you the Colonel recruited me because I was your boyfriend, and I was right!’
He was helpless with laughter now, and I couldn’t help joining in. Eventually, we reached our room and Fian pulled himself together enough to unwrap his small box.
‘Now, we exchange rings!’
I watched him nervously. ‘I hope you like them.’
‘I told you, I’m happy with whatever rings you want.’ He opened his box and frowned at the contents. ‘This is a ring?’
‘It’s flowgold,’ I explained. ‘It moulds to your finger when you wear it, so it’s perfectly safe under an impact suit. When it hasn’t got anything to mould to, it doesn’t look much like anything.’
Fian doubtfully picked up the lump of flowgold, and waited while I unwrapped an equally crumpled golden blob. We solemnly exchanged rings. There was no point at all in this, since they were completely identical, but Fian was keen on the idea and I didn’t want to spoil his fun.
‘So … how do we put them on?’ asked Fian.
‘It’s supposed to be a bit like putting on an impact suit. Roll it smoothly down the finger.’ I prodded mine. ‘Of course, first you have to find the hole.’
‘There is a hole?’ asked Fian.
‘Somewhere,’ I said. ‘Ah.’
I’d succeeded in getting my ring on the tip of my finger. It felt creepy, and the memory of my poor lost little finger came flooding back. My replacement little finger was itching madly in panic.
‘I suppose this gets easier with practice,’ said Fian, still trying to find a hole in his ring. ‘It must … Zan, I did it!’
He rubbed his ring downwards until it was on the base of his finger. It gradually smoothed itself out, turning into a convincing ring shape. He examined it closely, and looked questioningly at me.
‘Jarra, there are no markings on this. Have I got it on properly?’
I’d been staring uneasily at the gold blob at the tip of my finger, but now I looked up, hot with embarrassment.
‘Well, I thought that was better than getting specific Twoing rings. Keon and Issette can buy new ones with end-date markings for each Twoing contract, because ordinary gold and diamonds are cheap to make, but flowgold isn’t, and markings are expensive because they have to imprint them in the …’
I realized I was babbling and broke off. ‘Anyway, I thought you’d like it that way.’
‘Jarra, I love it! No end-date markings, that’s … That’s zan, Jarra.’
‘Keon and Issette are planning a full year Twoing contract next. We could do the same.’
Fian grinned at me. ‘We can do whatever you like. The rings have no end-date markings, so I know …’
I looked at his face, and knew I had to get over my nardle fear and put my ring on properly. I forced myself to smooth the evil thing down my finger, and watched it flow properly into shape. I gave it a nervous prod and saw how it flexed with my skin. It was weird. There’d never been a recorded accident involving a flowgold ring, and I couldn’t even feel I was wearing it, but I was still tensely waiting for it to bite off my finger.
‘What now?’ I asked. ‘You want to call your parents and show them?’
‘Yes, but later.’ He gave me a huge grin. ‘I have something else in mind first.’
12
The huge tropical bird dome of Zoo Europe is one of my favourite places. The birds flying among the trees like airborne jewels, the wildness of the plants, and the moist earth scent of the place is totally amaz. Eden Dig Site was surrounded by genuine rainforest, but I couldn’t walk among those trees without an impact suit to protect me from danger. The fabric would block me from touching the leaves, and the air system would cut me off from the smells. I’d never be able to experience it like this.
Candace was already sitting by the guppy pool waiting for me. As I walked towards her, I had a sudden feeling of nostalgia. For years, I’d met her on this same bench every week, but since Year End I’d been away working on the dig sites. We’d met up a couple of times, but never here.
I sat down next to Candace, and she smiled at me. ‘Like old times, Jarra.’
She’d been thinking the same thing as me. I had a nardle emotional moment and turned my head away, pretending to watch an iridescent blue and purple bird that was feasting on the fruit at a feeding station. I’d visited this place for years. I’d been in a lot of different sorts of trouble in that time, most of them my own fault, and Candace had stuck with me through it all.
Now I was a Major in the Military, incredible things were happening, and I couldn’t tell her anything about it. Military security forbade it and so did common sense. Lecturer Playdon was used to coping with dangerous crises on dig sites, but the news of aliens had still deeply shocked him. Gentle Candace, with her quiet, safe life, would find it far more frightening. There’d been several times in the past when I’d censored the details of my life to avoid worrying her. This was just a more extreme example.
‘Jarra!’ The astonishment in Candace’s voice startled me out of my thoughts and back into reality. ‘You’re wearing a ring!’
I turned to face her again. ‘Well, it was important to Fian.’
‘I’m impressed,’ she said. ‘You’ve overcome your phobia.’
‘Not really. I sometimes forget the ring’s there, but then I remember and start panicking it’s going to snip my finger off.’
‘I’m even more impressed. Despite feeling like that, you’re still wearing it.’
‘Well, if it came to it, Fian is worth losing a finger.’ I grinned. ‘In reality though, flowgold can’t possibly hurt me. If I keep telling myself that, maybe eventually my brain will believe me.’
Candace bent her head to examine my ring. ‘I’ve never seen flowgold before. It doesn’t look exactly like a rigid ring; it seems to move with your finger. I see it’s plain. You can’t have markings on them like normal Twoing rings?’
I flushed and dodged her eyes. ‘You can, but it’s more expensive. I’ve only got the nardle thing to make Fian happy, so I thought it might as well stay plain.’
‘He’s happy with that?’
‘Happy? He’s been going around, totally powered, for days! Anyone would think we’d eloped to Epsilon the way he’s carrying on. The unmarked ring. The symbolism of open-ended commitment. Lots of nardle romantic stuff.’
‘And how do you feel about it?’
I spotted an interesting bird landing on a tree branch, and turned to look at it. ‘Well, it’s cheaper, and it makes him happy, so why not?’
Candace laughed. ‘You’re still just as bad at discussing things you care about.’
I pulled a face. Candace is a great ProMum, but sometimes she knows me too well.
‘What are your plans for the Ark evacuation, Jarra? I suppose your class will be going off world. Is Fian staying on Earth?’
I welcomed the change of subject, although I had to be careful about what I said. ‘Fian’s parents suggested he should visit them and his friends on Hercules, but he’s insisting on staying with me. I’m not sure about our exact plans. Issette’s class is planning a huge party in Ark, and she’s invited us, or we can go with Lecturer Playdon and the Eden Dig Site evacuation.’
‘Your lecturer is staying on Earth?’
I nodded. ‘He said he missed the solar super storm by going to Asgard, so he’s staying for this. It is a pretty historic occasion after all.’
Candace opened her mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by my lookup chiming frantically. I grabbed it and stared at a flashing mail message. I’d checked out of the base to visit Candace, and set my Military mail to forward any urgent messages to my civilian lookup. This was definitely urgent. The base had gone to war status!
‘Oh nuke! Sorry. Got to go. Accident.’
