Special Delivery

T,
That new clone I ordered will be graduating from boot soon. I'm tied up with things in Howling Maw right now. Can you please meet her at Alia Das and get her squared away? Thanks!
Love you,
M

I think I have scanned the note a dozen times, but I find myself reading it once more now as I sit on a pile of sandbags in Alia Das. I wait. I watch. I read again. I know nothing much of the clone process, but I do know my husband. I hope that the clone process enables this clone of Mabon to know me enough that we are family, in a sense, and not enemies. This goes through my mind every minute as I wait, and it builds up to such a tension that I am urged to pace back and forth as I wait, now, watching for the ship that will bring the clone to us. Well, to me, anyway.

I raise my head and watch the skies for any sign of a drop ship, and I am rewarded with the glowing orb that is considered a sun instead. It is an odd glow. A muted glow. It makes me feel as if that is the sun Earth has as well, and if it is so, and it is muted as such, then it is indeed far, far away and not at all close as I would wish it. I sigh deeply, remembering Earth, but then my mind halts the passage and I smile just a little. The crinkles at the corners of my eyes even show for the first time in what seems like decades. If I was on Earth I would not have met Mabon, and where would I be then?

I blink my sea green eyes to focus on the here and now. The new clone would have a lot of questions. I did not want to disappoint her. Just as this thought came to mind, the approach of the drop ship made my head tilt back and up. It was making a slow approach from the hillside, kicking up the trees and grass as it slowly hovered into the pad zone. I stood up, adjusting my beret upon my head. I wanted to be presentable. I wanted to make a good impression. I wanted to stop fidgeting and stop being nervous!

As the new recruits stepped out upon the ramp and onto the pad they looked so...different. Was I just like that? Did I look so young and out of place? So eager? So worried? There were so many varied faces and glances and actions to take in from the recruits. I felt odd waiting and watching. I felt like an outsider peeping into someone's life. I also felt obligated to tell them that, no matter what they expect, no matter what it is they think will happen, it is the complete opposite of that expectation! It is never what you can imagine. It will never be what you think. From now on you, as new recruits in this new world, will never know what lays ahead.

My eyes try to look for the clone, but it is very difficult with all the varied uniforms and faces. Some are wearing helmets. Some are not. As the crowd thins and moves off I finally find her. She is smaller than I imagined, but the way her head is held is oddly familiar. I step closer and look her over before I speak. Petite, strong, stubborn. That lift of the chin is damned impossible to ignore as not being from Mabon. I feel an odd sense of paternal eagerness, and it makes me humbled for only a moment. Then the drop ship takes off, the rumble and winds waking us both from staring.

Caeruleum stood rigid before me, and I couldn't help but feel my lips twitch as they tried to form a smile. I forgot how boot camp is. "Hello, Caeruleum, my name is Teanae, but you can just call me Tea."

"Yes ma'am!" Caeruleum's voice was firm and strong and it echoed out over the dirt encased camp of Alia Das. I felt self-conscious to be called "ma'am" when I was still climbing up in ranks myself. I had yet to even get to my proper tier as yet, and even though it was within a hands reach, I still felt as if being called "ma'am" was off kilter. I paused in thought as I watched Caeruleum a moment, and then stepped closer so as to talk to her more privately in such a large space.

"No need to call me ma'am, and no need for sir either, for that matter. I don't like it, to tell you the truth," I move to lean against a sandbag wall, watching Caeruleum closely. When the girl doesn't relax the tale tell twitch appears at my lips once more, but I still it. I sigh inwardly, and fold my arms, looking her over. "Right then, soldier, do you have questions for me?" When I watch her orange eyes, they flicker, and I realize she probably has a billion questions.

Standing up I move over to her. "At ease, please, and sit down for a rest. I'm family Caeruleum, and you don't need to be all soldier like around me. Do you see?"

"Where is Mabon?" Her voice was husky, hesitant, and it was not what I was expecting.

I open my mouth to answer, and yet she pauses only a moment before more questions are bolted out of her, swiftly, as if she has waited years to hear answers. Yet, she was only just created.

"Why did he not meet me?" She tilts her head in that familiar manner once more and I find myself mesmerized. She uses the pause as another introduction to yet another question.

As she flings each question out I feel my eyebrows raise a section at a time till I probably appear much like the old saying, "deer in headlights".

"Why am I the only blue person?"

I lower my head in thought. I have often asked myself about color on skin, but never as an adult. But she is still really young. She needs this. She didn't get this in the place she was...born. Was she even born? Or was she made? "Your color is irrelevant here, but I do understand how you feel about standing out," I eye my black skin with a emphasized nod of the head. "Color can stand out here sometimes, but it is only a sign of being unique. That uniqueness will bring you strength." I move us to a location away from the center of Alia Das, and we walk slowly together. She seems to be getting a bit more relaxed as we walk, but her hands are still behind her back and she has this air of "boot camp" about her.

"My name is..also unique..," Caeruleum does not glance around as she walks. Her eyes, the color of fire licking coals, forward. Boot camp may be needed for learning firearms or combat, but they really need to work on relationships, too! Or perhaps that should fall to the people who clone these souls.

"Your name was chosen because of your color," I paused, trying to think of more to say about it, but I really didn't go into the details with Mabon. It was much like a detachment when he told me of his clones. I took it as him just being on Earth and ordering a car! My eyes fall on the girl, and I feel very guilty suddenly. This is no car... "I'm sure Mabon will explain when you meet him. He...explains things better than I."

"Yes, ma'am." I sigh and stop walking, about to chastise her for calling me ma'am, and she quickly counters the answer with an apologetic glance. "Sorry, ma...just, sorry."

I grin slightly and nod. "It's ok, you'll get used to it." My eyes wander again and I look around the camp, and then up to the Eloh village. "Let me show you around. There's a lot to see here."

Caeruleum, arms behind her back, head tilted in curiosity, nods once. "Yes. I would like that very much."