Gen grabbed the bottle of liquor off the table and dropped into the nearest chair. His hand shook as he poured, and Gen cursed as the liquid splashed over the rim of his cup. He gulped down the contents, grimacing as it burned its way down his throat, and promptly refilled his cup. Gen didn't know what he had really expected to find out about the attacks on the vineyard and the Shakujou, but he certainly didn't expect to be told be might be a clone. And a clone of a member of the Imperial household, no less.
It was ridiculous, Gen decided. He drained the second cup and poured some more, pleased to see that his hand wasn't shaking nearly as bad as earlier.
Half the bottle was gone by the time the others returned, and Gen said nothing when Shaw took the bottle and poured a generous amount in his own cup. When Gadget walked behind his chair Gen felt the warm press of Gadget's hand on his back. It lingered there for a few seconds, and then Gadget gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze before he sat down at the table.
Kai pulled up a chair next to Gen. "I want to apologize, Gen," he said. "I tend to get caught up in the information I discover, and I was insensitive. I'm sure you must find this very overwhelming."
"You said 'memory overlap.'" Gen ignored the apology and stared at his cup. "What did you mean by that?"
"I think that your memories of the vineyard were intended to replace another, earlier set—your memories of the Imperial palace at Tenkigh, " Kai said. "But that original set seems to still be there in your mind, if only in fragments."
Gen gripped the cup tightly. "Look, I remember living at that vineyard. I can tell you all kinds of details about it. I remember the feel of things, the smell of things."
"Those memories are probably Komou's, from his own childhood," Kai said. "Tosengee doesn't exist any more; Komou's father sold the land over thirty years ago, and it was terraformed into a luxury resort. There is no possible way you could have lived there."
Gen took a long swallow of liquor. "Even if you're right, how does that make me a clone of the Empress' nephew?"
"Besides looking like an exact copy of the man, except without all the long, pretty hair?" Shaw said from the other side of the table.
"I didn't ask you, asshole."
"Fuck you, stowaway."
"Guys," Gadget said.
Kai set a large datapad on the table, and after he tapped a few buttons a series of segmented bars appeared on the pad's screen. "This is an image of the genetic sequence—a biological blueprint, shall we say—belonging to K'zen, Douji of Tenkigh."
"I'm not gonna ask how you got that," Shaw said.
"I wouldn't answer if you did," Kai replied. He slid a finger across the plasglas of the datapad, and a second image appeared below the first. "Gen, this second image is your genetic sequence, from the blood sample I took from you earlier."
They were identical.
"Shit," Gen said.
"This is just the beginning," Kai said. "There was news about the Douji this past week; it seems that Lord K'zen fell gravely ill after his birthday celebration—some sort of poisoning is suspected—and his condition is serious enough that he will only recover if he receives a blood transfusion. Since I had seen those reports, I noticed your resemblance to him as soon as you boarded my ship. But there's more."
"Of course there is," Gen said. The alcohol was dulling the edges of his shock and anger, and morbid curiosity was taking over.
"Watch your mouth," Shaw said.
"It's all right, Shaw," Kai said. "I can't begin to imagine what Gen is going through right now." He rotated his chair to face Gen. "I make my living from information. I collect it, examine it, and attempt to perceive how various pieces of information fit together. You, Gen, seem to be at the center of a very tangled intersection that I had already started researching. The reports of K'zen's illness came out earlier this week, and I also came across speculation that the Imperial physicians have been unable to locate a donor that shares K'zen's blood type." Kai touched the first image with his finger. "That tells me that the Empress' nephew has something unique to his physiology that makes a regular transfusion impossible."
He tapped the datapad, and a cluster of news reports appeared. "Also earlier this week, two laboratories that specialize in cloning development and research were destroyed by fire. These laboratories were on separate planets, and both had facilities for stasis storage."
"'Stasis storage'?" Gen asked.
"Places where clones are kept in a dormant state, on a form of life support until such time as they are needed for organ harvesting. If the Douji had been cloned, it makes sense that there would be more than one, and that they would be kept in that kind of storage. But you, for some reason, were not with the others in stasis."
Organ harvesting. Gen frowned at the liquid in his cup. He couldn't imagine Koumou taking part in something like that.
Kai tapped once more on the pad's surface. "One more thing happened earlier this week. There was a fire that destroyed the renowned Three Baskets Estate and Vineyard, and Komou Sanzen was among the dead—a man who once worked for the Empress as a genetic consultant."
Gen shook his head. "Komou didn't die in the fire," he said. "He was killed by a blaster shot." He told Kai about the conversation he'd overheard while hiding in the cargo pod.
Kai blinked at him, and then he reached over and touched Gen's arm. "You are very sure that you heard the name Litou?"
Gen nodded. "Yes, Litou and Uko were the names I heard. No surnames, though, so I don't know if they were talking about my father's friend Uko or not." Thinking about it, Gen realized he never had known Uko's surname.
"The coincidence is too great," Kai said. "Uko Neejan is still the Empress' science advisor, and Litou Tenn is the Chairman of the Imperial Council. Litou is a man of great ambition, and great cunning as well."
"Uko knew about me," Gen said. "Like I said before, he visited my father from time to time."
"That would explain the assassins' knowledge about you and your location. And, unfortunately, I think I can see where Litou would feel the need to kill Komou as well."
"This is bad," Shaw said. "This is very bad."
Kai finished his now-cold tea and filled his cup with the rest of the liquor. "I concur. Gentlemen, I think we may have just uncovered a plot to depose Empress K'nnon. Her political position would be greatly weakened if she lost her only blood heir, and it appears that these two men have been doing their best to see that Lord K'zen never recovers."
"Because if they kill off all his clones, he'll never be able to get the transfusion he needs, right? He'll die."
Gen looked at Gadget with some surprise; he had assumed that Gadget had remained silent because he didn't understand the complexities of the situation. But Gadget had clearly been paying attention.
"Yes, Gadget," Kai said.
"If Gen really is this guy's clone, we should take him to the Empress," Gadget said, and then he glanced at Gen and quickly added, "if that's okay with you."
"Tenkigh might be the safest place for you, Gen," Kai said.
Gen shrugged.
"All this is making my head hurt," Gadget said, and he reached for the liquor. "Hey, you guys drank it all," he complained, waving the empty bottle.
"There's more in the cabinet over there," Kai said. "Bring out a few more bottles, I think we deserve it. And bring out the cards while I lay in a course for the Imperial palace at Tenkigh—if I start the jump now we'll be there by mid morning tomorrow."
Shaw laughed and said, "No better time to play 'Oh Hell', right?"