Free Deborah Hockney by Jocasta's Gift Page A

tried to smile reassuringly at them both. She hoped it didn’t look as difficult to achieve as it felt.
    ‘Well,’ David took a deep breath and began again. ‘If we take our glasses off, we can kind of see into your body.’
    ‘What, through my clothes?’ Jocasta involuntarily leant forward over the table in an effort to screen herself.
    ‘Yes, but don’t worry, you’ve never seen me without my specs, have you?’
    ‘Nope, I s’pose not, but it’s still a bit unsettling. To think that my insides, gurgling around could be on view to who knows how many people!’ She quickly scanned the room looking for possible culprits.
    ‘The thing is,’ Felipe mumbled through a mouthful of food, ‘we’re not sure what else we may be able to do. That’s one of the main reasons for being chosen by the Elite, they’ll train us to do other stuff.’
    ‘Yes, and all in the name of furthering the survival chances of the human race,’ went on David. ‘But not everyone sees it that way. That’s why it’s all hushed up on Earth, there are some people – certain purists, I guess you could call them – who think we should suppress our skills, and just try and be what they consider ‘normal’.’
    ‘But I am normal, I haven’t got a special talent. I’ve been wondering whether they’ve picked the wrong person, when they chose me. And the more I’m hearing about all this the more I think the Elite have made a mistake.’
    ‘Well that’s just stupid,’ David replied in an off-hand way. ‘The Elite never make mistakes. If they’ve taken the trouble to find you and get you this far, you can be sure there’s a very good reason for it.’
    ‘Well the sooner I find out what it is, the better,’ Jocasta replied, picking unenthusiastically at a soggy chip. ‘Because it’s really beginning to bug me. And it’s so unfair ,’ she moaned, looking at the boys enviously, ‘that you should know why you’re here, and I don’t. Yuck. These chips are cold. Keep my place, you two,’ she said, placing her bag on the chair. ‘I’ll go see if I can get them heated up. And don’t you dare take those glasses off!’ she added as an afterthought, glancing over her shoulder.
    ‘We wouldn’t take that chance,’ David grinned. ‘And see those cold chips swirling around? Think it might just be enough to bring my dinner back up.’
    Felipe chuckled in response.
    Jocasta returned with her plate piled high with fresh chips. It was against the regulations, she’d been told, to re-heat food. She’d also helped herself to a sizable portion of apple pie and custard.
    ‘Help yourselves, boys,’ she said, balancing the tray on the table. ‘I’m never going to be able to eat all those chips and still have room for this dessert.’
    ‘Don’t mind if I do,’ answered David, patting his stomach. ‘I’ve heard the food on Mars can be a bit on the skimpy side, and I can’t afford to lose weight. By the way, there’s a strange girl over there, trying, I think, to get your attention.’
    Jocasta turned to see a normal-looking Nikki waving a hand at her. Not wanting to risk letting any more chips go cold, and therefore to waste, she beckoned her over to their table and spent the next few minutes, between mouthfuls of food, introducing everyone.
    They quietly discussed which sections they’d all been placed in; Nikki it turned out had been put in the section with the turquoise braiding: the Water Group. She told them the different groups were named after the four elements, and within the Elite were referred to as the EL-M Corps.
    ‘Apparently we’ll soon find out exactly what each one stands for – either when we reach the space station or on the solar ship taking us to Mars,’ said Nikki knowingly.
    ‘And then do you think they’ll tell us, what our talent is…? If we haven’t already found out?’ Jocasta knew she sounded anxious but she was desperate to discover when she would find out what her talent was- assuming she