Black and White Read Free Page A

around to wax floors and wash dishes. She was wired into Corp, as much as all of their machines. “You make me sick, Jet,” Iridium said. “You can either get in my way and be burned by my strobe—
careful,”
she snapped when Jet tried to bat the ball of ever-brightening light away, “that’s over a thousand BTUs of heat! Or you can slither away into the dark. As usual.”
    Jet held her ground.
    Iridium took another step forward and felt a droplet of sweat slide down her spine underneath her unikilt.
Just the light heat
, she lied to herself.
Don’t worry about it.
“You forget that I
know
you, Jet.” She pushed at the strobe, making it fly at the cowled woman.
    Jet dove to the side at the last second and landed in a heap of garbage, clawing at her face as her goggles overloaded from the brilliance.
    Iridium went to Jet, leaned down, and ripped off Jet’s earpiece, crushing the squawk of her operator’s voice beneath her bootheel. “You scare easy,” Iridium hissed into Jet’s ear. “You always have.”
    She turned her back on Jet, got the digichip case, and walked away at a measured pace, into the ruins of Wreck City, feeling only a slight prick of guilt for what she’d said.

CHAPTER 4
JET
    Out of all the various Powers represented in the Academy—and, of course, the Squadron itself—the most enigmatic one is Shadow.
    Lynda Kidder, “Origins, Part Six,”
New Chicago Tribune,
April 30, 2112
    N
o, no, no, no, no …
    Jet took a shuddering breath, told herself not to panic. So what that she didn’t have Ops or the white noise to ground her? Within minutes, a Runner would arrive with another earpiece, and probably with backup, just in case.
    Plenty of time.
    Trembling from rage and adrenaline, Jet called out, “Iridium, stop in the name of the law!”
    Of course, the woman kept on walking. No, strolling, as if she had all the time in the world.
    Scrambling to her feet, Jet cursed herself for three kinds of fool. This was all her fault; she never should have led with the creepers to restrain Iri. Even knowing what the woman had become over the past five years, Jet hadstill attempted to intimidate her with subtlety instead of bludgeoning her with power.
    And she’d hoped that maybe some of the old Iri was still there, inside that rabid shell. “I said stop!”
    Iridium kept on strolling. And … now she was whistling a jaunty tune. Acting for all the world as if Jet were insignificant.
    She thought she heard laughter, dark and syrupy thick.
    Over the thumping of her heartbeat, her blood pounding in her ears, Jet shouted, “Don’t you walk away from me!”
    If Iridium heard her, she didn’t deign to show it.
    Jet’s thoughts blackened with fury. How dare she act as if Jet was irrelevant? As if she wasn’t a threat?
    She’d show her a threat.
    Snarling, Jet leveled a blast of Shadow at Iridium’s receding back—nothing subtle this time. She meant to take her down, no matter what.
    Iridium turned, then yelped as she dove out of the way, her metal case clanging to the pavement. The ebony bolt rocketed past her, and Jet had to force it to dissipate before it hit streetside. She grunted as the Shadow faded to nothing but gray motes in the afternoon sun, and felt a headache pound behind her eyes. Dissipation always drained her. Maybe Iri wouldn’t remember that; it had been five years.
    Iridium had landed on her palms, then used the movement to somersault gracefully onto her feet. Now she stood proudly in the middle of the alley, arms out, looking for all the world like an acrobat in her white unikilt.
    Still agile as a freaking cat
, Jet thought, feeling clumsy and reeking of garbage. Ignoring the way her head throbbed, she aimed directly at Iridium’s smirking mouth.
    “Hitting me from behind?” Iri chuffed laughter. “Isn’t that against the rules?”
    “I gave you fair warning,” Jet said, approaching slowly. She’d distract her with talk—just enough for Jet to get herstrength back. And