Earth Star(35)

I shuddered. ‘It’s Maeth’s life, her decision, and I hope she and Ross will be happy, but …’

Fian was silent for a second. ‘You think I’d want something like that? Some people in Delta sector do get married quite young, but I don’t want to rush us into anything, and I see children as something a very long way in the future.’

I relaxed a little and gave a foolish laugh. ‘The worst thing is Maeth’s plans terrify me, but sometimes a bit of me envies her. The thought of having a proper family, people who really belong to you …’

Fian nodded. ‘I understand, but I’m not pushing for anything drastic. I just want to know we’re both serious about our relationship. I get nervous when I see you with someone like Drago. You obviously thought he was pretty impressive.’

‘Drago’s impressive, good-looking, and a heroic fighter pilot, but you don’t need to feel threatened. He’s just looking out for his friend’s kid sister.’

Fian pulled an expressive face of disbelief.

‘Don’t be a nardle. Drago wouldn’t want to tie himself to an ape.’

‘Please don’t call yourself that, Jarra. I know you deliberately use the ape word yourself, so you can pretend it doesn’t hurt when other people say it, but I don’t like it. As for Drago, he’s Betan. He might not want Twoing contracts, just to …’ He stopped, inhibited by his Deltan background from putting it into words. ‘You know what I mean.’

‘If Drago wants a quick tumble, he’s out of luck. He must be ten years older than me, and he isn’t my type. Naturally I’m interested in talking to him, I’ve never met a relative face to face before, and I’d love to see his fighter.’ I frowned. ‘I wonder what really went on at Hera. If Drago was such a dreadful pilot that he flew straight into an asteroid, he’d never be leader of shift 2 now. Maybe …’

‘Twoing rings.’

I’d thought I’d escaped discussing the real problem, but now Fian firmly interrupted with the two words that brought the chimera out of the shadows. I shut up and waited nervously.

‘As Drago helpfully pointed out, we’re not wearing Twoing rings. Chaos knows what he thought when you said we hadn’t got around to it yet. I’d just told him we started our first Twoing contract during the solar super storm, and he must know exactly how many weeks ago that was.’

Fian stood up and began moving restlessly around the room. ‘Like I said, I’m feeling insecure and want to know where I stand. You don’t want us to wear Twoing rings. In Delta sector that signals someone regrets registering the contract, and intends moving on as soon as it ends. It wouldn’t bother me if Twoing rings weren’t worn on Earth, but I’ve seen your own friends wearing them, so …’

‘I don’t regret anything, Fian. I just don’t like wearing rings.’

‘Jarra, I’m finding it hard watching heroes like Drago sniffing around you. I’m asking you to help me by wearing a Twoing ring while we’re on this base.’

That sounded dangerously close to an ultimatum. I made a last attempt to lighten the mood. ‘If I could, I’d wear my top that says “I TAGGED FIAN”. It’s not exactly Military uniform though.’

He just stood there in grim silence. I looked at the pain in his face, and gave in. I stood up and faced him.

‘All right. I surrender. I didn’t want to tell you, because it makes me look such a coward. Nobody knows this except Candace. I’ve even kept it hidden from Issette. It’s not just that I don’t like wearing rings. I’m terrified of them.’

Fian frowned. ‘What do you mean? What’s frightening about a ring?’

I groaned. ‘You know I had to have my left little finger regrown after a dig site accident when I was fifteen?’

He looked grazzed. ‘That was …?’

I nodded. ‘All the kids at my school were wearing stupid snake-shaped rings that year. I wore mine on my left little finger, and it didn’t fit properly. I knew I shouldn’t wear it under an impact suit, but one day I forgot to take it off. There was an accident, the suit material triggered to protect me, going rock hard, and the ring cut … Ever since then, just thinking about wearing a ring has given me a creepy feeling.’

Fian shook his head. ‘Jarra, why didn’t you tell me? I’d never laugh at you. What did your psychologist say?’

‘I never told him, only Candace. You know I hate psychologists.’

‘There must be rings that are safe to wear under impact suits.’