Read Online The Perfect Clone by M. L. Stephens - Free Book Online

received clearance from a manned guard post. The driver continued descending further down until approaching an empty guard booth that sat at the side of a heavy solid gate. The concrete walls on both sides blocked the view beyond. They appeared to have reached a dead end.
    It seemed the construction on this level had been abandoned for some reason.
    The driver held his security badge to a camera and entered numbers on a keypad that hung outside the booth. A male’s voice responded from a hidden intercom as the heavy gate in front of them rumbled to life, “Proceed to processing.”
    The driver’s side window rolled up as the sedan rolled through the gate. Igor turned in his seat to look behind him. He’d just thought the security system at his house had been top notch. It was a joke compared to this. The doctor certainly understood the need for security at a lab, but this had caught him completely unaware. Two heavily armed men followed behind the gate until it locked back into place.
    The two guards moved about the exterior of the automobile, using some type of unfamiliar electronics to scan the vehicle. Apparently coming up clean, the driver was thumbed forward to a platform lined with yellow paint. Stopping the sedan on cue, the driver told Igor to remain seated.
    The mechanical sound of heavy movement echoed throughout the empty space as the car vibrated. The platform they were parked on began a downward decent. When the platform stopped moving, the driver moved the car forward into a parking space and then popped the trunk latch of the car. The man exited the car and walked around to open Igor’s door. The surprises just kept coming.
    Feeling slightly intimidated by the magnitude of his new employer’s security measures, Dr. Hamstein realized that his mouth was hanging open and firmly clamped it shut. That’s great. Make a fool of yourself right off the bat he thought.
    The attorney that he’d met with in his office the previous Monday approached him, offering a hand in greeting. “I trust that your trip was uneventful?”
    Intense, mesmerizing, intimidating, those were a few of the words he would have selected to define the effectiveness and efficiency of his trip, not to mention the science fiction elements of the security measures. Uneventful was definitely not the word he would have chosen. “Yes, thank you.”
    With genuine warmness, the attorney patted Igor on the arm. “Luke, will see that your luggage gets to your room.” Igor glanced over his shoulder. The man that had driven him, walked away with his bags.
    “Not to be rude, but after all the business we’ve conducted, I don‘t believe I recall your first name Mr. Kincaid.”
    A superficial laugh rumbled out of the attorney’s chest. “Forgive me. I’m afraid I get so caught up in cutting to the chase and making sure directives are fulfilled, that I occasionally forget my own first name, much less remember to tell anyone. My name is Matthew, but most people call me Matt. I’m sure you’ll be interested in freshening up and grabbing a bite to eat after your trip, but if you’ll bear with me, I’d like to give you a quick introductory tour. Please, follow me.”
    Igor’s adrenaline was still pumping from the few things he’d witnessed so far, so he wasn’t in a hurry to retreat from the activities just yet. “Of course,” he agreed.
    Following Matt to an external door, he expected to wait as another security code was entered. To his amazement, the door opened of its own accord.
    “I would have expected another security clearance here,” Igor announced, rather proud of himself for finding a detail that had been overlooked.
    “Actually, this area uses Delta clearance. In layman’s terms, we utilize a state of the art eye-scanning system at the level. Currently we are working with a system that can scan the iris from a range of 20 feet, with or without the person being aware of it. Once a person’s information is entered into our