Page 21 of Skinwalker's Bane
Haydn looked pale. “It’s not just the next captain we have to worry about,” he replied.
Adam looked at him. “What else is there?”
“TheEnduranceis emerging from the Junkyard,” Noa said. “The asteroid storms are growing less frequent. People will forget why the work was started in the first place.”
“The ship isn’t fully skinned yet,” Adam said, stunned. “We’ve only done maybe a third of it.”
“Youknow that, but you’re out there every day,” Haydn said heavily. “You get to see the old hull, how it’s crumbling like a rotten tooth. We can’t bring it inside to show anyone, because gravity turns it to dust, it’s that fragile. Video doesn’t show it properly. We can’t prove why the workmustcontinue.”
Adam let out a gusty breath. “Talk about a snarl of knots…”
Haydn and Noa both nodded gravely.
Then Noa frowned. “The woman you spoke to about Lincoln. Devin? Is that the one taking on the crowd in the footage that’s running everywhere right now?”
“You know her, Adam?” Haydn asked. “She’s Palatino, isn’t she?”
“So?” Adam asked coolly.
Noa cleared her throat. They both looked at her and she nodded toward something behind Adam. He turned.
Devin Bronson was standing four feet away. In the shabby, rundown Wall district, she gleamed like a priceless statue in one of Cai’s dusty old files. She was looking at him steadily with her big gray eyes.
The most beautiful woman on the ship and she was here to seehim. For a moment, pride filled him at the thought.
“Could I speak to you for just a moment?” she asked. Her voice was smooth, dark honey.
Behind the three of them grouped loosely in the corner at the end of the Institute, Adam could hear guffaws and snickers and whispers.
His pride faded.
Chapter Six
“There’s a beverage place, just on the other side of the Wall,” Adam said, thinking of the Midnight Garden. Despite the name, it was open all day, too. During the day, it dispensed mainly non-alcoholic drinks; coffee and hot chocolate, iced teas and more, although dedicated drinkers could still get their hit if they needed it. The Midnight Garden was as reputable during the day as the up-market coffee shacks in the Aventine.
Devin shook her head. “Do you mind if we stay right here? It’s…neutral.”
She was worried about public perception. It was not difficult to understand why, even just from an appearance point of view. Devin looked as different from the average Waller as it was possible to get. She stood tall and still while everyone else hurried about their business, their shoulders hunched. Plebians tended to favor the universal neutrals for their hard-wearing tops and pants—black, dark blue, brown and dark green—with little or no embellishments, for the free print files didn’t offer the options.
Devin, though, was wearing colors. It was the same outfit she had been wearing in her office. Adam had thought it pretty at the time. Out here in the Wall district, it was elevated by its surroundings to eye-catching and very flattering. He didn’t know what to call what she was wearing, except that it was a skirt and a top, just as many women wore. That was where all similarities ended. The skirt was wide at the bottom, which ended just below her knee, leaving lots of bare leg. It seemed to be held out stiffly by something beneath it. Her shoes had heels on them. He had seen women wearing the new shoes before, just not anyone in the Capitol or the Esquiline. They were impractical things, with fine straps and slender heels, although on Devin, they looked delicate and feminine and flattering, making her ankles look slender.
The skirt was a pale green color. Again, Adam’s powers of description failed him. The material seemed to shimmer and float around her. There was a dark blue belt around her waist, making the waist seem even smaller. Her top was a dark green color. It was a shade that he’d never seen in the Capitol. The green was rich and deep. The material was soft and clung to her upper curves.
She looked up at Adam, waiting for his agreement to remain right where they were and Adam realized he was standing like a dolt, staring at her. He glanced around to see if anyone was taking any notice of his vacancy.
Noa was still at the railing, her gaze moving over Devin, taking in the details. Like everyone else in the district, Noa was wearing dark blue coveralls, the engineer’s uniform, and possibly the most unflattering garment ever invented—at least, that was what Liya had said about the coveralls, which she despised.
Adam turned back to Devin. “We can stay here if that is less risky for you.”
“It looks as if I’m fact finding, if I’m here,” she said.
“Oh. The shard thing.” He said it with indifference.
“You saw the footage, too?” she asked, sounding startled.
“Everyone has, I think,” Adam admitted. “I didn’t see a single screen showing anything else, on my way back here.” He hesitated. “If you want it to just look like you’re here about that business, does that mean you’re here for something else?”
She nodded and just for a minute, his heart leapt.
