Cress

Chapter 9

                  Cinder groaned,    the impact    of    her   most   recent   still   reverberat-
                  ing through her spine. The cargo bay's ceiling spun and wobbled   in  her 
                   vision. "Was that necessary?"
                     Wolf and Scarlet appeared above her.
              "I'm sorry," said Wolf. "I thought you had control. Are you all right?"
        "Frustrated and sure, but, yes, I'm  fine." She  forced  herself  to take
                   Wolf's  outstretched hand. He and Scarlet both  helped   her  to her  feet.
              "You're  right. I  lost focus. I felt your energy snap out of my  hold, like
            a  rubber  band." That  was  moments before Wolf completed the maneu-
             ver she'd  managed  to  halt  for  six  whole seconds—grasping her arm and
           tossing  her over  his  shoulder. She  rubbed   her hip. "I need a moment."
          "Maybe you should call it quits for the day," said  Scarlet. "We're  almost 
             to  the satellite."
            Iko chimed in. "Estimated  time  of  arrival  in  nine  minutes,  thirty-four
              seconds.  Which, by my estimation, is enough  time  for  Cinder  to be  de-
       feated  and  embarrassed in seven more brawls."
    Cinder glared  up  at   the   ceiling. "Also  just  enough  time to  disconnect
          your audio device."
    "Since we have a few minutes," said Scarlet, "maybe we  should  talk
          about how to handle this girl. If she's been stuck on  a   satellite  for seven 
     years,  with no  one to talk to but a Lunar thaumaturge, she  might be ...
            socially awkward. I  think  we should all make an effort to be extra wel-
       coming and  supportive   and ... try  not  to terrify her."
          A  laugh  came  from  the  cockpit  Thorne   appeared   in   the doorway, 
            strapping a gun holster around   his  waist. "You're asking  the  cyborg
                   fugitive  and the wild animal to be the welcoming committee? That's
         adorable."
        Scarlet planted her hands on her hips. "I'm saying we should be  aware
          of  what she's been through and try to be sensitive to  that. This may  not
         be  an  easy  transition for her."
        Thorne shrugged. "The Rampion is going to be like   a five-star   hotel
           after  living on that satellite. She'll adjust."
                   "I'll be nice to her!" said Iko. "I  can  take her  net-shopping and she 
           can  help me pick out my  future designer wardrobe. Look, I   found    this
                 custom  escort   shop   that has  the best   accessories,  some    discounted
           models. What   would   you think of me with orange   hair?" The   netscreen
                  on the  wall  switched  to  an   escort-droid sale listing. The image  of  a  model
           was slowly   rotating, showing   off   the  android's    perfect proportions,
           peachy  skin,   and    royalty-approved   post. She  had   purple   irises    and
           cropped tangerine  hair  and  a  tattoo   of   an   old-fashioned carousel that ro-
tated around her her ankle.
     Cinder squeezed an  eye  shut. "Iko, what does this have to do with the
   satellite girl?"
          "I was getting too that." The  screen  scrolled  through  a  menu,  landing
    on  hair accessories, and dozens  of  icons clustered   together showing   ev-
     erything  from dreadlocked wigs to cat-ear headbands  to rhinestone-en-
            crusted   barrettes. "Just think how much potential she has with hair like
      that!"
        "You see?" said Thorne, nudging Scarlet  in  the shoulder. "Iko  and  the 
      imprison, socially awkward  satellite girl, best    fiends forever. Now,
     what  I'm  worried about is how we're going to be dividing the  reward 
     money  when  this  is all  over.  Because this ship is starting to feel awfully
    crowded and I'm  not  sure  I'm happy with all of you cutting into my
            profits."
  "What reward money?" asked Scarlet.