Disobedience Read online

  She is in a barn. Inside, rows of pens house handfuls of multicolored, horned mammals called ramans. Their hooved feet stomp the ground and harsh bleating fills the air. Finn struggles not to let the sound overwhelm her. In the back, the old man sits next to a large bucket filled with liquid.

  He takes his time dipping piles of jackets one by one into the bucket, using a large wooden paddle to stir and keep them submerged. A magenta raman covered in blue and black spots chews on hay at his side and the old man looks the creature in the eyes as he laughs maniacally.

  “They love my coats,” he says with a toothless grin. “I wonder if they’d still love them if they knew where they got their color.”

  He lets loose with another round of inane cackling and Finn eyes the bucket of yellow liquid with growing disgust.

  Raman piss? Seriously?

  Finn released her hold on the man and struggled to mask the disgust on her face.

  “Excuse me, missy,” the old man stepped back out of her way. “See anything you like? It’s three gold pieces for the coats.”

  “Not bad,” a deep voice murmured behind her. Finn spun to see Conrad admiring the man’s wares. “Not really my color though.”

  He reached out a swarthy hand to stroke the yellow material and Finn hustled to his side. She slapped his hand away and began to steer his big body in the opposite direction.

  “No!” At Conrad’s arched brows of surprise, she forced herself to take a breath. “I wouldn’t,” she whispered.

  She could tell Conrad’s lips twitched with bemusement beneath the cover of his scarf as he allowed her to lead him from the crazy old man and his urine coats. She slipped the gloves from her pocket and back over hands.

  Iliana hurried over to them.

  “Where is Shane?” the courtesan asked Conrad.

  “He had to take a meeting,” he told her, “but he asked me to give you these.”

  Conrad pulled from his pocket a pair of delicate hair pins in the shape of tambiflies. They’d been carefully hand painted in an alluring shade of orange, and tiny glittering crystals covered their wings.

  Iliana reached out hesitantly to touch the pins, her mouth slightly ajar and her indigo eyes wide with surprise.

  Belatedly, she seemed to remember her audience. Taking the pins from Conrad, she carefully masked her features and addressed them both in a breathy voice.

  “I think I’ll head back to the ship. You did great Finn, but I think you deserve a little fun time.”

  With that, she turned on her heels and sped away. Finn watched her retreating form with narrowed eyes before turning to Conrad.

  “What the hell was that about?”

  Conrad looked from Iliana to Finn and shrugged his big shoulders.

  “Nothing I plan on touching with a ten-foot pole. If I tell you I got you something, are you going to run away too?”

  Finn’s eyes widened and her skin prickled with an unfamiliar sense of anticipation.

  “You got me something?” she whispered.

  Conrad grinned and pulled something from the back of his pants. As Finn watched, he presented her with a small, curved knife. The blade glinted in the sunlight and her chest swelled as she noticed the hilt was covered in a smattering of blue gems forming the shape of peacock.

  “It reminded me of the way you looked at the Unionization Ball on Cartan,” he murmured, taking the knife and dipping down to tuck it into her boot. “I figured you’d get more use out of that than a pair of hair pins.”

  Finn grinned at the beautiful man in front of her, her chest swelling with emotion. Suddenly, she remembered the bracelet in her pocket.

  “I got you something too,” she told him, fumbling around until she grasped the wooden beads and held them up for him to see. “They’re Merlidian. I thought you might like them.”

  Conrad carefully took them from her, his face soft but unreadable. After long moments of silence, Finn felt sure she’d made a mistake. She was just preparing herself for a hasty exit, when he slipped the bracelet over his wrist and smiled down her.

  “My father used to have one just like it,” he said softly.

  She couldn’t see his eyes, but she could tell from the soft curve of his lips that she’d pleased him. Seeing the emotion on his face made her pulse pound.

  “So, tell me about Shane’s meeting.”

  The awkward subject change seemed to amuse him, and he smiled widely.

  “I’d rather show you around instead.”

  With that, he grabbed her gloved hand and pulled her into the fray.

  “Wait, we have to stop,” Finn yelled to Conrad. Thirty minutes later, she still hadn’t managed to finagle any information out of him about Shane’s meeting, but she found she was having too much fun to care. Conrad had taken the time to show her the entire market. They’d made their way through countless tents, pausing to admire the sheer volume and diversity of goods—from clothing and jewelry to strange tools Finn had never seen before and even handcrafted weaponry.

  At one point, Conrad had stopped to purchase them steaming chunks of delicious spiced meat and vegetables speared on a wooden stick.

  Now, they were on their way back to the ship with full bellies and bags of goodies when Finn spotted a tent lined with shelves and shelves of hand-painted porcelain dolls. She led Conrad over as her eyes landed on one with white-blonde ringlets and green eyes almost the exact same shade as Tiri’s.

  The doll’s delicate features had been painted with near-perfect precision and she wore a fluffy, emerald-green satin gown and white fur stole around her dainty shoulders.

  Conrad arched his brows as he followed her.

  “I didn’t have you pegged for a doll collector, Hellion.”

  She rolled her eyes and pointed the satin-gowned doll out to the merchant.

  “It’s not for me. Don’t you think Tiri will love it?”

  Conrad’s face softened as he looked the doll over.

  “It’s perfect.”

  Finn couldn’t agree more. Remembering Tiri’s indignation at thievery, Finn smiled as she handed the merchant the last of her gold and tucked her purchase safely under arm.

  “Hey guys!” Lex shouted over to them as she sprinted to their side with AJ and Nova in tow. All three of them had their hands full of purchases and AJ still looked slightly stupefied.

  “Where were you?” Finn asked Nova quietly.

  “Around,” the doxie answered cryptically.

  Finn’s eyes narrowed but she didn’t comment further as they made their trek away from the market and back to Independence.

  TWENTY-THREE

  “Enyo, you’re being ridiculous.”

  Lex chastised the glaring Sirian and pushed an armful of clothing in her direction.

  Jax and Axel cuddled together closely on the rec room’s couch while sharing bites of sugar bread, fresh candied fruit, and more of those crunchy green spheres Jax seemed to be so fond of.

  “Leave her alone, sis,” he called around a mouthful.

  Lex ceased her tirade long enough to shoot her brother a deadly glower.

  “She has no clothes and we picked these out especially for her.” The pilot pouted, motioning toward AJ with her free hand as she said we.

  The boy’s alarmed expression shot to Enyo as he rushed to say, “I didn’t pick out anything, I swear. It was all Lex.”

  The pink-haired female rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue while Nova watched the drama unfold from a distant corner. The scarred doxie examined her fingers as though bored with the whole exchange.

  “An N’Goza does not wear a dress, choya.”

  Enyo sounded like she might be choking on her nickname for the fiery pilot. Finn had asked what it meant. It turned out choya roughly translated to little pest. Naturally, Lex had no idea what the word meant and thought it was a splendid endearment.

  The Sirian scowled in distaste at the fluffy pink satin in Lex’s arms. Finn thought she could make out a few feathers in the pile as
well and bit her cheek to keep from laughing.

  “But we bought them for you,” Lex countered through gritted teeth.

  Enyo folded her arms over her chest and stared the pilot down.

  After several long minutes of tense silence, Jax exhaled loudly and unfurled his lean frame from his spot on the couch, wiping green dust from his hands.

  “Did you buy her anything without cap sleeves and a skirt?” he asked his twin sarcastically.

  She eyed him for a moment in shared understanding as her eyes began to sparkle.

  “Maybe,” she told him suppressing a smile.

  Jax snatched the pink frilly dress from his twin’s arms and shot Enyo an exasperated look.

  “You try one on, and so will I.” He motioned toward the glittering, feather-covered pink dress in his hand.

  “I’m not wearing that,” she bit out harshly.

  “No, you’re not,” he shot back. “I am. You’ll have to find something less exceptional.”

  The room went quiet as the two regarded each other. Enyo’s gaze darted between Jax and the dress as her mind went to work. Finn looked to Conrad to gauge his reaction.

  He sat at the bar holding a drink in one hand, the bracelet she bought him on Kreet hanging from the wrist of the other. He merely smiled and raised the glass, taking a long swig as his blue eyes danced with humor.

  Eventually, Enyo seemed to come to a decision.

  “Fine,” she said on a huff.

  Lex squealed with delight and led them both out of the room.

  By the time they returned, Finn and the others had already moved on to a new round of pool. Axel and Conrad seemed to have a knack for the game, though Finn was almost certain Conrad was using his abilities to cheat. Lex entered the room first, sweeping her arms up dramatically as she announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, I need your full attention.” She motioned toward the empty doorway and bowed low. After a moment of nothing but the sound of Lex’s excited breathing, she cocked her head and blinked. “Any minute now, guys.”

  Another moment of silence passed and the doorway remained empty. Lex held up a finger to the room and ran out into the hallway.

  “Will you two hurry up?” they heard her grumble in the hall. “You’re making me look bad.”

  Jax made his appearance first, strutting into the rec room with confident strides. His lithe body was draped from shoulders to ankles in pink satin. The shoulder straps of the dress were covered in bright pink feathers and the rhinestones covering the garment’s long skirt sparkled and glistened in the artificial lights.

  Axel let loose a loud bark of laughter before catching himself and going silent.

  “Well,” Jax said on an overexuberant twirl. “What do you think?”

  “Quit looking for flattery, Jax, we know you’re pretty,” Conrad smirked. “Let’s see Enyo.”

  Jax winked and executed a perfect curtsy before joining Axel at the pool table.

  There was a scuffle outside followed by a loud thud. After a beat, Lex and Enyo came tumbling through the doorway. The caramel flesh of Lex’s face was completely flushed and her breathing had become ragged from exertion but her amber eyes glistened with excitement.

  Finn wanted to roll her own eyes in vexation, but she found herself too busy staring slack-jawed at the Sirian. She had on a pair of black, formfitting pants tucked into a pair of shiny, gray boots. A white silk shirt with flowing sleeves draped her body, covered by a tight black vest with several pockets below the chest. Her long multihued hair had been pulled away from her face by two silver barrettes and the flowing mane gleamed and shone under the lights from a recent bout with a hairbrush.

  She looked beautiful . . . and formidable.

  Well done, Lex, she thought, smiling.

  “You like it, don’t you?” the female pilot asked knowingly.

  A myriad of emotions seemed to be warring within Enyo’s eyes: gratitude, dismay, hesitant joy.

  Finn took pity on the Sirian. She walked over to the duo and, in one fluid motion, she tossed a pool stick at Lex, giving her no choice but to divert her attention and catch it.

  “Take the win, Lex.”

  Blessedly, the pilot cooperated, grinning as she nodded enthusiastically and skipped over to the table.

  Finn shot Enyo a conspiratorial wink that the Sirian returned, along with a grateful smile as she took her place next to Conrad at the bar.

  As Finn made her way over to return to her game, Nova—uncharacteristically quiet throughout the recent parade of insanity—left her corner to approach.

  She finally noticed the parcel in the doxie’s hands.

  “Here, boss lady. I got you something.” Devoid of her usual exuberance, the doxie’s voice was abnormally soft.

  Finn swallowed her shock and took the parcel from Nova with wide eyes. As she opened it, she caught sight of deep-blue fabric. She pulled it away from the paper, recognizing the material immediately.

  She ran her hands over the shiny, thick raman-hide coat much nicer than the other synthetic ones she’d seen on Kreet and fortunately not dyed in raman piss. Finn held it up in front of her to examine the intricate detailing. The seams and the sleeves had tiny royal blue embellishments and the waist tapered in elegantly before fanning out below the thighs.

  “I owed you a coat,” Nova shared quietly. “Or two,” she added on a shy smile.

  The supple hide was soft in Finn’s hands. She’d never owned anything like it before.

  “Thank you, Nova,” she whispered, emotion choking her. She tried to force it down with levity. “You didn’t steal it, did you?” she asked the doxie lightly. When Nova didn’t answer, Finn’s eyes narrowed, staggering emotions forgotten. “Wait, did you?”

  Nova shot her an unrepentant wink and hopped off to the couches where Jax, Lex, and Axel chatted animatedly, leaving Finn to stand alone with her “liberated” jacket draped over her arm.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  Finn gently held the padded bag with the fragile porcelain doll inside in her hands as she made her way to Tiri’s room. The girl had spent the day with Isis in her sanctuary and had returned to her room to shower away the dirt and grass stains. Lex’s antics had already made Finn late for her promised visit and she had no doubt the little girl was ready and raring to give her hell for the tardiness.

  Still, on her brisk walk there, Finn couldn’t help but feel staggered by the events of the last week. Everything in her life was changing with a swiftness that frightened and excited her in equal measure: her relationship with Iliana, the ease with which she was beginning to accept Independence as home, her abilities.

  After her test run on Kreet, Finn’s confidence in her newfound aptitude at controlling her Teslan powers was growing steadily. She’d even left her gloves behind in her room, a monumental step considering she’d never gone a day without them.

  As she began to make her way around the corner to Tiri’s room, the sound of muffled voices slowed her pace. Down the hall, Shane and Isis huddled together, speaking in hushed voices.

  Finn ducked into the nearest doorway as quietly as possible. Daring a peek around the corner, her eyes locked on the duo. They were so deep in their conversation they were completely unaware of their audience. Isis’s tall, robed frame was fraught with tension; her silver eyes narrowed into scary slits as she hissed at Shane.

  “Three quarters of the galaxy depends on Reliance tech for the very air they breathe and the synthetic food they eat. They saw to that decades ago with the systematic removal of plant life from the Inner and Outer Rings. They left just enough to keep their fat bellies fat and ensure they never had to eat synthetic like the rest of us. They cannot know of Tiri’s existence, Shane, let alone what she is capable of. Not while she’s still so young and vulnerable. My people promised the Luminary we would aid his cause, but not at the cost of our most precious creation’s safety. She’s just a child, Shane.”

  Creation? What exactly was Tiri capable of?

  Isis was more agitate
d than Finn had ever seen her, her eyes glinting with anger. She could only see Shane’s back where he faced off with the tall Aquariian, but the captain’s spine was ramrod straight and his hands were balled into fists.

  “She is much more than a child, Isis. You know it, I know it, and the Luminary knows it,” Shane said, leaning in closer. “But hear this: she is part of this family and I would never let anything happen to her, Isis. Never.”

  On his fervent vow, Shane turned from Isis and made his way down the hall. Finn ducked back into the doorway and held her breath, listening to the sound of receding footsteps. When she felt safe peering around the doorway again, she found the hall empty.

  Independence was a ship bursting with secrets and it seemed Finn had just inadvertently stumbled upon another one.

  Did this have something to do with Shane’s secret meeting on Kreet?

  What else were he and Isis hiding and what did it all have to do with Tiri? The parts of the conversation she’d overheard made little sense to her.

  Moving from her hiding spot, Finn continued to Tiri’s room. Maybe the child could provide some answers.

  As the door slid open in front of her, Finn found Tiri standing off to the side and wringing her small hands with anxiety.

  “I take it you were listening?” Finn asked her as she moved into the room.

  The little girl bit her lip, her eyes wide with fear and worry.

  “Were you listening too?” she whispered.

  Finn nodded in affirmation, her eyes assessing the child’s fragile state.

  “I can’t say it made a whole lot of sense though. You want to tell me what’s going on?”

  Tears began to pool in Tiri’s eyes as she bit her lip. After a moment of hesitation, she extended a dainty, green hand.

  “I’d rather show you.”

  Finn tensed on reflex but forced her body to relax. She could handle this. After all, this is exactly what she’d been training for all those long hours with Iliana. Finn inhaled deeply, the scent of Conrad’s wax still fresh in her nostrils.

  “I guess you’re finally getting that handshake you always wanted, kid,” she told Tiri with a half smile and a wink. She set the bag and the doll on Tiri’s bed and held her hand out to the girl, palm up. The child remained uncharacteristically serious, a strange sadness filling her expression as Finn clasped it.