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She quickly identified the model of the shuttle, and her hope sank. That wasn’t the same type that Free and the others had escaped Clone World on. That meant it might not be them unless they’d somehow acquired a different shuttle.
That seemed very complicated and not like something they’d do. Then again, maybe the original stolen shuttle had been damaged or destroyed. They’d need a replacement if they were still alive. Marisol knew they had the intelligence and skills to steal another.
The other shuttle detached and flew away. The transport it had attacked began to break apart. Marisol ignored it and followed the shuttle. It seemed aware of her presence when it changed course a few times and sped up.
“You’re not losing me.” She tried to communicate with them, but it was ignored.
“Damn it. Answer me.”
All four of the medic clones crowded inside the cockpit. MC-2 leaned over her to study the console readings. “Boost the signal stronger,” he ordered as he reached to do just that.
Marisol threw out her hand and slapped his away. “No! We don’t want the signal strength strong enough to reach the authority patrols protecting Vista. Then they might fly this way to investigate. That would be bad.”
“Why is that other shuttle trying to get away from us? They aren’t responding to your hail.”
“I see that,” Marisol snapped at MC-1. She felt a lot of stress. The pilot of that shuttle was trying to accelerate enough to get off her long-range sensors, changing course, all to lose her. “Let me focus.”
“They are clones. Why won’t they talk to us?” MC-4 sounded confused.
“They don’t know who we are.” Marisol took a deep breath and blew it out, attempting to calm her racing heart.
“Fly faster,” MC-2 urged.
“I am.” Marisol ordered them to be silent.
The next twenty minutes were hellish, and she nearly lost the other shuttle’s location a few times, but then it headed toward an asteroid belt. It was marked in the navigational charts as a place to avoid at all costs. The onboard computer system even sent her warnings on her console, recommending she change direction.
“Is the other pilot prepared to die to lose us? Why?”
“I don’t think so, and I don’t know, MC-3,” Marisol responded.
The debris of flying rocks varying in size from a fist to huge buildings was messing with the sensors. There were so many of them that once the other shuttle entered the belt, she lost the ability to track it.
“It’s gone. It was destroyed!” MC-1 threw himself into the other cockpit seat and clung to it. “Change course, or we’ll be destroyed too!”
Marisol reversed thrusters before they were hit by the flying space rocks. It was like a floating tornado of them in space, blocking their path. She saw a moon on the other side through some gaps in the belt. Her hands flew over the controls, amplifying her view.
“There!” She spotted the intact shuttle flying toward that moon. It was only for a split second, though. “They weren’t obliviated. The shuttle made it through!”
MC-4 gripped Marisol’s shoulder. “Don’t attempt it. We’ll die.”
“Fuck.” She knew the clone was right. Her piloting skills were lacking to prevent their shuttle from being smashed apart. “We’ll go around.”
“We’ve lost them. What now?” MC-1 turned his head from the other seat, appearing worried as their gazes met.
Marisol broke eye contact with him and changed course. The asteroid belt was massive, circling around a massive chunk of rock that might be a dead planet. She wasn’t an expert. It seemed to her that was the source of gravity that kept the belt in that location. It would take them hours to get around it to reach the moon she’d glimpsed. “We’ll find them. I’m not giving up yet. Let’s get on the other side of that belt and decide what to do then.”
It took just over three hours to reach the moon she’d seen. The four other clones had stayed with her in the cockpit. Three of them were seated on the floor between the two seats.
“Nothing is showing on long-range sensors,” MC-1 announced.
“I see that.” Marisol wanted to scream in frustration. She’d lost the other shuttle.
“What do we do now?” MC-4’s expression and tone of voice expressed her worry. “Do we give up?”
Marisol powered down thrusters, keeping in orbit near the moon.
“Are you giving up?” That came from MC-2. He seemed to have a somber personality. “What do we do now?”
