Personal Log 24: 20th - 26th July, 3301
14 Sep 2016Jemine Caesar
20th - 26th July, 3301 (Part 1)I was half-way through a Mars Mocha when my dataslate beeped an incoming message from Sam. "High Hoop!" I answered cheerily. ('High Hoop' is a form of greeting Sam had taught me. At least, I thought that's what he was saying.)
"Jem," he said, "I've been asked to help the Federal Investigation Service with a rather disturbing case. I'm to report to Admiral Remi's office on Mars High for a briefing at 2100 GST. Now, prepare yourself for a shock, Jem. It appears that a set of clones was created using DNA obtained from the children on John Graham's Harem list."
Shock was an understatement. "Clones? Is Bekka among them?"
"Yes, she is" replied Sam, adding, "Well, a clone version of her, at least. The investigation is being coordinated by Admiral Georges Remi. The admiral is an old family friend, which explains my involvement with the case. And, since you have something of a vested interest, I was wondering whether you'd want to join me."
I didn't hesitate to say yes. Besides, I had to return to Sol anyway. Federal Security weren't happy with me because I had missed reporting to station security at Procyon. I left Groombridge 1618 for Sol and, after first checking in with Mars High station security and meeting up with Sam, we made our way to the Admiral's office.
"Bonjour, mademoiselle," said the admiral as I entered. "Let us get straight to the business. We have received intel saying that twenty-five cloned humans were recently in a research facility at Bhritzameno."
The admiral explained that Sam and I were to go to Bhritzameno's Feynman Terminal, posing as health and safety inspectors. All we had to do was ask questions and observe, then report our findings. As the admiral began to go into more detail, my dataslate beeped a text-only message alert.
I read the message out loud; "You're in trouble now". The admiral quickly ordered a trace on the message, and minutes later a naval officer named Kowalski came in with the result.
"Sir," said Kowalski, "we've managed to trace the message back to an office in New York City, Earth. The office belongs to JG Industries."
The briefing ended. Sam and I went to the room he had booked for us, and we made love. The mood was interrupted by another text-message on my dataslate.
"Sam," I said, "listen to this, It says "I know what you did". Oh, Sam, someone must have seen me kill John!"
Next day, Sam took on a delivery job to Barnard's Star. He felt bad about leaving me behind at Sol, but I had been ordered not to leave the system.
He called me by k-cast as I was having breakfast. "Hey Jem," he said. "I've been helping out my grandfather at The George, and guess what? Cassandra Lee came in with some friends."
Cassandra Lee was the first name on John's Harem list.
"I knew it was her," Sam explained, "when I saw her name on her credpad. We had a brief chat about Jon. She opened up when I mentioned you."
Sam also told me Admiral Remi had revealed that a sample of NTUP virus had been stolen from the Bhritzameno facility two days before John met Cassandra. "And," he continued, "I've obtained a re-fertilisation treatment from the NTUP Foundation. It's available for you to use, whenever you feel ready."
My dataslate beeped. "Sam," I said. "It's another message! This one says, "The time has come. Shakespeare Garden, Central Park, New York City, 8am local. Come alone". Oh Sam! I have to go. I know it's a big risk, but it might be my chance to find some answers. I have a good feeling about it. Call it women's intuition."
I checked the schedules for the starport shuttle, and found that I'd be able to ride down to JFK NYC spaceport and reach Central Park with a little time to spare.
"Well, be careful," Sam pleaded, adding, "I love you."