The Rainbow Maker's Tale

by Melanie Cusick-Jones

  * * *

  Leaving Cassie was almost unbearable. I turned back on myself several times in the moments after I’d left, thinking I would go back and check on her. I must have looked mad, spinning in small circles every few paces.

  Of course Cassie’s not alright – you idiot! You almost got her killed!

  Yeah – the judgmental inner monologue didn’t do much to make me feel sane either. Inwardly and outwardly crazy, that was me! What would you expect from a guy who spent more time talking to himself, than other people?

  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. <
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  “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.”

  I nodded at his words, understanding exactly how that would work. “What happens to the muscle after that – we can’t eat it in that form, it would be too tough?”

  “That side of things sits with the catering divisions and not agriculture, but I guess it gets ground up and has vitamins and stuff added. That’s why we have blended meats in our food and not bigger single pieces like you do with fish.”

  “Wow,” I managed, unable to hide my surprise at what I’d just learned.

  “I know, right! It’s enough to put you off eating meat at all. Not that we’d be allowed to cut it out of our diet.”

  It wasn’t what I’d meant, but I nodded anyway. Oddly enough, from this short conversation, I had a feeling that Patrick and I had a lot more in common than I’d ever expected. Maybe my peers saw more than I had ever given them credit for.

  “This is me,” Patrick announced as we slowed outside the apartment building next door to my own. “Maybe I’ll see you around this weekend, if you’re out with Cassie?”

  Not knowing how to answer, I half-nodded, half-shrugged. I must have looked acceptably non-committal as Patrick nodded and grinned in response.

  “Have fun studying at The Clinic tomorrow,” Patrick said as he headed toward the door.

  “You too,” I replied. “Have fun electrocuting cow muscles.”

  Patrick laughed loudly and disappeared inside the building. I turned on the pavement and walked the last few metres to my own block. It had been a random but pleasant encounter, and it made me wonder whether there had been a lot of things in life I’d been hiding from whilst I searched for answers.

  Beep. Swoosh. Our apartment door opened after I presented my mark.

  “Night Mother, Father.” I called out as I wandered into my bedroom. I barely heard their soft response and neither came to speak with me. Not that I expected they would.

  I lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, not bothering with the light. My mind was too busy, and simultaneously too tired, with eve
rything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. I fell asleep in just a few seconds.