Doktaruth gave her a sympathetic look. ‘Only the two that were put into cryosleep pods at the suggestion of Petr Masterton. I think he saw them as no more than the product of a failed experiment that could be useful. But he could not say so after all the publicity about flamebirds being virtually extinct got into the feeds.’ She gave a small grimace. ‘Naturally once the public learned there were flamebirds here being experimented on, there was a huge outcry. The government explained that it was because they were in danger of extinction that experiments had been conducted. Not a mention of them wanting to find out if paranormal abilities could be stimulated in the flamebirds because of their unusual cortex structure. The spinners claimed that the multiple brain tumours that killed off so many birds were the reason for the experimentation, not the result of it. Which stopped anyone pointing out that if the government had not taken so many flamebirds from the wild in the first place, they would never have been in danger of extinction. Anyone trying to poke into it was shown your drawings, which were presented as symbolic of the genuine concern the government has for such rare and irreplaceable creatures …’

Cassy flinched and the older woman looked contrite. ‘I’m sorry, you told me most of this yourself. And of course you are bitter that your work was put to such use by those whose sole interest is in hiding the truth. But think of this, it was because of the quality of your art that the government got so much attention when they proclaimed themselves concerned and caring, which meant they had to be seen to be so. Hence the remaining pair of flamebirds that were put into the sleep pods were sent to the Eden Facility, despite the policy of only installing healthy breeding specimens. Without your drawings, they would simply have been destroyed.’

‘What about the other one?’ Cassy asked urgently.

‘It is to be kept here with other control subjects and put into cryosleep for varied periods, revived and then tested. We have very little research data on the long-term effects of stasis on the minds and bodies of living organisms, and we will need it to ensure that the creatures frozen can be revived safely. I would have argued to exempt the flamebird, since it is the last of its kind as far as we know, but the periods of frozen sleep will actually prolong its life. Of course, at some point we are going to have to put it in full, open-ended cryosleep, or it will die of its tumours. When that happens, I promise I will ensure that it is transferred to the Eden Facility.’

‘Will you go there?’ Cassy asked.