Chapter Six – Against the Wall

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There are so many euphemisms in war, most of them sinister. Don't believe me? Try watching the HNN sometime. Traffic interdiction operations. Collateral damage. Acceptable losses. Strategic victories. Negative patient outcomes. Reconditioning. It's a whole other form of Basic and not one I care to become familiar with.

Bureaucrats think that if they use one of their softly softly phrases, you won't mind when they strap you down and give you that last lethal hypo. That'll be me in a few days.

I am Essix. Experimental Clone Unit S-5-6, Chief Aide of Kaliida Shoals Medical Centre, and let me tell you—I mind!

It won't make a difference though—it never does. As a matter of fa

—Final entry from S-5-6's personal records.

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Confined to his quarters, Essix was going slowly mad from boredom and dread.

He'd tried working out in a bid to use up his nervous energy, but all he'd succeeded in doing was making himself sweaty and giving himself sore muscles. Even his desk had deactivated partway through an entry in his personal records. He had no link to the outside world, no idea what was going on. He was locked in a room with absolutely nothing to do, but sit and wait to be shuttled down to Tipoca City, a nerf to the slaughter. He punched a wall in frustration. No mark—he obviously hadn't punched hard enough. His hand protested a second later and he winced, sucking on a skinned knuckle in a bid to alleviate the sting.

A small part of him, a very small part, was relieved. No more hiding behind a fake number, no more reminding himself to respond to CT-8023, no constant niggling fear that he would one day be found out and dragged back to Tipoca City. That ship had well and truly jumped to hyperspace. The initial terror of discovery had morphed into anger and frustration.

Yes, he'd disobeyed orders, following the spirit rather than the letter of the med centre's directive, but the GAR was probably better off for it—not that Kamino seemed to agree. He wondered what they'd think of the statistics, after all, the stats that they'd seen up until now had been 'creatively applied figures' as Nala Se had put it. They'd had to have been, otherwise an Auditor would've shown up a long time ago.

The worst bit of it wasn't knowing he was going back to Kamino. Back to a short existence filled with poking, prodding and painfully intrusive tissue samples, but knowing that Madame Se was also going to be processed as well, his efforts to save her had been in vain. Surely if he made a case for how efficient she was, even the Kaminoans would listen? After all, Sek Nor was hardly your typical Kaminoan. Essix didn't know why but the Auditor always gave him the impression of someone that kept a very tight rein on his emotions and reactions, afraid to slip up. He knew that look; he saw it every day with Madame Se. They had to listen, they just had to!

But what if they didn't? He clenched his fists unthinkingly and winced as bruised muscles complained. Essix paced, a caged nexu, willing his brain into action. He had to have a Plan B. He always had a Plan B. Perhaps if Kamino wouldn't listen, the Republic would.

Essix had met more than one Republic representative during his time at Kaliida Shoals: Admiral Yularen and Jedi High General Kenobi were the most notable personages. Those two had been there during the commissioning ceremony of Kaliida Shoals. Both men had impressed him with their attention to detail and the way they treated all personnel—clone and non-clone—equally. They'd listened to his opinions and advice, rather than ignoring him as some civilians had done. In fact, they'd been here not that long ago to collect the bulk of the men from the 501st and 212th that had been injured in the recent fighting on Christophsis and were ready to return to service. General Kenobi in particular had been most effusive in his thanks for the work that Nala Se and her team had done.

Essix had been intrigued to see how friendly General Kenobi had been, not only to the Clone Marshall Commander that had been assigned to him, but also to the men of the 501st and 212th that were re-joining the unit. Perhaps he would help? Essix could give a copy of the station's true statistics to Nala Se to take to Kamino. It might just help her to argue her case. If he could just get another copy to someone sympathetic in the Republic, Kenobi or Yularen, Essix was sure that the Jedi would at least listen. Essix wasn't quite sure what General Kenobi could do, but it gave him something to do other than try and make holes in the walls or wear out the floor.

He had just finished copying the precious data, complete with embedded security tags so that there would be no doubt of efficiency, when he heard voices outside his quarters. It must be time for him to go. No, I'm not ready! He was still clutching the two precious datachips when the door to his quarters hissed open. Essix squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

I guess it's time then. I only wish…

When Dale entered Essix's quarters-turned-prison, he thought that the other man was going to pass out. Essix was pale, head bowed, and Dale noticed lines around Essix's eyes and mouth that he was sure weren't there before today.

"Essix."

Essix's head flew up and he sagged when he recognised Dale.

"Dale?" He sounded like he couldn't believe his eyes.

"In the flesh."

"What are you doing here?"

"Rumours. Well, more like official explanations not adding up," Dale confessed. Essix's shock seemed to have eased and now he looked… amused. Dale got defensive. "Hey, you are the one always telling me to question things and saying I needed to look at the bigger picture."

Essix chuckled, but Dale thought it sounded forced, harsh. "That I did." He waved towards the end of the bed and Dale took a seat, glad he didn't have to shift from foot to foot anymore. "That I did," Essix repeated as he sat in his desk chair. "So what's the official story?" Essix asked.

"Well officially you're being transferred, sent to Kamino for extra training prior to reassignment." Dale rolled his eyes to show what he thought of that.

This time Essix's chuckle was less forced. "I'm impressed. They're getting creative—I'd expect a line like that from a human, not a Kaminoan."

His instincts had proven right. Dale grinned. "So what's the, ah, un-official story then?"

"Which one?"

"There's more than one?"

Essix sighed, making Dale's instincts twitch. "Both have the same ending so I suppose it doesn't really matter."

"So…?"

"The Auditor noticed that our patients have been staying here longer than their charts would otherwise indicate. I'm being done for dereliction of duty."

Dale felt ill. Had he failed somewhere? Forgotten something vital? Did Essix blame him? "Essix, I'm sorry. I did everything you said, I kept Jud away from him. I—"

Essix leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. "It wasn't you. He must've gone snooping on his own time—there's nothing you could've done. That Kaminoan is unfortunately very thorough in his job. In fact…" He paused to eye Dale. "How did you get in here? I thought there were guards on the door?"

"There are." Dale's grin was more than a bit smug. "I got a bit creative with the truth and claimed that we had a meeting about important paperwork that needed to be signed off by you and only you. Amoki and Vogel were once patients; they know you're on their side."

Essix smiled faintly. "Very well done."

"Enough of that. Is there anything I can do? Anything I can help with for your court-martial?" Dale asked, anxious to get this farce of a court-martial over so that things could go back to normal.

Something flickered over Essix's face and was gone before Dale could identify it, leaving sad resignation in its place. He held up a datachip that had been sitting on the desk. "Get this to Madame Se for me."

Dale took the tiny chip from Essix, turning it over in his fingers. "What is it?"

"The proper statistics on the med centre's reconditioning and casualty figures—data which isn't on the central computer. Madame Se will need it for her defence."

Ah. There was a plan. Dale felt reassured. He nodded towards the desk where a second datachip was sitting, a black square of darkness in the white room. "That's yours, I take it?"

"No. That one is for Jedi High General Kenobi. I just haven't figured out how to get it to him."

"I can take care of that," Dale volunteered. "I have a friend aboard the Resolute."

Essix handed over the other datachip and Dale tucked it away in a belt pouch.

"You've got a copy for your defence?"

"That won't be necessary."

"Won't be necessary?" Dale echoed, sure he wasn't hearing things right. "Essix, I know you're brilliant at your job, but the panel at your court-martial might take a bit more convincing. You're going to need that data."

"I don't plan to contest the charges."

"What!" Dale spluttered. "What?"

Essix didn't reply. He just sat there calmly, giving away none of his feelings.

"Do you know what happens to you for dereliction of duty?" Dale demanded. "Do you know what they could do to you?"

Essix's face was as impenetrable as stone, but Dale thought he saw a flicker of fear in Essix's eyes and the tightening of his jaw. "Better than most. I won't be walking away from this, Dale. The Auditor will be returning to Kamino and I…, I will be going with him. The Administrator needs that data."

"You need it more!"

Essix shook his head and Dale was swamped by a desire to punch the other man. To do something, anything, to break through that passive mask. All that talk of defiance and thinking outside the box and now Essix was going to throw away his life for a Kaminoan.

"She's one of them, Essix! They're hardly going to recondition her."

"Yes… they are."

"Oh." Suddenly it all made sense. For reasons that Dale had never really grasped, Essix and the Administrator were friends; even socialising outside their shifts. The Administrator had but to hint she needed him and Essix was there, patient and obedient. Dale didn't like it—Kaminoans and clones shouldn't be friendly, but he'd tried to ignore it and Essix had never volunteered information. It was one of the few subjects that they avoided at the dejarik table. If the Administrator was in trouble, Essix would not rest until she was safe.

"Fine," Dale said, voice taut.

Essix smiled—really smiled—for the first time. "Thanks, Dale."

Dale ignored his friend's good cheer. "Aren't you going to lift a finger to help yourself? What happened to the man who didn't like his options when Kamino told him to kill his brothers, so he made a third? Where is he now, huh?"

Essix faltered and then he was gone, pulling on that bland face he always wore when dealing with Kaminoan staff members. Dale recoiled as though he'd been slapped. He wasn't trusted. His hurt must've shown on his face because Essix's veneer of calm cracked, held for a moment, and then dissolved. He rested his face in his hands, hunched over in his chair. "They know, Dale," he whispered in a small voice. "They found out and I've nowhere to run."

For the first time, Dale realised just how scared his friend was behind the blank mask. However all these cryptic remarks were starting to irritate him no end. He felt like grabbing Essix and shaking the answers out of him. "Know what?"

"ECU S-5-6."

"What?"

"That's my number."

"Your what?" In his confusion, Dale found himself again parroting back Essix's words. "Aren't you CT—"

"No."

In his time at the med centre, Dale had seen CT's and CC's by the bucket load and even a few RC's and ARC's, but ECU's? S's? "So what's it stand for then?" he asked, trying to buy himself time so he could process what Essix had just said.

"Experimental Clone Unit, study S5, unit 6."

Experimental? "What, like the RC's?"

"No. One of my podmates who sliced the database found that my study, S, aimed to investigate how different learning environments affected gene expression and methylation. My pod had a, um, unconventional upbringing. You had droid caregivers and the occasional Kaminoan when you were a cadet, right?" Dale nodded and Essix continued: "My pod didn't: all Kaminoan. By the time the RC's started training, we'd already been panned. Too individual and bonded too much with the technicians. Totally unsuitable for combat." Essix looked away. "All of my podmates have either been reconditioned or used for other experiments. There's only one left and well, he's never been the same since Ko Sai got her paws on him. The researchers on Tipoca are probably going to be very keen to meet me." Essix was grim.

Dale was struggling to take it all in. Alternative learning? Experimental studies? Whole pods of clones he'd never even heard of! Part of him wanted to run away, pretend he'd never heard anything and that he'd never been friends with an experimental unit. But that was just a hold-over from living in Tipoca's Military Complex, where KE-8 Enforcers were always hovering overhead looking for defective clones and where friends of defectives were considered tainted by association. It didn't make for a very trusting environment. He needed to say something, let Essix know he was still his friend and he was going to stand by him. Dale opened his mouth, but there was a rap at the door.

The door panel slid open and Vogel was standing there. "Come on, Medic. Time's up."

"We're not done yet," Dale protested.

Vogel didn't budge. "Yes, you are. You shouldn't even be in here, Medic. We gave you some time, but it's our necks if you get caught. Now out."

"Go on, Dale," Essix said.

"But, sir!"

"Don't," Essix warned. He looked past Dale to Vogel. "Trooper, Medic Dale is finished here. Please remove him from my quarters."

"Yes, sir." Vogel saluted.

Dale found himself promptly ejected from Essix's room, staring at the locked door. A hand on his shoulder made him start, but he realised it was just Vogel who was looking at him.

"I'm sorry about Chief Aide Essix, Medic," Vogel said in his gruff voice. "But you really need to get out of here before the Auditor decides you need to be put in a holding cell too."

"Thanks for the advice." Dale turned and walked away through the cold and sterile corridors of Kaliida Shoals.

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed today's chapter.