Wolves
Corruption

“So you've been on board my ship for a day now,” Captain Vaultbegan, twirling a glass of vodka in his hand as he leaned back in hischair. He and Traw were sitting in a private balcony that looked outover the main lobby. “How do you like it? You should know Ipersonally arranged for those quarters, and everything else involved.It wasn't easy, especially considering the GAM's budget these days. Istill have to replace something enjoyable for you to do, though. You'rea hard nut to crack.”

Traw grinned. Reflecting on the past couple days, he felt morerelaxed than he could recall feeling before. Yet he felt on edge, asif there was some task to be accomplished which he had neglected.“I'm a man of simple pleasures, Captain,” he told Vault aftertaking another swig of his whiskey. “If you can keep my familyhappy, you can keep me happy. And I appreciate what you've done.”

“You're quite welcome,” Vault granted, looking down at the lobbybelow.

There were a couple minutes of silence as they relaxed on thebalcony. Vault reached the bottom of his glass and snapped hisfinger, beckoning one of the two clones waiting in the hallway behindthem. The clone poured more vodka into the bottle, never making eyecontact with the captain. Sebastian noticed again that the clonelooked almost exactly like Twelve, his personal servant. The only wayhe could distinguish Twelve from the rest was that he wore a specialgray suit, signifying that he was a personal servant to someonesignificant.

“So on the way up from Sino, my servant mentioned something aboutthe GAM that made me think they were the government, rather than themilitary. Was it just how he said it, or do the Marines actuallycontrol the government?”

“Oh, no, he's quite right,” Vault assured. “When CommanderGeneral Venko came across the first Nektro probe, which turned out tobe a bomb that wiped out half his crew, the High Senate debatedwhether the threat was real or not. Certain senators thought theprobe was just malfunctioning, while others, along with Venko and hisassociates, were determined the Nektro had malicious intent. As themonths passed, these probe bombings became more frequent. They'd befound scattered across the galaxy, ripping apart warships so vesselby vessel, the navy was crippled. Radar couldn't detect them untilthey were brushing shoulders with the hulls of our ships.

“At this point the High Senate had come to a vote, and it wasdecided that the GAM be put into emergency power, with its head,Commander General Venko, in supreme command. And not a moment toolate. Three days after power was transferred to the GAM, the firstNektro armada was spotted. That's when a series of bombings became awar. That was almost nine years ago.”

“So the Prime Minister, the High Senators, the Praetors, theGovernors...what power do they have?”

“Aside from their own households, essentially nothing. Althoughwith you and your team members working for us now, I'd say we mighthave a shot at winning this war. The Commander General's going tomake you into his killing machines until Cordlow Industries sends inthe clone cavalry.”

“I don't want to be a killing machine,” Traw lashed quickly. Hegripped his bottle a little tighter.

“Whether you like it or not, that's your job description now,”Vault told him. There was a heaviness to his voice, like he toowished Traw could go back and rethink his decision. “And I've seenit a thousand times, though it's grim for each one.”

“Seen what?”

“The corruption. You think you're never gonna do something oneday, then you replace yourself doing it the next. What was onceunthinkable becomes second nature. If you aren't careful, it'llhappen to you too.”

“I know where I stand.”

Vault smirked. It was a grim smirk, like someone realizing he's beenshot. “That's what they all said.”

Louise stroked Sebastian's chest as they lied in bed that night. Theonly way to determine day from night was the digital clocks on thewalls, each of which was mounted with a small camera that wassupposed to be hidden. Sebastian noticed them anyways.

“This is our last night together,” Louise mentioned, resting herhead in Sebastian's shoulder.

“Yup. Let's enjoy it.”

Louise closed her eyes as Sebastian grazed his hand along her back.Neither of them knew what to say. They knew it was so pivotal totheir marriage, and yet they both were at a loss for words. “Do youlove me?” she asked, looking Sebastian in the eyes.

“Of course I do,” he replied, almost irritated in tone. “That'sa dumb question. What have I been doin' this whole time workin' mytail off on the farm and givin' you smooches every day when I gethome?”

“I know, just...say the words to me.”

“Alright...I love you.”

Louise let out a deep breath and smiled, as if some weight waslifted from her shoulders. “I wanted to hear you say it to me, inthis gorgeous place, right now. It just seemed perfect. Likesomethin' out of a book.”

There was a long, relaxed silence between the two weathered lovers.“Do you think Luella will be alright? She doesn't know I'm gonna begone for so long, but I'm wonderin' how long it'll take her torealize what's goin' on,” Sebastian asked his wife.

“I'll ease it to her over time,” Louise assured. “You'resupposed to be home a few times during the tour, right?”

“Yeah, it's just...”

“Just what?”

“I'm not sure. These folks seem like they're hidin' a lot from us.It makes me suspicious. There's a good chance they're listenin' rightnow. Which makes me think that they might not let me see you andLuella after all.”

“I'd punch my way to ya, all the way through the Nektro.”

“That works,” Sebastian grinned.

Twelve walked through the hallways, navigating his way to the foodcourt for his dinner. He only departed after he had assured the Trawfamily were all settled into their beds and safe. The hallways weremostly desolate, with the occasional officer or engineer pacing by.

As Twelve sat down to eat his bland, servant-class meal, two of thenight guards took notice of him. “Whaddya think, Fred?” one ofthem asked in a whisper, sneering.

“He's fresh meat, Bill,” Fred replied. “Nobody's here to helpthe poor mate. We can rough him up all we want.”

“Ain't got no Nektro to put our fists into. Sure won't rough upone of the other soldiers. He'll have to do,” Bill smirked, asinister thrill across his face.

Slinging their guns over their shoulders, the two night guards madetheir way toward Twelve, who was oblivious to their approach. Unawarethat they had drawn close, he found a black liquid dripping into hismashed potatoes from above. Twelve looked up to see Fred dumping thespare oil canister for his gun into Twelve's food. “Excuse me?”Twelve asked.

“That's my food,” Fred grumbled.

After pausing a moment, Twelve retorted, “This is my designatedmeal for the evening. Assuming you're posted on night watch, you'llreceive yours in three hours. What is your--” Twelve's face wasshoved onto his platter, instantly bruising it. Fred and Bill laughedwith malice.

Withholding his will for revenge, Twelve sat up straight and took upa napkin, wiping the food from his bruised face. He looked Fred inthe eye. The way Twelve looked at Fred told the night guard he boreserious power. “My master is Sebastian Traw, one of the most lethalfighters in the galaxy, hand picked by the GAM's highest authority. Iam his personal property: one of the most expensive pieces, in fact.Knowing you damaged me would probably not sit well with him. If youwish to harm me further...it will only come back to strike yousevenfold.”

“We'll see,” Fred sneered, the dauntlessness clear in his voice.Bill grabbed Twelve by the neck and threw him onto the floor. Fredjumped up over the table and onto the floor beside Bill. They bothstarted closing in on Twelve, whose back was to them as he lay on thefloor. As Fred reached to beat Twelve over, the clone lashed out andpulled down Fred's arm, sending him to the hard floor with adeafening smack. Immediately Bill lunged at the clone, but he flippedhim over beside his fellow guard, his face cracking against the steelfloor. A bloody tooth lay on the floor.

Twelve crouched between them and shoved their faces sideways to thefloor as he placed his feet on their hands. “With just nine moredegrees of rotation, I can snap both of your necks,” he informedthem in a voice of ice. “I move faster and stronger than either ofyou, registering enemy movements and responding more swiftly. If youtry to fight back, you will fail.”

Thenthere was a noise on their chests. Fred Carpenter and BillOltrom, a garbled voice shoutedfrom the communicators, where are you boys? You'resupposed to be patrolling the east wing, but the radar's showing youin the food court! You better come back to guard base in the nextthree minutes or you're both doin' latrine duty for a week!

“Goahead,” Twelve granted menacingly. His voice was calm: too calm tohave just slammed two men into the ground. “Be good soldiers.” Herose from the crouching position and walked away at a normal pace,bringing the food tray with him.

Fred and Bill looked at each other wide-eyed, then scrambled totheir feet and hurried back to the base. Bill dabbed up the bloodwith the hem of his uniform shirt and slipped his discarded toothinto his pocket. He licked the edge of his lips to hide the blood.“Don't tell anyone,” Fred told Bill in an ordering tone as theyjogged back. “I don't know how that goddamn clone was able to takeus both down, but I won't have any of the other boys knowing that wegot beat up by one of the servants.”

As Twelve was walking back to the Traws' quarters, one of thelieutenants stopped him with a simple hand motion. “Captain Vaultsummons you,” the lieutenant told him. Twelve, being a servant,said nothing in reply.

After a short journey through the decks, the lieutenant stopped atthe door to Vault's office and stood at attention. The door openedwith a swift mechanical noise to reveal a dimly lit room, with abroad window on the opposite end. Twelve entered, noticing CaptainVault sitting at his desk, watching a computer screen while his handrested on the edge of his chin. “Please, sit,” Vault beckoned,motioning to the chair on the other side of the desk. ObedientlyTwelve took a seat in the chair, straightening his back and placinghis hands on his lap, covering the spots of blood.

“Here in the GAM, we keep a lot of secrets. I would think that Iwas at least included in most of them, considering my rank. Andyet...there is one which I have evidently been left unaware of.”

“Clarify?” Twelve asked, his nervousness heightening, though heshowed none of it.

“Thesecret is you, Osiris Four. Yeah, I know your name: your realname. After seeing that littleincident at the food court fifteen minutes ago, I realized you're noordinary clone. In fact, clone wouldn't even be the appropriate wordfor you. I would say that 'prototype' fits better. I conducted someresearch into IRO's archives, which is not an easy task I might add,and I came across the file of you and four other prototypes fromCordlow Industries. Please explain, Osiris Four.”

“As you wish,” Twelve granted, prepared to jump from his seatand through the window if the situation turned sour enough. The fallwould certainly kill him, preventing anyone from prying informationout of him. “Cordlow Industries created five prototypes for theirnew military clones. I am one of them. Originally we were constructedfor purely scientific purposes: to be studied and recreated in massproduction. The GAM's chief of staff, who need not be named, hadanother purpose in mind for us. Each of us is assigned to the membersof the task force Commander General Venko assembled. As you know, Ihave been assigned to Sebastian Traw.”

“They wouldn't need protection, they're proficient killers,”Vault remarked, leaning back in his chair.

“They're not the ones who need protection,” Twelve corrected,ominous in his tone. “I am an agent of insurance: an ace in thehole. If I detect any foreplay to rebellion, I've been instructed toreport it to ied headquarters. And, if violence should take place, myorders are to neutralize Sebastian Traw permanently, along with hisfamily, eliminating all trace.”

“I'm not one to argue with top brass, let alone IRO,” Vaultconcluded, somewhat reluctant. “So I'll just let you be. There willbe a gap in the security tapes for the past hour.”

“Thank you, Captain.”