The Rainbow Maker's Tale

by Mel Cusick-Jones

  I found nothing on the first shelf, but on the next I found the basic chemical testing kits. In a cupboard beside it I found the small vials of acid I wanted and I was just straightening up with the tubes in my hand, when Olivia’s voice at my elbow had me spinning on the spot in a panic.

  “What are you up to?”

  “N-n-nothing,” I stammered nervously, adrenaline coursing through my system as my fear of being caught triggered. What had she seen? What would she say about my stealing the chemicals?

  “I know – this is so boring isn’t it?” Olivia whispered leaning forwards conspiratorially. “And – there was nothing in my teeth!” She swiped my arm lightly, nearly making me drop the vial of acid I still held, concealed inside my fist. “You were just teasing me weren’t you? You’re so mean!”

  When she huffed at me, I saw that Olivia’s mock-anger was carefully engineered to ensure she remained perfectly pretty. A sigh of relief heaved from my chest, as I understood that she had seen nothing. “You caught me,” I tried to smile back, “I was just teasing you.”

  “So mean!” she exclaimed again, not releasing my arm until I moved away.

  “We should really finish up the assignment,” I reminded her, hoping that the change of subject would help get Olivia away from me a little, so I could properly conceal my stolen goodies.

  “I’ve barely done half of mine. It’s so dull!” Olivia sounded whiney, like a child. But, she did step away from me, providing enough space that I could push the last tube of liquid out of my palm and into the sleeve of my clinic-suit. It reassured me that Olivia was just bored. I was actually more grateful that she hadn’t seemed to wonder why I was so interested in chemicals we weren’t even using.

  Smiling automatically, as the effects of my adrenaline rush began to fade away, a new plan was forming in my head. The vials of liquid were safely hidden inside the sleeves of my clinic-suit and the testing kit was in my pocket. I’d gotten what I came for.

  “I’ve already finished mine. Why don’t I help you with yours?” I offered obligingly, not expecting Olivia to refuse. I was right. Her face illuminated with a bright smile, that looked well practised, and it made me believe that she was accustomed to people doing things for her.

  Moving away from the storage bank towards Olivia’s workbench, I lined up the tiny plastic test tubes and got to work. She hovered around my shoulder chattering as I ran through the various tests and completed the subsequent analysis. They’d given us really basic things to work with today, so it was not at all taxing and I finished the task with time to spare.

  “You seem really good at this stuff,” Olivia noticed as I cleared away the empty tubes and equipment. “Why are you on an early rotation?”

  Her observation surprised me. So far she’d appeared far too self-centred to take in anything anyone else might be doing or saying. It was just my luck that she would spot this anomaly.

  “Don’t be fooled,” I laughed, dismissing her words with a wave towards the items on the bench. “I can play with test tubes well enough, but that’s pretty much it. I don’t recommend that you let me operate on you anytime soon!”

  Without further questions Olivia accepted my explanation and began giggling along with me: a tinkling soprano vibrating above my own fake laugh. Happily distracted – and with our work now completed – Olivia began babbling once more, maintaining a constant stream of noise until Medic Levi returned after exactly sixty minutes and dismissed us from the lab for the midday break.

  We were barely out of the door when Olivia pounced on me.

  “Do you want to get some lunch?” she asked eagerly, her eyes intent on my face.

  The small plastic vials of acid I’d hidden up the sleeves of my clinic-suit were dangerously close to one another, and I was critically aware of the tiny clinking noises they made bumping into each other as I moved. I wished – more than anything right now – that this girl would leave me alone. Of course, life would not be that kind and so it was up to me to find some way of distracting her. Again.

  “I’m not really that hungry,” I said, just as my stomach gurgled loudly in protest.

  “Sure you are!”

  Olivia overruled me, linking her arm through mine and pulling me away with her along the corridor. Resistance was futile and so I was limply dragged beside her as she started chattering once more. My initial assessment of her had been right: she was so confident (and a little controlling) it was becoming obvious that she wasn’t used to being refused anything.

  My main concern was keeping Olivia from feeling the lumpy shapes of the tubes inside my sleeves, and so I did not pull my arm away from her, as I wanted to. But, I still needed to get away…time for an excuse.

  “I, er, need to stop back at the orientation reception. I left something in my bag.” I struggled to lie. My excuse sounded lame, as Olivia dragged me into one of the numerous lifts that would take us back to the ground floor of The Clinic.

  “No, it can wait,” she assured me, smiling prettily from beneath her lashes in order to cover her domineering assertion. That must normally work on people as she appeared very surprised when I became insistent.

  “It can’t actually,” I said through slightly clenched teeth, irritated by her but still trying to remain polite. “You can go ahead for lunch without me and I’ll meet you later.” No such luck.

  “Oh I couldn’t do that – and leave you to have lunch on your own on the first day? Don’t worry I’ll wait for you.”

  Olivia’s words were coupled with a dazzling smile that irked me even more. However, I was in no position to argue: the thin vials were pressing into the flesh on my arm and it wouldn’t be long before Olivia felt them too, if I didn’t extract myself from her grasp.

  “Sure – that’s really nice of you – thanks,” I smiled, turning to face her as the doors of the elevator opened at the main reception. My abrupt show of friendliness was intended as a diversion and it worked. Pleased by my response, Olivia was happily distracted for a few seconds and I used the opportunity to unwind her arm from mine in a way that protected the tubes, but still released me. “I’ll be back in a minute,” I assured her and dashed away towards the orientation area before she could think about joining me.

  The small reception room was empty as I entered. Even the administrative clerk, who had been busy behind the desk that morning, was absent. I had the space to myself, but moved at a pace; not completely sure that Olivia wouldn’t follow me, even with my promise to return fresh in her mind.

  The compact male changing room was empty, as expected. I hurried to the hook where I’d left my bag and eased the fastening open a few inches. My day-suit was inside, still arranged neatly. Pushing my right arm into the middle of the folds, I eased the tubes out of the end of my sleeve and hid them among the creases. Copying the action with my left arm, I then emptied my suit pockets. It took only a few moments to deposit the contraband, then I closed the bag securely, after ensuring that the vials could not be seen beneath the clothes.

  With my objective achieved, the anxious cloud of air that I’d been holding inside me gushed out and the tension evaporated. I only had silly things to worry about now: like the temptation to remain in the small changing room rather than returning to find Olivia. Unfortunately I could not do that. The sigh that escaped through my lips this time was one of resignation, as I thought of who was waiting for me outside. And who I wished it could be instead.

  Leaving the room, more slowly this time, I passed through the still empty reception space and entered the busier foyer of The Clinic. I saw Olivia at once, standing by the main entrance running her fingers through her hair. She was glancing slowly from one side to another as she waited, appearing quite casual, although I wondered whether she was looking for me or looking to see who was watching her. Maybe that was unfair. It didn’t stop me thinking it though.

  “Hey,” I said as I drew closer, attracting Olivia’s attention.

  “Hi,” she smiled, dropping her hand immed
iately. “There’s a cantina over there,” she pointed across the plaza and I saw the medium-sized eatery I’d passed numerous times that morning while completing my circuits in front of The Clinic.

  “Sounds good,” I agreed, working to sound enthusiastic. Olivia showed no sign that she detected any false note in my voice.

  A new – and pleasing – thought came to mind as I surveyed the number of people heading towards the cantina. Perhaps Cassie would be there. Setting off across the square I managed to stay slightly ahead of Olivia as she trotted to keep up. My speed was partly related to the anticipation of seeing Cassie, but was more to prevent Olivia the opportunity of linking onto me again and dragging me along like a floppy fool, as she had before. It had not taken me long to deduce that her overbearing nature was one of her least attractive qualities. What was that old Earth saying about beauty only being skin deep…?

  As we walked towards the entrance we passed the café’s panoramic windows and I glanced inside. At one of the tables Joel sat close beside Cassie and was running his hand slowly up her arm to her shoulder. I was caught off guard by the surge of emotion that crashed over me when I saw this. Without thinking for one second about what I was doing, I was lunging towards the entrance like a madman, my eyes locked onto Cassie and Joel through the window. Fortunately, a group of people were coming out just as I shoved my way toward the door. They blocked both my view and my path for a few torturous seconds.

  I froze in place, my previous momentum evaporating, and when the group moved past me I stayed where I was, rooted to the spot. Staring back through the window I watched Cassie pull Joel’s hand away from her arm shaking her head and frowning. That wasn’t what I expected. Then she repeated what Joel had just been doing: with short, practical movements her hands gently but swiftly examined his shoulder, before she elevated his arm and had him take hold of his own elbow with his other hand, pressing it firmly into place. They were practicing something they had learned that morning, I realised with relief. At least, that’s what Cassie was doing.

  Joel’s disappointment was obvious to me – I snickered at his expression – apparently his affection was lost on Cassie, as she turned back to her lunch. I only had a second or two to enjoy the moment before I realised what I had been about to do.

  What the hell was wrong with me? I meant nothing to Cassie – we’d barely spoken to each other four times in our lives! There was no reason for me to feel…how did I feel? Irritated? Or was furious closer to the mark? To my rational mind it made no sense at all.

  “Whoa! Where’s the emergency?” Olivia appeared at my side. “You can’t possibly be that hungry.” She smiled up at me, as we began moving with the other diners towards the main entrance and the queue.

  “No,” I agreed, not really giving her my full attention, “I just thought I saw someone I knew, that’s all.” Thankfully she accepted my lame response.

  Reaching the doorway of the canteen, I merged into the stream of people heading inside, Olivia squeezed in next to me. She was already talking again. I gazed around me, not hearing Olivia’s babble. None of the Medics appeared to be eating here: their distinctive dark blue clinic-suits were notably absent from the queue and tables. It was odd, as I couldn’t recall seeing a canteen inside The Clinic that would cater for them, and there were not a huge number of other dining spaces nearby.

  Perhaps, once you’re an adult, there’s no one to rigidly manage whether or not you have your assigned meals, I mused, as we joined a short queue to be served.

  My back was towards the tables as we waited. I really wanted to turn around and find Cassie again, but could not do that without being rude to Olivia, who was – of course – gabbing away at that moment in time and demanding my attention. The other pair from our placement – Karl and Rachel – appeared behind us in the queue and I nodded politely at them as they recognised us. Olivia was in the process of flicking her hair across her shoulder to emphasise some point she was making, when I caught a glimpse of Karl’s face as he watched her. Oh yes, he was a fan of hers all right.

  Realising that my best chance of escape would be to involve Karl and Rachel in the conversation – or at least incorporate them into Olivia’s monologue – I held out for a suitable lull to draw them in.

  “How’s your day been so far?” I asked both Karl and Rachel in the single question, focusing on each of them one after another, hoping that they would answer fast enough to stop Olivia starting again.

  Karl was too distracted to be any use at all: he barely looked at me to acknowledge that I’d spoken because he was so busy gawping at Olivia. Rachel was better. She smiled shyly at me as soon as I looked at her; delight obvious on her face at having been brought into the conversation. Once animated her plain features blossomed warmly into a friendly, open expression, and after initiating this as a distraction I felt like I actually might be interested in Rachel’s answer. I smiled my encouragement and listened carefully to the shy girl as she began talking, ignoring the palpable displeasure I felt radiating from Olivia as the focus of attention shifted away from her.

  The queue moved forwards at that moment and I found myself standing before one of the service points. I held my wrist over the scanner, which tracked my presence and brought up a menu plan for the server to respond to. He worked swiftly, gathering the required items from heated gourmet stations and chilled cabinets to meet my pre-selected options, finally handing me the tray filled with food.

  “Thanks,” I took the offered tray.

  “No problem, you can have unlimited juice or water to accompany your lunch today and don’t forget to collect your vitamin from the auto-vendor.” The server replied helpfully, pointing out where each was.

  “Thanks,” I said again, turning away at the same time as Rachel and Olivia received their meals. We walked towards the drink station together, giving Rachel the chance to finish answering my previous question.

  “It’s been really interesting so far,” she breathed, her voice much softer and less shrill than she had sounded under the scrutiny of Medic Karlina. “I’m glad I opted for this earlier rotation though,” she blushed lightly at the admission, her dark curly hair nudging automatically forward to shield her face, like some form of integral protection mechanism. “Science isn’t a natural strong point for me and I think I’ll need all the help I can get on this placement.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be fine,” I smiled in response to her words, trying to be reassuring. Her nervous, but grateful, smile convinced me that I had struck the right balance. Maybe I was better with people than I gave myself credit for? I glanced at Rachel again. Or perhaps, I was only good with the ones who were even bigger nervous-wrecks than I was! Whatever the reason, it felt right to try and continue the conversation; I might as well continue pretending I’m a real human being while I’m on a roll. We collected our drinks and I was about to ask something else when I recognised a booming male voice behind me.

  “No problem!”

  Turning towards the sound, I saw Joel weaving swiftly between tables heading in our direction talking loudly over his shoulder as he went. His tall body angled gracefully around the seated diners, even though he was looking in the opposite direction. It didn’t look like he was going to trip over his own feet and land face first in someone’s lunch any time soon. Shame.

  “I’ll grab that for you, I want some more juice anyway,” he called out. Following Joel’s line of sight, my chest swelled happily as I recognised a familiar face sitting at a corner table towards the back of the canteen.

  “Hey!” Joel bellowed in greeting, when he noticed me watching him approach.

  “Hey,” I echoed more quietly. “Are you still eating?” It was too far away for me to tell if Cassie had any food left or not.

  “Nah, nearly finished. Just getting some more juice and Cassie’s vitamin tablet.”

  “Right,” I nodded slowly, trying to disguise any disappointment in my voice.

  “We’ll be here for a bit though. I think C
assie’s still finishing – we’re sat over there.” Joel turned and pointed out the area I was already moving towards.

  Trying to ignore the little grumpy niggle I felt at Joel referring to Cassie and himself as we, I moved forwards. Could I be any more deluded?! We – WE – he was simply using a standard convention of language. I shook my head, trying to dismiss the fact that I was just not normal.

  Winding through the other diners, I could sense Olivia following closely behind. Even that wasn’t enough to wipe the smile from my face as I approached Cassie’s table. At five paces away Cassie looked up unexpectedly, her face filling with a beautiful smile when she saw me. Violent warmth exploded in my chest in response and it took all the control I could muster to stop me tossing my food tray aside and leaping across the remaining gap. I would have to get a grip on myself, this was beyond desperate!

  Dropping into a seat across from Cassie, I flicked a brief glance in her direction. “How’s your morning been?” My voice sounded impressively nonchalant, in spite of the loud hammering in my rib cage. I concentrated on my movements carefully as I unpacked the contents of my tray onto the table and stowed it away, worried that my shaking hands might accidentally throw my lunch into Cassie’s face. Finally, I settled into place, trying to ignore Olivia as she sat close beside me.

  “Great,” Cassie enthused, answering my question. It sounded like an automatic response, but when she continued speaking I knew that she was telling the truth. “Better than I thought it might be actually.”

  “Oh good,” I was glad that her worries had come to nothing after all. Then I noticed Joel winding himself into the chair next to Cassie and wondered if there might be another reason for her sudden change of heart. That would not make me so happy.

  Cassie smiled friendlily at Joel as he handed her a vitamin tablet; it made me uncomfortable to see her so easily allowing someone else to look after her.