"Hardly indiscriminately," Jackie interjected. "After all she does know us."

Lothan shot the decker a look that clearly said, "stay out of this." "Be that as it may," he continued. "It doesn't change the fact that our employers pay for and expect a certain measure of discretion, as well as professional behavior. If you want to be successful in this business, Kellan, I suggest you keep that in mind."

"Oh, come off it, Lothan!" Jackie scoffed. "It's not like you didn't check out Brickman and learn the same info before you took the job." The troll glared at the decker.

"Then: you knew?" Kellan asked. "I mean, you knew Brickman worked for Knight Errant, and you didn't say anything to the rest of us?"

"Of course I knew," Lothan said patiently, like he was explaining the blatantly obvious to a small child. "Only a fool doesn't check out a potential employer's credentials, just to be on the safe side, but the important thing is not to be seen prying into an employer's affairs. It's a matter of appearances. I didn't say anything because it didn't concern you."

"Don't you think it's kind of strange-Brickman hiring us to steal from his own company?"

"Not at all. It happens all the time. Midlevel employees become involved in corporate politics or power struggles within their own company, and some find it useful to go outside the corporate structure looking for a little help to move their own agendas forward. I've seen far stranger things in my time."

"But I think Brickman is up to something-"

"Of course he is," Lothan interrupted, his patience obviously wearing thin. "But Mr. Brickman's plans, whatever they may be, are of no concern to us. He hired us for a job, we did the job to his satisfaction, and he paid us the agreed-upon amount-with a nice little bonus, I may add. Now our business is concluded. Whatever Brickman's plans are, they're none of our concern. I suggest you invest whatever money you have left over, after a night of celebration in G-Dogg's company, in some new clothing and whatever other necessities you may need, and be here on time for your next lesson. Forget about Mr. Brickman."

"But:"

"Leave it be, Kellan!" the troll rumbled, drawing himself up to his full height to tower head and shoulders above Kellan. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yeah," she said flatly. "Like crystal."

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse us:." Lothan stared pointedly at the door, and Kellan stuffed the dataBook back into her bag and left without another word, just a backward glance at Jackie and Lothan before she closed the door behind her.

Fraggin' know-it-all! Kellan fumed as she stalked down the hall. I'll show him what he can do with his fraggin' advice. Everyone had told her that Lothan could be difficult, but she hadn't expected him to simply dismiss her. She knew the difference between professional discretion and a Mr. Johnson with something to hide, and Brickman was up to something. Lothan's refusal to even consider her point only reinforced her suspicions-and made her wonder about the magician's motivations, too.

She headed out the door, choosing not to slam it, and down the street. She wanted to walk, needed to clear her head before she decided what she was going to do next.

"Kellan, hang on a sec," a voice called from behind her. She turned to see Jackie Ozone coming down the street behind her. The decker now wore her jacket and had a stylish leather carrying case slung over her shoulder, which she steadied with one hand as she walked. Kellan stopped walking and waited for Jackie to catch up.

"You okay?" she asked and Kellan nodded.

"Yeah, fine."

"Don't let Lothan get to you," Jackie told her. "I'm sure you've heard the same advice from everyone else who knows him even slightly. What they may not have said is that he actually means well. The fact that he bothers to hand out advice at all means he cares, even if he's annoying the drek out of you when he does it."

"Yeah, something like that," Kellan replied with a snort.

"He makes a good point," Jackie began, raising a hand to head off Kellan's retort, "but I think you do, too. In my opinion, sometimes Lothan carries the whole 'professional courtesy and discretion' thing a little too far, and doesn't ask enough questions. Me, I'm willing to question anything and everyone, and my gut tells me your questions deserve an answer. If Brickman has an agenda that could come back and bite us, or that might be worth something to us, then we should check it out, right?"

Kellan smiled. "Exactly."

"In fact," Jackie mused, a slow smile spreading across her face. "It would be wrong of us to not check it out."

"Doing that is going to take a lot more Matrix muscle than I've got," Kellan said, lifting the bag containing her dataBook for emphasis.

"Well, then, you're in luck," Jackie said, patting the side of her own bag. "Since I happen to know someone with just the right tools for the job. Let's just see what Mr. Brickman is hiding, shall we?"

Kellan was surprised when Jackie made arrangements to check them into a coffin hotel on the outskirts of Bellevue. It was classier than the one Kellan stayed at. Not a haven for chipheads and other SINless, but the kind of place where cost-conscious business travelers caught a few hours of sleep between flights or after late nights at the office. When Kellan asked about it, Jackie explained that she hardly did any decking from home. With the existence of trace programs that could backtrack deckers' datatrails and locate them in the real world, Jackie preferred to not risk being caught at home.

On the way to the hotel, Kellan filled Jackie in on her suspicions. She described Orion's apparently tense conversation with Brickman at the meet, including Orion's mention of weapons. The decker listened carefully to everything Kellan had to say, apparently reserving judgment on what any of it might mean.

The clerk on duty at the coffin hotel did a double take at two young women renting a single unit. He leered, but didn't ask any questions as Jackie blithely slotted her credstick to pay for it, then took Kellan's hand to lead her to the elevator. Kellan could feel the back of her neck burning with an unaccustomed blush.

"Cover," Jackie said once the elevator doors closed. "All that twinkie is going to remember is two slags who wanted a crash-space together. He won't be wondering about anything else."

Sitting down on the foam padding inside the cubicle, Jackie unwound a collection of wires from a pocket of her carrying case.

"This your first Matrix run?" she asked Kellan.

"Well, in school:" Kellan began and Jackie shook her head.

"Nope, not school, or playing virtua-games with friends or drek like that-for real."

"Then, yeah, it is," Kellan replied reluctantly.

"Ah, a Matrix virgin," Jackie said with a smile. "Well, then, you're in for a fun ride. Here."

Jackie passed Kellan a collection of wires and leads connected to an elastic headband.

"You know how to use an electrode net?" she asked, and Kellan nodded. She slipped the band onto her head, adjusting it so that the electrodes made contact with the skin of her forehead and temples. They would translate electronic impulses into neural information and relay them directly to her brain. The resolution was a lot lower than you got from the direct mind-machine interface of a datajack, but Kellan didn't have a jack, so the trode net would have to suffice.

As Kellan settled the net in place, Jackie reached into her bag and removed a small, flat, rectangular object inside a burnished metal case. She set it reverently on the foam between them. Kellan let out a low whistle when she saw it.

"Nice deck," she said, and Jackie beamed with pride.

"Thanks," she replied.