The Rainbow Maker's Tale (39 page)

“Oh no,” I whispered, letting
go of the wall and dropping to the floor.

My mark would have triggered
the scanner system as soon as I entered the apartment – how could I
not have noticed the double-beep of the scanner? I kicked out in
frustration, jabbing my foot into the ground, not understanding how
I could have been so blind.
They
would know where I had
been, and now Cassie was heading straight towards them.

As if on cue, to emphasise this
revelation, the sky began to darken. One moment everything was
normal and in the next instant everything was vanishing into
shadows. In the distance an announcement began to transmit from
viewing screens inside the apartments, as well as the outdoor
plazas, it echoed menacingly through the air to my ears:
“Please
be advised that emergency maintenance of the solar ceiling is
required. For your own safety you are advised to return home as
soon as possible. Normal operation will commence at sunrise
tomorrow.”
The voice of the female announcer was gentle as
ever, as she spread her lies. This wasn’t for maintenance; this was
for us…Cassie and me…

“Cassie.” With her name on my
lips I was already running. Nothing else mattered but finding her
and keeping her away from The Council or Collective, or whoever it
was that was coming for us under the cover of darkness.

As I neared the apartment a
flash of white passed through the dim light ahead of me. “Cassie!”
I called out, recognising her pale skin against the dark medic suit
a moment too late. She was already gone. Forcing myself to move
faster, I burst through the main entrance to the apartment building
a few seconds behind her. “CASSIE!” I shouted up towards where the
noisy slapping of her shoes on the stairs told me she was. She
didn’t stop and I was already taking the stairs two at a time,
chasing after her as I ran through possible ways to escape the
apartment block if they caught us inside. There was no easy way out
– one entrance, one exit – fighting was the only option I could
imagine if we refused to go with them.

When I reached the apartment I
found the door fully open and, not worrying about silence now,
rushed inside.

“Balik?”

I heard Cassie call my name in
the darkness ahead and moved in that direction to find her standing
in the living space with her back to me, eyes focused on the
kitchen.

Not wanting to startle her, I
reached forward intending to say her name so that she knew it was
me, but at the last second Cassie must have seen my reflection in
the window because I heard her suck in a deep breath to shout.
Panicking, I clamped my hand across her mouth as gently as I could
and whispered “don’t scream.” She struggled immediately, a reflex
reaction, before processing my words. A second later Cassie stopped
thrashing and sagged against me.

“What the hell are you doing
here?” I demanded, unable to stop myself. I obviously knew why
Cassie was here: I’d figured that out a few minutes ago hadn’t I…
What I actually meant was:
why did you follow me instead of
keeping yourself safe?

Cassie twisted inside my arms
to face me.

“No – time – ” she gasped, her
breath coming in gulps as she started pushing me towards the door.
“They’re coming here – now – you dropped your band – ”

“I know. I thought it was here,
that’s why I came back.” It wasn’t quite the truth, but was
probably the best way to get her out fast.

“You dropped it at the wall,”
Cassie choked out, opening her fingers to reveal the warm metal
band in her palm.

Cassie had done exactly what I
thought she had. “They know that I’m here and you came back for
me.” I said this mainly to myself, although Cassie nodded in
response. Another few seconds passed before I dragged myself back
to the situation at hand. “We need to – ”

Crack
.

My mouth snapped shut and my
ears strained, trying to work out what the noise had been. It
sounded as though it had come from outside the apartment. With one
finger pressed to my lips, to tell Cassie to keep quiet, I guided
her towards the empty office next to the kitchen and pushed her
inside. Safely hidden, I turned my back on her, easing into a
half-crouch, my legs slightly spread in a defensive stance.

Cassie touched my hand and I
turned partway around, so that I could see her as well as the main
entrance.

“There are three of them,” she
mouthed silently at me, holding up three fingers. “At least one has
some form of sedative syringe,” she held up one finger and then
emphasised her words by miming a syringe being depressed.

For a moment I struggled to
understand how Cassie could know this information, before I
realised that she must be inside their head. Her abilities were
getting stronger much faster than I could have expected.

Three of them, armed with
syringes: it sounded like the same kind of team that Cassie had
dreamed
about when Ami was taken. Cassie was gesturing at me
again.

“They’re waiting at the
entrance for you. They think it will be easier to ambush you in the
hallway.”

I nodded to show her I
understood and pointed to my chest, then my feet to let her know I
would be staying exactly where I was. Then I signalled for her to
move back inside the office: this time my gestures were more
pronounced, I had a feeling Cassie would resist and I was right.
She shook her head – no – and I could see she wanted to join me,
her eyes aglow with fear and determination. I shook my own head and
pushed her away as she reached out again.

Please?

Eventually, she took one step
back, disappearing into the shadows. It wasn’t perfect, but it
would have to do. Right now, things didn’t look good, but I might
still be able to keep them away from Cassie: they only knew about
me.

During the next few minutes
there was near silence. I focused on my breathing to stay calm –
just as I’d practised. The familiar pattern was soothing and as
everything slowed down I let my senses take over. My ears strained
to detect any further movements outside the apartment, my eyes
scanned the room searching for possible weapons. Where my suit
fitted closely I felt as though I was aware of every single fibre
resting on my skin. Every sense was heighted. The air in the
apartment was cooled for comfort, but as I drew it into my lungs
now it was not comforting – just necessary.

I’d never actually fought
anyone before and as the time stretched my mind began to race,
making me more anxious. I could feel a rush about to kick in.
Forcing my mind back to my breathing I tried not to let the fear
take over.

One breath in, two breathe out,
three breath in…

Counting through the breaths
helped calm me faster. I couldn’t risk having my adrenaline spike
now before anything happened, it would leave me drained at the
point I might actually need it.

A soft hiss from Cassie drew my
attention, and I just
knew
they were coming in. My body
snapped straighter, muscles tightening as I waited for them to
appear. There was no way back from here – I was ready. All I could
hope was that they weren’t prepared for me.

Three figures in black suits
entered the living room. They looked like any other adult males
from the Family Quarter, with the exception of the black gloves on
their hands and the hard looking shoes on their feet, heavier than
anything we wore normally. Maybe the taller man at the back looked
different; there was an unfamiliar hardness to his features, his
eyes were riveted to mine and when I looked into them I felt my
stomach squeeze painfully. There was something dark behind his gaze
that scared the hell out of me.

We stood in silence. They
looked at me and I watched them back. I felt nothing, but assumed
they must be trying to get a reading on my thoughts. Cassie would
know what they were thinking – what they might be planning – all I
could do was wait.

“Balik,” the man at the back
addressed me.

His gruff voice was as cold and
hollow as his gaze, and it made me want to turn and run. I fought
to keep my mind blank as panic pushed my heart rate higher.

“You need to come with us. The
Council have instructed us to collect you.”

“The
Council
…really?” I
worked to keep my voice light, conversational. My only advantage
would be my desire to fight back and I didn’t want to give them any
indication of my plan. “I don’t think that can be right, I haven’t
disobeyed any rule. You must want someone else.”

“You have been identified as
having a fault in your marking,” the man replied, appearing mildly
frustrated. “The faults are connected to odd behaviour – it’s
affecting several people on your Clinic placement – we’re just here
to help you get some treatment.”

“I’m sure that’s right, but I’m
quite happy with how I’m behaving, so I’ll not go for treatment if
that’s OK.”

“Unfortunately that’s not an
option,” he argued back, his voice becoming a growl. “You are
coming with us one way or another. You’re a danger to yourself and
others.”

I shook my head: no. There was
nothing wrong with me – or Cassie – this was all down to them and
they knew it.

A split-second later the two
men closest to me sprang forward, aiming for my middle judging by
their approach. The one to my left was faster, his target lower. At
the last possible moment I dodged to the right, out of his way
letting him fall past me. The other man was smaller, but aiming
higher and so I dropped low to ram into his midriff and spin him
over the top of my shoulder – his weight hit me hard, he was more
solid than I expected – but momentum helped carry him forward and I
heard him land awkwardly on the floor behind me.

I didn’t look back. The
adrenaline was flying fully through me now and my attention was
drawn, not to the man I’d just tossed over my shoulder, but
straight ahead to the open door of the apartment, five paces from
where I stood. The tall man was positioned in the corner of the
room, too far away to stop me if I ran. My feet twitched – a
natural flight response, but I resisted – I couldn’t flee because
the only real chance Cassie and I had together was to stand and
fight.

In the two seconds it took me
to make these observations and discard them, the first figure
righted himself and changed direction to lunge at me again. I
couldn’t sidestep him this time and so I punched into the softness
of his stomach. The blow landed with a loud smacking noise and he
exhaled in surprise stumbling back a step.

It would have been satisfying,
except an intense burning in my knuckles sidetracked me. It was as
though I’d punched a piece of wood, not just muscle or flesh – that
couldn’t be right. The distraction was momentary, because my body
was already moving automatically forward: the routines I’d created
and practiced encouraged me not to stop, but keep fighting.
Advancing on the falling figure I landed a low kick on his knee as
he staggered. At the point of contact I forced my foot down hard
against the resisting bone and felt something snap beneath my shoe.
It was accompanied by a sickening
crack
and I expected him
to scream or shout or
something
, but he didn’t: he made no
sound at all, simply dropped to the ground.

Preoccupied with my confusion
at his unnatural response to the pain of having his leg snapped, I
forgot about the other man, and wasn’t fast enough to avoid the
first punch he threw at me as he found his feet once more. I cried
out – involuntarily – in amazement. The force of it sent me
spinning into the wall. My face hit it with a dull thud – flesh and
bone jarring beneath the thin membrane of skin – and I tasted blood
on my lips.

Shock cloyed at me, trying to
drag me back, slow me down or make me run…but then more adrenaline
punched into my system, overriding my initial inertia. I’d never
been hit before, and the force of the punch stunned me – it was so
much harder than I would have thought possible.

MOVE!
My mind was
screaming at me, but it was hard to shake off the confusion – this
wasn’t right. Pulling myself back upright, I turned to face him.
The man stood before me still, several inches shorter than I and
definitely lighter.

It wasn’t right!
He was
too strong – impossibly powerful for his size – and his fist had
felt like…what…?

Wrong. They felt
wrong
.

It was just the same as when I
hit them: the impact didn’t feel right, it was as though they were
more solid than a normal human body should be.

Could it be some form of armour
beneath their clothing?

No, that wouldn’t explain their
unnatural strength…

Perhaps they heard these
questions in my thoughts – although I was sure that my confusion
must have been plain on my face – the one who’d hit me let out a
roar, or maybe it was a laugh, as he swung towards me again.

Spinning away, I dropped low
and swept my leg along the ground kicking the man’s feet from under
him. He dropped heavily to the floor for a second time, but now
there was no pause before the man stood back up and moved towards
me for a third attempt. On my right I heard the other man – whose
knee I’m sure I’d smashed – getting to his feet as well.

This was not going to go well
for me. I was outnumbered, they were abnormally strong and –
looking at the man standing with a broken knee as though he felt no
pain at all – it appeared I was unable to harm them. I had
absolutely no clue what was going on, or how this was possible, but
it was just something else to add to the list of
things I don’t
know
, because there was no time to process anything right now.
Preparing myself for the inevitable, my gaze swivelled from one man
to the other, wondering who would attack first. That was when they
both froze in place.