The girl blushed at the harsh words, two vivid red spots spreading quickly from her cheeks and down her slender neck to disappear into the neck of her baggy coveralls. She was slightly built and her posture made her seem even smaller.
Very gently, taking all the edges out of her voice, Marina asked, “Did you need me or the deputy?” She gestured toward her husband at the last word.
The girl’s eyes flicked briefly toward Joseph and then back toward Marina before she replied, “Mother Patrick sent me to wait for you. She’s back there.” She pointed toward the entrance to the Animal Farms without turning and again very quickly glanced at the two adults before her eyes slid down and away from them.
“What’s your name, young lady?” Marina asked. She kept her voice friendly and as quiet as she could make it and still be heard over the sound of feet on the metal stairs. A quick glance at the patch on the girl’s green coveralls showed the familiar stylized profile of a chicken and a rabbit with an egg between them. Below it, the simple dark circle patch that indicated the wearer was a shadow was roughly sewn to the pocket.
“Sarah,” came her almost inaudible reply.
“And you’re a shadow at the Farm?”
Sarah nodded without making eye contact and said, “I’ll take you to her. Will you follow me?”
“Of course. Lead the way, Sarah.”
The girl’s blush deepened further at the use of her name but she turned and walked rapidly toward the other end of the landing where two big doors separated the wider silo world from the domain of the animals and the mysterious business of animal husbandry. Marina watched the girl as they followed. She walked stiffly, like her goal was to remain unnoticed. Her long hair hung free, strangely enough, though by the way she leaned her head forward as she walked, Marina suspected it was more to hide her face rather than as a statement of beauty.
They didn’t really need a guide, especially not Joseph, but they followed obediently enough. He had spent a good part of his childhood roaming this floor and had helped out for many years before he had any thought to a future profession. It was the nature of childhood for most of the silo that they would spend time with their parents at work discovering their own thoughts on that career. That might not be the case for a child whose parent worked with sewage or in composting but for Joseph it had been a joy.
As the girl held one of the big doors open for the group to pass through, the rich smell enveloped Marina, replacing the singular smell of dung from the lift, and she couldn’t help but take a deep breath. It wasn’t that it was such a good smell because it was, if one were completely objective about it, a little stinky.
No matter how much cleaning the crews might do or how well the big circulating fans worked, there was no escaping the scent of animal droppings. But it wasn’t just that smell that made up the unique olfactory signature of this level. There were the smells of the animals themselves.
There was the distinct powdery scent of the poultry, especially the young chicks. The goats had always been Marina’s personal favorite and she picked out their scent right away. It was them she spent the most time with when Joseph had courted her, and again when they visited his mother in the early days of their marriage.
The young goats played and frolicked in such a carefree way that they couldn’t help but lift even the most determined downcast mood. They smelled of something that was both familiar to Marina in a deep way and yet utterly strange to any other thing within the silo. It was a nice smell when they were young and then different, but still nice, in the adult female goats.
Rabbits too had a smell, but theirs was harder to describe. It was a bit like dust in a hot duct, yet also warm and inviting. Pigs, on the other hand, were by far Marina’s least favored. Their droppings were horrendous and the smell lingered around them like a nasty fog. The young ones were fun and smelled a bit like babies when they were clean, but the old sows that bred the babies were dangerous as well as formidably rank.
All these aromas and the memories that went with them washed over her and Marina smiled. Her gaze was drawn immediately to the ‘Playpens’ near the entrance to the Farms. In pens filled with toys and other enrichment items, young animals spent some portion of their youth.
Visitors, tour groups and vacationing families could interact with the animals under careful supervision. The animals, in turn, became accustomed to the presence of many different people. It was an important part of the life of any animal that would be kept for breeding or the dairy or for their eggs.
A young goat at the stage Marina had always thought the pinnacle of the adorable spectrum thrust its dark nose out of the pen and bleated at her plaintively. Both she and Joseph reached out to stroke the finely shaped head through the bars. It wiggled and pressed its head toward the stroking hands as it gave a quieter bleat, as if to both acknowledge the affection and request more of the same.
She laughed at the pleasure the goat conveyed and saw the same happiness on Joseph’s face. “Do you miss this?” she asked him, enjoying the softening of his expression.
He gave one final vigorous scratch behind the little goat’s ears and then pulled his hand away quickly lest it give him a nip, but the dreamy smile remained on his face for a moment longer. He drew her away from the pen and back toward their patiently waiting guide and less patiently waiting daughter. He whispered in her ear, “I miss that, but I don’t miss knowing what will happen to them.”
They exchanged a look and Marina snuck one more glance back at the kid, pressed against the pen with eyes unwavering upon her, trying to compel her to return and provide additional scritches. If she hadn’t been required elsewhere, the gaze would have worked and she felt her heart give the same little tug she got from the presence of any baby. The kid gave a more excited little bleat, turned and romped toward a group of squealing children arriving at the other end of the pen.
Sarah said nothing as she led them through the various pens and larger livestock areas and toward the ramp at the back. A large section of the back of the farm was walled off for delivery pens to provide the greatest level of security for mothers and their offspring. As they passed into those quiet areas the noise from the main farms faded. The veterinary areas were also here and they too were walled off to prevent any animal that might get loose from wandering about inside.
They made their way up the ramp, past rooms cut from the thick concrete that made up the many yards between levels, and into the Animal Farm Support area tucked into this small section of Level 89. It could be accessed only from the ramp, probably to the relief of all those who had to live and work on 89, and made up just the smallest portion of the level.
The quietest offices for the support staff were tucked tightly together on one side of the ramp and above it, with a safety railing preventing a fall onto the lower portions of the ramp. A tight left at the top of the ramp led down an identical hallway where large bays for any animal requiring extended treatment under supervision were housed.
Sarah motioned for them to take the right walkway. She still had not spoken and Marina wasn’t sure if the girl had even raised her head during the entire walk. She was about to thank her, perhaps put her a bit more at ease, when one of the office doors slid open and the round face of Mother Patrick poked out.
“I’ll be stuffed! You finally made it. Where’s my grandbaby?” she called out in a strong, musical voice.