The In Death Collection Books 21-25 - J. D. Robb [83]
“Genetic manipulation is a thorny area. Human cloning is a dark, dank forest. The ramifications—”
“Commander, the ramifications already involve two deaths.”
“The ramifications will echo beyond your two homicides. Political, moral, religious, medical. If your allegations are fact, there are existing clones, many of them minor. For some, they’ll become the monster, for others the victims.” He rubbed his eyes. “We’ll need some expert legal opinions on this. Every agency from Global to Homeland is going to jump on this.”
“If you notify them of the recent findings, they’ll take it from us. They’ll shut down the investigation.”
“They will. What’s your objection?”
“They’re my homicides, Commander.”
He was silent a moment, watching her face. “What’s your objection, Lieutenant?”
“Beyond that, and that is my primary objection, sir. It’s . . . It needs to be stopped. Government—any government puts their finger in this pie, they’re going to want to pull out a plum. More hidden research, more experimentation. They’ll sweep all this under the rug, and put everything we’ve found under the microscope. They’ll Code Blue it, and block the media, block the information. The Icoves will be memorialized with all honors, and the work they did in the dark will never come to light. The . . . the subjects,” she said for lack of a better term, “created will be rounded up and examined, debriefed, confined, and questioned. They were manufactured, sir, but they’re blood and bone, like the rest of us. They won’t be treated like the rest of us. Maybe there’s no stopping that, no way to prevent that from happening, but I want to follow this through. Until I’ve got nowhere else to go.”
He laid his palms on the desk. “I’ll need to bring Tibble into this.”
Eve nodded. “Yes, sir.” They could hardly circumvent channels without the knowledge of the chief of police. “I think APA Reo could be useful, in the legal areas. She’s smart, and ambitious enough to keep the lid on until it’s time to take it off. I’ve used both Dr. Mira and Dr. Dimatto as medical experts thus far in the investigation. Their input could also be useful. I’ll need a warrant for records at the school and would like to take Feeney or his pick with me to go through data on-site.”
He nodded. “Consider this investigation as Code Blue status. Need-to-know only, full media block. Put your team together.” He glanced at his wrist unit. “Brief in twenty.”
14
SHE’D ALTERED HER APPEARANCE. SHE WAS GOOD at it. Over the past twelve years she’d been many people. And no one. Her credentials were impeccable—meticulously generated, flawlessly forged. They had to be.
Brookhollow Academy was red brick and ivy—no contemporary glass domes or steel towers, but dignity and blue-blooded tradition. It was expansive grounds, sturdy trees, lovely gardens, thriving orchards. There were tennis courts and an equestrian center, two of the sports deemed suitable for Brookhollow students. One of her classmates had won Olympic gold in dressage at the tender age of sixteen. Three years before she’d been sent away to marry a young British aristocrat as keen on horses as she.
They were created for a purpose, and they served that purpose. Still she’d been happy to go, Deena remembered. Most of them were.
Deena didn’t begrudge them their happiness, and would do all she could to protect the lives those like her had built.
But every war had its cost, and some might be exposed. Still more would finally, finally taste the freedom that had forever been denied them.
What of those who had resisted, or failed, or questioned?
What of them?
For them, and the others to come, she’d risk anything.
Here at the Academy, there were three swimming pools—two indoors—three science labs, a holo-room, two grand auditoriums, a theater complex that rivaled any on Broadway. It boasted a dojo and three fitness centers as well as a fully staffed clinic for healing and for teaching. Inside its walls was a media center