System security was the responsibility of Forward Admiral Rice. Her political push to have Jonas Valent located had crumbled when Regent Galactic threatened to add Freeground to its long list of enemies. The Admiralty was displeased and had to make an example of the Admiral and her associates. They pushed back and she was given a distant, although prestigious post on guard at the first colony settled by the Freeground nation.
The first significant structure built was a tall, needle like tower. Over one hundred thousand Freeground citizens were housed there while most of the outer townships were home to the prisons and work camps. The untamed wilds discovered in the newly named planet Dumuzi were filled with animals that reminded the populace of Earth's oxygen breathing creatures. The major difference between them and what was known from ancient Earth was how hardened the creatures of Dumuzi were after surviving the violent changes that had occurred over the recent centuries.
The planet had only begun recovering from a stage of wide scale volcanic development, and they had settled on the largest continent capable of supporting life. The short, squat terraforming structures sat on the coastlines, helping the excess carbon dioxide process into breathable air.
Before they had arrived they had discovered a jungle growing out of a surviving vegetative mass. Some time after initial landfall they discovered an entire food chain was fighting its way back from near extinction. With the help of the Lorander terraformers and Freeground workforce they expected the forested area to double in the next three months.
The view of the nearing forest's edge from the high Freedom Tower in the center of the smaller trio of towns was better every day. Farms were already growing a natural food supply and soon it would be more efficient to eat what was cultivated rather than materialized meals.
None of these things were at the forefront of Admiral Rice's mind as she walked through the green and white hallway of the Freedom Tower restricted areas. There were a few things she had to check on, and she saved the best for last.
She waited patiently as the security system for the Freedom Tower Special Projects laboratory scanned her on a molecular level. After a moment the door opened and she walked through, making sure that it closed right behind her.
“Welcome back Admiral,” Doctor Anderson said as he examined detailed cellular holograms above a long white table. “Come to see how she's doing?”
“Why else would I make the journey. My shuttle was in orbital gridlock for three hours.”
“What's another three hours after five years?” He said with a shrug, knowing that finding even the barest thread of humour in her had been next to impossible for years. The Admiral, as he called her these days, had gone emotionally bankrupt long ago as far as he was concerned. His holodisplay shut down with a button stroke and he closed the vertical blinds.
Admiral Rice waited patiently in front of a display wall. In earlier days it was covered in genetic information, works in progress that all had critical deadlines. As she looked at it there was only the mysterious electrochemical matrix of a human brain, the careful conduction of guided memory to form the full realization of a naturally formed personality, or the nearest facsimile anyone could have dreamed possible.
Doctor Anderson walked to the side of the large display board, stretching two and a half meters tall and four meters across. “That's mostly for decoration now. The memories are all in place, even adjusted muscle memories, which were the hardest part.”
“I know Doctor,” the Admiral said impatiently.
“On with the show then,” he said to himself quietly as he entered the code to draw the two dimentional display aside.
Behind it was a transparent artificial womb. Within it's synthetic flesh was a blonde woman, a little too short, not of the desired social weight but still well proportioned in a fetal position. She was fully grown, to see her anywhere else someone would think she was just another early to mid twenties woman.
“She looks so much like her great grandmother,” Admiral Rice said in awe, walking up to the soft outer layer and putting her hand on it. The occupant turned towards the ripple in her protective home. “Does she know I'm here?”
“She's unconsciously aware of everything around her. I talk to her constantly and sleep in the lab most nights. She prefers Wagner and she very nearly dances when I play Magic Fire Music from Die Walkure.”
“I should have recorded my voice for her.”
“I tried to tell you,” Doctor Anderson said quietly.
The Admiral gave him a dark look. “What does it matter, when she wakes she'll remember everything Ayan did right up to five years ago.”
“You mean right up until you gave up on your only daughter.”
“Don't you dare-”
“When you brought me onto this project you gave away all your power. If anything about this were to slip out to the Admiralty they'd have your head. I'm just here following orders.”
“But you wouldn't do that, she's as much your child as she is mine.”
“I'll do anything to protect her, but only because I know if Ayan had a choice to be born without any genetic meddling that's the road she would have taken. If you'd have been brave enough to show her what you were doing with the scan you had made of her, she would have applauded it. This isn't a clone as you originally requested, this is what should have been,” his words were clear and loud enough, but they were spoken gently for the benefit of his captive audience.
“So you've managed to eliminate all the imperfections?”
Doctor Anderson laughed quietly and nodded. “What I consider imperfections. The genetic modifications are gone. Everything from the enhanced physical aptitudes to her adjusted phenomenal balance to the one that ensured she'd have red hair. What's left is the code as it should have been. No growth therapy or acceleration was used either.”
“Is she ready?”
“Not quite. She's still experiencing the last of the memories in the scan, Jason and Laura's wedding.”
“I wouldn't have chosen that as her last.”
“Because Laura and Jason are both missing? Written off by the military? I was at that wedding, it was a great time. There were so many friends there, a lot of them from the First Light. Her toast as the maid of honour was fantastic, you could barely tell she was ill.”
Admiral Rice sighed as she looked at the young woman. “I wish we could have taken the bad times away. If only we could have scanned her before the Sunspire. ”
“Just like she needs someone here so she can listen to someone else's heart, hear their voice and experience the world through a filter of a womb to have a good subconscious foundation to work from and a starting point of well being, she needs those negative experiences for a complete personality. Without hardship we don't appreciate good times or know how to deal with life when things are less than ideal.”
“I know, Doctor. What will the birth be like?”
“Well, since there's no point in putting her through a simulated natural birthing experience, we'll be waking her up once she's out of the chamber and clean. I've had an apartment prepared and one of us can tell her what's happened,” Doctor Anderson said quietly as he walked from the control board to Ayan herself and put his hand on her knee. “Do you want to be the first person she sees?”
Admiral Rice looked at the second inception of her daughter for a long moment. Her curled long hair was kept out of her face using mild fluid control so she could see her innocent heart shaped visage. She was so afraid of who this young woman would be, what would become of her. There would be no sickness, no guilt over genetic modifications she'd ordered for her daughter. Hopefully just the opposite. The guilt over the first Ayan gripped her, filled her with fear when she tried to think about what she would do differently given a second chance. “You should explain it to her. We weren't close five years ago.”
“All right,” he said softly. “But only if you're certain. Waking her up yourself and explaining things could be a good way to start things in the right direction.”
Admiral Rice shook her head; “I don't know what I'd say. Besides, coming from you it would be less of a shock.”
“All right, just keep it in mind.”
“Does she have dimples?” Admiral Rice asked, looking more closely. Her daughter was smiling at some unknowable experience.
“Yes, and she'll have a little acne and probably need to exercise more than before to keep in the shape she's used to or take fitness medication.”
“You couldn't keep any modifications?”
“I told you, nothing. If she's going to have another chance without any disorders everything had to be reverted to her ancestrally developed genetic makeup. I had to go back centuries for a reference point. Standard modifications like anti-ageing, disease fortification and chemical balancing can be added later, it's up to her. When she wakes up she may not feel the same, that's a foregone conclusion, in fact she should feel much better,” he looked at the young woman through the many gelatinous layers of the artificial womb and smiled. “Ayan will have the chance at life she deserved.”
“She was so beautiful before.”
“So much more now,” he stepped back, inviting her to do the same and closed the chamber off. “Is it true that Ayan stole the Silkstream Four?”
Admiral Rice looked at him unknowing for a moment, then realized he was talking about her original daughter, the first Ayan. “Yes, her and Laura. They're off to find Jonas.”
“From what my connections tell me they'll find him. His home port is public. We should have had a message sent weeks ago.”
“I tried everything I could to help her find him.”
“If that were the case it would have happened a long time ago.”
“You have no right to accuse me-”
“I have every right. You abandoned her when you saw a better option come along. I should have tried to delay this project until Ayan, the Ayan that matters right now, had passed on. You should be at her side, even if it takes you across the galaxy. Instead you wrote her off and started over.”
“There was nothing I could do,” Admiral Rice said helplessly.
“Bullshit! Even with that tactical computer they stole Ayan's dead by now. Where are you? You're standing beside a replacement, not even taking the time to mourn. Your daughter is dead, dead and you have no idea where she lived her last moments, how she was feeling or who, if anyone, was watching over her!”
Admiral Rice just stared at him, her wide eyes tearing up.
He went on, stepping to within just a meter of her. “Do you know why I really took this project on? Because I knew this would happen! I knew that days before this young woman's birth you'd stand there criticizing what you consider flaws, picking at perceived imperfections. Look at her! Just look! She's a perfectly healthy woman and when she feels comfortable in her skin she'll be charming, unique, intelligent and possess all the skills and personality traits she valued. If she wants any permanent genetic modifications made when she's able to decide for herself they'll work much better than they would on any of us. Why? Because you allowed me to strip away all the extras and modifications, revert her genetic code back to what nature intended. There will be no complications, no strange diseases or mutations to consider. She will be everything she's meant to be in this second chance. That's everything we want our children to start with. Now go, mourn your daughter somewhere where people aren't saluting you, where no one knows who you are. I'll be here making sure this young woman's entry into this universe is as it should be. She'll know where she comes from. Eventually, when she asks, I'll even tell her what happened to the first-”
“No,” Admiral Rice croaked.
“Damn right she'll know! All the while she'll have someone who'll do anything to make sure she has the opportunity to be her own person, just as Ayan should have! You're not the only one who feels guilty about Ayan being left alone, I should have been her trusted friend just as much as you should have stayed at her side. Instead I was on an unmarked ship inside a wormhole designed to compress time so her body could have thirty years to mature inside the altered space while four years passed outside of it. The only real difference between you and I is that you ordered all this out of guilt and I did it out of love, because I know your daughter would want this.”
“I'll shut the project down.”
“You know you don't mean that.”
Admiral Rice regained a little of her composure and glared at Doctor Anderson. “Until she opens her eyes she's just a piece of meat. I can pull the plug any time,” she whispered harshly.
Doctor Anderson just stared at her, searching her face for the woman he'd known and loved as a close friend years before. She simply wasn't there. “I believe you,” he whispered as he stepped back and turned to his holographic work table.
She watched him, knowing she'd crossed a line that changed everything. He couldn't even look at her, what she'd said hurt him more than she could have ever expected.
“I'll contact you if there are any changes,” Doctor Anderson said quietly, it was almost a whisper.
Admiral Rice turned on her heel and left the room.
Doctor Anderson sighed. “Thank God the chamber was closed. The last thing you need is an environment where people are yelling at each other,” he turned and opened the wall concealing the artificial womb. “You'll have a good future ahead of you if I have anything to say about it, and you'll be free. The forms declaring you an independent sentient are already processing. By the time you're born she won't be able to do anything to you,” he whispered gently, looking at the sleeping face of his charge. He chuckled. “You know, I was pretty sure this would happen when you were just a few cells. Getting attached was something I accepted when your genes sequenced in a match to their natural state for the first time. I get the feeling that, even though I'll offer you everything a father should, you'll be travelling between the stars before I'm ready to see you go. All I can do is make sure you get the start you deserve.”
He punched his clearance code into his personal command unit and opened a communications link to an old friend.
“Doctor Anderson, it's been a while since we've had a face to face!” said the cheery fellow on the other end. “I got your burst. That's an interesting hypothetical situation you brought up.”
“Hello Peter, how is Fleet Intelligence treating you?”
“Good, good. So what's this I hear about you processing clone rights forms?”
“I'll be honest. I'm doing damage control here and I need help. Admiral Rice is threatening to cancel a sensitive project that involves some of her daughter's genetic material,” he said, continuing in a gentle tone.
“How far along are we talking?”
“I'm being honest and forthcoming with you here, Pete, it's important this doesn't get out the wrong way.”
“We've known each other a long time, I'll keep it under wraps until it's safe to shed light on whatever this is.”
Doctor Anderson sent Peter a holographic image of Ayan in the artificial womb.
He took a moment to look at it and his eyes went wide. “Is that who I think it is?”
“In a way. I've managed to create a perfect generation of her with no genetic modifications. She's been created from base historical genetic code. I used the new age modification and memory implementation technology we acquired a few years ago.”
“Admiral Rice might shut you down? Now? That's her daughter in there for all intents and purposes. When will you be birthing her?”
“Next week, sooner if there are no signs of neural fatigue. I don't want her mother within ten light years of here when it happens. In fact, I don't want her to see Ayan until she decides she's ready to meet with her mother.”
“You know I can do that for you, but it'll be political war. Admiral Rice still has friends here, and outside of dealings with Regent Galactic or Jonas Valent, she has a lot of power. Just getting her reassigned again-”
“I know, I'm asking a lot. You know me Pete, I wouldn't even mention it if it weren't life or death.”
Peter thought quietly while looking at the hologram of the young woman then nodded. “I'll get my staff on it now. We'll have to vilify Admiral Rice to justify access restriction and reassignment. There's no way back on this once it's done.”
“There's been a lot of that going around. I'm sending you a classified security clip from just a few minutes ago that should take care of vilification,” he selected and forwarded Admiral Rice threatening to pull the plug then went on. “Thank you Peter. This makes us more than even.”
“You know it. Just make sure this young lady knows how many people helped her get her freedom, and that she deserves it.”
“Knowing Ayan, she'll thank every one of you in person.”
“I bet she would. You know she's going to be popular, right Doc? The only human alive without genetic enhancements. Who knew we'd have to take a thousand steps backwards to take a meaningful step forward.”
“I did.”
“And that's why my kids grew up with you as their family doctor,” Peter laughed. “Well, I'm not sleeping tonight, I'll start working on this right away. Admiral Rice won't be able to so much as set foot in Freedom Tower by morning.”
“Thank you again,” Doctor Anderson smiled. The communication closed and he started the Summer movement of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. “Just because you favour Wagner doesn't mean you shouldn't experience other composers,” he said to her quietly.
Ayan shifted in her peaceful chamber, moving her head closer to the sound.
Anderson smiled and looked at her closed eyes. “You have a long, interesting life ahead of you. I can't wait to meet you again.”