Page 70 of Black Star

“But --” Nani’s brow furrowed in concentration, “-- why do it at all? And why harm two innocent children?”

“I didn’t,” Grimm replied, waving his hand. Nani was really beginning not to like the man. He seemed to be the type of person who enjoyed the challenges he’d undergone in that grim project. “Those two girls were clones. I built them around the chips.”

Dr. Zabin had apparently had enough. “You son of a bitch!” he roared, advancing on the other man until they stood nose to nose. “Did you intend to sacrifice them all along? Do you have any idea how dangerous it was to remove the chips? They both could have been killed!”

Pardell Grimm just looked at him, as if he could really care less about Darian’s outrage. “Then they’d have died by your hand. Not mine. I did what was necessary.”

The doctor’s face was a mask of contempt and rage. It was quite possible he’d have hit the other man had Damon not stepped smoothly between the two. “OK. Let’s everyone step back and try this again.” Damon spoke to both men, but looked squarely at Dr. Zabin. “Phoebe and Diamond are fine. You saved them. Focus on the problem.”

“There is no ‘problem’,” Grimm spat, his whole attitude changing yet again. “I saved this woman and her lover. That was the greater good! I may have harmed two in the process, but I saved two more.” He grinned evilly, looking like a wild beast. Even his sparse hair was mussed, looking as untamed as the man himself. “And Samair still has no clue he’s about to be exposed for the evil son of a bitch he really is.”

Damon just shook his head. Nani was sure her jaw was only a couple of inches from the floor. Was he serious?

“You’re kidding, right?” It was the only sentence she could form.

“Are you too stupid to understand what I just said?” He whipped his head in her direction, but deflated visibly when his eyes landed on her.

“They understood you just fine, Pardell.” Tyrelle Amos swaggered into the room, the picture of a man in control. “I told you to behave or I’d have to take you back to the ship early. You promised to retrieve the data for these people. Remember?”

This was it. Nani had had just about all she could take. “This man’s insane.”

“Yes. But you needed his information. Do you need him further?”

Nani turned to Dr. Zabin. “Do we?”

“How should I know?” Zabin threw his hands up in exasperation and stalked across the room. “I’m not a computer engineer. I can get the biological material out, but any data will have to be looked at by someone else.”

“No matter what, Doctor, you need to get Darian’s clone growing. You said there was limited time.”

“Are you going to take a chance the data isn’t on both chips?”

“I don’t even know what this ‘data’ is. Besides, Darian is more important than anything on that chip.” She leveled Dr. Zabin with what she hoped was a fierce, determined look. “Don’t delay any longer. Get this done. If there’s one thing that can be salvaged, it’s him.”

“Even at the expense of both our governments?” Damon asked quietly. “I agree we can’t sacrifice Darian, but he’d agree that the greater good has to come first.”

“You’re not listening, little man,” Grimm said in a singsong voice. “The data on both chips is identical. Let him get the DNA he needs and I’ll show you my little surprise on the other chip.” He grinned maniacally. Nani wanted to cringe and back away from the man but she held her ground.

Dr. Zabin nodded once -- apparently his decision made. “Here. See what you can come up with. Darian’s clone should be ready in three hours. That will make him approximately the same age as he was before. Just like you. After that, it will take me approximately ten hours to perform the procedure.”

“So we have plenty of time to pick through this.” Nani wasn’t sure she wanted anyone else to see anything she found. Not yet. “I’ll be in my cabin if anyone needs me.” She turned to Damon. “I’ll need as much computer power as you can provide me. The technology is twenty years old, but more than half the battle is finding something simple enough.”

He nodded at her. “Done. If you need anything else -- or anyone else -- all you have to do is say so.”

“Just see I’m not disturbed.” She took the chip from Mahat Zabin, gripped it tightly, and headed to her quarters. “Admiral, bring your man here and come with me.”

She had a lot of work to do in the next thirteen hours.

Chapter Eight

“Bloody hell!” Nani had never been more frustrated in her life. They’d been at it for hours and didn’t seem to be any closer to extracting whatever data Grimm had put on the chip than when they started. She was beginning to think he’d been lying all along. “There’s nothing there, Tyrelle. We’ve wasted hours!”

The only sound the admiral made was a grunt, though he looked as haggard as Nani felt. Pardell Grimm merely laughed merrily as if it were all a big joke.

“I know something you don’t know. Neener neener neeeeenerrrrr.” He’d been singing that phrase for hours now. The longer they worked, the louder he got.

Nani thumped her head on the desk where she worked. The computer screen flickered once as if in protest. “I’m not sure how much more I can take.”

Again, the admiral grunted but didn’t say anything.

---