The man turned from the view to face the younger man standing before him. "Eddie, my boy, today is a special day. Today you become a man. You've completed the standardized training with flying colors, your selection is a certainty. I'm telling you, lad, we're one of a kind." He could tell the younger man had no clue of what was to come.

The two of them were almost a matched pair. Both were broad-shouldered, strong in mind as well as body. The older man was slightly taller than the younger, and had less hair, but otherwise, the older was a "Dorian Gray" image of the younger. He shook off the distraction and continued. "Now that the basics of your education and upbringing have been completed, it's time for you to learn of your assignment and duties.

"As you know, our home is a space station orbiting that planet that beckons so, so, damningly. But the time grows near, and soon we will all go home." The younger man mused over this, the space station was the only home he had ever known. "It's taken longer than we can notice by eye, but the planet is hospitable again. You will be one of the first to descend.

"Perhaps I ought to start with some of the history that was left out of your lessons. Centuries ago, we used to live on that planet. Soon, we will again, but I'll get back to that. As you might infer, the technology for creating a space station such as this had to come from somewhere. It did. It came from 'down' there.

"This is a very special space station. It was intended to preserve a species, or two, from an ecological disaster that made the entire planet uninhabitable. From calculations made after the fact, it's been determined that this planet swings into an asteroid 'fall' area. This is where anyone of a number of asteroids in an elliptical orbit cross the planets orbit. Like any other gambling device, occasionally you lose, and the orbits intersect simultaneously.

"That's what happened to the planet. It was intersected by a relatively small asteroid, only ten kilometers across. Small, but big enough. It created a sea of islands from one of the continents and belched a dust cloud that covered the planet for decades.

"The entire planet underwent an ecological roller-coaster ride. During the time the dust was in the atmosphere, an ice-age gripped the planet. Most warm-blooded beings perished within a year. Some, lucky or not, survived, Lord knows how. The storms created by the dust cloud eventually purged the atmosphere of it's almost opaque covering. This all happened before you came along.

"Those that survived, by now, are no longer like those they survived. The small population dwindled even further as civilization followed suite. What few are left are extremely savage, although living in a near Utopia of nature. It's come time to reclaim what is ours. Step out on the balcony with me." The older man ushered the younger man to a balcony that overlooked the center of the space station.

Below them, the younger man could see his friends gathered in a small group, discussing one of the weighty philosophical subjects they often took on as a group. "Soon you'll be with them, there's just a few more things I need to go over with you.

"As you look at your friends, you must know that each of them were selected, just as you were. You see, when I say we're one of a kind, I mean that. You and I. We are truly one of a kind. Ever wonder about the similarities between us?" The younger man looked puzzled. He'd never thought of his father as confused, but this was taking him in circles.

"But, Father, . . . " he started. The older man cut him off.

"That's just the point. I'm your father, as the one that raised you and taught you how to be you, but there's more there than meets the eye. You and I share a common DNA strand. In short, we're father and son, but virtue of timing, but we are also brothers, twins if you will. We are clones." The younger man reflected on the lessons in bio-physiology that discussed cloning, and the importance that was placed on cloning. He knew, for example, that the food they ate, more particularly the meat, was from cloned creatures, raised for that specific purpose.

It never dawned on him that the same thing could have happened to him. "But, why?" He knew of no other question to ask.

"To put it simply, it was a matter of economics at the time. When the civilization below became aware of the impending doom of life on the planet, they set about creating this space station. In order to make it so the station could last long enough, and support the life necessary for the mission, it was determined that a closed society of a crew was required. While the station was being built, they scoured their knowledge banks to come up with the most likely candidates to populate the space station. Unfortunately, there was limited space on the station, so only twelve were selected.

"The creators knew, also, that with so small a station, and so long a wait for return, there would be genetic problems within four generations arising from mixing what genes were available. The decision was made to take the twelve, and reproduce them as needed from DNA samples taken at the beginning. You are the twelfth generation springing from the same strand of DNA as did I, and the nine that came before me. The first was the original. You and I are as close to being him as possible, perhaps slightly improved in some ways." As the older man said this, he glanced at the younger man's full head of hair.

"At any rate, he was a soldier, and so are you. Your mission, like it or not, is to go with your friends and reclaim a place where we can return to safely. Once you've established the security of the area for us, we can begin to debark our cargo and rebuild the human race. The first generation to return will be clones, but those that follow will be all natural."

"But you mentioned the small gene pool. Won't we suffer the same restriction of generations you told me of earlier?"

"Good question, but no. Our cargo is the DNA of one hundred and forty-four of the finest human specimens the previous civilization had produced. Athletes, philosophers, teachers, farmers, hunters, people from all walks of life with little in common, other than high intelligence and expertise in their fields. Just like you and your friends. Leaders in your fields."

"You said I was selected. All my life, all I remember seeing around here were my friends down there, and you've said they, too, were going on the mission. What was I selected from?"

"According to the best of Mendelian theory, one out of four offspring will be exceptional, two will be average, and one will be an aberration. You were the exceptional. The average and aberrations were eliminated early on. We had to be sure, you see."

"But why are you telling me this?" The young man still wasn't sure of where he stood in the matter . . .

"The importance of your mission requires that you know the replenishment and advancement of the human race depends on how well you do the job you have to do. Now, go to your friends and get ready for the final briefing." The older man watched as the younger left the area. Soon, he was joined by an older version of one of the young man's friends.

"How did he take it?"

"As well as any. It's not easy sending them off like that, you know. It's almost like losing a part of yourself."

"I know, but it has to be done. How else are we to tell when the planet is truly habitable? Besides, according to the original plan, by now it should be."

The older man turned toward his associate. "Go ahead and set up the next batch of 'explorers'. We can begin germinating them before this batch leaves on the mission. That way, if the results of this mission parallel the four previous, we'll have a head start on the next." He turned back to gaze at the planet hanging over his head.

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