RAINBOW RUN (14 page)

They greeted me as if I were a welcome guest and offered me a drink of water. I hadn't realized how thirsty I was. I wondered about the peace I felt and asked, "Is this clearing a special place that makes people feel good just to be in it?"

She answered, "It's not the place, it's us." He said, "You feel the power of the love we share."

"I like the feeling. I want something like you have for myself. How can I achieve it?"

"It takes two people willing to commit to a life together, two people who strive to treat each other well and deal with each other on a continuing, loving basis," she answered.

"Will I find this in my life?" I asked.

He replied, "You've already taken the first step—recognizing that you want it. There are no guarantees but you are now more apt to find and create it since you know what you're looking for."

She said, "I hope you will be as fortunate as we are."

I was startled by the sudden appearance of an androgynous person dressed in a long black robe. The face was translucent skin stretched tightly over a fleshless skull. The hair was sparse and transparent.

"Don't mind me," the apparition said, "I'm just passing through on my way to aid in the final change of those whose time is short."

"Who are you?"

The almost lipless mouth opened wide as the apparition said, "I am Death, a milestone in the existence of all. I represent change in all its aspects. You will all see me again eventually because the death rate is one hundred percent. Life feeds on death. Death is not the opposite of life; it is the opposite of birth, a marker of passage. I go now for an appointment with one who thinks I can be delayed indefinitely because he has position and power. All the colors of the rainbow cannot cancel the grayness I bring."

Death walked on. I asked the man and woman if they could confirm what Death said about the death rate being one hundred percent because I thought rainbows had eternal life. They directed me to the Sage for answers.

I found the Sage, a small man with bright dark eyes who reminded me of Kahalyton, at a bend in the path. I asked him, "Does Death speak the truth?"

"Yes. There is no reason for Death to lie."

"Can you help me understand?"

"Close your eyes and I'll give you a vision."

I closed my eyes. I saw someone wearing a rainbow wristlock, someone who looked familiar but not identifiable. As I watched the rainbow wristlock grew larger until it encompassed all that I knew existed. The rainbow turned upside down and took the world with it. I felt like I'd been picked up and dumped on my head.

I opened my eyes and found myself in Boget's dwell, still connected to the Simulike machine.

I felt weak. I got up and helped myself to food and drink. Boget had asked me to tell him about my experience with the new version of the Simulike machine. I went to the door but it wouldn't open. I was locked in. I lay back down. I had a lot to think about.

In the morning Boget unlocked the door to the room where I’d spent the night. He invited me to join him for first meal whenever I was ready. After my morning cleansing rituals, I sat down across from him, more interested in what he had to say than in the food.

Boget said, "I’d like to hear about your Simulike experience, if you're awake enough to recount it."

I was wide awake. I wanted to know if Boget was going to get me a wristlock but he wanted to hear about my Simulike adventure.

He was the host and the one with the power in this relationship. I played the good guest, swallowed the last of the food cube I was eating, took a long drink of water, and gave him a detailed summary of my Simulike encounters with others.

When I was done, he asked me, "Did the people you saw there remind you of specific people in your life?"

"Some did and some didn't. I got the feeling that the ones I didn't recognize are people I'll meet in the near future."

I didn't give him any names. If he was part of the conspiracy that Clandine believed existed, I didn’t want to reveal anything that might lead him to believe I was working against him.

"Did any of the Simulike characters remind you of me?"

"No. It's possible one of them represented you and I just didn't make the connection." I wondered if he was looking for an ego boost or for information about the future. He might have been seeking some other information but I couldn't be sure what it might be. I would be willing to polish his ego a bit if that was what it took to get a new wristlock, but I didn't want to lie to him any more than necessary, especially when I couldn't be sure what he wanted to hear.

I wasn't certain exactly what was going on. It was possible that he had recorded my Simulike experience and was asking about it to see if I would give an honest account.

Boget said, "I think I'm going to play an important role in your life. If your Simulike journey didn't bring you into my orbit, two major possibilities exist. It could be that our relationship is going to go so smoothly that you don't need to be prepared for it or, at the other extreme; our association may be limited in ways that can't yet be foreseen. I think the first possibility is the more likely one.

"I want you to be my assistant at the Simulike Palace, if you are willing. All of the old Simulike machines are being replaced with new ones like the one you used. The work should be finished today. I'd like for you to be my eyes and ears."

I didn't know what that position might entail but I wasn't going to turn it down if a new wristlock was part of the package.

"I'd like to do that but not while wearing a wristlock that identifies me as a suspected criminal. I wouldn't be of much help to you if I had to worry continually about being arrested by the VIS."

I tried to express my desires in terms that implied our interests coincided. I watched his reaction to see if my point of view fit with his intentions.

Boget smiled. He reached into his waist pouch and withdrew a white wristlock. He said, "This is for you."

This was what I'd been waiting for but I felt letdown. I had expected something more official. Maybe the ceremony came when the wristlock change was made and recorded. Then I got it. Of course, Boget must have procured another illegal wristlock. I wondered what new entanglement I was letting myself in for. I knew Clandine would be pleased to learn that Boget was providing illegal wristlocks to bancs, but I wasn’t convinced our interests were the same. Regardless, the new wristlock was an improvement over Errox’s castoff.

"I appreciate the attention you've given to my problem, Boget. I'm eager to wear a white wristlock. Can the change be made this morning?"

"I've made the arrangements. We can leave now."

We left the urbode and got on the outbound slidestrip. When we reached the slideway I paid attention to the route, adding it to my mental map. Our journey stopped at a purple urbode that looked like all the others. I had expected an official building of some sort. We went into the urbode and on the fifth floor we approached a dwell. The door opened at Boget’s request.

He introduced me to the occupant, Dreena, a short woman who was thickset without being fat.

She said to me, "I'm pleased to meet you, Rathe."

I knew I'd heard her name before, but couldn't remember where or when. To Boget she said, "Your runner said you needed my services. How can I help?"

Boget gave Dreena the white wristlock. "Put this one on Rathe. Dispose of the gray one he's wearing and destroy it. It belongs to someone who’s in trouble with the VIS."

Dreena's expression changed as if she had just learned something of importance. Then I recalled Clandine having told me that Dreena was one of two illegal smitties used by Errox. I couldn't understand why Boget was using an illegal smitty. I didn't understand why he wasn't doing this in some kind of official manner, but I wasn't going to ask. My focus was on getting Errox's gray wristlock off and the white wristlock on.

"I'll do a remote demolition on the gray wristlock," Dreena said.

Boget said, "Good," to her. Then he turned to me and asked, "Can you find your way back to my dwell?"

"Yes," I said. "On the way, I made a mental map of our route."

"Okay. Come back to my dwell when you're finished. Your new wristlock is keyed to open my door. Then we'll go to the House of Rebirth and get Ozerta—she's the rainbow overseer there—to get you officially registered as a white wristlock wearer."

"I'll be looking forward to that." Ozerta was one of Clandine's conspiracy suspects. If Boget could use an illegal smitty and get Ozerta to register the event as officially sanctioned, then he and Ozerta might be conspirators. Perhaps they were not as dangerous as Clandine seemed to think, but they were definitely involved in some illegal activity. Two rainbows who were bypassing the existing system.

I wondered why they were doing it. Maybe they were just going around the bureaucracy to save time and effort. Rainbows held the power in this society. Surely they could change the system if they wanted to? I wondered if Clandine had detected some irregularities and deduced a conspiracy, mistaking shortcuts for corruption.

Boget said goodbye to Dreena and left. She had me sit in a chair. Her setup was just like the one that Hushel had used to give me Errox's wristlock.

Dreena locked my right arm in the frame, fit the wires to my fingers, and removed the gray wristlock with the spreading tool. She wasn't as skilled as Hushel. She scraped my knuckles deep enough to make them bleed.

"I'm sorry. I'll put some antiseptic new skin on your knuckles." She picked up an unmarked container and sprayed on a liquid that stung me. Dreena removed the gray wristlock from the machine and said, "I'll get rid of this gray wristlock while the new skin dries."

She left before I could make a reply. I hoped she wouldn't be long. Although I was glad to be rid of Errox's wristlock, I felt vulnerable without a wristlock of my own. My wrist looked naked without one.

I looked around the dwell from my position in the chair where I was imprisoned by the hardware attached to my right arm. The dwell held nothing to distinguish it from other gray dwells except the smitty equipment.

After a while I began to wonder when Dreena would return. What if the VIS came to arrest her and took me, too? What if she was doing the wristlock demolition and injured herself? What if she never came back? I realized my thoughts were becoming paranoid and I started counting backwards from one hundred, one number with each breath, in an attempt to calm myself. I kept losing count as unpleasant thoughts flitted through my mind.

The way the hardware was attached to my right arm held me in place. I couldn't reach any of the controls with my left hand. The chair was firmly attached to the floor and wouldn't move despite my struggles. If Dreena never came back, would Boget look for me when I didn't return to his dwell? Was it possible that Boget suspected I was really an agent for Clandine and the VIS? If he did was he intending to have me killed or brainwiped?

I shuddered at the idea of being brainwiped again. Regardless of who I had been before, I was now Rathe. I had a character and a personality that I could live with. I hoped I hadn't fallen into a trap that meant I would have to start over as a blanc or a rebirth.

My hopes were at low ebb when Dreena finally returned. She wasn’t alone. Alongside her was Errox.

"Rathe, my friend, I'm glad to see you again."

"Hello, Errox." I saw that he was wearing a green wristlock, probably the one he'd cut off the dead woman in the Rainbow Room. I tried to banish the memory from my mind.

Errox looked at Dreena and ordered, "Install his white wristlock, Dreena. Rathe is on his way up in the world." Then turning to me he said, "When you figured out the color tile pattern in the Rainbow Room I knew you had the potential to be somebody valuable."

"I'm making my way as best I can," I said, wondering what he meant by ‘valuable.’ Valuable to him, most certainly, but how? I had seen the way Errox treated the grays and those he believed were beneath him. I didn’t want to be included in his entourage.

Dreena compressed my hand with her machine and slipped the white wristlock onto my wrist. She said, "Your hand will hurt for several shifts."

She handed me some pills in a clear plastic tube. "Take one of these for the pain. No more than two per shift."

"Rathe is experienced. He's been through this before."

Turning to me, Errox said, "The problem you had last time was unexpected. I never meant for you to fall into the hands of the VIS."

"I didn't think you helped me just so I could be arrested," I replied.

"How did you manage to get released?"

"One of the VIS agents wanted to use me as an information source. I don't trust the VIS. I went to Boget to find a way out."

I didn't think I was telling Errox anything he didn't know. Since Dreena had sought out Errox and brought him back here, I could reasonably assume that she had told him everything she knew about me and Boget.

"Hear that, Dreena? Rathe hasn't been around for two transits yet and he's already slidestrip smart and walkway wise."

Dreena nodded yes as she finished cleaning the blood off her equipment, the dried blood from my knuckles that she'd scraped getting the gray wristlock off my wrist. I was certain the scraping had been no accident, just a ploy to give her a chance to leave me here and contact Errox. Since she knew how to find him, he must trust her or need her. She didn't have the subservient attitude toward Errox that Ural and Miral had shown in their dealings with him.

He looked at me knowingly. "When I gave you my wristlock, I thought you'd eventually go back to the Rainbow Room and upgrade your wristlock color by beating the odds and getting into the winner's circle."

"I was considering that as a possibility, but I was arrested before I had a chance to follow through." I had thought about it. I knew the danger would be minimal if the equation stayed the same. But if the Rainbow Room equation was different, or if it changed while I was there, I could lose my life if I didn't figure out the new equation. My main plan had been to find a way I could play the game. I knew I was good at that. In addition to the danger in the Rainbow Room, I was reluctant to return to the scene of the most traumatic experience of my present life.