Chapter Two

Proto Zoa leapt down from the kitchen counter and walked into the living room, running a hand through his hair. "It doesn't matter what you say, Zenon," he whispered. "I can't sweat minor about you being hurt, and now they want to clone you?"

He instantly set to pacing without fully understanding why, and he chewed his lip almost to the point of bleeding. He eventually picked up his notepad, turned to a blank page, and picked up a pen, with which he poured his soul onto the paper, but he didn't stop pacing, even as he wrote.

When he finished, he drew a small heart in the top right-hand corner of the page.

ZZZ

Zenon packed a few things and made her way down to the loading dock, where her silver pod was parked, and she hopped inside without a second thought and turned it on. She pulled out of the dock as carefully as she could manage and instantly set a course for Nova Linda, on Earth.

As she flew, her mind drifted back to the conversations she'd had a few hours prior. She sifted through what had been said to fully understand it all, and all she managed to understand was that Commander Plank wanted to experiment on her to see if a human clone could be made, and Proto Zoa, of all people, even Sage or Orion, came to her mind first.

It was true, what she told Zoa, about Sage and Orion, she realized. They didn't love her, and she'd been the other woman twice.

She wiped her eyes and forced herself to focus before she lost total control of the pod as it entered Earth's atmosphere. Go slow, she told herself. Take it shallow. She zigzagged through the air over South America, and gradually, the white speck of Nova Linda's roof came into view, and she smiled.

She pulled the pod into a safe landing position and began to find a suitable spot before she was twenty feet above Nova Linda, and when she did land and hop out, she noticed first that Proto Zoa leaned against the door frame and the back door was open. "You're early," he said.

"I needed to get away, and studying wasn't helping much."

"Of course. Textbooks are boring." They shared a laugh and Proto Zoa led Zenon into the living room. "Please tell me you at least got some sleep."

"Sleep was present minor."

"Well, then, if you're tired, there's a guest bedroom down that hall and to your left." He pointed to a hall on the far side of the living room. "First door."

"Zoa, I can't sleep."

"Why not?"

"My mind's busy major like you wouldn't believe." She collapsed on the sofa, burying her face in her hands and leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. "It's just, between the cloning thing and what you said a few hours ago-"

"I'm sorry."

Zenon instantly sat up, turning to stare at Proto Zoa, and an awkward silence descended upon Nova Linda. Proto Zoa looked around and fidgeted a little, and Zenon lowered her gaze, returning her face to her hands. "I'm...I mean...it's my fault, anyway. Sweat minor."

"I can't." He walked around the endtable and sat down next to her on the couch, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You're asking me to 'sweat minor', and you're asking the impossible."

"Sweating minor is easy, Zoa. You hear all the time about rock stars who want to and they take Moods, and even non-rock stars, too."

"You know I don't advocate drugs."

"Look, I just...Zoa..."

"Zee, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. I don't even know if it's wrong."

"How about you go get some sleep."

Zenon nodded, got to her feet, and walked over to the hall.

ZZZ

Lester's transmitter beeped in the middle of his show, but he pressed the button anyway. "Lester," he said.

"Randcaster, it's Plank. She hasn't made a decision yet," the commander replied.

"Well, do you want me to take drastic measures, or do you want me to wait until she decides? I can't wait forever."

"You know there are very strict rules about cloning, Randcaster. Breaking them is punishable by death."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, formalities. My talents give me that crap all day."

"I'm not losing the space station to foreign hands because of your foolish mistake, and I am most certainly not willing to be laser-shot because of it, either. I couldn't be clearer on my position, Randcaster."

"Then I'm guessing we've got differing opinions on this matter. We are now on opposite sides, are we not?"

"I'm just trying to be the ego to your id."

"I don't need a controlling force, Plank. I need Zenon's clone, and I'll get it done myself if I have to."

"This is foolishness, Randcaster. I won't stand for this."

"You will, even if I have to put you to sleep for good to see to that. I'm taking over."

"I'll hold a seance in a month to see how that works out for you." With that, Commander Plank hung up, and Lester was free to return to his show.