Fierce September by Fleur Beale Page B

end, she demanded I read the story again. We finished it just as dinner was ready.
    ‘Beef stew,’ Danyat said as he mopped up gravy with a chunk of bread. ‘Delicious.’
    Mother sighed. ‘It’s different, having to choose what to cook. Buying provisions, instead of growing them.’ She smoothed a hand across the frown lines on her face. ‘How will we earn the money we’ll need once we leave here?’
    Grif took her hand. ‘Don’t fret, my daughter. One day at a time. It’s all you can do right now.’
    After we’d tidied up and tucked Hera into bed, we turned on the television to watch the news. All we had to do was click an icon and there it was, even though the live broadcast had been earlier. ‘Amazing,’ Leebar said.
    The explosion at the wharf was again the first item. The police had laid charges against the people in black, who were being held in custody. The next item was about a rail tunnel north of Wellington that had been blocked by a landslip. The reporter interviewed some of the passengers who’d had to wait for hours till the line was cleared. One woman snarled and said, ‘The bloody government would have got this sorted if they hadn’t used the money to bring back that bloody Taris lot.’
    We flinched but kept watching. The next item was about preparations for a national football tournament the following week.
    ‘Do people still play rugby, I wonder?’ Bazin said. ‘There’s nothing like a good game of rugby. I really missed it when we went to Taris.’
    Just then, somebody knocked on the door. Danyat went to open it and there, looking shame-faced, were my dauntless guardians.
    ‘We’ve come to apologise,’ Marba said. ‘May we come in?’
    Mother smiled at them. ‘Of course you may. Can you all fit on the window seat?’
    Paz said, ‘We won’t stay, thanks. Just wanted to say we should have taken better care of Juno.’ He looked at me and frowned. ‘Sorry, Juno.’
    Damn Silvern! If she’d kept her mouth shut I could have yelled at them, but as it was … ‘My fault,’ I muttered. ‘Should have stayed with you.’ Then I remembered an unassailable grievance. ‘But why, for goodness’ sake, did you tell those shop people you were from Taris?’
    ‘They guessed,’ Marba said. ‘The accent. It’s a dead giveaway apparently.’
    Of course. The man in the bookshop had picked my accent too, but I’d had the sense to run away before he could get the truth out of me. I took a deep breath and managed to smile at Biddo. ‘Did you fix the gizmo?’
    His face lit up like a neon display. ‘Yes – and guess what? They want me to work there after school. They’ll even pay me.’
    I gave up being furious. I’d never seen him so alive, so excited. ‘Hey, that’s great. You can use your first pay to take us all on the monorail.’
    I don’t think he heard. I doubted his mind was even in the building – by the look of him he’d left it behind in the techno store.
    ‘Biddo’s a nice boy,’ Mother said dreamily, once the boys had left. ‘I’ve not seen him so animated.’
    I rolled my eyes. She was doing it again – planning who I would marry. But we weren’t on Taris now, and I didn’t have to marry Biddo or any of the boys of my stratum. That alone was worth a bit of danger.
    I didn’t say so to Mother.
    Have you heard? Jov’s mother was crying. She’s desperate to hold the baby.

    Have you heard? Biddo says the technology will let us all keep in touch when we’re scattered throughout the country.

    Have you heard? Nixie met a guy he’d been friends with before he went to Taris. The friend says even the people who thought we shouldn’t be rescued were shocked by the attack on us.
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WARNING SIREN
    W ILLEM CALLED US ALL TO an evening meeting to find out how our first day had gone.
    ‘Overwhelming,’ old Mallin said. ‘Astonishing. So many things have