The Dark Imbalance Read Online Free PDF Page A

this, Morgan: if I was in touch with Heidik or any of the other clone warriors, why would I be here? My siblings were clearly made for a purpose; they have spread across the galaxy seeding dissent and destruction wherever they go. But I have not. So why would I bother with you if I shared their goals? Why would I not be with them ?”
    “Evidence of absence is not absence of evidence.”
    “Guilty until proven innocent?” Cane smiled slightly. “I’m surprised at you, Morgan.”
    “There’s too much at stake to take chances, Cane.”
    “The only way to be sure is to take no chances at all.” His smile disappeared and he relaxed back into his seat. “Space me, or imprison me—get me out of the way entirely. Better to do that than to be perpetually in doubt. The chance that I might betray you will never leave your mind until I am gone.”
    She nodded. That had occurred to her. For all the times he had saved her on Sciacca’s World, the casual cruelty and treachery of Jelena Heidik had tainted him in her eyes. She would never be free of it.
    And if he ever did betray her, she stood to lose everything.
    Not just her life, but the lives of her companions and every other Pristine in the galaxy.
    She wasn’t sure she had the right to take that chance.
    
    <1 know that if he could read minds, he would know that I continue to exist,> said the AI smoothly.
    
    
    Roche fought a twinge of annoyance. Why did things have to be so uncertain all the time? She would welcome a single, uncomplicated fact with open arms.
     added the Box,
    “Morgan?”
    She looked over at Cane to see him watching her suspiciously.
    “Are you all right?” he said.
    She brushed his suspicions aside by ignoring the question altogether: “If you were reading my mind, you’d know that spacing you isn’t an option. And as there’s no way you can prove conclusively that you’re not in communication with the other clones, then all I can do is follow my gut instincts.”
    Cane nodded. “But again, I assure you that I am telling you the truth, Morgan.”
    She remembered the words he had tapped in code shortly after he wakened from his coma: I’m as Human as you are . That was patently untrue in the details—after all, she was not a genetically engineered combat soldier designed to blend in with the Pristine Humans and kill them—but in essence it might not be far from the truth.
    “Okay.” She exhaled slowly. “I’ll believe you. Commander Gent must have sent word to his superiors after we left Palasian System. It’s possible that Heidik already had a contact in the COE Armada, through which she found out when we were due to arrive. That’s the only alternative I can think of.”
    “It is certainly a less speculative hypothesis.” There was a glint of humor in Cane’s eyes. “But if the rest of my siblings do communicate by epsense, I would be keen to find out why I have been excluded from the conversations.”
    That was a point Roche had not missed. “Maybe something went wrong with you: your capsule was damaged, or corrupted. There might even be others out there like you—others who could help us“
    Before Roche could pursue the thought, Kajic’s image appeared in the empty corner of the suite.
    “My apologies again, Morgan.”
    She swiveled to face him. “Problems?”
    His broad, pleasant face was concerned. “I have been