"Bribing and blackmailing can be traced. Clones would raise far fewer suspicions."
"Clones can be traced as easily as blackmail. The Directorate, and many other government departments, are beginning to install cell scanners and now have regular blood tests in place."
"The cell scans wouldn't pick up irregularities because there would be none. For all intents and purposes, the clone would be identical to the original. And I doubt the blood scans would pick up anything - they haven't in Gautier, have they?"
"Well, no." I frowned. "Why is that, if he is a clone?"
"I have no idea. Perhaps they wean the accelerant off and wait until the blood tests are clear before they slot in their replacements."
"But if they're cloning to grab power, why not start cloning politicians? Why a guardian?"
"Because the process is not yet perfected. While Gautier appears to be without problems, most of the other clones I have come across seem to have the sort of problems usually associated with extreme age."
"Which would surely be connected to the amount of accelerant they're using to develop these things quickly."
"Not necessarily. When cloning was first being explored back in the twentieth century - well before the growth accelerant was discovered - it was noted that cloned species seemed to have age-related problems."
"That didn't stop them."
He smiled. "It's still not stopping anyone. Science and morality are not often bedfellows."
The car crested a hill, and Melbourne lay before us, a sea of bright lights that was quickly lost to the trees again. The shrill ring of my cell phone cut through the brief silence. As I took it out of my pocket to answer it, he gave me a hard glance, and said, "I hope you were intending to turn that off before we broke into the grounds of Hoyle-Brantin."
"Nah," I bit back. "I was intending to leave it on, just so we could have the thrill of being discovered when it rang."
Though the truth was, I'd actually forgotten it was on. I pressed the receive button, expecting it to be Talon demanding to know where I was and why I wasn't panting for him
Only it was Misha
And he sounded no happier than Talon would have been everal seconds I didn't react, simply stared at him. Then anger surged and I clenched my fists, wishing I had something - someone - to hit. "I'm going to kill the bastard."
Actually, killing him was too quick. Maybe I'd settle for ripping his fucking balls off
"I gather you know who's behind it?"
I nodded and began to pace. "One of my regular mates was talking about me having his child recently."
"But you didn't consent to take this drug?"
I snorted. "Hardly. If I ever do take the risk of having kids, it'll be with someone I love, not with someone I just fuck."
"Have you still got the chip in your arm?"
"Shit." I ran my fingers up my arm, and found the small lump under my skin. Relief slithered. Thank God
"We need to do more tests," Jack continued, obviously reading my relief correctly
I frowned. "Why?"
"Because the quantities of ARC1-23 in the blood sample suggest you've been given this drug over a couple of months, and, as I said, it's known to have some serious side effects."
I pushed my hair away from my face and began to pace again. The anger surging through my body wouldn't allow me to remain still. "What kind of side effects are we talking about?"
"It seems the drug can mutate once in the body, altering not only its own chemistry but the chemistry of the host."
"That... that..."
Jack nodded, as if in understanding. "The drug had passed all lab trials, so they decided to run a series of tests on some volunteers who were having trouble conceiving, using a mix of humans, shifters, and werewolves. Of the fifty who were in the first trial, ten were unaffected. Thirty became pregnant, and had normal gestations and births, with neither the parent nor the child showing any adverse reactions to the drug. The remaining ten, however, began to transmute in one way or another."