Pine, Alive: A Science Fiction Romance Pinocchio Retelling (Foxwept Array Book 1)

by A. W. Cross

  “They armed you?” James was incredulous. She had saved his life, but— “You’re carrying around a nerve toxin?”

  At first, she gaped at him then her coral eyes narrowed. “How do you think we defended ourselves, James? Do you think that shark is the only dangerous creature in the ocean? Or do you believe we should be defenseless?”

  James shook his head, confused. “No, it’s just that—” A nerve toxin, for goodness’ sake. She was virtually a walking weapon. As if her other abilities weren’t enough. His old paranoia sank its teeth into him again. “And they didn’t strip it off you when you were…sold?”

  She glanced down at the palm of her hand. “They left it in because it’s very specific. It can only be released if the sensors in my skin detect certain electrical signals—like sharks. Plus, it only works in water, and we only get one dose at a time.” She turned her hand over. “Why does it bother you so much?” Her brows drew together; she probably knew where this was going. “What? Did you think we might use it against humans?” She glared at him. “That’s what you were thinking, wasn’t it?”

  He hesitated a fraction too long. “No.” But it was exactly what he’d meant.

  She picked up the seaweed she’d harvested and threw it down next to him. “Here. I thought you’d be hungry.” When he didn’t move, she stood up. “Don’t worry, it’s not going to kill you.” She started to walk along the surf.

  “Pine! Come back.” He struggled to his knees. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I’m just shaken, that’s all. What happened— Pine, I’ve never even been in the ocean before. And then—” James fell over, hitting the sand with a teeth-rattling thud.

  “James!” Pine sprinted back. “Are you okay?” She put her hand to his forehead.

  He groaned and rolled over. “Everything hurts.”

  She sighed. “I think there might be a town beyond the trees.” She cocked her head. “At least, it sounds like there might be.” She gazed down at him. “I can help you walk there—if you don’t think I’ll poison you, that is.”

  James nodded, too miserable to argue. With Pine’s help, he staggered to his feet.

  As she positioned herself under his shoulder, his arm across her chest, she peered up at him, concerned. “We’re going to draw attention looking like this.”

  “Maybe this happens all the time and we’ll fit right in.” He paused. “Do you have any idea where we are?” Now that he was a bit more awake, there was something familiar about the island.

  “No.” Pine turned to peer back out over the ocean. Several other islands dotted the horizon. “But I don’t think it was an accident.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that.” Then it occurred to him. “But hey, if we ended up here, maybe Joseph did too.” It was a long shot, but they’d been tossed here during a storm, right? And if that wave wasn’t natural… Eagerness to get to the town buoyed him. Joseph could be sitting there right now, drinking a cocktail in the sun.

  Pine hung back as he began hobbling toward the tree line. “James? Maybe you should go to the town by yourself. I’ll wait here.” She started to lift the shirt back over her head.

  “What? No way, Pine. We need to stick together.” Why had she gotten cold feet? Was she afraid of the town? Or was it something else?

  Pine hesitated then, resigned, pulled the shirt back down. She didn’t look happy. “Do you need me to help you walk?”

  James took a few more steps, testing his weight. His legs were shaky, but they would hold. Adrenalin and anticipation would carry him, at least to the nearest bar. “No, I think I’m all right actually.” With every passing minute, the pain eased from his muscles, leaving behind a bearable stiffness. “But as soon as we hit the town, we should find a café or somewhere and sit down, get our bearings.” He groaned again as a fragment of shell pierced his bare foot. “And maybe a shot of whiskey. Or two.”

  At the edge of the clearing, Pine faltered. She really did not want to go into the town. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly why, but something about the bustling, too-shiny hub filled her with dread.

  James looked questioningly at her as she dragged at his hand. “Pine? Are you okay?”

  How could she tell him that they shouldn’t go in there? What other choice did they have? And if there was even the slightest chance that Joseph might be there… “Yes. It’s just…it’s a lot of people.”

  The town was small, but it was full of people, hurrying back and forth between vendors, haggling over prices in loud voices or slinking off to dark corners to peer under the lid of a reinforced case. It was a strange mix of high-tech and rustic living, with most of the stalls and residences beyond made from wood and thatch, while the items that were showcased and the people dealing in them would’ve been right at home in the most ultramodern epicenters in the Blackmoth.

  But what alarmed Pine more than the swarm of activity was the synadroids. Though there weren’t nearly as many as there were humans, there were more than she’d ever seen in one place outside the aquaculture farm. And it wasn’t just the number of them that was so staggering.

  Some were missing limbs, hobbling on crutches or squatting on the fringes of the stalls. Their eyes looked strange to Pine—lifeless and dull, like the eyes of synadroids before they were carted off, never to be seen again. Others had been made to look less human, their difference emphasized by colorful hairstyles and exotic clothing. Some wore colored-coded collars around their necks, their eyes downcast as they ferried items back and forth or followed closely on a human’s heels. Still more disappeared behind sliding woven doors, a lasciviously grinning human at their backs.

  It was everything the synadroids had whispered about in the dark when the humans had left for the day. Rumors and tales that she’d feared but not truly believed. Yet here it was, as true and tangible as the tattoo engraved into her wrist.

  She turned to James, expecting him to be as distressed as she was. To her chagrin, he didn’t even seem to notice. Instead, he was shading his eyes with his hand, scanning the busy marketplace.

  “I see a café with tables, just over there.” He pointed. “Come on, let’s go grab a seat and come up with a plan.”

  They slid into a booth. James perused the menu then typed an order into the terminal. “I’ll have to credit it to my account—that shark didn’t get me, but I think he got my comms.”

  “What is this place?” Why hadn’t she heard of an island of broken synadroids before? Was it common knowledge? Was it something James and Joseph had intentionally neglected to tell her?

  “It’s called Deserter’s Island. I’ve been here a few times, but I didn’t recognize it from the other side—I’ve always come in the front door.” He inspected the bottom of his foot. “Which is much more hospitable than the way we came in, even if I was blindfolded.”

  “Blindfolded?”

  “Yeah. This island is kind of…secret. A lot of the goods sold here are illegal or experimental, or even political. Visitors like myself are escorted in and out. I can’t imagine they’d be too happy to find out we’d just wandered in from the ocean.”

  “They wouldn’t be, and you didn’t.” A woman stood before them, blocking the sun and forcing them to squint. “You didn’t actually think that wave was a coincidence, did you?” Dressed in lightweight coveralls the midnight green of the ocean that had nearly claimed them, she was peculiarly familiar to Pine, although she couldn’t quite remember ever meeting the curvy young woman with azure eyes and hair the rich green of the aurora borealis.

  Azure eyes.

  “Blue?”

  The young woman winked. “Is it so obvious? Damn.” She slid into the seat next to Pine. “I’ll be asking Crow for a refund.”

  “We saw your headstone.” Guilt gnawed at Pine again; it was her fault Blue had had to leave.

  “I’m glad you got the message. I wasn’t sure you would.” She jabbed a thumb at James. “This one’s not always the best with cryptic messages.”

  James
let out a humorless laugh. “We didn’t actually get the message. We didn’t have time. Pine here got out of prison this morning. Or was it yesterday now?”

  He relayed the last twenty-four hours to Blue, stopping only to gulp from the drink deposited on the table by a human waitress. Pine fidgeted when he got to the part about her glowing and fending off the shark. He told it now with her in the hero’s role, a stark contrast to the way he’d looked at her on the beach. Blue laughed with delight, slapping Pine on the back.

  But when James was done with their tale, Blue’s face again grew serious and she slumped back in her chair. “I can’t believe it…Joseph, gone, just like that.”

  “He’s not dead,” Pine insisted. “Only missing.” And she was going to bring him back.

  “I’m sure he is,” Blue reassured her. “He’s tough as old boots. Look, I’ll help you. If Joseph is out there, we’ll find him.”

  “Thank you,” Pine said. Her relief was almost painful. “But…after what happened at the cemetery…did you have to leave because of us?”

  “Yes and no. I mean, that trash Todd and Tabby nearly led the police right to my door, but it was time to move on anyway.”

  “I did tell her that,” James interjected.

  Blue gave Pine a wistful smile. “I did love that old mausoleum, though. And being right under the law’s nose like that gave me a certain joy.”

  “And after that, you still want to help us?” Pine couldn’t help but ask, although she dreaded the answer. If Blue said no, Pine wasn’t going to give up, but she suspected the mysterious young woman had more than a few helpful tricks up her dark green sleeves.

  “Of course. Joseph has always been a good friend and mentor to me. And I’m also doing it for you, Pine. I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other, and I’m looking forward to it.”

  James looked as surprised by her admission as Pine herself was. “You are?”

  “Yes. Now, James, if you come with me, I think there’s a woman who might have some information about what happened to Joseph.”

  They looked at each other, Pine certain James’s troubled face mirrored her own.

  This time, he spoke first. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean—” He glanced around, discomposed, as though seeing the island anew.

  Finally, he was detecting how wrong this island was.

  “So you have noticed what seems to be happening with the synadroids here? Or is it only a problem now your synadroid might be involved?”

  James reddened at her cutting tone. “No, I— I’m sorry, Pine. It’s just that I’ve been here several times before, and I’d—”

  “Gotten used to it?”

  “No! I just…” He lowered his voice. “This is not a good place, Pine. It’s a means to an end. And what happens with the synadroids on this island is not right. But it is legal. Probably the most legal thing on the whole damn island.” He gave her a hard look, his face serious. “And you need to remember that while we’re here. Don’t look. Don’t make a fuss.”

  So she should just stand by and keep her mouth shut? I thought James’s opinion of synadroids had changed, but they haven’t. Only about her. The hope she’d held onto about James, about Joseph, deflated, leaving her hollow.

  “He’s right, Pine. You’re under my protection while you’re here, but I, too, am a guest—my protection extends only so far. This disgusting place,” she gestured broadly at the marketplace, “is a problem we can do something about eventually. But not now.”

  That Pine could accept, though it stung. “Why are they even here, those synadroids?”

  Blue’s mouth twisted. “You know when synadroids get damaged, or malfunction, or become obsolete? What did you think happened to them?”

  “I thought…I thought they were fixed, or retired, if they were too badly damaged.” Because that was what she’d been told, and it had never occurred to her it was a lie. Naïve idiot. Clearly, she still had a lot to learn.

  “I’m afraid that’s not quite true. If the repairs are minor, then yes, patch ’em up and get ’em back out. But if repairs are more expensive than that synadroid’s worth…well, they get what they can for them, if it’s more than they’d get for their scrap.”

  “So their bodies are worth more than their actual lives?” Why was she surprised? Just when she’d thought human attitudes toward synadroids couldn’t get more callous, they proved her wrong.

  “Unfortunately, yes. For now, anyway.”

  Pine’s first instinct was to let them see her anger, to let them all see it, penalties be damned. She was fed up with the casualness of it all, the inconsequence. To the two people seated with her, she was not inconsequential. Yet how could they accept the treatment of these synadroids but somehow think she was special?

  James and Blue took her silence for assent and moved on with the conversation. “Right, so will Pine be safe here on her own?”

  “Oh hell, no,” The Blue Fairy scoffed. “But I’m renting a bungalow down the road. She can wait there.” She beckoned for Pine and James to follow her and they set off through the southern part of the market.

  “That’s perfect. Right, Pine?” James tried to grasp her hand as they passed out of the market district and into a more residential quarter.

  She snatched her hand away. “Do I have a choice?”

  “I agree it’s not ideal. But taking you with us would be more dangerous than leaving you behind.” Blue led them up the path to a bungalow whose plain wood-and-thatch exterior copied all the others.

  “Why? Afraid someone will make an offer on me you couldn’t refuse?”

  Blue let the red line of a bioscanner slide down and back up her face then turned to give Pine a grim smile. “They wouldn’t even make me an offer. We go only with what we’re willing to give.”

  Blue’s living space was spartan, the walls the pale gold of the beach sand, the floor the same tawny sanded wood as the house itself. There was nothing other than a desk littered with junk and rigged out with top-of-the-line computing tech that indicated her presence here; no pictures, no knick-knacks, not a single personal touch.

  “It does the job,” Blue said, noting Pine’s surprise. “I never was much for sentimentality.” She disappeared into an adjoining room and returned with some folded clothes in her arms. She handed them to Pine. “Here. You don’t want to be walking around here like that for too long.” She glanced at James. “And this one needs a shirt where we’re going.”

  James and Blue turned around while Pine shimmied into the t-shirt and cargo pants. They were made from a fabric so fine and soft she couldn’t help lifting a corner of the shirt to rub against her face. “They’re lovely, thank you.” She tossed the shirt over to James. “Here. It’s pretty much dry now.”

  He looked faintly disappointed as he took in her new clothes and slipped his shirt over his head. “We’ll be back soon, Pine.” Like that was supposed to make her feel better.

  A few minutes later, she watched out the small round window as James and Blue walked away.

  Pine wished desperately for something to distract her, but there was nothing. Nothing to do but think about what she’d been avoiding.

  James.

  While away, she’d spent a disconcerting amount of time thinking of him. When he’d asked her if she was happy to be home, she’d been able to answer yes truthfully. What she hadn’t added was that he was part of that, more than he would ever know.

  In truth, she wanted him. But how could she have feelings for someone who was still clearly uneasy with what she was? Was it just because he’d rescued her? Because he was finally throwing her some crumbs of kindness? Or was it him?

  Every day she was at the docks, knowing he and Joseph were only a few miles away, had been torture, forcing her to think about him, and her future. If someone had told her when she’d first arrived at Joseph’s that she would grieve for it in a matter of weeks, she’d have suspected it was an issue with her programming. But when she�
�d seen them in those rare early mornings when they came to meet the docking supply boats, it had taken everything in her power to conceal herself, trying to guess from James’s body language how he felt about her absence.

  If the tiredness of his pale eyes and the set of his mouth was any indication, he was not glad she was gone. Delight buoyed her at first, but then, as she relived their last few days together over and over—James standing over her in the marketplace, smiling into her hand as Blue put her back together—time slowed to a crawl, and the end of her sentence seemed painfully far away.

  It was made so much worse by the fact that she could have seen them. Paloma had offered once or twice to arrange a clandestine meeting, but Pine had refused, worried it was somehow a trap, that Paloma was testing her. She just couldn’t take the risk.

  Then, when the day of her release had come, and she’d stepped out of the police station…there he was. “He’s been waiting there for hours, bless him,” the officer behind the counter had said. And they’d gone home and…he’d almost kissed her.

  As to what it all meant, she had no idea. Just when she’d thought he’d changed his mind about synadroids, he proved her wrong. Would she ever be enough to truly change his feelings?

  She peered out the small round window into the shade-dappled street. A woman stood across from Blue’s, her face hidden in the shadows. When she saw Pine’s face in the window, she beckoned to her.

  Pine stepped back, Blue’s warning fresh in her mind. A moment later, the alert on the door sounded.

  “Hello?” The voice on the other side of the intercom was female.

  “Go away.” Pine pressed and released the comm button.

  “I need to talk to you.”

  The temptation was brief. “No. Go away.”

  There was a long pause on the other side of the door. Had the woman left?

  She hadn’t. “I— I heard you were looking for someone. A man who disappeared a few days ago.”

  “So?” Despite herself, Pine’s interest was piqued. But she still wasn’t going to open the door. See? I’m learning.