Switched

Switched - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

"This is not hap-" 

A signal sounded, interrupting his guest from Earth. Marcus touched the link on his wrist. "Yes." 

"Drakus here, sir," he said unnecessarily since his image appeared on the link's monitor. "Chief Hervimb instructed me to run a diagnostic on our genetic identification sensors. Everything checks out A-OK." 

Marcus winced at the Terran expression. "Have you located Lieutenant Qilana?" 

"Lieutenant Qilana is with you in your quarters, sir." 

"If the equipment is running properly, why does the genetic identifier still insist that Jessica Wyndom is Veronese Qilana? Run another diagnostic." 

"Y-Yes, sir." 

"Captain?" This time it was Communications Officer Cabbeferron. "I have a time-delayed communiqué from Lieutenant Qilana. I am transferring it to your vid unit." 

"On screen." He turned to the vid unit built into the wall above his desk. After a moment, a face appeared on the screen. A face remarkably similar to his Terran guest. He and Drakus had been correct about their unexpected visitor. 

Marcus glanced at Jessica, now standing in the portal to his inner chamber. Her eyes widened as she stared at the replication of her image on the vid screen. 

Jessica approached the unit. "She looks exactly like me." 

Like all Serenian females, Lieutenant Veronese Qilana had black hair and was slender with a firmness of body attained by vigorous exercise. Marcus raised his left eyebrow. "I daresay she does not look exactly like you." 

The Terran blushed. He found that...charming. Perhaps, though, she was embarrassed he compared her to Qilana. He did not intend to cause her discomfort. 

"Captain, I have left this message to explain my absence." Qilana spoke in typical Serenian tone, devoid of emotion. "I have transported to Earth to find my biological parents and to meet my twin, Jessica Wyndom. She and I are victims of the Gemini Experiment." Qilana visibly swallowed as if distressed. 

Marcus controlled his surprise. Few knew about that experiment, an aberration within the scientific community. The Elders had wrapped the project in so much secrecy the information was supposed to be unattainable. Apparently, Lieutenant Qilana had accomplished the near impossible. 

"Thirty years ago, a scientist from Serenia transported fetuses from Earth into volunteer host mothers from our home planet. Doctor Cenamola, being compassionate-" she spit out the word. 

So much for being devoid of emotion, Marcus thought. 

"-only removed one of a set of twins, leaving one child for the Earth mother." 

Veronese Qilana and Jessica Wyndom were identical twins, thought Marcus. That would explain the error in the identification scanners. Their genetic make-up would be identical. 

Qilana pursed her lips. "Doctor Cenamola desired an answer to the eons-old question of nature versus nurture. To what extent does heredity determine an individual's make up or does the environment in which one is raised have greater influence? Would the Earth twin grow up to act identical to the Serenian twin?" She appeared upset as she twisted her short-cropped black hair above her right ear. 

"The Elders halted the experiment as soon as they discovered what Cenamola was doing. They ordered him to return the unborn children to their rightful mothers. He did, with a few exceptions. He could not return me since I was born prematurely while Jessica was not. Our 'honorable' scientist buried the research. At least, he did not bury me," Qilana said with scorn.