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  ‘Alright everyone,’ he bellows. ‘Let’s start. I want fifteen laps around the room.’ He claps his big hands together. ‘Right now, now, now. Move, move, move.’

  The group starts out in a ragged run and I keep pace with Cora easily enough, until the eighth lap, when my breath really starts to burn and I fall back. By the end, my whole body aches and I’m sweating in all sorts of uncomfortable places. Velasco strides over, looking disgusted.

  ‘How in the hell do you think you’re going to pass my class when you can’t even run a couple of laps?’ He leans forward. ‘You think you got what it takes, princess?’

  ‘Yes,’ I wheeze, massaging the stitch in my side.

  ‘Then let’s see what you’re made of. Can you fight?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Can. You. Fight?’

  ‘I guess.’ I’m breathing easier now, but my shoulders are cranked tight. Sure, I know how to fight. Doesn’t mean I want to though. Velasco gestures to Jasmine to come over.

  ‘This is Cadet Harper, one of my best students. She’s a special kind of teeker, with her talent limited to chaetokinesis.’

  ‘Chaeto-what?’ I look at Jasmine for clarification.

  ‘The ability to manipulate one aspect of myself in use for defence and attack,’ she says, cracking her knuckles.

  ‘What aspect is that?’ I ask, but almost don’t want to know.

  Jasmine’s dreadlocks twitch, then lift around her head, twisting like a nest of snakes. ‘Guess.’

  I retreat a few steps without realising it, and I try not to openly grimace at Jasmine’s rippling hair. I don’t want to get anywhere near those coiling blue locks.

  Velasco claps his hands again. ‘Alright, Cadet Ryder. Rumour has it around the academy you have a few mean moves. Let’s see what you can do on the mat.’

  Fresh sweat breaks out on my forehead as I curl my hands into fists, my fingers aching a little from the healed frostbite burns.

  The dirty fighting Bobby taught me probably wasn’t going to be acceptable here. Before I can protest, Jasmine comes at me, fast. Her fist catches me by surprise and she lands a solid blow against my jaw, right where Dutch clocked me with his elbow. Pain explodes in my mind as I stumble back, annoyed that once again, I’m getting thumped in the face.

  ‘Good shot, Harper,’ Velasco says. ‘Stay on the balls of your feet and keep moving.’

  I duck one of Jasmine’s fists, when something prickly wraps around my throat. I realise it’s one of her dreadlocks, and I let out a shriek of horror and disgust. My TK scrambles out to help me, but I’m flustered and I can’t focus it properly. I swing a foot at her groin and she shifts to avoid it, her hair releasing me.

  ‘Thinking quick, Ryder. Nice,’ Velasco calls out for encouragement. I want to ask how long we’re going to do this, but I’m distracted by one of Jasmine’s punches, which I just manage to deflect. With a vicious look in her eyes, Jasmine darts behind me and loops an arm around my neck. I grab the crook of her inner elbow and twist, throwing her over my hip. One of the fancier moves from Bobby’s lessons. The other lessons usually involved poking eyes, stomping on feet and drunken cursing.

  I try to lay a boot into Jasmine to keep her down, but she manages to keep clear and flips to her feet.

  ‘Easy now,’ Velasco calls out. ‘Keep it a clean fight.’

  One of the dreadlocks snaps out to wind around my throat again like a prickly snake.

  ‘Aghh,’ I shriek. ‘I can’t believe you’re touching me with your ratty hair.’

  Jasmine bares her teeth and the strands pull tight. I gasp and dots dance across my vision.

  ‘Enough, Cadet Harper,’ Velasco barks. Jasmine gives me a feline snarl, then her hair loosens. I cough, trying to get a full breath.

  ‘This isn’t over,’ Jasmine tells me.

  ‘Go to hell, skank,’ I suggest between gasps.

  Then my vision is obscured by her fist as it smashes into my nose.

  I lean over the toilet bowl. My stomach spasms a few more times before I feel it’s safe to straighten up and lean against the cool cubicle wall. There’s a gentle tap against the door. I didn’t lock it and it creaks as it’s pushed open. I look up to see Cora’s concerned face peering down at me.

  ‘How you feeling?’ she asks.

  ‘I’ve been better.’

  She pulls a sympathetic face. ‘Velasco is pretty hard-core.’

  ‘I don’t think Jasmine likes me much, either.’ I wipe my mouth, feeling my nose throb angrily. ‘Who knew a busted nose could make you feel so bad?’

  Cora helps me to my feet and I walk out of the cubicle to the sink, where I splash chilly water over my aching nose.

  ‘You didn’t do so bad.’ Cora tries to sound supportive, like me flaking out after a knock to the nose was a good thing. I throw more water on my face. Before Cora can give me any more pep talk, one of the toilets flushes and Jasmine steps out. She walks over to the sink furthest away from me and starts washing her hands. The bitch doesn’t even look like she broke a sweat.

  I switch the water off and pat my face dry with a towel, watching as Jasmine dries her hands, finger by finger. ‘What’s your problem?’ I ask her bluntly. ‘What did I ever do to you?’

  Jasmine’s eyes stay fixed on her slow moving hands. ‘You exist. That’s my problem.’

  ‘Back off, Jasmine,’ Cora says. ‘Stop being such a cow.’

  Jasmine’s top lip curls and she looks at Cora like it’s the first time she’s noticed her. ‘Don’t you know who the golden girl’s parents were? I’d be real careful about who you side with, fatso.’

  I freeze. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Cora snaps. ‘I’m not fat, I have a glandular problem. And at least I’m not mooning over someone I can’t have.’

  ‘Shut your mouth.’ Jasmine’s hair lifts like the hair on a cat’s back. ‘Before I shut it for you.’

  Cora sticks her ample chest out and inches her chin up. ‘I heard Aaron Galloway told someone he’d rather be set on fire than touch you and your crazy nit-infested snake hair ever again.’

  Jasmine’s face tightens at the mention of Aaron’s name. Her dreadlocks flip about and Cora stabs a finger at her.

  ‘Don’t you even think about attacking me with those filthy things, or I’ll report you,’ she says.

  Jasmine snarls, then stalks towards the door. She pauses in front of me and I want to ask her what she meant about my parents, but her face is a mask of fury and I suspect she’d just try to claw my eyes out.

  ‘This isn’t over between you and me,’ she says, then spits at me. I stare down at the glob of saliva on my left boot, unable to believe that someone I don’t know could hate me so much. The bathroom door clicks shut after Jasmine storms out and I look up to see Cora also staring at my boot, her eyes big.

  ‘Do you know what she was talking about?’ I ask.

  ‘No. But I know that she dated Aaron Galloway for a few weeks. Might explain why she hates your guts.’

  ‘What happened?’ I rub the spit off my shoes with a towel. ‘Why did they break up?’

  ‘Because it’s Aaron Galloway. The man likes the ladies and the ladies like him. With all that charm and money, how can you resist?’ Cora sighs. ‘I can’t say Jasmine wasn’t a bitch before he dumped her, but she was totally heinous after he broke it off.’

  I blanch. ‘I’ve got zero interest in Aaron.’

  ‘Maybe just stay out of her way?’ Cora suggests. ‘She might cool off once she realises that you’re not making any moves on him.’

  I nod in agreement, but I’m not entirely convinced Jasmine’s anger is about Aaron’s supposed affections. It sounded more like she knows something about my parents and I’m going to find out what.

  CHAPTER 13

  There’s an hour’s grace from when the academic day ends and dinner is open in the canteen. Back in the dormitory, I shower and change in one of the cramped bathroom cubicles. Safely dressed and sporting a fr
esh bruise on my nose, I check my slate and see Cora has messaged me, inviting me to her room. Travelling up a floor, I walk along a corridor lined with half open doors showing small residential rooms within. Cora answers my knock and ushers me inside. The room is small, with a tiny bathroom and a study table by the window. Her bed has a pink bedcover with frilly cream pillows and a poster of a male actor is taped to one wall. Sparkly ballet shoes are strewn around the floor and her open wardrobe is full of cardigans of every description.

  ‘Make yourself at home,’ Cora says.

  I flop down on the bed and Cora makes breezy conversation about someone I don’t really know, but she obviously thinks I do. I’m only half listening as she picks up her shoes and shoves them in her closet, my mind still on the confrontation with Jasmine in the bathroom.

  ‘Are we going to the canteen soon?’ I ask.

  Cora screws up her nose. ‘It’s meatloaf night and you don’t want that, especially after the day you’ve had. There’s a pizza joint in town that serves some mean crusts, called the Pizza Palace. Most cadets go there on meatloaf night.’

  ‘We can just leave Helios grounds? We don’t need permission or anything?’

  ‘Of course! This isn’t a prison. There’s a bus that travels into town a few times a day for those who don’t have transport.’

  I glance down at my uniform. ‘Should I change?’

  ‘They give academy cadets a discount, so I’d just keep it on.’ Cora selects a baby-blue cardigan and slips her feet into a pair of ginger-coloured ballet shoes.

  ‘Looking good,’ I tell her.

  ‘I always try to stand out from the crowd.’ She pins on a pair of red button earrings and gives me a whirl. ‘A girl’s gotta excel in any way she can.’

  Cora heads for the door, while I try to remember how much I have in my personal account. Strangely, in spite of my sore muscles, the failure with my threading with Aaron and my face feeling like an impact zone thanks to Dutch and Jasmine, I feel my life has finally taken a turn for the better.

  There’s a group of cadets outside Central and soon an electric bus with tinted windows rolls into view and hisses to a stop nearby. Cora and I line up to board and take our seats. I’m relieved that it doesn’t cost anything and once again marvel at how easy life is here.

  In town, we follow the crowd of happily chatting cadets through the streets of the quiet town. It’s getting dark and street lights buzz to life overhead, chasing away the shadows. Compared to the clogged streets back home, cars here move freely and overhead there’s the whine of an air-car, its fusion exhaust glowing softly against the backdrop of emerging stars.

  The inside of the Pizza Palace has a vintage feel to it, with rickety wooden furniture, old movie posters on the walls, and well-preserved timber beams with iron brackets. I follow Cora to a red vinyl booth at the back, admiring an antique film poster, featuring Dracula and Frankenstein doing battle. Half the patrons of the restaurant are Helios cadets and one or two give Cora a nod of recognition. Instead of an interface menu at our table, there are real, live people waiting tables, and Cora beckons a waitress over to place our order, informing me that we’ll share. I wonder if she knows I’m nearly broke. Maybe not broke enough to not be able to afford a pizza, but enough to watch what I buy. I briefly wonder what kind of opportunities there might be for an enterprising girl to make some quick cash, but dismiss the idea quick enough. No way do I want to get thrown out, just for some extra credit to play with. Helios is paying for my education, board and food, and that will have to be enough until I graduate. I can celebrate when I have a fancy job and credit to spare. Until then, I’ll live simple.

  Cora looks around the busy restaurant. ‘Darsh is joining us. He should be here soon.’

  ‘Is there something going on between you two?’ I ask her.

  ‘With Darsh?’ Cora laughs. ‘No, we’re just friends. We got partnered up in Systems Analysis and Design and started hanging out. He’s a real sweetie.’

  ‘Okay.’ I wonder if Darsh thinks of Cora as just a friend as well. ‘He does seem like a pretty cool guy.’

  ‘He’s a madman with a computer.’ Cora pauses when the waitress brings us our drinks. ‘He can migrate into almost any system he wants to, you know, and slip under security systems like nobody’s business.’

  ‘Speak of the devil.’ I spy Darsh entering the restaurant and wave him over. When he sees us, his face breaks out into a broad grin and he sits down next to Cora. We just stare at him a moment, both ogling the black eye he’s got.

  ‘How did combat go this morning?’ Cora asks.

  Darsh looks at my bruised nose. ‘I’d say about as well as Josie’s class.’

  ‘So, you got your butt handed to you?’ Cora confirms. ‘Who did it this time?’

  Darsh sighs. ‘Can we talk about something else? Josie’s brawl with Jasmine is all I’ve been hearing about for the last half hour.’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ I say. ‘What are people talking about?’

  ‘That you two had a cat fight over Aaron Galloway,’ Darsh says.

  I snort. ‘Hardly.’

  The pizza is delivered to our table and the rich, cheesy smell makes my mouth water and my toes curl in anticipation.

  ‘This is no big deal.’ Darsh indicates his eye, then selects two pieces of pizza. ‘The bruising will be gone by morning. I’ll swing by medical after here. They’ve got a bio-repair cream that works miracles on all manner of bruising.’ He motions to my swollen nose. ‘You should try some of it. Trust me, it’ll work miracles.’

  A thought occurs to me as I take a slice and begin picking the anchovy pieces off.

  ‘Darsh. I hear you’re pretty awesome with computers,’ I say.

  He nods, devouring a single slice in seconds. ‘You might say that … and you’d be right.’

  ‘Could you do me a favour?’

  ‘What kind of favour?’ His eyes turn wary. ‘Big or small?’

  ‘Let’s shoot for small,’ I tell him. ‘I just want some information. My parents used to work for the academy. Alice and James Ryder.’

  Darsh stops chewing. ‘You’re second generation Helios?’

  ‘I guess, but I never knew it until I got here. I want to find out what they did and why they left. I’ve read a few general articles, but they don’t tell me much.’

  ‘You can’t ask them now?’ Darsh asks.

  ‘They died when I was little.’ The words are still bitter in my mouth, even after all these years.

  ‘Sorry,’ Darsh says awkwardly, then quickly recovers. ‘I’ll take a quick look around. Though on the Darsh favour scale, this would qualify as a big one. But if you’re second generation Helios, that’s kind of cool. So, happy to help.’

  ‘I’d appreciate it.’

  ‘Don’t look now, but Tina Hather just walked in,’ Cora says through a mouthful of pizza. ‘Wonder if Olivia Galloway is with her, slumming it for dinner.’

  I look over to see a blonde girl striding towards us with a determined look on her face, her heels clicking against the timber floors.

  She stops in front of us. ‘Hello, losers. Nice to see some of us don’t have to worry about keeping trim.’

  My eyes drop to the greasy slice of pizza in my hand, before I take a defiant bite. Cora keeps eating without skipping a beat, while Darsh nearly shovels another whole piece into his mouth, then smiles in a wide open grin.

  ‘If that’s how you try to impress girls, Darsh, then it’s little wonder you’re single,’ Tina snips.

  ‘Mhufughj.’ Darsh accidentally spits out a piece of pepperoni, then starts choking and concentrates on swallowing his mouthful.

  Tina’s eyes cut to me. ‘I’m supposed to deliver this to you.’ She pulls out an envelope from her handbag and passes it to me. The paper feels expensive and silky underneath my fingers and, to my horror, I realise I’ve already left a grease smudge on the corner.

  ‘Consider it your golden ticket,’ Tina says cryptically, then walks off
.

  ‘What does it say? What does it say?’ Cora looks about ready to jump out of her skin, so I hand her the envelope while I wipe my hands on a napkin.

  She rips it open and pulls out a letter, scanning it. ‘It’s an invitation to one of the Executive Committee fundraising dinners at Eckhart’s country residence.’

  Darsh whoops. ‘Someone hit the big time. Maybe soon you’ll be doing favours for me.’

  I take the letter and see that not only am I invited, but a car will be sent for me. ‘Why would I be invited?’

  ‘Who cares?’ Cora throws her hands up. ‘This is your chance to impress the Executive Board, let them know you’re something special. Do you have a dress?’

  ‘No.’ I bite my lip. ‘Do you have one I could borrow?’

  ‘Are you kidding?’ Cora laughs. ‘I’m a full-figured girl and you’re kind of scrawny. We’ll have to go shopping.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Now I’m worried, because I don’t have near enough money for something like a fancy dress.

  ‘You’ll have to count me out for shopping activity, ladies,’ Darsh says.

  ‘Ohhh, come on, Darsh, it’ll be fun,’ Cora pleads.

  Darsh takes another bite. ‘I think I’d rather face down a rabid primal, thanks.’

  CHAPTER 14

  I don’t sleep well that night, fending off dreams that are a tumbled mess. At one point, I’m back in the combat room, but instead of fighting Jasmine, I’m grappling with Blake. Just like Jasmine, Blake grabs me in a chokehold and I angle my hip for a throw. He goes easy and I know he’s letting me win. As his weight rolls over my shoulder, he brings me with him and I land on top, breathing hard. Feeling mortified and very, very aware of the hard lines of his body, I try to shift off him. But his hands wrap around my waist and our eyes lock. The room grows dark, shadows crawling towards us. Fear grips me. Fear of the darkness and where it leads. Fear of the man who stares up at me like I’m something special. The fear heightens the arousal that’s taking over my body and my skin itches, wanting to press against his. Darkness falls and the moment builds, tightening me inside—