AllFreeNovel
Share Us
* * * * *
Free ignored that his engines were running hot and that the shuttle exceeded the safe speed parameters. He’d been in a daze for the past three and a half days since he’d been in contact with Figures and Big. They’d given him the shock of his life by saying that Marisol was looking for him.
Memories replayed through his head, tormenting him ever since. Marisol Florigo should have been everything he was supposed to hate. She was human. Also, the granddaughter of the man who’d enslaved his kind, buying and treating clones as if they were nothing more than mindless products.
She even stood to inherit ownership of Clone World one day if Rico Florigo allowed himself to die and stay dead. He highly doubted that was the case. Free had seen and learned too much about the old human over the years he’d been trapped on Clone World.
The proof of how cruel, calculating, and malicious Rico Florigo could be had been constant. Free had seen it by how the old human had reacted when a guest murdered a clone. The killers weren’t prosecuted for their crimes. They were billed hefty fees and replacement charges instead.
The old man bought unblanked clones knowing they’d go insane and have short, miserable lives. Rico Florigo had built a lucrative business on the suffering and exploitation of clones. The bastard was proud of the immense wealth he’d amassed with their blood, sweat, and tears. Even their brutal deaths at times.
Marisol wasn’t anything like her grandfather. That’s what Free had quickly learned working with her. They’d spent at least six days a week, hours each day, in close proximity, going over budgets, profit and loss statements, and purchasing orders for Clone World.
She didn’t treat him the way other humans did. They were cold, demanding, and insulting. Some went out of their way to anger him, hoping for a reaction. That would have meant immediate termination. Death was the consequence of an aggressive or insolent clone. No exceptions were made. They weren’t even permitted to defend themselves if a human attacked. Clones were supposed to just take whatever abuse was dealt, even if it meant certain death.
Marisol was kind, considerate, and even funny when they were alone. She made Free feel seen and heard for the first time in his life. His ideas were welcomed, and she encouraged him to help her run the finance department. She saw him as a person.
She’d also shown him absolute trust by sending the human guards out of the room while they were working closely together. The other human employees he’d had meetings with never did that. They ordered an armed guard to remain within eyesight, watching his every move. He knew they feared him and worried that a clone might snap and harm them.
Marisol had treated him as if they were equals. There was no way he could have avoided falling in love with her. She had become the center of his world. He lived for her smiles, teasing jokes, and the warm look in her soulful brown eyes.
She had a heart-shaped face and kissable-looking lips he longed to taste, and she always kept her light brown hair in a tight bun. He had been excited the first time she’d worn it down and free. The tresses fell like a silky curtain to her shoulders. It had tormented him a little since he’d wanted to feel the texture to see if it was as soft as it looked.
He’d spent every evening laying on his bunk, wishing they could spend time together outside the office. It was impossible, of course. That didn’t mean Free hadn’t fantasized about taking Marisol on picnics or to one of the fancy restaurants the guests dined at.
Humans dated. Free had dreamed about all the activities he’d like to do with Marisol. She deserved to be romanced. He’d gone so far as to spy on some of the guests with the help of a security clone giving access to the live feeds. He’d wanted to learn how to dance by watching couples do that activity. It would give him a valid reason to hold Marisol in his arms.
Clones weren’t permitted to have sex and shouldn’t even have those types of thoughts. His nutrient bars were laced with certain drugs to keep those urges from happening. Every three months, he had medical checkups when he was given plasma. Hormone levels were tested as part of the exam.
His had been erratic after spending so much time with Marisol. Not high enough to justify a chemical increase, but he’d begun to suffer from having erections. That wasn’t supposed to be possible for someone like him. He was an F Clone. His duties didn’t put him in contact with any human guests. Some of them paid extra to see a male stripped to view a clone penis. He’d heard horror stories about that being done occasionally from the males who shared his bunk room.
Free also had begun to have sexual dreams about Marisol. Just the idea of kissing her, getting her bare, and exploring her body had him hacking into databases to learn more about the topic of sex. The guests were given access to something called porn videos. He’d watched a few of them, so he’d be able to please her in bed if ever given the opportunity.
Marisol Florigo was forbidden to him in every way. Yet he’d still fallen in love. Over time, she seemed to start having those same feelings for him. She’d reach out to brush her hand over his. There were comments she’d made about how she thought he was handsome and attractive. Every wonderful word she had spoken only encouraged him to fall deeper in love with her.
She’d been the one to bring up escaping Clone World. It had been impossible for them to be together if they remained on the planet. Security was too tight. The few stolen moments they had were inside the office. At any given time, there were half a dozen human guards nearby. All of them stuck close to Marisol or checked on her every few minutes. The best they could do were a few hugs, some swift kisses, and whispered private words.
Free was an F Clone, which only gave him access to the housing he’d been assigned and the finance department. His knowledge of classified information kept him highly isolated. Human security officers escorted him from one building to the other every day. Even the clones he shared a bunk room all worked in other highly restricted areas.
Leaving Marisol behind when he’d escaped Clone World with five other clones had been one of the most difficult things he’d ever done. She had insisted she couldn’t go with them, certain her grandfather would go to any lengths to have them hunted and captured. Rico Florigo would see his granddaughter being with a lowly clone as the ultimate betrayal.
Her plan was to leave later. That way, she wouldn’t be linked to the clones’ escape. The two months they’d planned to be apart had seemed excruciatingly long. Free had no idea their plans wouldn’t work out, or he’d have stayed behind to be with her. His main motivation for leaving had always been for them to be together.
His heart had felt ripped from his chest when they’d flown to Barlish station and waited for Marisol to contact them. She was supposed to bribe someone there to put her in an emergency pod and eject it into space. Then they would have maneuvered their shuttle to catch it inside their cargo hold. Marisol would have been reunited with him.
The hours had turned to days of silence. No message from Marisol had come. Security on Barlish was too tight for them to attempt to dock and physically search for her. All sections of the station had scanners that automatically read every person coming or going. Clones didn’t have chips embedded in their palms. Security would have immediately realized they weren’t human and arrested them. Death would have swiftly followed.
All six of them had attempted to use their unique hacking skills to breach the station’s security office to gain information about Marisol, but it had been a completely closed system with no weaknesses to find. It had taken nine days before the other clones had convinced Free that Marisol wouldn’t be joining them.
Free had been heartbroken at first, but as the months passed, he’d become certain that something had gone wrong. Marisol loved him, and he refused to believe she’d changed her mind.
It had motivated him to be the first of their group of six clones to leave the home base they’d created on the mining station. He’d gained their help to steal a shuttle for his private use. The first solo mission he’d taken had been extremely dangerous. He’d flown close enough to Clone World, attempting to establish contact with Marisol. He’d failed.
Three years had passed, his heart battered, and his soul darkened with misery over her loss. The future they’d envisioned hadn’t come to pass. Then he’d gotten the communication from Big and Figures. Marisol had left Clone World and was on a shuttle trying to find him.
Free’s heart raced as soon as a shuttle showed on his sensors near an asteroid belt and moon that Figures called his secondary home. Marisol was on that shuttle. He couldn’t wait to see her, speak with her, and find out if she still had feelings for him.
Unfortunately, two more vessels immediately showed on the sensors. He knew they weren’t his fellow clones from the direction they were flying from. Blade had been captured by pirates and held against his will for a long time by them. One of their hubs came from that direction. Pirates were after his Marisol.
