Amy woke up with a headache. This wasn’t a common experience for her. She rarely had any type of ache or pain. But then, she was very rarely put to sleep by artificial methods.

The sickly sweet, moist smell of the rag that had been pressed to her face still lingered. Whatever the stuff was, it had to have been pretty strong. Amy had never been knocked out before, but she suspected that someone with her highly refined genetic structure would require a more powerful dose than a normal human being. How had they known this? Had Andy told them? Had Annie?

Annie could have warned them. As her mind began to clear and her headache faded, Amy remembered everything. Annie was one of them.

She looked around. She was in another gallery, a very small one. A cell. The opening was crisscrossed with bars. Once, she had been able to bend the bars on a barricaded window to get into a building. She got up and pressed against these bars. They didn’t give at all. The chloroform must have weakened her.

Her hand went automatically to the pendant around her neck, and she rubbed the crescent moon. She needed what little strength could come from remembering what she was. It didn’t give her much confidence, though. After all, two other clones were now her mortal enemies.

An enormous sadness almost overwhelmed her. Andy, Annie … She felt so betrayed. Was there no one in the world she could trust?

“Amy, do you feel well?”

She looked up to see Annie standing just outside the bars. The French girl was actually smiling. “I know you are feeling very confused,” she said. “I will try to explain it all to you.” She motioned to someone outside the cell. The man who had attacked them in the Catacombs came forward and unlocked the gate. Amy considered making a run for freedom, but she knew Annie would be able to stop her. And Amy needed to conserve her strength.

Annie came in and sat down on the mat. Amy resisted an urge to slap her face. “How could you do this to me?” she asked.

“It is for your own good,” Annie replied. “It is for the good of the human race. I was hoping that in time you would understand.”

“Oh, I understand,” Amy replied. “You’re part of the organization.”

“The organization that created Project Crescent? No. They were more limited in their goals. We have much higher ambitions. We are not going to cultivate genes and wait years for the beings to become useful adults. We’re creating perfection within the existing human race of healthy white people.”

“You’re nuts,” Amy declared. “You and all your Nazi pals are crazy.”

Annie wasn’t offended by the accusation. “I am not crazy, Amy. I am as intelligent as you are. If you will listen to me, perhaps you will understand.”

Amy sincerely doubted that, but she didn’t argue. The more she knew about these people, the better she’d be able to battle them.

“The world is a mess, Amy. And why is the world a mess? Because people are weak, stupid, and inferior. There is no hope for the future if these people continue to reproduce. We are going to change all that.”

“How?” Amy asked.

“First we must create an army of people who can destroy everyone who is undesirable. This is what we are doing here in the Catacombs. We are experimenting with artificial growth accelerators, and steroid chemicals, and medications which sharpen the mental process. We will become smarter and stronger, until we reach the level when our intelligence and our physical power exceed so-called normal levels.”

“Then what?”

Annie looked at her reprovingly. “Amy, that is a foolish question coming from you. You know what will happen. We will take over the world.”

Amy knew this had to be the goal. Even so, hearing it declared so openly was appalling. She couldn’t speak.

Annie went on. “Think of all the losers we see every day, Amy. It would be a better world if they didn’t exist.”

Amy found her voice. “But they have a right to exist. Just because you and I are perfect doesn’t give us more of a right to exist than they have.”

“Of course it does! We are what everyone should be! Think of how wonderful a world without losers, without—how do you call them in English?—creeps, nerds, wimps, dorks—would be. If there were only perfect people like us!” Her eyes became dreamy. “Surely you have felt this way. All my life I knew I was better than other people. I was so frustrated being superior and not having other people of my caliber around me. I had no one to respect, no one to look up to.”

“What about your parents?” Amy asked.

“They are better than most human beings,” Annie replied. “But they are not perfect. When I encountered this group down here, I felt as if I had found my true family. People who aspire to perfection. And because of my genetic perfection, I have much to contribute to their goal. So will you!” She smiled. “Amy, we are the ideal!”

“I guess Andy contributes a lot too,” Amy commented, trying very hard not to show the contempt she was feeling.

Annie’s smile faded. “Andy. I have doubts about him.”

“What do you mean? You don’t think he’s a real clone?”

“He is too ambitious. He wants to do everything his way. When you found us both here, in Paris, he wanted to take control. That is why he told you about the secret entrance, under the Lycée Internationale. He hoped you would be curious. He wanted to take the credit for bringing you into our group.” She smiled smugly. “But I beat him. I am the one who will be honored for bringing you into our family.”

Amy rolled her eyes. “Do you get some kind of prize?”

“Do not be sarcastic, Amy,” Annie scolded. She got up. “You must rest now. You are still weak from the fumes. That is why you cannot appreciate what I am telling you. I will return later.”

The man outside the gallery opened the gate and let Annie out. Amy curled up on the mat and tried to process the information she’d just been given.

This group was insane. Their goal was immoral. Her only comfort was that she doubted they had the brains to pull off their plans. Not today, at least.

But with people like Annie and Andy involved, eventually they would figure out ways to increase their own intelligence. They might learn how to do some kind of genetic transfer, extract chromosomes, synthesize DNA. The possibilities were there. And if they developed a way to replicate the genetic structure of Annie and Andy within their own existing bodies, they could become a powerful army. They could be masters of the universe, the strongest and smartest people in the world.

But they hadn’t achieved that level yet.

The man guarding the entrance … Amy had overpowered him in the Catacombs. But not through metal bars. Now that he knew her strength, he probably wouldn’t come any closer.

Unless he thought she didn’t have that strength now. He must have heard Annie say that Amy was weak.

“Help,” she said feebly.

The man looked through the bars. “What do you want?”

“I’m getting stiff. There’s a cramp in my leg.”

“Then stand up.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because there’s a cramp in my leg! I need help.” She pressed her hands on the ground, as if to push herself up. Then she moaned, as if the mere effort had exhausted her. “I can’t move! Please, help me.”

The man had a long way to go before achieving perfection in intelligence. He unlocked the gate and came in. Amy lay completely still until he bent down to take her arm.

In a flash, her fist shot out. She got him right between the eyes. He fell back with a cry, but he was on his feet fairly quickly. Still, those few seconds were all Amy needed to get up and into position. A spin to give herself momentum, a kick to the head in just the right place—and he was out.

She leaped over his body and ran. But his cry had been heard, and two guys suddenly appeared, blocking the tunnel. She whirled around and took off in the opposite direction. They were chasing her, but they had a long way to go before reaching physical perfection. She could hear them panting as they tried to catch up.

She had no idea where she was going. This wasn’t the way she had come in, and she didn’t know where to find a way out. Then something just ahead gave her a clue.

A bone. It looked like a human arm bone, lying on the ground by a junction in the tunnel. She couldn’t be far from the public part of the Catacombs.

She turned at the junction. Yes! She could see them now, the walls lined with bones and skulls.

Then she heard more voices, and running footsteps, coming from someplace ahead as well as behind her. She looked up for stalactites.

Only there weren’t any stalactites in this corridor. Still, there was another way of getting herself up to the ceiling.

She started climbing the bones. The dampness in the tunnel had made them slippery, though, and it was hard for her feet to grip them. She kept sliding off.

Stretching as far as possible, she was finally able to reach the skulls that were resting on the wall of bones. She managed to get her fingers into the eye sockets of two skulls and hoisted herself up just in time.

The two groups chasing her practically collided. They started yelling and arguing over which direction to go. Amy could feel the fingers of one hand slipping out of the eye socket. She maneuvered her hand lower and grasped a mouth opening.

Finally her pursuers agreed on a direction and took off. Amy dropped down and ran the opposite way.