by Terry Tyler
"How're you doing, then, Flora?" Davina says.
I open my mouth to answer but I don't think she really wants to know; she reaches out to touch my cape, and gives this funny, harsh little laugh.
"Nice coat. Okay for some, isn't it?"
I got the cape from the clothing stores for Hub Residential and Juno; it's gorgeous, black wool, with silver fur trim round the hood and arm holes. I feel a bit awkward; Davina and Julie are wearing nasty, cheap fleeces, over hoodies.
"I was just lucky to find it," I say. It's cold and windy; I push my hands into the huge sleeves, and feel grateful for it.
"Well, there's nothing like that in the Supplies Zone," says Paul. "Not that I could get Davina anything smart if there was; I don't earn enough bloody credits." He shakes his head. "I don't know, I do a hard day's graft, and we're eating bloody baked beans and spuds, just like on Lindisfarne. 'Cept back there, I didn't have to put in an eight-hour day. And I wasn't living in a bloody shoe box."
I don't know what to say. "Yes, but at least you can have a hot shower when you get home! And watch films."
"Yeah, well, that's another thing. I'm told there was a cinema and relaxation spa for the site workers, originally, but it's been shut down to 'save resources'."
"And you can't always have a hot shower," Julie says. "Sometimes the water pressure is knacked, 'specially early evening, when everyone's coming home from work and wanting one."
"This bloke on our site told me that they're talking about power cuts in the Rez Zones, 'n' all," Paul continues, "so there won't be much film watching, neither."
I've been told about that, but it's not happening in the Juno complex. I think there's a combination of oil, solar and battery power here; I don't really understand it. As long as things still turn on, that's all I care about.
"Not in the evening," I say. "Alex promised me they won't turn it off between six and ten, which is when people are cooking their evening meals and watching their DVDs. And candles and torches are free at the Supplies Zone."
"Yeah, well, you can tell your mate Alex that this wasn't what we signed up for." Paul looks really angry, just like in meetings on Lindisfarne. "I want to know what's happened to the cash I had in my ISA before the virus. If I could get my hands on it, I could buy stuff we need. I mentioned it to Barney, and he just said old money don't exist no more, and it balances itself out 'cause our old debts are wiped clean, but I don't like this credits business. I can't keep track of it, I want to see my wages in my hand. Why can't we get the actual money out of our accounts?"
"Well, Barney did explain all that, when he came to the island, and Alex told us how it works, at the induction—"
"I don't see that it makes a great deal of difference, I have to say." Davina puts her arm through Paul's, and looks up at him. "Come on, love, we used to pay for everything on the card, back in the old days, didn't we?"
"Yeah, we did, but we could look up our balance whenever we wanted, we didn't just get one poxy statement at the end of the month. We have to write every single pack of bog roll down in a notebook or we can't work out if we're broke or not. And it's not having the option to use cash that pisses me off. 'Specially in my game, you do odd jobs for cash all the time."
"Um, you could have a word with Alex, put it forward as a suggestion—"
"Already have, love." Paul puts an arm tight round Davina, like he's trying to keep her warm, and I feel guilty, standing there in my lovely cosy cape. "And I had to jump through a few bloody hoops before I could even get to see him, I tell you! Then he gave me five bloody minutes, and talked to me like I'm some effing moron. He said, 'You don't understand, Paul. There is no cash. I couldn't give you any if I wanted to'."
He says Alex's words in this half-American accent; it's just right and quite funny, actually.
"That's right," I say. "There are no notes or coins."
Paul's not listening. "So I says to him, 'What if I want to do a private job for a mate? How's that work?' That's what I'm used to. A mate needs a dodgy window fixing, or gets a leak in the bathroom, he gives me a bit of beer money. But, oh no. Verlander, he says to me that if there's a home repair needs doing, you let Maintenance know, and they come out. He says it like I'm supposed to be pleased. But I don't want to go cap in hand every time I need something. It's a matter of pride, ain't it? You want to be independent, don't you? I said that to him. And do you know what he said?"
He's shaking his head in disbelief again, waiting for me to ask.
"No, what did he say?"
"He says, 'If the situation does arise, perhaps your friend could pay you in tinned goods'." He laughs out loud. "Do me a favour! I do a job for a mate, and he pays me in bloody baked beans? I'm starting to look like a bloody baked bean!"
"Everyone's fed up with them," Julie says. She works on non-perishables. "Whatever else we run out of, we've always got baked beans. I reckon Collections must've raided a Heinz warehouse!" A gust of wind blows down the road and she shivers, pulls up her hood and shoves her hands in her pockets; on one of them, the stitching is coming away. "I tell you what, Flora, I'd give anything to have an apartment like yours. It's not fair, I've already got two kids to look after, so why can't I have a place like yours?"
"I don't know." Well, maybe I do. Sophia is a bit of a cheeky miss. She's ten, and Julie says that James, who is eight, is dyslexic. I don't think he is, I think he's just bad at spelling because he doesn't listen in class. Dex said that some people say they're dyslexic because it sounds better than just not being very good at English. Apart from that, though, the Juno children will be brought up under the new UK2 guidance. There are fourteen of us who are pregnant now, and parenting classes are starting soon, to teach us how to discipline and educate our children in the correct way, right from the off. It's going to be standardised, Alex says.
"We're going back to traditional values," Alex told me. "Teaching children respect for their community, and the ethos of the new world."
I think that's a good thing. But I can't tell my friends that, and I sometimes wonder if they are my friends now. Davina is still lovely, but others seem to resent my good fortune. Even Naomi and Suzanne, who I thought really cared about me. Naomi is upset that she's not allowed to move into Dex's flat. She asked me to have a word with him and I did, and he said it's because of the highly confidential nature of the reports he has to write for the government.
I don't want to get involved.
We say our goodbyes, and I walk round the corner, down the nice road where young trees are growing, towards the wrought iron gates and the safety of the Juno complex. I have to say, it's a relief.
The next evening, Chester and I are snuggling up after dinner and deciding what film to watch when our intercom buzzes.
It's Davina.
Chester shakes his head, but I ignore him, and tell Grant, the security guard, that she can come up.
She looks awful, tired and worried.
"Hope you don't mind me interrupting your evening, but I need to talk to you."
"That's okay, it's lovely to see you, isn't it, Chester?" I smile at both of them. I am pleased to see her; it's nice that she's come on a visit. Chester doesn't answer.
"Paul's having a beer and a game of pool with his workmates," she says, sitting down.
Chester offers her tea as if it's a massive chore; I feel a bit annoyed with him.
"Is there something the matter?" I ask. She really does look awful. She looked better when we were on Lindisfarne.
"It's Avery," she blurts out. "She's pregnant."
I gasp. I always knew she was a bit over-friendly with the boys, but I thought she was sensible enough to be careful.
"I'm so sorry, Davina," I say. "Who's the father? How far on is she?"
She picks at her fingernails; they're ragged, and her hands are rough. "Just a few weeks, but there's no hope for a termination, is there? So she's got to have it."
"Can you tell me whose it is?"
She shuts her eyes,
and breathes in. "That Zack. You know, good-looking lad who works in Data Analysis. Full of himself."
Oh my God! "But he's—he's—"
"Up for the Juno Initiative, yes, I know. That's what I've come to see you about."
"But Avery—she's too young for Juno." She's only sixteen and a half, and girls have to be seventeen.
"Yes, but by the time the baby's born she'll be seventeen. She needs one of these flats. Otherwise, we're going to be lumbered with a new-born baby in that shoe box we live in, and, to be honest, I don't know if my nerves can stand it." Her eyes fill with tears, and I feel so sorry for her. "I don't know, Flora, everything was fine when we were on Lindisfarne—well, it wasn't, because we'd lost friends and family, and it was a hard life, but it was supposed to be a stop-gap until life perked up, and we thought it had, but it's worse, it's not better at all—"
She puts her head in her hands, just as Chester comes in with the tea. He puts it down and makes a quick exit; he mutters something about getting out of our way and going to Spritz. To be honest, I could have done with his support, but I suppose he thinks it's women's talk.
I lean forward and hold her hand. "How does Zack feel about it? Does he know? Is he in love with her?"
Davina gives a tired little laugh. "Oh, love, you haven't got a clue, have you? Yes, he knows, and do you think he'd still be signed up for this Juno malarkey if he gave a damn? It was just a one-night stand. He plied her with drink and took advantage of her; she told me all about it. Neither of us dare tell Paul."
"Is it definitely Zack's?"
She stops smiling. "What are you trying to say?"
Oh dear, I do seem to have been putting my foot in it, lately. "Nothing! I just wondered, that's all."
"Yes, it is. For sure. Avery says so, and I believe her. The thing is, I think Paul may very well do something he shouldn't if he finds out. You remember what happened with Neil, back on the island—"
"I wasn't there then, but yes, I heard about it."
She stops, looks down, and wrings her hands together. I've read about people doing that in books, but I've never seen anyone do it in real life. "I was wondering if you could have a word with Alex Verlander."
Dear oh dear, I should have seen this coming. "What do you want me to say?"
She looks up again, and all of a sudden she doesn't look so upset. She looks determined. Like she's jolly well going to get her way. "I want you to ask him to pair Zack with her in one of your binding partnerships, and give them one of these flats. Along with all the advantages that you get. Proper medical check-ups, extra credits, the lot. If she's good enough for Zack to have sex with, she's good enough to marry, isn't she?"
"They don't call it marriage here, they call it partnering—"
"I don't care what they bloody call it. Avery's my daughter, and I can't see why you're allowed to sit here, enjoying the life of Riley, while Avery slogs away in those mucky growing tunnels, spraying God only knows what chemicals about—what might they do to an unborn child?"
"I'm sure if you went to Mary and explained, she'd understand and give her lighter duties." Mary runs the Grow Zone, she's lovely. "I'm sure everything will be okay."
"Are you? Well, I'm bloody not." She sounds like Paul. "Will you do this for me, Flora? Will you go and see Alex and Erika tomorrow, and ask them?"
"Of course I will." I really don't want to, but I know I must. The Lincolns are my friends.
"Good." She stands up. She hasn't touched her tea. "Zack needs to face up to his responsibilities. And he's willing to do this Juno thing, so he's prepared for fatherhood. Well, lucky him; it's happened. I want what's right for my daughter. Before her father finds out. You understand that?"
I do. What I don't want to say to Davina, though, is that Zack didn't choose Avery, and he might not want her as a partner.
The trouble is that everyone knows Avery is 'easy' apart from her parents.
I brood over the problem when she's gone, and when Chester comes back—later than I'd expected—I tell him all about it.
He laughs; I think he's a little bit drunk.
"Avery Lincoln? Man, no way! Everyone's had her!"
He's shaking his head in amusement, and I get a horrible feeling.
"Have you?"
He stops laughing. "Flora, no. Of course not. I would never—no. She's a fine piece of ass, for sure, but—"
"A fine piece of ass?" I've never heard him talk like that before.
He puts his hand to his brow. "Sorry, babe. That was me before the fall; bit of locker room talk there, my bad." He pulls me to him, and it feels so good to be safe and warm in his arms, even though I hate the smell of beer on him. "I'd never go near someone like her. And you're the only girl for me, ever, okay?"
I put forward Davina's suggestion to Alex and Erika the next morning.
Alex laughs out loud and Erika shakes her head in amused disbelief, just like Chester.
"Flora, we would never consider Avery Lincoln for the Juno Initiative, even if she was of age," says Erika. "Not only does her reputation go before her, but she's on our watch list."
"Your watch list?"
"Yes. And that stays in this room, okay? Pop's on it, too. He's a troublemaker. He stirs up dissatisfaction amongst the workers."
"Well, he speaks his mind, but—"
Alex moves in. "Yes he does, and that can be a good thing. I know he's a friend of yours, and he's a hard worker, sure, with a strong personality. But his constant complaints are bad for morale amongst his peers. As for Avery, she's been spotted outside her own apartment after curfew. Only by ten minutes or so, but rules is rules. In the evenings she's constantly nipping in and out of the singles flats."
I don't like the sound of this. "Isn't she allowed to visit friends?"
"Sure, sure, and of course we want our residents to socialise; it's good for community. Essentially, though, she is part of a family unit. Family units must support each other, to maintain stability. She's got a kid brother, right? He needs her at home, as does her mother."
"Do you spy on where she goes, then?"
Alex shakes his head. "It's not spying, darling. But if someone is causing us concern, the chips enable us to keep an eye on them." He sits back, and looks at Erika. "They're primarily for individual safety, of course—and I rest my case, look what's happened to Avery! But I'm afraid her little problem is something the family will have to deal with, on their own. She does not have the makings of a Juno mother. She will have access to the workers' medical facilities, of course, but—"
He shrugs his shoulders, and I know there is no point in my pressing for a change of heart.
I feel depressed when I get home, and worried for my friends. I need to talk to Chester, but he's out; he's left me a note saying that he's gone for a beer, again. That does worry me a bit, if I'm honest, because I know he liked to drink a few beers too many before the fall; when he was at college in Minnesota he was in a 'frat house', which is a place where male students live together and have rowdy parties. He says he misses it sometimes, which I understand, but he does know he's not supposed to have more than two beers in any one session, as part of his Juno contract.
When I reminded him of that, last week, he said, "Babe, I'm the son of a Maxlo Director. I can do what the hell I like."
I won't let myself fret about it. I'm sure he will stop all that once the baby is born; he has so much to look forward to.
I get cosy, and carry on with a cushion cover I'm embroidering for Davina. It has a cat on it, because she loves cats, and lost hers when they set off for Lindisfarne.
I am really happy, I truly am, but a few things are worrying me. I told Davina that Alex wouldn't help, and she was so angry I felt as though she was cross with me, not the system.
"Well, I'll just go and see him myself," she said, and set off for the Hub, but she wasn't allowed in. It's really difficult to see Alex and Erika if you're not authorised, because you can't set foot in the Hub unless you submit an access fo
rm, and neither of them venture out into the rest of Central. Their cars are in a private car park, and the apartment complex has its own stores, so, apart from when special meetings are called, the workers never see them.
Next, Davina tried to see Dex. She made a right stink at the Hub Residential gate until Dex allowed her up.
She said she gave him hell, but he refused to do anything to help.
"After everything we've been through together, at Lindisfarne! I've known him since he turned up on the island with his pregnant girlfriend, asking for a place to live, and now the tables have turned it's 'I'm alright, Jack'! I said, 'do you know how many hours I slaved over hot tubs of water, washing your wretched bed linen? How many loaves of bread I made for that community? And this is how you treat me?'"
She looked at me as if it was my fault, it was horrible. "I can't see the difference between Avery and you, give or take a couple of years. So you and that boy have had one of these 'binding partnership ceremonies'"—she did that thing where you make imaginary quote marks with your fingers—"but it's not legal, is it? You're not married! As far as I can see, you got pregnant by a boy you'd only just met, same as my daughter, except you're being treated like a bloody princess, and my daughter is thrown on the scrapheap!"
And then she stormed off. She did come round and apologise the next day, but they've still got problems that I can't help with, and Paul is going to be furious when he finds out. Oh dear, oh dear.
The second bad thing that's happened is with Ollie and Glenn. Glenn missed the ten o'clock curfew loads of times because he kept going round to this other boy's flat and staying overnight, and he got into trouble, so he tried to take his chip out and it went septic. Then Ollie went to see Dex to question a bit in his contract that says the terms can be changed as UK2 Administration sees fit, and he had this big row with Dex, and the next thing they'd both disappeared.