Disobedience

by Kaitlyn Andersen

  “I assumed you would have sent her away to her sister by now.” Adult Finn turns to find Doc—the resident bartender at the tavern Grim owned on the Mud Pit and an old friend of Finn’s—watching the Khaleerian from the office’s entrance. His bespectacled gaze is thoughtful. “You’ve never kept any of the others this long,” he remarks.

  Grim finally tears his stare from the sleeping child and gives Doc his full attention.

  “Is there a question in there somewhere, Doc?”

  The reptilian alien smiles imperceptibly and adjusts the glasses where they perch on his nose.

  “Just wondering what makes this one different.”

  “She reminds me of someone,” Grim says in a low, pained whisper.

  “Will you be keeping her, then?”

  “She’s not a pet, Doc,” Grim growls in annoyance. Doc merely continues to stare deep into the Khaleerian’s eyes knowingly. Grim expels a frustrated breath. “Would it be so crazy if I did?”

  “Yes,” Doc answers immediately.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  Tiri murmured quietly to the doll pressed tenderly against her chest. She seemed to be in better spirits now, though Finn’s gift had surely helped.

  The little girl’s eyes had beamed with joy when Finn finally gave it to her, paying special attention to the doll’s hand-painted face.

  “I love her! I’m going to name her Allora.”

  Isis paused her pruning of a fat purple flower to share a soft smile with Finn.

  It had been tempting to lock herself in her room and obsess over the memory she’d siphoned from Grim’s necklace, but Finn was doing her best to block out all thoughts related to the giant Khaleerian.

  Instead, she spent the better part of her afternoon working out a plan for wandering through the streets of Aquarii undetected. All the plotting, combined with the upper-caste clothing and discreetly placed comm devices and weaponry provided to her by Shane and Iliana, had her feeling somewhat confident about their chances.

  Now, she found herself seeking refuge with Tiri and Isis in their dreamlike garden.

  The lights were set to dim, showing night had fallen in the sanctuary. Somehow it was even more beautiful, even more magical in the duskiness.

  “I don’t understand,” Finn commented as she examined a bundle of intertwined purple stems stretching skyward. “What’s so special about this one?”

  Apparently, one of Isis’s rare flowers was set to bloom tonight and since the plant only blossomed once every six cycles, Isis and Tiri were camped out on the soft grass until the special moment arrived.

  The plant looked ordinary enough to Finn, though she supposed the deep purple of the stem and sepals was quite extraordinary.

  “The flower’s pistil can be harvested and used for its healing capabilities. I’ve made extracts from it that can knit a wound together within hours,” Isis noted without looking up from her ministrations.

  “And the flower’s insides glow and fly through the air.” Tiri made the excited announcement as she spun Allora in dizzying circles.

  “The flower’s stamen,” Isis corrected, smiling indulgently.

  Tiri merely spun faster. Her circles became clumsy until she eventually fell to the ground and landed on her backside, erupting in a fit of giggles.

  Finn shook her head and chuckled.

  It was hard to believe the carefree little girl in front of her possessed the wisdom and knowledge of the Aquariian doonas.

  It was even harder to believe that same little girl had created the paradise surrounding them.

  “I’m going with you, Hellion!”

  They turned in unison at the bellowed exclamation to find Conrad—Enyo close on his heels—storming through the tall grass near the sanctuary’s entrance.

  “As am I,” the Sirian growled.

  The interruption shattered their quiet reprieve. Finn barely had time to appreciate that the two had finally put aside their differences, united as they were in their anger at being left behind.

  Conrad stomped to her side where she sat against a tall tree.

  “You’re not going to Aquarii without me.”

  “I take it you heard,” Finn grumbled.

  Finn had chosen a small group for the mission; selecting Nova to pilot the pod to Aquarii and AJ to join her in casing the Dome. The boy’s Anunnaki abilities would surely come in handy, given how tight security was supposed to be on-planet.

  Shane took her decision in stride; better than she’d expected. However, so far, it appeared as though AJ and Nova were the only ones truly happy with her choice.

  Finn sighed and met their angry gazes.

  “No, you’re both staying here.” Before either of them could argue, she raised a hand to silence them and moved to stand. “You two are the best warriors on the ship. You’re needed here to keep the crew safe.”

  To keep Tiri safe, she thought to herself as her eyes involuntarily shifted to the child. She held Allora close and watched the trio with wide eyes.

  “Come, child.” Isis rushed to Tiri’s side and began to usher her away. “The pistils will be here tomorrow and I’ve got a dress in my room I can’t wait to alter for Allora.”

  Completely unfazed by the abrupt change in plans, Tiri yelped with glee and held the doll over her head.

  “Allora says she can’t wait!” Tiri held the toy’s mouth up to her ear. “And she hopes it’s purple.” The child’s smile faltered for a moment as she seemed to remember Finn and her predicament. “Will you be okay, Finn?” she asked hesitantly.

  She gave the girl a wide smile and nodded. “Go get Allora her dress,” she said warmly.

  She watched as Isis and Tiri skipped hand in hand from the sanctuary and out into the hall. Finn met Conrad’s glowing eyes pointedly.

  “I need to know you’re both here protecting the ship and everyone on it.”

  “And who will be protecting you?” he asked angrily.

  “Enyo, can you give us a minute?” Finn asked quietly, not daring to break Conrad’s stare. She could sense the Sirian was less than happy to be dismissed, but she obeyed, turning on her heel and leaving in a huff. When she was out of earshot, Finn continued. “I know about Tiri, Conrad. Isis showed me.” He reared back in surprise, but she didn’t give him time to process. “Right now, Tiri is more important than any of us . . . than you or me. I need to know you’re here keeping her safe. Please,” she pleaded.

  He watched her for long moments, his eyes stormy as he warred with his conflicting feelings. After a few beats he relented, his big shoulders sagging as he took a deep breath.

  “Just promise me you’ll be safe,” he whispered.

  Finn forced a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

  “I’ll be safe,” she assured.

  He saw her struggle and his eyes softened, their glow dimming. He reached out a gloved hand to caress her cheek and she leaned into the touch.

  Finn could have stayed that way all night, but a low hissing turned their attention and interrupted the quiet moment.

  They turned toward the source of the sound to see the petals of the purple plant expanding and separating. On a sigh, the flower bloomed and grew to reveal iridescent plum-purple petals. Tiny blue and pink tubes extended into the air and little clusters of yellow at their peaks began to glow.

  Their radiance filled the space around Finn and Conrad, lighting their faces in luminous purple and yellow.

  With a short pop, the shining clusters separated from the plant and began to float skyward in a slow, deliberate ascension.

  “It’s beautiful,” Conrad muttered.

  “Have you ever seen anything like it?” she asked, unable to tear her eyes from the splendor.

  “Never.”

  Their eyes met as the plant’s soft glimmer washed over them and all around them from above.

  Conrad’s eyes once again began to glow, enhancing the incandescence.

  He was still being so careful not to touch her skin to skin whenev
er they were together.

  He hadn’t slipped once.

  Now, surrounded by his scent, the beauty of the sanctuary, and with her departure for Aquarii imminent, Finn was feeling brave.

  She moved closer into his embrace, her bare hand reaching out to touch his cheek and then trailing the runic markings down his shoulder. His brows shot up in confusion as his eyes began to glow even brighter.

  Slowly, Finn inhaled all that was Conrad. Ignoring the din of memories poking at the back of her brain, Finn pulled him closer.

  Conrad wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tighter. His head tilted down at the same time hers lifted upward and their lips met. Finn was bombarded with a rush of emotion and sensation she’d never felt before.

  She clung to him, her body pressed against him as she lost herself in the contact.

  They stayed that way for a long while, kissing and reveling in the joy they felt to be in each other’s arms.

  Eventually they had to come up for air, their chests heaving. Conrad’s eyes burned brightly as they held hers.

  “Come back to me,” he breathed.

  “That’s the plan,” she told him, grinning.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Enyo proved a little more difficult to placate than Conrad, but by the time Finn, Nova, and AJ were ready to leave the next morning, most of her ire toward Finn seemed to have dissipated. She couldn’t risk telling the Sirian about Tiri, not yet anyway.

  Instead, she focused on convincing Enyo that her considerable talents as a warrior would be put to better use protecting the crew remaining on the ship.

  The rest of Independence’s crew—save for Grim—came to bid them farewell at the pod’s entrance. Thankfully, the Khaleerian was smart enough to keep his distance and remain in his quarters on the ship out of respect . . . at least that’s what Shane claimed.

  As the captain finished loading the pod with supplies he’d picked up on Kreet, he reached over and clapped AJ on the back. Shane muttered a gruff “Good luck” to the boy. Nova and the twins shared jokes and hugs. Iliana stood back, wringing her delicate hands nervously as she watched Finn.

  Finally, she seemed to come unstuck and made her way to Finn’s side. She stood there awkwardly for a moment before throwing her arms around her younger sister in a tight hug. Finn squeezed her back, inhaling the flowery sent of Iliana’s curls.

  “I’ll be back before you know it,” she told Iliana as she pulled away and tried to ignore the tears pooling in her big sister’s eyes. “Besides, aren’t you sick of me yet?” She shot her a grin, and Iliana choked on a surprised sob before her body relaxed and she finally smiled.

  “Never, Little One.”

  Once they were ready to depart, Conrad gave Finn one last wink and the trio took their seats at the ship’s helm.

  Surprising everyone—including Finn—Nova maneuvered the pod out of the docking bay with near perfect precision.

  The doxie winked cheekily and said, “The twins have been giving me pointers.”

  Once the pod had officially detached from Independence, Finn extricated herself from her seat and headed to the back room to prepare. She had just reached the door’s threshold when AJ’s voice stopped her.

  “Finn?” She turned to face the boy and waited for him to continue. After a moment, he said, “Thank you for choosing me. I won’t let you down.”

  “I know you won’t, kid,” she told him.

  AJ’s dark brows furrowed, wrinkling the porcelain skin on his forehead.

  “When are you going to stop calling me ‘kid’? I’m not Tiri.”

  “I call kids ‘kid.’ It’s not that complicated,” Finn pointed out, smiling softly at the boy’s indignant expression.

  “Yeah, well you’ll change your mind after this mission. I’m going to show you I’m not a kid.”

  Finn sighed and gave the boy a hard stare.

  “Don’t do anything stupid, AJ.”

  Finn spent the next few hours mentally preparing for the monumental task ahead of them, forcing thoughts of Tiri, Conrad, and Enyo as far away as she could as she poured over the maps Shane had given them.

  She filled in AJ and Nova as the flight progressed, stressing the importance of traveling through Aquarii unnoticed. This was an information-gathering mission only, and she looked AJ dead in the eyes as she warned against rash actions or heroics.

  Nova had already changed into what she lovingly referred to as her “upper-caste costume.”

  Finally, after they had all changed into fancier garb, Finn slipped her brand-new knife into a boot and paced with anticipation.

  Fortunately, Nova chose that moment to announce they were nearing Aquarii. Finn and AJ took their seats at the ship’s helm and waited in tense silence for Nova to land the pod.

  While Nova remained with the ship, Finn and AJ made their way through the streets of Aquarii. Despite it being such a large planet, Finn was surprised to find very few people inhabiting it. It would seem the Dome was the planet’s main draw and, aside from a cadre of Reliance soldiers, only the highest-ranking, most-important members of the Reliance seemed to be visiting the planet at any given time.

  Naturally, it made blending in a bit of a challenge.

  Fortunately, those same high-ranking officials rarely traveled without a large number of servants and slaves to see to their every need, giving Finn and AJ the perfect cover. They’d been doing all right so far, and as they silently drew closer to the Dome, most of Finn’s tension had begun to ease.

  The planet was a far cry from its once lush and fertile land. The ancient Aquariian stone temples had been torn down, replaced by glass skyscrapers, marble monoliths, gaudy fountain displays, and holojectors. Ostentatious chariots much like the one she’d seen on Arcturus—pulled by mechanical horses—passed by occasionally

  The sparse plant life that remained was synthetic.

  On every street corner they passed, holojectors projected three-dimensional images of lower-caste alien races. Their reverent voices told the story of where each of them had been when the unionization began.

  Aquariians, Goslans, Khaleerians, and so many others spouted off their histories in stilted tones, all the while praising the Arcturians and their arrival.

  She wondered how many of them had been reading a script at gunpoint during their recordings. She’d never heard a member of the lower castes speak about the Arcturians without bitterness and vitriol dripping from their tongues.

  Finn made a point to run her hands over the marble pillars and walls as she passed, memorizing as many details as she could. She battled with the swarm of images that flooded her with each touch, taking care to breathe deeply. She dabbed a small amount of Conrad’s wax above her upper lip and inhaled, sorting through indecipherable flashes of violence and screaming intermixed with raucous laughter and applause.

  As her hand brushed the glass pane of a window, a vision began to fill her, overtaking all the others.

  She is standing amidst a crowd within a vast arena. Looking around, Finn finally understands why Aquarii seems so empty. The entirety of its population is gathered around her inside, in a display that transports the planet into a high-tech version of one of the pages from Grim’s tomes about ancient Rome. A dome overhead, made from advanced hard-light projections, shields the space from the elements and separates the spectators from the dozens of hybrids currently engaged in battle at the Dome’s center. The specially tuned hologram refracted light through a prism that gave the Dome true mass, allowing it to be felt as well as being seen.

  Pods hover overhead with cameras affixed to them. Their small lenses capture incredibly clear images of the chaos taking place inside. A multitude of holojectors mounted within the Dome display the closeup video feed of bleeding hybrids engrossed in the brutal battle royal below.

  Between each screen is a massive laser gun, all of them pointed at the melee below. Around her on all sides, rows of seats house thousands of raucous spectators dressed in a tide of red and gold so ma
ssive Finn can hardly distinguish one person from the next. She follows their hungry gazes back to the center of the arena where the commotion has intensified.

  A female with long silver hair and spindly limbs holds the decapitated head of her opponent up for all the spectators to see. Spittle forms on her lips as she lets loose a victory cry.

  Finn released her hold on the window with a gasp.

  AJ noticed the change in her demeanor and stepped closer, a look of concern on his face.

  “What did you see?”

  Her somber eyes landed on the boy.

  “It’s bad,” she whispered back.

  His eyes narrowed in understanding, sparking with anger. The sight sent waves of unease throughout Finn.

  “AJ, are you going to be okay to do this?” She hadn’t considered the boy’s past and how his torture and imprisonment might affect his emotions during their mission.

  At her question, the anger cleared from his expression and he nodded firmly.

  “I’m fine. Keep touching stuff. We need to know what security looks like in the Dome.”

  Finn watched him for a moment longer before nodding and turning back to the building behind her. She placed her hands on a nearby doorknob and focused on the images filling her field of vision. Like pulling on a single string in a sea of yarn, she navigated her way through the memories attached to the door until she found one she wanted.

  She is in a control room filled with small-scale holojector screens. Each of them displays different images of hybrids locked within glass cages. Some are bound or blindfolded while others lie unconscious. Ten armed soldiers surround her on all sides talking distractedly as they scan through the images.

  “Shift change is in ten, boys,” one of them tells the others. “We’re on perimeter duty tonight.”

  Another soldier, younger than the rest, groans and rolls his eyes.

  “When are we on Dome duty? I want a shot at the big one during the games.”

  He points at one of the screens, but Finn is too far away to make out the image.

  “Like you could take him,” another soldier scoffs. The others join in his laughter, ribbing the younger man until his face is as red as his uniform.