I was Military now, I’d still never expected to hold a gun intended for use against another human being. I wasn’t living in the days of pre-history when humanity fought wars. I wasn’t a Military Security agent. I wasn’t on a hostage rescue squad.
Fian picked up his gun, and it chattered away at him. ‘Eklund confirmed. Active power 3. Single target. Safety engaged.’
‘Wearing protective impact suits all day is impossible,’ said Fian, ‘but I’m surprised Leveque hasn’t given us some sort of body armour.’
‘He doesn’t need to. All Military uniforms are made of special material that’s highly resistant to fire, acid, knife attack, and projectile weapons.’
‘That’s good. So, where do we put the guns?’
‘You’re right handed, so the holsters will be on the right hip and left side of your uniform.’
‘They are?’ Fian ran his hands over his uniform. ‘Oh, this little pocket thing. I hadn’t noticed it before.’
I was still standing there like a nardle, looking at my gun. ‘Fian, do you think you could actually shoot someone?’
He put his gun in the holster on his right hip. ‘Yesterday morning, I would have said no, but now … If someone tries to hurt you again, then yes, Jarra, I’ll shoot them.’
The lookup on my sleeve chimed with a message and I frowned. ‘Major Rayne Tar Cameron of Command Support says the Tell clan council have been notified of the attack. They’ve postponed the presentation ceremony and will contact me when they’ve made new arrangements.’
Fian nodded. ‘It’s sensible to give you time to recover.’
I was still frowning as I followed Fian out of the door and down the corridor. Delaying the ceremony might be sensible, but it meant more days of suspense for Lolia and Lolmack. For me too.
Most of the class were already in the hall, sitting at tables and watching Earth Rolling News on the wall vid. A couple of presenters were talking in angry voices about two images on the screen. One was a girl with her face radiating pure delight. The other was a beaten wreck, with slimy hair, mottled skin, and lifeless eyes. They were both me.
Playdon stood up. ‘The story is on all the sector newzies as well. The Military made a statement three hours ago. I bookmarked it for you.’
He went over to the wall vid controls. One of the Earth Rolling News presenters was cut off in mid-sentence, and the image changed to show Colonel Leveque. If this statement went out three hours ago, Leveque had probably been up all night, but he appeared as pristine and relaxed as ever.
‘The Military regret to confirm there has been an attack on Commander Tell Morrath and Major Eklund. The perpetrator has been arrested and charged. Three further individuals are being questioned in connection with the incident.’
He paused for a moment before continuing. ‘This attack was organized by parties with extreme personal prejudices against the Handicapped. I warn anyone contemplating further such action that although Commander Tell Morrath and Major Eklund are temporarily assigned elsewhere, they remain key personnel of the Alien Contact programme. The Military will not hesitate to use deadly force in their defence.’
The recording ended and the screen went blank. I stared at it for a few seconds before speaking. ‘They’re questioning three more people. Petra and …?’
‘Two people on Atalanta in Beta sector,’ said Playdon. ‘I suggest you eat now. I want to start the mandatory dig site introductory and safety lectures straight after breakfast.’
Fian and I obediently headed for the food dispensers and picked up trays. ‘I wasn’t taking much notice of things when we portalled out of London Main,’ I said. ‘I know we’re in Earth America, because Leveque wanted us in the same time zone as Military Base 79 Zulu at White Sands, but which dig site are we at?’
‘California Rift Dig Site,’ said Fian.
‘What? But … Foundation classes aren’t allowed there.’
He shrugged. ‘Playdon must have special permission from Dig Site Command California.’
We loaded up our trays and went across to join Dalmora, Amalie and Krath at their table. Fian tugged a couple of air purifiers closer to us.
‘Sorry about the smell,’ I said.
‘The flower scent is quite pleasant,’ said Dalmora.
Krath’s lookup chimed. He checked it and groaned. ‘My nuking dad wants me to tell the Military I was involved in the attack so I get arrested.’
We all stared at him in disbelief. ‘Why does your dad want you arrested?’ asked Fian. ‘I’m not totally against the idea, but …’
‘He says it would be a great exclusive story for his nardle conspiracy vid channel, Truth Against Oppression.’
‘I hadn’t thought it possible,’ said Amalie, ‘but your dad has even less sense than you, Krath.’
I had a terrible thought. ‘Oh chaos! My ProMum and my friends must have seen reports of the attack on Earth Rolling News. They’ll be worried sick, but they won’t have been able to call me because my mail is blocking everything except Military calls. Major Tar Cameron’s working on a filtering system to relay recorded messages from my personal contacts, but …’
I tapped frantically at my Military lookup, and saw Candace’s face appear.
‘One moment,’ she said, and her image froze as she put the call on hold. That meant Candace was with one of her other nine ProChildren. I felt a stab of guilt at stealing part of someone else’s precious two hours with her.
About a minute later, she was back. ‘Sorry about that, Jarra. My other ProChildren mustn’t find out I’m your ProMum. It would be very psychologically harmful for them to feel I’m comparing them to the famous Commander Tell Morrath.’
I was too grazzed to speak. Hospital Earth rules forbade Candace from discussing her own family or her other ProChildren with me, so she’d never mentioned them before, and her calling me famous felt …
‘Hospital Earth has a standing injunction preventing newzies breaching ProParent confidentiality,’ Candace continued with an anxious air, ‘so it shouldn’t get public as long as you don’t mention me in any interviews.’
I wasn’t stunned any longer, just hurt. I’d thought Candace would be worried about me, but she hadn’t even asked how I was. I fought to keep my voice maturely calm and untroubled. ‘If we ever do interviews, I’ll be careful not to mention you.’
‘Good.’ She smiled. ‘I’m relieved to see you’re already looking better. The picture on Earth Rolling News frightened me, but Colonel Leveque explained about the medical gel and said the skin discolouration would be gone within a few days.’
My selfish feeling of hurt vanished. I should have realized the Military would contact my ProMum as well as my clan council, and that was why Candace wasn’t as worried as I’d expected.
‘I’m afraid I was a little rude to him at first,’ said Candace. ‘I was angry about the Military letting someone attack you.’
I think I groaned at this point, because she looked apologetic. ‘I’m sorry. It’s been such a short time since you were getting into trouble at your Next Step. It’s hard to adjust to you being not just an adult, but a high-ranking Military officer. Fortunately, Colonel Leveque was very understanding and we had a nice long chat about you.’
My ProMum had had a nice long chat to Colonel Leveque about me! I held back a scream of embarrassment. ‘What exactly did you say?’
‘Oh, we discussed your childhood. He seemed very interested.’
I remembered all the times I’d made a total nardle of myself, imagined Candace telling Leveque about them, and held back