Flood Rising (Jenna Flood #1)

Jenna nodded. “I learned all about him in biology. Mendel figured out the principles of heredity, and how traits are passed from one generation to the next. We know a lot more about it now. Mendel lived a hundred and fifty years ago. He didn’t know anything about DNA.”


“Lysenko thought Mendel was wrong, and that the genetic traits could be influenced by the environment. The short version of the story is that Lysenko’s ideas were hogwash, and by the 1960s, the Soviets were in a big hurry to make up lost ground, especially in the area of genetic research.”

“That’s what they were doing at the place where Noah found me. It was in Cuba, right?”

Cort regarded her through narrowed eyes. “Did he tell you that, or did you figure it out for yourself?”

“A little of both.” She returned his appraising stare. “Okay, so the Russians were doing genetic research, and someone decided it had to be stopped. Destroy the place and kill everyone, right? Only Noah didn’t count on finding me. He couldn’t bring himself to murder a child, but he didn’t dare tell anyone that he’d disobeyed orders. So, he quit. No, he didn’t just quit. He changed his name and dropped off the grid so that you people would never find me. That’s what happened, isn’t it?”

“Well done. But you’re wrong about one thing. We always knew what your father…” Another hint of laughter. “What Noah had done. He couldn’t hide from us, but he wasn’t a threat, and neither were you. Until now.” Cort returned his attention to the computer long enough to tap in a few more commands. “That facility was conducting a particularly dangerous type of research. They had already let the genie out of the bottle, and we knew we’d have only one chance to put it back in.”

“Bioweapons?” Jenna shook her head in disbelief at the evident hypocrisy. “You as much as admitted that the US engineered the SARS outbreak.”

“Who said anything about bioweapons?” Cort smiled like a magician showing the audience his empty hat. “But speaking of SARS, we’ve tracked down the source of the outbreak. A sample of the virus was discovered missing from a CDC facility in Atlanta. One of the scientists doing research there—a Dr. Kelli Foster—recently traveled to China. Her whereabouts are presently unknown.” Cort pointed at the screen. “That is Kelli Foster.”

The display showed an unflattering mug-shot style photo—taken for an official identification card or perhaps a driver’s license—of a woman in her mid-twenties. The woman had dark hair and an olive complexion that hinted at an exotic ancestry.

Jenna gaped in astonishment. But for ten more pounds and as many years, Kelli Foster might have been her own twin sister.

The image disappeared and another took its place.

“This is Jarrod Chu. He’s a special agent in the FBI cybercrime division. He practically wrote the book on how to fight hackers. If anyone could tell us how to fight this latest attack, it’s Chu. Unfortunately, he’s also missing. I think you can see why we’re very interested in finding Mr. Chu.”

Jenna stared at the ID card picture. Chu might have been thirty, possibly Eurasian if his name was any indication, with neatly trimmed black hair. There was nothing androgynous about his features, but the resemblance to both Kelli Foster and Jenna herself was unmistakable.

Dumbstruck, she turned to Cort and shook her head questioningly. “Am I… Are they my…family?”

“Family?” Cort rolled the word around in his mouth then frowned. “Maybe that’s the word for it. I don’t really know. You see, in a way Jenna, they are you.”

“What?”

“Kelli Foster, Jarrod Chu, you…and at least a dozen others. Jenna, you’re all the same person. You’re all clones.”





36



6:44 a.m.



Cort didn’t allow even a moment for the information to sink in. “Back in ‘99, when the order came down to destroy the research facility, we didn’t know exactly what they were up to, but we knew they had perfected human cloning techniques. We didn’t know if they were trying to engineer some kind of super soldier, or trying to create organ donors for former party officials turned oligarchs or… Hell, maybe trying to clone old Joe Stalin himself. All we really knew was that we had to stop them. So we did.”

Jenna could barely hear him over the sound of blood rushing through her ears. A clone? I’m a clone?

She was still reeling from the news that Noah had killed her parents, and now she was being told that she didn’t even have parents. She was nothing but an experiment. Pinocchio pretending to be a real boy. Frankenstein’s monster brought to life by a mad scientist.

Several seconds passed before she realized that Cort had stopped talking. She met his gaze. “A clone?”

The man nodded.

“Did Noah know?”

“Hard to say. I’m sure someone higher up the chain knew exactly what was going on. That’s probably why they decided to let him go through with his retirement plan. They were curious to see how things would turn out for you. But yeah, I think he probably figured it out.”