Chapter 3

By sheer chance Ben found out about Adam's sudden production of pulse rifles. The discovery of the WS Reaper and his discussions with Sarah raised questions about the potential impact on all of the communities on the planet.

He was pondering the idea of trying to contact the other twins to let them know what was happening and to let them consider what their own response would be to the possibility of being 'rescued' by Woden.

It made sense to check on things at the caves to see whether an approach to the group would be possible. Adam had been highly aggressive thirty years before after all and it just might not be possible to get him to talk.

It had been quite some time since he had used his metal nuggets to check on the twins in this way and he was amazed at the extent to which the mountainside had been mined to help accommodate the growing community.

He was 'wandering' through the tunnels, studying the various technologies that the community was now using when he heard Sarah speaking to him. He broke the link and his view immediately returned to his sitting room in the big house at Aetherkraal.

"What were you looking at, the Woden ship again?" Sarah asked.

"No. I was checking out the lie of the land with the other twins at the caves. I'm thinking it might be an idea to warn them about the Woden ship so that they can think about the things we were discussing the other day — you know, if they had the chance would they want to go to Woden or stay here. That kind of thing.

"We didn't exactly leave the caves on good terms though — did we? And I thought it would be an idea to try to assess the likelihood of Adam even considering talking to us."

"Yeah, I could see how that might be a problem. The last time we saw him he almost beat you to death. You know, I can see why you think it's reasonable to give them a warning, but I'm not sure I agree.

"We certainly don't owe Adam anything. It wasn't our fault that David took Lillian — as you said at the time, all we did was choose not to interfere. What Adam did amounted to extreme torture, so why should you be thinking about helping him now?"

"There's more than Adam to consider with this. Hannah, Elizabeth, Thomas and all the others that are part of their community now would be affected.

"I see that you haven't fully thought through the implications of what we've found out. Now, that's not like you at all! You're always the one that thinks of things that I don't, but this time I seem to have got there before you.

"If all of us were 'created' from the pilot Simeone's DNA then not only are you and I twins, but we're really two of a set of octuplets! Each of the other sets of twins are our brothers and sisters and that means that everyone that exists on this planet, every individual in each of the communities, is kin!"

Ben could see that Sarah hadn't thought of that yet. No doubt she would have, but this once he had worked something out before she had.

"But that's mind-blowing! Goodness, it makes my head hurt just thinking about it," Sarah exclaimed.

"Now do you see why I'm thinking the way I am? Can we really ignore the entire community at the caves — all of them related to us — just because of Adam?"

"I'm going to have to think about all of this a lot more. I still think you'd be crazy to approach Adam — he won't talk to you, I'd bet on that. Maybe we could 'talk' to Hannah and have her inform the others about the Woden ship? Anyway, do you want to get back to studying what's going on at the caves? I'd like to see how they're doing, as it's been years since we've done that."

Ben could see that feminine curiosity was getting the better of his mate and he laughed, but gestured for Sarah to join him on the sofa. They linked and he quickly took them back to the caves so they could wander around.

"Oh look, they've set up a medical facility," thought Sarah to her twin, "we haven't thought of that."

"When was the last time we needed a hospital?" Ben replied.

It was true. Their enhanced DNA meant that they were immune to illness and the main medical requirements were births and any accidents that happened. So far there had been no need for a dedicated medical facility.

"Okay, we haven't had a burning need for something like that so far, but as our tribe grows there will be. Even for the number of births that there will be — our mothers should have the best we can provide for them."

Ben knew when to cut his losses and he simply agreed that he would task some drones to building a facility as soon as possible.

The water twins wandered further and further through the tunnels in search of somebody they recognised. By chance, Adam was the first of the other twins that they 'bumped into'. He was hurrying along a tunnel, clearly a man on a mission.

Ben focused on following him and they ended up entering a cave that had an impressive array of replicators. Adam approached a man who seemed to be in charge of production and the twins listened in to their conversation.

"Michael, have all the men been given a pulse rifle?" asked Adam.

"I prioritised those and they were all done this morning and they've been given out," Michael replied.

"I've been thinking that it might be a good idea if we also produced some body armour for them to wear? You can never be too cautious don't you think?"

The man called Michael seemed to consider Adam's suggestion for a moment and Ben and Sarah guessed he was doing exactly the same as they were — searching his inherited memories to identify what body armour was.

"That sounds like a good idea. It won't take me long to produce what you need. Just let me finish ordering these components that Thomas wants and I'll get right on it," he replied eventually.

"What does he want with pulse rifles and body armour?" Ben asked his twin.

"I've absolutely no idea. It's strange though, why now? Adam has never bothered to produce weapons like this before, so why now? Do you think they already know about the Woden ship?" Sarah answered.

Ben thought about that. The Stellarites had already launched two satellites that he had had to deal with so they had the capability of discovering the space craft. Had they somehow launched another satellite and he had missed it? He knew that was something he was going to have to check out right away. If the Stellarites did have another satellite then he would need to disable it as quickly as possible.

"I'm going to break the link," Ben said, having gotten into the habit of warning his twin before he did that.

"What are you thinking?" Sarah asked.

"If they do know about the Woden ship then they must have launched another satellite. If that's the case then they might be able to use it to find out where we are and where David is. I need to check and do something about it."

Sarah watched as Ben zoned out again and she knew he was using his 'worldview' to immediately check for another satellite. His eyes blinked open again within minutes though.

"Nothing. Just the Woden ship and the two satellites that they've already launched. I checked the satellites in case they have somehow got them working again, but they're both disabled."

"How else could they have found out about the ship then?" Sarah asked.

"I've no idea, but I'll need to keep a closer eye on Adam from now on. When I'm tasking the drones to build your medical facility, I'll send a few to monitor what's going on at the caves too."

Adam was a man in a hurry. He had waited more than thirty years to deal with David and every minute that passed now was an irritation. The fact that the men he had chosen all had things they had to do before setting out couldn't be avoided however and he just had to live with his frustration.

In an effort to try to calm down, he walked outside the cave complex and wandered down the hill towards the lake and some of the farming operations he had responsibility for.

It was midway through the growing season and the prospering crops at least gave him some satisfaction. Pausing, he leaned on a fence post and looked out over a field of corn, watching the drones carrying out minor weeding.

A flash above his head drew his attention and he saw a drone crackling and giving of electrical sparks as it began to fall towards the ground.

"Must have malfunctioned," he thought, as he started walking towards where it now lay.

Another 'crack' turned his head and he saw yet another drone tumbling out of the air to land with a thud. It was quite unusual for a drone to break down like this and therefore highly unusual for it to happen to two so close together.

Adam reached the first of the damaged drones and bent down to look at it.

"DON'T TOUCH IT!" screamed a voice.

Adam backed off and turned to see who was shouting at him. He was surprised to see Thomas running towards him. Something serious must be going on if it made Thomas run he thought.

Thomas came to a halt beside him and fished a set of rubberised tongs out of the bag he was carrying. As Adam looked on, Thomas carefully picked up the drone and deposited it into the bag. Without a word he walked over to the second drone and did the same thing.

"What are you doing? How did you know something had happened to them?" Adam asked, his curiosity raised.

"They're not ours. I've been working on a little something with Fergus — something that tags all of our drones — and these two are definitely not ours," Thomas replied.

Adam was stunned.

"What do you mean?"

"It occurred to me that if we're using drones then so are the others. When Fergus told me how you managed to track down David and Lillian and then sent another drone to carry out surveillance — I wondered if maybe someone else was doing the same thing to us. So, I came up with a way of tagging our drones and these two are not ours."

"David?" Adam asked.

"I don't know yet, but I'm hoping I can examine them and find some clue. The programming might tell me something — even if it's only what they've been tasked to do."

"How long will that take you?" Adam asked.

"Shouldn't take long, these little things are not that complex. Want to come along and watch?" asked Thomas.

Adam nodded and the pair made their way back inside the caves and straight to Thomas's personal 'tinkering' room.

Thomas again used the tongs to carefully take the drones out of the bag and set them down on his work table. He nimbly attached a lead to one of the drones and began inputting commands to his computer using the touch screen.