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time,” Vivian said.
    “But I’ve got dinner all ready to go,” Rachel said, hoping Vivian would let her off easy. She hated quizzes. “It just needs a few minutes to warm up and we can eat.”
    “That was so thoughtful of you, dear. We can use that few minutes for our quiz.” Vivian tilted her head at Rachel. “Hmm. Since you’re so fascinated by Away, let’s review how it actually came to be. Starting from the Deactivation Acts and the Global Weapons Accord.”
    Rachel groaned. So much for getting off easy. “Mom, those were way before Away. The National Border Defense System wasn’t even built yet.”
    Vivian just looked at her. “What were they designed to do?”
    Rachel hung her head. “They were designed to limit the destruction of war. Wars were becoming too damaging. The weapons used had the potential to destroy the earth. Certain types of weapons were prohibited.”
    “Were the limitations effective?”
    “Well, that depends on what you mean by effective. We probably won’t destroy the planet, but we still have wars.” Rachel shrugged.
    “So they were effective, in the way they were designed to be effective,” Vivian said. “Because none of them was ever meant to stop war. They were meant to stop us from incinerating the planet, just as you said, Rachel.” Vivian scowled. “I don’t know that most governments really want to stop war—it has too many uses. But that’s another day’s lesson.”
    The timer dinged, indicating that their dinner was ready.
    “Thank goodness.” Rachel hopped up and started toward their small table, which she had set with dishes.
    “Not so fast,” Vivian said. “We can quiz and eat at the same time.” She brought the food to the table. Rachel groaned again.
    “Okay.” Vivian poured water from the pitcher for each of them, ignoring Rachel’s protest. “So what effect did the Deactivation Acts have on warfare?”
    “War tactics changed.” Rachel was glad she had studied the night before. “When high-tech weapons were banned, countries had to fight in more old-fashioned ways. Troops, heavy artillery, direct physical attacks on borders.” Rachel served herself a piece of corn bread and passed the rest to her mom.
    “Thank you, dear. This looks delicious.”
    “What does any of the Deactivation stuff have to do with Away?” Rachel didn’t remember anything about Away in the reading her mom had assigned. It had all been about long-ago political accords and pacts.
    “I’m getting there,” Vivian said. “The change in fighting techniques leads us to the National Border Defense System. Why was that constructed? Wait, two-part question. (A) why was it constructed, and (B) why was it controversial?”
    Rachel grinned. “I know this. (A) it was constructed because with the change in fighting techniques, a physical border protection system was the best way to defend us from ground invasion. (B) . . . um . . . it was controversial because even though most other countries already had one long before the U.S. built ours, the U.S. had always upheld individual freedom as a right. If they built the National Border Defense System, people wouldn’t be able to just come and go from the country. The government said the type of system they were going to build was different than the ones most other countries had—that it was super-special or something—and that it wouldn’t be easy to disarm. They were restricting the borders. So there was a lot of protest about that.”
    “Hmm.” Vivian thought for a moment. “Well, on (A), you got it mostly right. It was the most economical way to protect the borders from invasion. That doesn’t mean it was the best. And as for (B), yes. The U.S. was based on individual freedoms being our right. At least at one time. And people didn’t want their right to leave the country removed.” Vivian smiled at Rachel. “Somebody did do their reading assignment, even if all those net books seem so much more enticing.”
    “I always