Today's Reading
I tried to shake loose the anger locking up my mind. "What do you want, Angel?"
"I want to give you a ride." She nodded at the dead phone clenched in my fist. "I think you'll find your options are a bit limited without me."
I swept my eyes across the landing pad. There was one sleek black flyer parked a few paces behind Angel, and a decrepit old shuttle that transported the guards to and from the Rock and its prison. The staff rotated on a weekly basis, the flight to Kepler Space Station too much of an undertaking for a commute. It would be another week before I could maybe bum a ride, depending on the lenience and goodwill of the guards. Both of which were in short supply, especially with this lot.
I was considering the possibility of carving out a shelter from one of the snowbanks and stowing away on the shuttle when Angel interrupted my thoughts.
"Whatever you're planning, I can guarantee it's stupid."
"All of my plans are at least a little stupid."
"You say that as if I've forgotten."
I looked at my phone again. Still dead.
Angel sighed. "It's one hour in the flyer. If after that hour you never want to see me again—"
"Bold of you to assume I want to see you now."
"—I'll leave you alone. I swear."
"Your oaths leave a lot to be desired."
Angel's gaze was sharp. "I swear on my father's grave."
That startled me out of my anger. Last I heard, Angel's father was still alive. Miserable, but alive. I wasn't sure when in those eight years he would have died, at the rate his mind had been deteriorating.
I shifted from foot to foot. "I'm sorry," I said. Despite everything that happened between me and Angel, it felt like the right thing to say.
"Don't be," Angel replied, her voice cold.
A frigid wind blew through the landing pad, rattling the leaves on the trees and stirring Angel's hair. It fell back into its perfect angle. I shivered.
Angel gestured at the flyer behind her. "Just one ride, Edie."
I gave my phone one last look, willing with all my might for it to spark to life. It didn't.
There was a time in my life when I would have accepted Angel's offer without hesitation. I thought of all the times we'd ridden somewhere together: in the crush of the monorail on our way to school, crowded in the back of a friend's flyer for a job, or drunkenly swaying in a speeding cab from a party. Back then, we were inseparable. Back then, we went everywhere together.
But that was long before Kepler System Penitentiary. That was long before we fell apart.
I didn't know what all this meant now.
I looked up at Angel, who was watching me expectantly. Impatiently.
"One ride," I agreed.
Angel gave me a brilliant smile, one that lit up her entire face. It was a smile that made my heart race in my chest, my palms sweat in my tight fists. It was a smile that could persuade someone to do anything for her. Move mountains for her. Slay dragons for her. Fall on their sword for her.
"Perfect," she said. "Because I have something to ask you."
"You're out of your fucking mind," I said.
Angel didn't react to that, placidly sipping from her teacup.
"Joyce Atlas is the richest man in this quadrant, in the running for richest in the galaxy." Despite the empty pilot's seat, I lowered my voice to a hiss. "And you mean to steal from him?"
"I'm glad you were able to grasp the basic concept."
"You're out of your fucking mind."
"So you've said."
"That man has more security than any senator. Guards, cameras, codes, keys. Even his lunch box is biometrically sealed."
"You would secure yours too, if you spent so much on real fruit."
"And what makes you think you can crack his lunch box, let alone his proprietary vault?"
Angel met my gaze evenly. "Because I'm his chief of security."
I gaped at her. She sipped from her tea again. Her lips left a smudge of vermilion on the edge of the teacup.
...
