Our sleds kept carefully to the safe zone between the two red lines, so we had the luxury of keeping our hoods down for the trip, instead of breathing the musty, filtered air inside our suits. I was sitting on the bench seat of a transport sled, between Fian and Raven, our three Military impact suits conspicuous among the standard black suits worn by the other students.
There was an excited yelp from opposite us. ‘Alien Contact have announced they’ve finished searching Alpha sector!’ said Krath.
Everyone madly checked their lookups. ‘So the alien home world definitely isn’t in Alpha sector,’ said Dalmora. ‘I must admit I’m relieved. It would have been worrying to think of it being near my family on Danae.’
‘And the General Marshal’s speech was only a few days ago,’ Krath said joyfully. ‘If they can search Alpha sector that quickly, then it won’t take long to find the aliens after all.’
‘Alien Contact started searching Alpha sector the moment the alien probe arrived at Earth,’ said Fian.
‘Oh,’ said Krath. ‘That’s months so … Why don’t they borrow more people from the Planet First teams, or even stop working on the new colony worlds entirely for a while? The Isolationist Party would whine about it of course, because they don’t want us to find the alien home world, but nobody else would care.’
‘My brother would care,’ said Amalie in acid tones. ‘His Colony Ten group are on standby waiting for Planet First to declare the next Kappa world safe for first stage colonization.’
‘Oh.’ Krath shut up.
Raven hastily changed the subject. ‘Why did people go to all the effort of building this Land Raft? Wouldn’t it have been much easier to build San Angeles somewhere else?’
‘They wanted to prove nature couldn’t beat them.’ I sighed. ‘Imagine what it was like living back then, with their incredible cities and fantastic technology.’
‘It wasn’t a paradise back in 2250,’ said Fian. ‘They had some huge environmental problems to …’
He broke off as a block of concraz suddenly tumbled from one of the buildings and crashed to the ground, underlining the reason for the red danger lines. Raven frowned at it for a second before continuing the conversation.
‘Their technology wasn’t as advanced as ours in some areas. They could portal around Earth, but not to other worlds.’
‘Some of us still can’t,’ I snapped. ‘Back in 2250, no one would have sneered at me for being Handicapped. They didn’t even know the Handicap existed.’
‘Sorry,’ said Raven. ‘I was tactless.’
There was an uncomfortable silence for a couple of minutes, while I indulged myself with bitter thoughts about selfishly smug people who weren’t just born norms, but rich Alphan aristocrats as well. Then I calmed down and felt guilty.
‘Sorry, Raven. I’m frustrated and angry at fate for trapping me on Earth, and at the bigots on Joint Sector High Congress Committee for ordering me and Fian out of the Alien Contact programme, but it isn’t fair to take that anger out on you.’
‘If it’s any consolation, Jarra, I think most of the committee members regret that decision,’ said Raven. ‘They were heavily criticized for it, especially after the skunk juice attack. Some people said they were partly to blame for that, because they sent you away from the safety of Zulu base.’
I pulled a face. ‘The committee members obviously don’t regret it that much, because they haven’t ordered us back.’
Raven shrugged. ‘They’ve already backed down once, issuing that clarified order about your removal only being temporary. They’d have to be desperate to totally reverse their decision.’
‘I’ve been as bad tempered as Jarra,’ said Fian. ‘It’s not just the frustration of having to wait to rejoin the Alien Contact programme, but the strain of having someone following us round all day and sleeping outside our door at night. I know you’re doing it to protect us, Raven, but it sometimes feels like I’m Threeing instead of Twoing.’
I frowned. ‘Raven, if you’re sleeping in the corridor, aren’t the autovacs a problem?’
‘They were annoying the first night, trying to sweep me up, but they’ve classified me as a permanent obstacle now,’ said Raven.
I pictured Raven stubbornly holding his ground in the corridor against the autovacs. It was funny, but it also emphasized how hard and how patiently this Alphan aristocrat was working to keep Fian and me safe. Fian was obviously thinking the same thing, because he groaned.
‘I surrender. I’ll try to stop complaining about privacy, but remember I draw the line at a triad marriage.’
I giggled. ‘Since I’m Betan, I suppose I …’
Fian waved a finger at me. ‘No, Jarra! No triad marriage!’
We’d reached the edge of the island now. Ahead of us, we could see two other islands of the Land Raft, each supported on massive legs that went down, and down, and … The sleds stopped and everyone got off and slowly walked towards the low wall that guarded the sheer drop.
‘Don’t get too close to the edge,’ said Playdon, ‘that wall’s badly cracked.’
We stopped at a safe distance from the edge, and stood there in awed silence for a few minutes. The view was stunning but also terrifying. It wasn’t just the height; the two nearest islands looked like giant alien spiders, and beyond them were dozens, hundreds more, set out in neat lines. It gave me the unnerving impression I was watching an invading force marching across the ground to conquer Earth.
With an alien sphere up in orbit, and the Military busily searching for the alien home world, I daren’t say that aloud. ‘Amaz,’ I said instead. ‘We must be as high up as the top of one of the old skyscrapers on New York Main Dig Site.’
‘I don’t believe it.’ Raven’s voice cracked with emotion. ‘I really don’t believe it. This can’t be real.’
I heard harsh birdcalls, and turned to see a flock of what looked like crows swooping over a nearby building. A much larger bird launched itself from the top of the building, and soared out over the edge of the Land Raft. Wings spread wide and rigidly unmoving except for the feathers at its wingtips, it circled to ride a thermal upwards. A second huge bird appeared through a jagged hole that must have once been a window, and followed it. I tipped my head back to watch them flying, and saw other birds circling even higher in the sky.
I pointed up at them. ‘Look!’
‘A variety of birds, particularly birds of prey, use the Land Raft as a nesting site,’ said Playdon. ‘They treat the islands as their private artificial mountain tops, and will fly out for large distances to hunt prey on the ground below. If they start swooping at you, get your suit hoods up and sealed quickly to protect your faces.’
‘Is that likely to happen?’ asked Amalie.
‘Only if you disturb a nest,’ said Playdon. ‘Another day, we’ll portal down to explore the California Rift area at ground level. We’ll see the Land Raft from below, visit the wreckage of one of the toppled islands, and take a look at the earthquake fault line itself.’
Raven shook his head. ‘I’m being seriously unprofessional here. I should be watching for trouble, not staring at impressive views.’
Fian glanced across at where Krath was standing with Amalie, and then leaned towards Raven and whispered. ‘Raven, could you give me some combat lessons?’
Raven looked startled. ‘I could, but why? It’s my job to do any fighting.’
‘After the attack on Jarra … Well, I’d feel happier knowing I could deal with a situation like that without Lolmack’s help. We’ll have to find somewhere quiet in the park to practise though, because I don’t want Krath watching and making fun of me.’
Raven opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again, frowning at something. I saw Petra was walking towards me. She stopped when she was still a few paces away.
‘What does she want?’ asked Fian.
‘No idea,’ I said. ‘It’s probably best if I talk to her alone.’
I went forward to meet Petra. She looked round w
arily at the watching class and Playdon, before speaking in a low voice intended only for me.
‘So you want a fresh start? Well I don’t. Even when I thought you were human, I didn’t like the way you constantly showed off. Once I found out you were really a lying, throwback ape …’
I’d been angry at her insults before, but I wasn’t this time. Petra had been through a nightmare of questioning by Military Security, but she was still forcing herself to defy me so she could hang on to some shreds of her pride. I respected that.
I suddenly realized the two of us were very alike. Looking at Petra now was like seeing my own mirror image. If she hated all Handicapped, I’d had an equally indiscriminate hatred of norms before I joined this class. If she used words like ape, I’d used the word exo often enough in the past.
‘I think you began with an unfair prejudice against the Handicapped in general,’ I said, ‘but I agree you’ve got perfectly valid reasons to dislike me now. The lies I told. The way I used my knowledge of Earth and the dig sites to try and prove I was better than the rest of you. It was Steen that accused you, got you arrested for something you hadn’t done, but it certainly wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t in the class, so …’
Petra gave me a puzzled frown, hesitated, and then spoke in a rush of words. ‘I wasn’t involved in the skunk juice attack, but I did send a message to Fian’s father. I told him exactly how you met his son, and said you were sharing a room.’
I was too startled to speak. Fian’s father had found out the truth from Petra! Did I tell Fian or not? It would only make the situation worse, so …
No, I couldn’t hide this from Fian. I wanted him to let me make my own decisions and fight my own battles, and I had to let him do the same. Petra had sent a poisonous message to his father, and it was up to Fian to decide what to do about it.
Petra was still talking, a hint of apology mingled with the self-justification in her voice. ‘Everyone had forgiven you for the lies. The newzies were all talking about you. Fian was adoring you and you didn’t deserve him. It wasn’t fair! Not after …’
She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t need to. The raw, painful subject of Joth’s death was overshadowing this whole conversation. I could understand that every time Petra saw Fian and me together, laughing, talking, hugging, or arguing, it would rub in the fact that Joth was dead and she was alone.
‘No it wasn’t fair,’ I said. ‘I don’t deserve someone as totally zan as Fian, but he isn’t letting anyone split us up. Not you, not his father, and not the people throwing skunk juice at us.’ I paused. ‘Petra, you’ve had your revenge by setting Fian’s father against us. Let it end there.’
I turned and went back to rejoin the others. Raven’s tense face relaxed, and his right hand moved away from where it had been hovering over his gun. I grinned at him.
‘Were you expecting Petra to try and throw me off the Land Raft?’
I meant it as a joke, but he didn’t laugh. ‘I was prepared for that, as well as several other possibilities. You’ve already been hit in the face by skunk juice, Jarra. Next time, someone may try to kill you. You don’t seem to be taking that seriously, but I must. I’m your bodyguard and it’s my job to stop them.’
10
I was grazzed to discover Krath and an Adonis Knight shared a passion. For horror vids!
‘This has the best holo effects of any of the vids set in the Thetis chaos year.’ Krath adjusted the settings on the huge wall vid in the hall. ‘It’s a pity we have to watch it right after dinner though. Horror vid parties should be late at night.’
‘I’m not allowing late night parties when everyone has to work on the dig site next morning,’ said Playdon.
Krath sighed. ‘Can we at least dim the lights?’
Playdon went and dimmed the lights, then sat on a chair in the corner. The class settled themselves on cushions on the floor, and I saw Fian glare across at Petra.
‘I’d like to murder that girl,’ he muttered.
‘Military officers aren’t allowed to murder civilians,’ I whispered. ‘At least give her credit for confessing she sent that message to your father.’
‘I don’t know why you’re defending Petra. Steen’s told me all about how she insulted you.’
‘Steen’s blaming everything on her, but he called me a lot of names too and …’
I sighed. I couldn’t explain my muddled thoughts about how I’d started all this by lying my way into this class, and how the old me might have done the same as Petra if the situation had been reversed. If a norm had lied her way into a class of Handicapped, rubbed my nose in the fact she was better than me at history, and started Twoing with a boy I loved, I’d have been the one throwing insults around. It wouldn’t have been the exact reverse, Petra would still have been the privileged one who had a real family and could portal to other worlds, but …
‘I can understand her side of things.’
Fian shook his head. ‘Well, I can’t. The only reason I’m not making a formal complaint to Playdon is because I don’t want to worry him right now.’
The vid credits started with an image of a heroic young man wearing a Military cadet’s uniform.
‘Tellon Blaze doesn’t look much like Jarra,’ said Krath.
‘There are two good reasons for that,’ I said. ‘Firstly, there are a lot of generations between me and Tellon Blaze. Secondly, that isn’t the real Tellon Blaze, just a vid actor.’
Raven passed me a bowl of something. ‘It’s an Adonis tradition to eat popcorn at vid parties.’
I’d never heard of popcorn. I peered at it suspiciously, before munching a lump of the peculiar stuff. There were startled squeaks around me, as holos of black spiky creatures shot out from the screen and started creeping round the hall, hissing at us.
‘Dalmora, is your father going to make a history vid about Thetis?’ asked Amalie.
‘He intended to,’ said Dalmora, ‘but he’s changed his mind. He feels it would be irresponsible to remind people of the chimera of Thetis when we’re about to contact an intelligent alien species.’
Raven gave a guilty look at the holo chimera that were now retreating, snarling, to the wall vid. ‘He’s right. I really shouldn’t have … I hope everyone here understands the difference between the chimera and intelligent aliens with their own civilization. Every world we colonize has already evolved its own indigenous plant and animal life. The chimera were just a lethal animal species that were missed by the Planet First checks. Chimera had some incredible natural abilities that let them sneak through our portals and infest other worlds, but they weren’t intelligent.’
I wasn’t sure he was helping by saying that. I felt it just emphasized the point that humanity had barely coped with the chimera, an animal species that had no weapons and operated purely on instinct, and an alien civilization could be a vastly bigger threat.
‘Don’t worry, Raven,’ I said. ‘Everyone in this room must have already watched a dozen horror vids about the chimera. One more won’t make any difference.’
The credits finished and the vid itself started. There were screams when the winged form of the chimera started flying round the room, and someone dropped the popcorn bowl.
After thirty minutes, we reached the point where Tellon Blaze made his legendary call to the General Marshal on Academy in Alpha sector. ‘The Planet First team thought there were thousands of different animal species on Thetis, and they’d eliminated all the dangerous ones, sir,’ he said. ‘They were wrong. There’s only one species on Thetis. Everything is different forms of the chimera!’
My lookup chimed, I read the message, and blinked with surprise. ‘My cousin, Commander Drago Tell Dramis, is on his way to visit us.’
Fian and I stood up and headed for the door, and Raven gave a last regretful look at the wall vid before following us. We’d only just arrived in the portal room, when the portal flared to life and Drago stepped out of it.
I was about to ask why Drago was he
re, when I realized the answer. I’d been impatiently waiting for clan council to send me details of the rearranged presentation ceremony, but Drago had come to tell me there wasn’t going to be one. I fought to keep my voice calm. ‘We’d better go to our room.’
I led the way, and Raven took up position on guard duty in the corridor, while Fian, Drago and I went inside and closed the door.
‘I’m pleased to see you’re looking your lovely self again, Jarra,’ said Drago.
I was in no mood for his flirting. ‘I’ve seen the demonstrations on the newzies, Drago. I’d no idea making me a clan member would cause so much trouble.’
He nodded. ‘The clan knew it would be controversial, but didn’t expect things to get quite so dramatic. That’s why I’m here.’
‘If the Tell clan don’t want me as a member now, please just tell me and …’
I broke off and bit my lip. It was stupid to feel so wounded by this. I’d coped perfectly well without a family for my whole life, so why should I care if some nuking Betan clan had thought better of having a throwback as a member? It was actually a good thing, because I’d always had reservations about Beta sector. The only reason I wasn’t totally delighted about being dumped, was because Lolia and Lolmack would be devastated.
‘Of course we still want you, Jarra,’ said Drago. ‘We’re a small clan, so you were our first Handicapped birth. Clan council always planned to make you a clan member one day, and they aren’t changing their minds now just because …’
He broke off for a moment to laugh. ‘The Tell clan are proud of their heritage as the descendants of Tellon Blaze. Can you imagine what the hero of Thetis, the man who fought the chimera, would think of his heirs retreating from a few demonstrators waving placards? He’d disown the lot of us!’
There was an odd, dizzy feeling of relief.
‘Please sit down, Jarra.’ Drago glanced round, obviously looking for a chair, failed to find one and gestured at the bed.
I still stood there like a nardle until Fian put his arm round me and guided me to sit down next to him on the edge of the bed. ‘Jarra has been under a lot of stress recently.’