Never Say Die (7/8)

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***

The sun was low in the autumn sky. By now they could
barely make out the faces of Duncan MacLeod and
Richie Ryan, frolicking in the clearing with a younger
Adam.

"All right," Andrew said at last. *"Tell me how you did
it."*

Adam didn't have to ask what he meant. "I just wanted
a memento of MacLeod after his death. He wore his hair
long at the time, like you see it in the vid...I let myself
into his living quarters and took one of his silver hair-
clasps. I didn't even realize some hairs were caught in
it."

"And centuries later," Andrew said slowly, "you found
that you'd become mortal. Because there were no other
living Immortals. *So you solved your problem by using
those hairs to create a clone of Duncan MacLeod.*"

"Guilty as charged. It happened thirty years ago--just
an eyeblink, for me. I wasn't sure the cloning would
work, or that you'd be a pre-Immortal. But you are. And
I became Immortal again as soon as you came out of the
womb. An artificial womb, of course."

"Of course." Andrew wasn't troubled by the thought of
cloning. Many of his colleagues on Hathor were clones.
But it had never occurred to him that he might be,
because he clearly wasn't a clone of *Adam*.

"Why MacLeod and not yourself?" he asked. "Couldn't
you have found a sample of your own DNA from before
you became mortal?"

Adam made a face. "As a matter of fact, I couldn't. After
the monster Quickening when I killed my last opponent,
I had to flee the planet." Then he smiled. "But MacLeod
was a nicer person. I missed him."

Moments later he seemed to realize that required
amplification. "Andrew, I don't expect you to *be*
Duncan MacLeod! Or replace him. You're an identical
twin, nothing more. I didn't even name you for him."

"No," Andrew replied with a smile. "Just for the patron
saint of this land we're in. This Scotland."

Adam chuckled. "I wondered if you'd realize that."

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