Amalie giggled. ‘Is Playdon really going to play the drums?’
‘Of course he is,’ said Dalmora. ‘Rono is lead guitar. Stephan is on keyboard. Playdon’s playing drums.’ She paused for a second. ‘And I’m playing bass guitar.’
‘No! Really?’ Krath stared at her.
‘Yes. Their regular bass guitar player is over the other side of Ark with the New Tokyo Dig Site teams, so Rono asked me to substitute.’
I scraped the last spoonful of food from the bottom of my carton and ate it. ‘I hope they calm down soon, because I want to get some sleep.’
27
I’d lost track of what time it was in Earth Africa. Judging from Earth Rolling News coverage, half of Ark seemed to be working on a newly invented time zone that counted from the moment of portal lockdown, while the rest were caught up in massive parties and were too powered to care which way was up let alone what time it was.
Fian and I were lounging on cushions and eating breakfast, when Dalmora, Amalie, and Krath, with their retinue of hovering vid bees, came to join us. Since there was still no sign of alien warfare breaking out, it was time for me to start facing up to my personal problems.
‘Can you turn off the vid bees?’ I asked. ‘I need to tell you something private.’
The vid bee team gave me an anxious look, gathered up and packed away their little friends, and settled down to listen. Fian put his arm around me in a gesture of support that I appreciated but seemed to make the audience even more worried.
It was a struggle to speak but I had to. The whole class would find out about my problem with impact suits when we were back at the dig site. Team 1 were my friends, they’d be badly affected by what was happening, and they had a right to hear it first and from me.
‘There are some after effects from the accident.’
Fian’s arm tightened around me, while the other three exchanged glances. Dalmora, naturally, was silently elected their spokesperson.
‘We noticed something was wrong. You have to go back into hospital? More tank time?’
‘No, it’s not medical. Well, it is, but …’ I shook my head and made myself say it. ‘It’s simply that I’m scared.’
The other three looked startled, and Krath spoke. ‘I don’t blame you. I saw the mess …’
Amalie prodded him in the ribs so he broke off, and Dalmora spoke with paranoid care. ‘We understand. You don’t want to go back on a dig site?’
‘The problem doesn’t seem to be the dig site. It’s wearing a suit again. You know what the magnetic field did to the suit. What it made it do to me.’
Dalmora reached out a hand. ‘If there’s anything we can do to help …’
‘Thanks, but I don’t think anyone can help.’
Amalie frowned. ‘What about your studies? I mean, do you stay or …?’
‘Of course Jarra stays.’ Krath’s voice was fierce. ‘Playdon surely can’t …’
‘Playdon has been truly zan,’ I said. ‘He’s given practical certificates to me and Fian. He says we need to finish the theory side of the course but we’ve already done enough …’
I couldn’t say any more. Somehow their sympathy made this even harder. There was a moment of silence, and I realized everyone was looking up. I twisted my head around to see what was so interesting, and found Playdon had joined us. The man must be telepathic, because he always appeared when something was going on.
‘Judging from your expressions, Jarra has told you …’ Playdon looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded.
He found a spare cushion and sat down to join us. ‘In which case, you’ll want to know how this affects you as a dig team. I’ll replace Jarra as soon as we’re back at Eden. Fian will have three choices. He can drop out totally to stay with Jarra, he can be tag support for the new team 1 tag leader, or he can run a heavy lift sled.’
‘That’s not fair!’ Krath stood up and interrupted him. ‘You can’t just instantly replace Jarra. The rest of us can wait until she’s better.’
‘Please sit down, Krath,’ said Playdon. ‘If I delay doing this, if Jarra knows the rest of you are sitting and waiting for her to get back in an impact suit, it would just keep piling on the pressure. You’ve all seen the state she’s driven herself into over the last few days. Give her some peace to unwind, relax, decide for herself what she can handle and when.’
He gave that evil smile of his. ‘The main Asgard Pre-history degree course has a lot of optional subsidiary courses. I’ll sign Jarra up for one of those to keep her busy in the mornings. I want her to do some remedial work on the mathematical areas of the course as well. I’ve noticed she keeps avoiding the mathematical methods of analysing history.’
I groaned.
‘You can sign up both of us for a subsidiary course,’ said Fian. ‘If we get someone like Krath as tag leader, I don’t want to be anywhere near the dig site.’
‘Fian,’ I said, ‘you don’t have to …’
‘Shut up, Jarra,’ said Fian. ‘I’m stubborn, remember.’ He turned to Playdon. ‘You’ve met this problem before?’
‘Several times, though the triggering accidents were different. Magnetic hazards are thankfully extremely rare. You might like to talk to Rono. He’s been through this himself.’
‘Rono?’ Fian echoed the name in a startled voice. ‘I didn’t know.’
Playdon stood up. ‘It’s no secret. He wouldn’t insist on keeping that scar of his if it was.’
‘I’ve always wondered why he had the scar,’ I said. ‘It was from the accident?’
Playdon laughed. ‘Not exactly. Rono got the scar when he came out of hospital and Keren punched him. Newly regrown skin is delicate, so …’
I stared at him, totally grazzed.
‘Several of the dig site professionals have had difficulties after serious accidents,’ continued Playdon. ‘Cassandra 2 were very concerned for Stephan after his injury, but he seems unaffected. You can’t predict these things. I was prepared for trouble after Jarra’s leg was burned, but she had no problem at all then.’
Playdon wandered off to chat to one of the Earth teams and I gave Fian a bewildered look. ‘Keren punched Rono? Why?’
He shrugged. ‘Why not? I’ve felt like strangling you more than once.’
Krath gave a sigh of depression. ‘It’s not fair to replace Jarra,’ he said again.
‘Lecturer Playdon is acting in Jarra’s best interests,’ said Dalmora.
‘Well, of course you’d be on his side,’ said Krath. ‘You’re … ouch!’ He gave a reproachful look at Amalie. ‘Why did you hit me?’
Amalie just shook her head at him. Fian gave them an odd look and hastily spoke himself.
‘Playdon’s doing the right thing. Jarra pushes herself hard enough, without anyone else adding pressure.’
‘Well, I’m not stealing Jarra’s spot as tag leader.’ Krath threw his empty Fizzup cup in the direction of the nearest waste bin and missed.
‘That’s a relief,’ said Amalie. ‘You’d be a menace.’
Krath got up with exaggerated weary movements, put the cup in the bin, and sat down again. His lookup chimed, he looked at it and groaned. ‘My dad keeps sending me mails complaining about me being in Ark. He says staying here is pandering to Military propaganda.’
‘How does he expect you to leave?’ asked Fian. ‘Earth is in portal lockdown. You’d have to dig your way up through solid granite.’
