch was going to happen?”
Koos shrugged. “I don’t know what she knew.”
Deshin let out a small breath. He felt a little off-balance. “I assume the birth certificate was stolen.”
“It was real. We checked it. I double-checked it today,” Koos said.
Deshin rubbed his forehead. “So, was the Sonja Mycenae I hired a clone or is the clone at the other job? Or does Sonja Mycenae have a biological twin?”
Koos looked down, which was all the answer Deshin needed. The Sonja Mycenae he had hired was a clone.
“She left a lot of DNA this morning,” Koos said. “Tears, you name it. We checked it all.”
Deshin waited, even though he knew.
He knew, and he was getting furious.
“She had no clone mark,” Koos