"Positive. "

"They would only do that if they were attacked. Why did you attack them?"

"They are a threat to the entire galaxy. "

"I don't believe you, " she said. The thought was entirely too preposterous. "You're just trying to distract me. This is a momentous day. The two Cinzias finally meet! I've been waiting for this, well, ever since I was born. At last we are together! I want to hear everything about your life. I want to know if we like the same things, think the same thoughts..."

"I'm not you, " said the older version of herself. "My name is Eldon Ax. "

"Don't say that. "

"I'll say whatever I like. You're a freak, a mistake. I should kill you now, just for existing. "

The other Cinzia produced a glowing red sword and held it up between them.

"See?" hissed her mother. "She will do you great harm if you let her, perhaps even kill you!"

"Don't be cruel, " said Cinzia to both her mother and her twin. "It doesn't have to be this way. "

"She's right, " said Satele Shan, putting a hand on the other Cinzia's arm. "Don't act rashly. "

"Yes. " The red blade came down. "We need what she knows-about the hexes, about Lema Xandret. "

"How did your mother die?" asked Satele Shan.

"The droids killed her, " Cinzia said, "and the others as well, but she's not really dead. "

"Don't tell them, " whispered the voice in her ear. "Don't tell them!"

"Why did the hexes kill her?"

"They didn't want to sign a treaty with anyone. When the ship left..."

"The ship named after you?"

"Yes-Mother built that before she made me, and she never came up with another name. The droids didn't want people coming here, ever. It wasn't safe for me. " She almost shied away from the thought of what had happened next, but she forced herself not to. The disclosure was important, if she and herself were ever to become one. "The droids killed my mother to stop her sending any more ships. The others tried to stop them, so the droids killed them, too. It was all very stupid, really. Mother should have known how the droids would feel. "

Satele Shan nodded slowly. "So she wasn't on the ship?"

"No, that was Kenev and Marg Sar. "

"Why didn't she go with them, if she was their leader?"

"They had no leaders. They didn't want to live like they had before. They wanted a change. "

"All right, but Kenev and Marg Sar never came back, did they? They killed themselves when the ship was intercepted by a privateer. They blew up the ship. "

That was a shock. The fluid rippled all over her skin, and she hugged herself tightly. "They would've wanted to keep the cargo a secret, " she said, thinking it through.

"The droid factory?"

"The plant. That's what we call them. "

"Something interfered with the explosion, " said Satele Shan. "The plant wasn't destroyed. "

"It must've been one of the droids. They wouldn't want to die, even though they had to. "

"That's what led us here, Cinzia. We came to find your mother, to ask her what she wanted to tell the outside world. That's all. "

Cinzia waited for her mother to say something. For once, though, she was quiet.

"I don't think she wants to talk to you, " Cinzia said.

"You said she was dead. "

"She is, mostly. The droids took her body away, probably for recycling. But she's still here, talking to me. "

"Don't tell them!"

"She doesn't want me to talk to you, either. "

The two women outside the tank exchanged a concerned glance.

"I'm not mad" Cinzia said, feeling affronted.

"I don't see how you could be anything but. "

"We just don't understand, " said Satele Shan, shushing the other Cinzia.

"No, you don't. My mother protects me. That's why the hexes are the way they are. She put herself into them, too. "

"We worked that out. Both her flesh and her philosophy. They are flexible and single-minded at the same time, combining the very best qualities of machines and organics in one creature. Your mother must have been quite brilliant to think of doing that. "

"I still am, " whispered Lema Xandret.

"She says she still is. "

"Don't you see how the hexes could be a threat?" said Satele Shan, ignoring her comment. "They acknowledge no leader and they want to be left alone. They don't want to die and they want to protect you. How better to keep you safe than to destroy everyone else, including your mother?"

"It's logical, " she admitted, remembering how they had disobeyed her, too. Cinzia had begged them to leave the original Lema Xandret alone, but there had been no turning them back, not once their creator had betrayed them. Cinzia's mother had programmed them too well.

"It's insane, " muttered the other Cinzia.

"You have to understand them, " she insisted. "If what you say is true, then it does make sense. It'll be hard to talk them out of attacking your friends. "

"Do you think you could?" asked Satele Shan.

"I could try. But you'd have to promise to leave and never come back. "

"I don't think that would be possible. "

"Why not?"

"Your world is too valuable. Too many people know it exists now. "

"So? They don't have to come here. You have the whole galaxy. I just want one world. Is that too much to ask?"

"For some it is. "

"Well, then. We're at an impa.s.se. "

"Yes. I'm afraid so. "

Cinzia didn't like the way her other self was looking at her. There was such fury and hurt in those familiar features. She could never imagine looking that way, having that amazing hair.

"Why do the hexes protect you, " the other Cinzia asked, "and not me?"

"Because they don't know you. You don't look exactly like me, or live like me, in here. You look like one of the people who took you away. "

"I am one of the people who took me away. "

"But you're me, too, even though you try to deny it. You don't have to be the way you are now. "

"How else can I be? I don't remember anything else. "

"Really?"

"Yes, really. And what's the point of trying? The droids will kill me anyway. "

"Maybe if we gave them a taste of your genetic code. Maybe then they wouldn't kill you. "

"So it'd just be me and you in a galaxy full of hexes. Is that what you want?"

She shook her head. "I just want everyone to go away. Everyone else, I mean. Not you. We've got so much to catch up on. "

"I've got nothing to tell you. "

"But you have! Where you live, what you do. I don't know anything about anywhere. All I know is Sebaddon, where I was cloned. You can tell me about where I was born. "

"I don't remember any of that, " said the other Cinzia. "All I know is the Empire. "

"The what?"

Satele Shan stared at her in frank surprise. "You've never heard of the Empire?"

"No. Should I have?"

"What about the Sith? The Republic? The Mandalorians?"

Cinzia shook her head in irritation. "Stop showing off. You're making me feel stupid. "

"I'm not showing off. I'm just amazed that you've been so isolated here. It doesn't seem fair to me that your mother did that to you. "

"She's trying to turn you against me, " whispered the voice. "Be careful of that one. "

"Mother says I should be careful of you. Why is that?"

"Maybe she's afraid I'll take you from her. I promise I won't try to do that, Cinzia. " Satele Shan's face was as expressionless as someone trying very hard not to have an expression. "Is your mother with you now? In the tank?"

"Yes. "

"Is she another clone?"

"Not exactly. "

The fluid swirled around her, agitated and wild. Cinzia was pulled away from the gla.s.s, into the center of the tank.

"I said, don't talk to them! Why don't you ever listen to me?"

"I always listen to you. Mother. "

"But you never do as I say. I told you not to tell them about me!"

"They'd guess anyway. Why make it harder for them?"

"They won't understand, Cinzia. You have to tell the droids to take them away. They'll obey you this time. You know they will. When there's a clearly defined threat, they have to act against it. "

"Just like they acted against you. "

"Yes! Even me! The logic was impeccable. I was stupid to try to fight it. "

Cinzia remembered the days leading up to that terrible moment all too well. There was no suppressing them entirely.

"I think you saw it coming, Mother. You were afraid of the droids. You gave me the overrides in the hope that they would listen to me, but I didn't use them. " She remembered her pa.s.sivity with painful keenness. Sometimes she felt bad for not intervening. "The droids are my protectors. You are my protector. I still have both. Was it wrong to do nothing?"

"I'm still here, Cinzia. That's right. We'll all protect you, together. "

"But what if you were right, Mother? What if the droids have grown too powerful? That means you agree with Satele Shan and shouldn't argue against her. I should listen to her, too. Maybe I should use the overrides to stop the droids now, before it's too late. "

"No, Cinzia, you mustn't!"

The fluid coiled around her tighter than ever. Even though she struggled, she couldn't get a grip on the gla.s.s.

"Mother, let me go!"

"No!"

"I can't stand by and let innocent people be hurt. You wouldn't have wanted that. "