Shades of gray by Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge

Author:Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge [Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SF
ISBN: 9780553386325
Published: 2010-06-22T09:09:31+00:00

CHAPTER 30

IRIDIUM

Subject 3224, the child in question, is in our care. His parents are dead. The president of the board tells me it was a car accident. Natural causes. I ask myself do I care that he’s lying? I’m afraid the answer is no.

—Matthew Icarus, diary entry dated March 3, 1991

Iridium felt heavy. She sat quietly in a corner of the supersecret clubhouse, watching the real heroes move to and fro. They were all slow, all weighted with fatigue and the knowledge of what had happened to Tyler.

That poor kid. Ass or not, Tyler wasn’t any older or wiser than she was, and he’d gotten himself crippled trying to help her.

Derek sat next to her after a time. “I’m sure he’ll make it.”

“Hope so.” Iridium massaged her forehead. A truly epic migraine was brewing.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Derek supplied.

“Fuck, Derek, I know that!” Her shout brought the room to a stop, Firebug and Steele and Meteorite all gawping at her.

Iridium didn’t care anymore. After what had happened, she almost welcomed it. Their scorn and fear was familiar.

Their pity was what she couldn’t stand.

“What?” she demanded. “You still think that if I have a bad day, I’m going to vaporize the lot of you and go knock over a bank?”

Meteorite put her arms out, placating. “Iridium, calm down …”

Snarling, Iridium grabbed Meteorite’s headset and threw it as hard as she could. It snapped in two against the far wall. “Haven’t I proven myself to you people? What do you want from me?”

“To stop yelling, probably,” Taser said mildly.

She whirled to face him, ready for a fight.

Except he didn’t want to fight. He was looking at her, his face stripped of its ski mask, his blue eyes sad and knowing. “We’ve all had it rough today. It’s never easy to lose one of your own.”

“Hey, man,” Frostbite growled. “Don’t talk about Tyler like you two are drinking buddies. You don’t know him.”

“And we didn’t lose him,” Iridium said. “He’s going to live.” She slumped back down, screwing up her face into her worst Villainess glare.

It was better than crying.

“It doesn’t change the fact that Hornblower lost his leg because we were outgunned,” Taser said, looking at each of them. “We need support, and more important, we need to have our heads in the game when we’re out there. We can’t do that if we’re worrying about who left the coffeepot on back at HQ.”

Meteorite frowned at him. “What are you talking about?”

“I was a Runner for over a year before I was assigned to Jet,” Taser said. “I could contact the other Runners. They could give you the hero support you really need.”

“Yes, because what will save New Chicago from rabid extrahumans and crazy scientists is a well-made sandwich and a shoulder rub,” Frostbite said. His voice cracked with ice.

“Hey.” Taser shrugged. “You can stay here and push buttons, Frostbite, or you can get back into the field. You seemed pretty natural out there today.”

Frostbite went quiet at that. Iridium knew that he’d wanted a real shot at heroing since he’d gotten sent away before graduation.

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