long ago was that?’
‘Four days. You were unconscious when Playdon and the class took us to the evac portal. We’ve both been in tanks, but they decanted me yesterday. Playdon and Candace were here yesterday, and your parents are arriving today.’ I hurried on, eager to tell him my good news. ‘Drago and Marlise came to visit yesterday too and …’
‘Drago’s been flirting with you while I was stuck in a tank! That’s positively …’
I giggled. ‘Don’t be a nardle. Colonel Torrek sent them to check we had everything we needed. Anyway, Drago’s just got married to Marlise. On Earth, in a traditional Betan wedding ceremony, and we can do it too!’
I ended on a note of triumph, but he didn’t look as thrilled as I’d expected, just confused.
‘What?’
‘We don’t have to have a Betan ceremony of course,’ I added hastily. ‘We could do, because my clan are going to make me a proper clan member, but we can get married with a Deltan ceremony if that’s what you’d prefer.’
‘Married?’ Fian stared at me for a moment, and gave a little shake of his head. ‘Jarra, we can’t get married. Earth law says a couple need a minimum of three Twoing contracts that add up to at least a year before they can get married.’
‘Yes we can!’ I grinned at him. ‘Military regulations say personnel unable to travel due to medical conditions or because they’re on active service, can get married at their current location under the laws of a sector of their choice. We’re Military now, and my Handicap is a medical condition that prevents me travelling, so all we need is Colonel Torrek’s approval and we can get married under Epsilon law right away.’
Fian looked totally grazzed. ‘You’re really suggesting we do that?’
‘Yes. I’m sure I can talk the Colonel into it.’
He ran his fingers through his hair. ‘I’m sure you could, but … Jarra, you said you didn’t want to rush into marriage. You lectured me about Maeth and Ross being grabbers.’
I smiled at him. ‘I changed my mind. You want commitment and so do I.’
‘I wanted to know you were serious about our relationship, but … even in Delta sector, we don’t get married at 18.’
I was disconcerted. ‘I’d expected more enthusiasm.’
‘It’s just a bit of a surprise.’ He paused. ‘I love the fact that you suggested it, Jarra. That means a lot to me, but I don’t want us to do anything you’ll regret later on. This is because I got hurt, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, that made me realize …’
‘If you came out of your tank a day ago, then you’ve been waiting and worrying. I know exactly how that feels. I had a whole week of it after the Solar 5 rescue. All that time, I was scared to death I’d lose you. You’ve been going through that too, so you’re in no state to make drastic decisions.’
‘Yes, I am,’ I said. ‘I’m quite sure about this. It’s not just the accident. There was what happened to Joth as well, and we’ve no idea what that sphere may do during the next solar storm. I don’t want to mess about waiting for a future we may not have.’
Fian shook his head. ‘You never do anything in moderation, do you? It’s always all or nothing. Jarra, we can’t get married.’
‘Why not? Drago and Marlise did.’
‘Drago and Marlise can use a Military regulation to get married, but we can’t. Playdon would understand, but what about everyone else? My parents. Candace. Our friends. We can’t explain why we’re in the Military. We couldn’t invite them to the wedding, or even tell them we’re married. I wouldn’t like it being that way.’
‘Well …’ I broke off because my lookup was whining at me. ‘Your parents are calling.’
I answered the call, and projected the image of Fian’s parents on the room wall.
‘Fian!’ His mother smiled with delight. ‘You’re already awake. Are you well? Are you getting proper medical care?’
‘Perfectly well,’ he said. ‘Earth has the finest doctors.’
‘We planned to be at the hospital when you woke up,’ said Fian’s father, ‘but we’ve only got as far as Alpha Sector Interchange 2. The Olympic opening ceremony is tomorrow, so half the portals are locked open to portal continuously to Olympia. We’re in the queue for a block portal to Danae in half an hour. Once we’re in Danae Off- world, we’ll be out of the Olympia traffic and it’ll be easy to portal to Earth.’
‘We’ll see you in about an hour then,’ said Fian.
His parents nodded and the call ended. Fian continued looking at the wall for a moment despite the fact the image had gone. ‘Has something happened to make the number of Military pre-empts suddenly increase again?’
‘No, it’s just the Olympic traffic. I checked the latest Military report before you woke up, and there’s no change. They’re still waiting for the next solar storm.’
Fian nodded and resumed our previous conversation. ‘I really appreciate your suggestion, Jarra, but we can’t get married until the Military go public about the sphere.’
I pulled a face. ‘But that may not happen for months. Years even. If the sphere behaves itself during the next solar storm, the Military could keep things quiet indefinitely.’
‘Well, the situation will be a lot clearer after the next solar storm. We can talk about it again then, but I don’t want us to rush headlong into things before we’re ready for them. We could spoil what we already have, and what we have is very special.’ He paused. ‘Now, what’s been happening with your clan? You said you’re going to become a clan member?’
‘Yes.’ I felt a sick churning in my stomach. If Fian was against this as well … ‘Drago said the clan want to formally welcome me. You don’t want me to do that either?’
‘Jarra, I’ve absolutely no right to stop you joining your clan, and I wouldn’t want to anyway. I know how much it would mean to you to have a family.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘When you found out about your clan, I started scanning information about Beta sector. When things fell apart after Exodus century, communication between sectors was difficult. Beta sector developed its clan system. Other sectors became far stricter about showing some body areas. Naturally the sex vid trade moved to Beta sector, which gives other sectors the wrong idea about them, but …’
Fian shrugged. ‘The history helped me understand Betans better, but what really changed my mind was Drago playing that trick on Leveque to try and dodge promotion.’
I blinked. I was deeply thankful Fian was accepting this, but I didn’t see how Drago taking his clothes off had helped. ‘Really?’
‘When I heard only Drago’s own team and Leveque were in the dining hall to see him, I knew it must have been carefully arranged. A fighter team doesn’t have time to worry about privacy when suiting up in emergencies, so Drago’s team probably wouldn’t care, and I couldn’t imagine Leveque being bothered by anything short of a nuclear explosion. I suddenly realized that Drago plays the flirting Betan to tease people, especially me, but he never actually does anything shocking.’
Fian paused for a moment. ‘At that point, it finally occurred to me that Drago couldn’t possibly be the only Betan in the base, and I started looking for clan prefixes in names. I was really surprised by who was Betan. Major Rayne Tar Cameron is so terribly …’
I giggled. ‘Pompous and stuffy?’
‘Well, yes. I can see she’s an excellent Military officer, but she’s horribly formal. Anyway, I’d still be very nervous of other Betan clans, but I’m happy about you joining a Military one. It’ll be a shock to my parents though. I’ll have to pick the right time to tell them, so can we carry on as before while they’re here?’
I sighed. ‘The same routine of pretending you’re a respectable little Deltan. I suppose that means we can’t be together tonight.’
‘We couldn’t anyway,’ said Fian. ‘We’re in hospital and just look at you!’
I was offended. ‘What do you mean? This is my best dress!’
‘Don’t be a nardle,’ said Fian. ‘You look lovely, but your skin is faintly shiny. I remember that from when you hurt your leg. New skin needs a few days out of the tank to harden off before it stops being hypersensitive and I don’t want to hurt you. How much new skin have you got?’
‘98 per cent.’
