Sarah's Run

Chapter Two

Steel bars divided her view. Unable yet to accurately measure the passage of time, she stared into the lab. She watched everything, missing nothing. Imprisoned in a cage only slightly larger than one used for large lab animals, she shivered. Not from cold but fear.

Long strands of dark brown hair covered her body. Crouching with her legs pulled beneath her; she tentatively loosened one of her arms that held her knees to her chest and reached out to touch one of the steel bars.

Sharp, cramping pain shot up her arm. Guttural screams came from her mouth. Pulling her arm back, she waited to see what would happen.

Two humans dressed in long white lab coats scurried over and stared at her. Their mouths opened, and strange sounds came out. The smaller human, a female, made sounds that conveyed emotion. Emotions like what she had felt when she'd awakened in the tank for the last time.

Instinctively, she knew not to trust or like the female. The larger male smiled at her and shook his head in a side-to-side motion. Knowing to touch the bars would cause pain had not prevented her from touching the electrified steel bars. Her simple act had angered the female but fascinated the male.

Neither realized the subject was conducting her own experiment.

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Visitors were too frequent at the facility as far as Dr. Gratling was concerned. He held the current visitor, a brutish man in appearance, in unusually low regard. His slopping forehead was only partially hidden by the carefully groomed hair. Expensive clothes did little to conceal the man's wide, powerful body. Black, coarse hair covered the back of thick fingers that protruded like short claws from the sleeves of the tailored jacket. Dark, leathery skin covered with pockmarks from a childhood disease w

as stretched tightly over the prominent features of the man's face. Despite expensive cologne, the visitor gave off a malodorous scent, a combination of sweat and too much garlic in his diet.

"Tell me more about the three females who survived the botched hatching."

Uncomfortable with the presence of the unannounced visitor, Dr. Gratling searched the man's face for any clue of visitor's expectations.

"Two are very promising. The third is a disappointment," the scientist admitted.

"Elaborate please, particularly about the third clone."

"We call her Maria," Gratling explained.

The visitor interrupted with an unpleasant tone. "You've named them? Do you think that's wise? It humanizes what is nothing more than a collection of organs to be distributed to buyers or a soldier to be utilized for a mission and then disposed of."

Bristling at the man's response, Gratling defended his statement. "I beg to disagree, Sir. They have personalities. Unique personalities. They learn at different rates. Each clone we produce here has skills genetically engineered for a specific need. It is much easier for us to give each a name than to simply utilize a number."

"So you say," the man answered. "Tell me more about this Maria."

"Her sisters are much more developed cognitively. The oldest, Sarah, is a military grade unit. If wounded, her injuries heal at startling speed. Sarah is very elusive and can camouflage herself while in plain view. She can also withstand extreme variations in climate."

"That's all very good, Dr. Gratling," the man said. "I want to know about Maria."

Gratling sighed, knowing where the interview was headed. "She's not particularly intelligent. Her language skills are lagging behind that of her tank sisters. Maria, however, is a savant at dance. It's the most amazing thing to behold. As for her personality, Maria is innocent, childlike almost."