第18节

, upped the volume then sat down on the bunk-bed.

Steve frowned and pointed to the tv. 'Do we have to have that on?"

'Yeah." Roz moved closer to her brother. 'Do you wanna hear some

music?"

Steve leaned back cautiously into the stacked pillows.

'What kind?"

'The kind that gives you a real buzz. Blackjack - what else?"

'Are you crazy?" hissed Steve. 'I wouldn't go within a mile of that

junk. Shaft it, Roz. Get rid of it - fast." An alarming thought

struck him. He sat up straight. 'Where is it? Have you got it with

you?"

'Of course not." Roz pushed him back against the pillow.

'Relax. There's this guy -' Steve put his hand to her lips. 'I don't

want to know about him, or it, or anything. Don't get involved, Roz.

You know what the score is. Anyone caught tuning into that garbage is

in big trouble."

Roz smiled. 'You could be' right. The word is this guy only handles

Code One material."

'Keep your voice down,' said Steve. 'And stop kidding around. It's no

joke."

'Have you ever plugged any blackjack?"

'No. And I'm not going to."

Roz smiled. 'Because it's against the rules?"

Steve eyed her silently then looked away.

'Have you ever asked yourself why it's against the rules?"

Roz pulled his chin round, forcing. Steve to meet her challenging

look.

'You know why we have rules,' replied Steve. 'It's the only way people

can live together." His mouth tightened as she sighed wearily. 'Come

on - that's Page One stuff."

'I know what the Manual says. But it's not the only way,' insisted

Roz. 'If people are given a set of rules to live by limits they

mustn't overstep - it means there must be a whole different way of

living on the other side of the line."

'Sure,' said Steve. 'People tried it a thousand years ago.

And what happened? Anarchy, disorder, chaos. The cities burned. The

blue-sky world be'came one great poisonous hell-fire that spawned the

Mutes."

'Yeah, I know how the history programme runs,' whispered Roz.

'Something bad must have happened, but none of us know what - or how

bad it really was. We only know what the First Family's seen fit to

tell us. Maybe,' she hesitated - 'maybe, in some ways, life was better

than it is now."

Steve snorted. 'Are you crazy? Without the Jeffersons there would be

no life! If the First Family hadn't laid down the rules for everyone

to follow, the Federation wouldn't exist."

'Yes, but, Steve ' 'Drop it, Roz,' hissed Steve. 'I don't want to hear

any more of this shit."

'Okay, forget it,' replied Roz with a sniffy laugh. 'Don't worry, I

won't do anything to damage your career prospects."

'I was thinking about yours,' snapped Steve.

Roz looked unconvinced.

'I'm not kidding,' said Steve angrily. And to be fair, at least twenty

per cent of his concern was temporarily directed towards his sister.

He took hold of her hands.

'These wild ideas - this renegade talk. You can't go jumping the rails

like this once you get to Grand Central. What's got into you?"

Roz pursed her lips then tilted her head to one side as she looked down

at their clasped hands. 'Maybe I need my big brother to look after

me."

Their eyes met and held each other fast.

'That can't happen, Roz,' said Steve quietly. 'I know I'm real bad

about getting in touch but - I do think about you and ..."

'... how it was when we were in high school together?"

'Sometimes. Things change. People too."

'I'm people, and'nothing's changed." Roz leaned forward and gave him a

long tender kiss on the mouth then sat back with a sigh. 'D'you

realise after this week we may never see each other again?"

Steve smiled. 'That's life, Roz. Crying won't change anything."

'I wasn't about to cry." Roz took a deep breath. 'There was something