Free Earth and Fire by Janet Edwards

be interesting. Exactly how far are you
willing to go to get your pilot’s licence, Jarra?”
    “I’ve no idea
what you mean,” I said, in a dignified voice.
    Keon promptly
gave a shameless grin and spelt out what he meant. “If Cathan teaches you
meteorology, he’s going to expect something in return, like a quick tumble or
two. What’s your negotiating position on that, Jarra? Are you sticking with
being a nice contract girl, wanting to be 18 and have a Twoing contract with a
boy before tumbling him, or are you desperate enough to offer bribes to an evil
non-contract boy like Cathan?”
    “I’m not
tumbling Cathan!”
    Keon’s grin
widened. “How about tumbling me then?”
    Issette slapped
his face. “Keon, behave yourself!”
    “Ouch!” Keon
rubbed his cheek. “I could charge you with physical assault for that.”
    “I’ve got a
witness who’ll swear I never touched you,” said Issette.
    “That’s right,”
I said. “I was watching very closely at the moment Issette never touched you.”
    “I wish you two
would stop ganging up on me,” said Keon.
    “Why have you
started behaving so strangely, Keon?” asked Issette. “First you were kissing
our hands, and now you’re making suggestive remarks.”
    He sighed. “I’m
not behaving strangely. Despite the way you two treat me like a piece of
furniture, I’m potentially just as evil a non-contract boy as Cathan. I’d like
to know if there are any benefits on offer if I’m fool enough to try and teach Jarra
something mathematical.”
    Issette and I
exchanged glances, unsure whether Keon was serious about this or teasing us.
    “I’m not tumbling
Cathan or you,” I said.
    “Then I see no
reason to put in a lot of work.” Keon stretched out on the grass and closed his
eyes.
    “This is very
important to Jarra,” said Issette. “If you don’t help, neither of us will ever
speak to you again.”
    “Peace at last,”
said Keon.
    She frowned at
him. “If you don’t help, Jarra will give you a history lecture on every detail
of the Beta sector crisis, from the declaration of the Second Roman Empire to
the treaty of Artemis.”
    “The Beta sector
crisis really started at least a decade before the declaration of the Second
Roman Empire in 2605,” I corrected her. “The key point was when Alpha and Gamma
sectors united in an attempt to pass legislation in Parliament of Planets. This
was intended to impose a cross-sector uniform system of relationship contracts limited
to Twoing, term marriage, or full marriage contracts between a maximum of two
people. The First Speaker of Beta sector made his historic speech, stating …”
    “I surrender,”
said Keon. “For chaos sake, Issette, shut her up.”
    I giggled. “But
don’t you think it’s fascinating?”
    “No,” said Keon.
“Given the Handicapped don’t have the right to vote, I see no point in paying
any attention to the political events happening today, let alone listening to
you boring on for hours about things that happened centuries ago.”
    “That’s settled
then,” said Issette. “I can coach Jarra at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Keon,
you can work with her for two hours after school, and Cathan can have the two
hours after dinner. It’ll only take me a few minutes to use a planner to work
out a study schedule and send it to you all.”
    Keon raised a
hand. “Don’t you think Jarra should at least mention this to Cathan before you
send him a study schedule?”
    I groaned and
got to my feet. “You’re right. I’d better go and talk to him right away.”
    “Can I come and
watch?” asked Keon.
    “No, you can’t!”
    I headed off in
search of Cathan. I knew he had to be somewhere around our Next Step, because
he’d had his portalling rights taken away after the unsuitable images incident,
and was limited to travelling between Next Step E241/1089 and School E249/1217 for
the next week. He wasn’t anywhere outside or in his room. Eventually, I found
him sitting on his