The Rainbow Maker's Tale (24 page)

I shook my head trying to
unsettle the images that were weighing on me. Over and over I saw
Cassie’s terrified features as she fell, morphing into the
death-like mask that had fallen over her features while she was
unconscious. Eventually, the pictures faded and I was able to move
on.

After the excitement of my trip
to The Clinic and interesting – but brief – meeting with Cassie, I
just didn’t have the heart to go home. I was finding it harder than
ever to deal with uncomfortable silences that punctuated my
interactions with my parents, and I hoped that if I took my time
going back I might avoid seeing them at all. It felt like my
aversion to them was becoming more pronounced, because every minute
I spent with Cassie made me feel more alive than I had in years. I
smiled as I pictured her embarrassed, grinning face and headed in
the direction of Park 23.

Although I disliked seeing the
animals in captivity, I couldn’t help but enjoy seeing the animals
themselves. The sanctuary at Park 23 had the largest collection in
the Family Quarter. In fairness, the enclosures were large and
beautifully designed: they replicated the natural environments the
creatures would have lived in on Earth in tremendous detail, from
waterfalls and authentic flora to heat regulated areas creating the
perfect humidity and temperatures. Whether the animals had lived in
arid deserts, murky swamps or frozen wastelands – it was all here,
perfectly and beautifully preserved for us to observe. It would
have been amazing to see them wild and free as I imagined them on
Earth, but this was all we had, so I always made the most of
it.

Despite being the largest
collection in the Family Quarter, the animal section in Park 23 was
not huge and so I found myself looping around the same enclosures
as I wandered aimlessly. Well, I wasn’t completely aimless – my
objective was to avoid going home and so I was achieving that!

I circled my favourite areas
more frequently, although I saw everything at least three times
during my visit. The arctic enclosure with its large clear fronted
cases was one of the best, combining caves, ice hills and water
spaces for the mixture of seals and penguins that lived inside. The
smaller rainforest cases were also interesting. Each one holding a
number of small animals, some brightly coloured standing out from
the dense foliage, whilst others cleverly camouflaged themselves
within the leaves.

It would have been nice to see
bigger species of animals in the park, but I knew that some were
considered too dangerous to live in captivity within the Family
Quarter. How they imagined the animals might escape, when my fellow
humans seemed happy living in captivity themselves, was beyond me.
But like many things on the Space Station Hope: it was for our own
good.

The phrase reminded me of my
own decision earlier, to do something to someone without
permission.
For her own good.
Despite my loathing of being
manipulated by the systems we lived within, I couldn’t actually
bring myself to feel too bad about what I’d done to Cassie. I had
helped her, when she might not have let me if I had told her the
truth.

Perhaps that was how Council
leaders felt, in a very small way?
I ignored the errant thought
that was asking for sympathy for liars. What I had done was
different. I was nothing like them.

Cassie’s face rose in my mind,
and for once I didn’t try to pretend it hadn’t. I was on my way out
of the park and heading back towards the Green Zone. The avenues
were completely empty now. The artificial daytime was long gone, as
the mirrors high in the ceiling had rotated away from the light of
the sun, and allowed the darkness to take hold.

As I walked, I mulled over the
developments of the last few weeks. My mind rolled swiftly from
giddy reminiscing over time spent with Cassie, to berating myself
for the lack of work I’d done on my plans for getting out of the
Family Quarter on my own terms. As usual, I came to no decision and
was probably more confused than ever. When had things become so
complicated?

I walked deeper into the
residential Green Zone, leaving behind the open spaces of the
parklands and plazas. Light shone from the entrances of the
apartment buildings I passed by, and detouring via Cassie’s street
was a tempting thought. I wouldn’t call in, just see if her bedroom
light was out, which would mean she was comfortable and sleeping…
Yeah, right!
It was such a lame idea I couldn’t even
convince myself of the lie. Anyway, I had no doubt about the
effectiveness of the drugs I’d given her. Even if Cassie hadn’t
taken any of the pills, I was confident the injection would have
helped with the pain from her shoulder, enough that she could
sleep.

My obsessing about Cassie
answered one question, at least. I wouldn’t be getting out of the
Family Quarter any time soon: not if it meant leaving her behind.
Maybe she would come with me, even though it could be dangerous for
both of us. There was another option: we could leave for the
Married Quarter as was expected of us.

I shook my head, dismissing the
idea before it had fully formed. After everything I had seen and
found out, there was no way I was leaving on anyone’s terms but my
own. That meant the only option I really had was to work the issues
out, hopefully, with Cassie’s help.

Turning away from Cassie’s
avenue, I aimed for my own home. Lights shone from the surrounding
apartments and I could hear occasional voices and music from the
viewing screens inside. As it was late, these were few and far
between now, and so there was little to distract me as I
wandered.

Even in the dim artificial
twilight, I could see relatively easily. The pale plastic resin of
the pavements and apartments reflected what little light there was,
and I became intrigued by thoughts of what I could get up to on
empty, dim streets…

“Hey Balik!”

I was passing through the main
junction at the centre of the Green Zone when I heard my name
shouted. The voice was unfamiliar, deep like a man’s, and I might
have worried it was a Councillor or someone of authority
challenging my motives for wandering around after normal hours,
except that adults never used words like “hey”.

Glancing around, I finally made
out a figure walking towards me, emerging from the shadows of Green
Zone, Avenue 2. As he reached the junction I recognised Patrick
from my year at school. His hand rose in a casual wave and I paused
to wait, even though we’d never really spoken much before. I
wondered what he wanted, why he didn’t just ignore me as usual.

“Hey,” Patrick said again as he
reached me.

“Hey,” I echoed.

“Where are you heading at this
ridiculous hour?”

I wasn’t expecting such a
direct question. Did Patrick suspect I was up to something?
Obviously I had been, but I didn’t want him to know that…

When I didn’t respond one of
his eyebrows quirked upward quizzically. It made me realise I was
still only capable of being a conversational human around Cassie,
and not other people.

I cleared my throat. “I’m
heading home. I was just – ” My voice faltered – what came next? I
was just what…delivering stolen medicine to Cassie? Or should I
tell him that I was just debating taking a night-time wander around
the Family Quarter to see what I could find out with my access
codes and wristband that stopped my mark being tracked…? Not good
answers. “I was – ”

“Just at Cassie’s. I know.”

Patrick very helpfully finished
my sentence for me, adding an odd grin to his words. He wasn’t
completely right, but it meant I didn’t actually have to answer. My
relief was quickly replaced by confusion. “That’s right – but how
did you know?”

“The girls. They talk
a
lot
.”

Girls?
I didn’t have to
ask – Patrick was speaking already.

“I’ve been at Ami’s tonight –
until her parents kicked me out so that I can
get a good night’s
sleep
, ready for another exciting day at my placement tomorrow.
Apparently, my parents were also interested in me being home early
tonight – not that they usually bother.”

Patrick was very animated when
he spoke. He made little quotes with his fingers in the air when he
repeated the advice he’d been given, then rolled his eyes and
pretended to yawn when he mentioned being at his placement, before
shrugging dismissively when he spoke about his parents. Perhaps
Cassie’s shrugs and grimaces, which she used a lot, were a watered
down version of Patrick’s – or more likely Ami’s – company.

I realised Patrick’s response
didn’t actually answer my question, although I guessed from what
he’d said: Cassie was talking to her friends about me.

Patrick didn’t seem to have a
problem talking to me, so I assumed that Cassie hadn’t told them
about the accident, stolen drugs, or potential mind reading… When
you looked at it like that, today had been quite busy. And as yet,
Cassie hadn’t run away screaming. That had to be a good sign.

Speculation was fine, but it
would be better to know
exactly
how Patrick knew where I’d
been. Whenever we were together, I found myself sharing secrets
with Cassie I’d never revealed before. I had to make sure she
wasn’t repeating them to anyone else.

“Ami spoke to Cassie while you
were there?” I guessed.

“Yeah, they were chatting when
I turned up – maybe a couple of hours ago now. Ami got all wound up
because she found out about you and Cassie spending time
together.”

“We’re on the same placement
rotation.” I offered matter-of-factly.

“I know – but you’re not
partnered up are you?”

I shook my head.
How did he
know all this?
“Well, no – but there’s a lot of studying to be
done…”

“Sure,” Patrick snorted softly.
“My friend Joel’s on your rotation. He’s
always
studying. I
think he’d just like to have someone to study with, like you
do.”

My mouth ran dry. This stranger
– who I’d known all my life – seemed to know more about my personal
life than I did.
How was it possible that I could stay so well
hidden, but be so obvious to people who paid me no attention, at
the same time?

“I, erm, well – ”

“Oh right,” Patrick drawled,
grinning again at my stammering. “I see how it is.” He laughed and
shook his head. “Don’t look so nervous – from what I heard Cassie’s
into you too, which is definitely a first for her. Ami nearly bust
a gut tonight on the call when it came out.”

“Cassie said that?” I was a
little incredulous that someone who seemed almost as private as me
would reveal things like that, when she’d never actually said it to
me. Or perhaps that’s what friends were actually for – sharing your
secrets. That idea made me feel a bit sad for myself, if I was
honest.

“Yes she did.” Patrick smiled
at me now, a genuine-seeming, conspiratorial smile. “C’mon – let’s
walk – you live on my street don’t you?” It was not a question that
required an answer. “Let’s walk and talk.”

“Sure,” I agreed, falling into
step beside Patrick. “So, how’s your placement going?” It was a
good way to direct the conversation away from myself. Although, as
soon as the words left my mouth I realised that I didn’t actually
know what kind of placement Patrick had been put on.

“Pretty boring to be honest.
I’m in the animal-handling phase at the moment, which I’d been
looking forward to originally. Anything has to be better than
germinating seeds and making irrigation plans!”

OK – so he was on an
agricultural placement.

“Is it not what you
expected?”

“You could say that,” Patrick
replied, with a vigorous nod. “You would think the animal-handling
would actually have something to do with animals, but most of what
I’ve been doing is taking cell samples for growing meat.”

“Growing meat?” I had no idea
what he was talking about.

“I know, bizarre isn’t it? I
had no idea until I started this rotation. Eighty percent of the
meat you eat on the station is grown in special labs: it’s not
actually from animals. Only fish are reared and farmed
authentically.”

“What do you mean
grown
?”

I’d never looked into food
production on the station; discounting it as a route of examination
that might hold any answers to the issues I had. Now that I had an
opportunity to learn something new, I found myself intrigued.

“Basically, we maintain a
number of domesticated animal species in the Quarter: some cattle
and sheep breeds, goats and pigs. It’s not many animals at all;
just enough to keep them breeding for cell supply, we don’t
actually butcher them.”

“So, what do you do?”

“Every day this week I’ve been
on the harvesting run; so I’ve basically been taking the biopsies
from the animals. Once you have them, they go forward to the lab
for growth.”

Patrick was talking with his
hands again, outlining large shapes of animals and mimicking the
movement of taking the samples. Or so I guessed. Having caught my
interest, I had lots of questions now, and he seemed happy enough
to answer them as we walked.

“In the lab they take cells
from the biopsies?”

Patrick nodded. “They pull out
the myosatellite cells – you can get thousands of samples from each
animal, with very little impact on them – then a growth serum is
added.”

“To make the cells multiply,” I
added for myself.

“Yeah, something like that.”
Patrick shrugged. “I’m not looking forward to the next rotation
I’ve got – I’ll actually be covering roles on the growth side of
things then.”

“What does that involve?”

“From what I’ve heard from the
guys who’ve already done it, you end up building scaffolds for the
cells to grow on, to form muscle strips. On the more established
strips you have to zap ‘em with electricity to exercise the muscle
and boost the protein content.”