Fierce September by Fleur Beale Page A

was a screen which showed an enlarged picture of whatever they were studying. At least I guessed that’s what it was by the images of large fingers that shot across it every few seconds.
    I drifted close enough to listen. Biddo was doing the talking – his fingers were the huge ones on the screen. ‘See, there. If you route that through this network it should overcome the interference. Worth giving it a go, I’d say.’
    ‘Okay, try it,’ said one of the men. ‘The damn thing’s freaking useless as it is. Won’t matter if you totally trash it.’
    Biddo’s huge fingers picked up an oversized pair of tweezers. ‘Still not working,’ he grunted. ‘Trouble is we need some more of that.’ He pointed at a filament that, even magnified, was only as thick as a hair.
    ‘Why didn’t you say!’ the shop man said. ‘Got plenty of that.’
    The three boys straightened up, stared at the man, then burst out laughing. ‘We’re not used to having access to new parts,’ Paz explained.
    What! Tell the entire world who we are, why don’t you? I turned. I was going back to the Centre – let the boys worry when they discovered I wasn’t sitting compliantly by the fountain waiting for them to come and collect me.
    I ran all the way back. Nobody glared at me, nobody withdrew. If I’d run in a fury like this on Taris, old Hilto would have been right behind me to moan to my parents about my wild behaviour. It looked like you could behave any way you pleased here, and that was fine with me.
    Stupid, dumb, idiotic, useless boys. What had they done? Gone into that shop and said, We’re from Taris. Show us technology. Let us mend it for you .No matter what Willem said, I was not going out with them again. I’d be better off with Hera as a bodyguard. I slowed down and thought about that. Actually, I’d be a zillion times better off with Hera.
    Mother was watching out, and ran to meet me as soon as I came through the door from the street. ‘Thank you for coming back so promptly, darling.’ She shook her head. ‘Sorry. I shouldn’t fuss, but …’
    ‘It’s okay, Mother.’ I hugged her briefly. ‘I’ll try not to worry you, I really will.’ But I felt guilty. I hadn’t thought of my parents or how worried they’d be about my safety all the time I’d been out.
    ‘Where are the boys?’ Dad asked.
    I made light of their perfidy. ‘Got stuck in a techno store. I left them to it.’
    ‘Come with me,’ Dad said. ‘I’ll get you a snack to tide you over till dinner.’ But Dad was less interested in my hunger than in finding out the truth of why I’d come home alone. ‘I think,’ he said, when I’d told him everything, ‘that we have to be careful. You particularly. Please don’t walk alone in the streets again, Juno.’
    I sighed. It was like Taris all over again.
    When the rest of my stratum returned in good time, the three idiots still hadn’t appeared.
    ‘Where are they?’ Brex asked.
    ‘I hope they’re waiting for me beside the fountain and freezing their butts off,’ I said. ‘Some guards they turned out to be.’
    ‘Well,’ Silvern said, ‘you shouldn’t have gone off by yourself either. What did you expect? Biddo – techno gear. Wake up, Juno.’
    I glared at her. ‘It’s all very well for you to talk! How would you have liked to spend the entire afternoon looking at tech stuff?’
    But she was in one of her maddening moods. ‘I wouldn’t. Any more than they’d like to look at clothes.’
    I jumped up and stormed off, furious because she was right. I shouldn’t have gone off by myself, but it wasn’t fair. Three against one. Besides, I knew perfectly well she would have done exactly what I did.
    Back at our apartment I read my new book to Hera while Mother and my grandparents prepared the evening meal. I chose the story of Rapunzel that Grif had written on leaves for me on Taris.
    Hera studied the illustrations, tracing them with a finger. ‘Pretty,’ she said. When we got to the