Page 24 of Skinwalker's Bane
That he had a second best traditional suit at all took Devin’s breath away. Most men got by with just one. Some of them printed and recycled a suit each year.
Bishan was right, again. Only three days after the application had been lodged, Devin received formal notice that she had been granted a twenty-minute appointment.
“Intwo days’ time,” Bishan repeated with relish, unable to keep the glee out of his voice. “They know they would look bad, if they delayed.”
“Then they know who I am, now,” Devin said. “That’s unfortunate.”
“There are only five thousand people on theEndurance,” Bishan reminded her. “Of course they know who you are. They probably have an auto-alert built by now, to trigger when you do anything interesting they should know about.” He lookedsohappy. “Welcome to public life, Devin.”
She didn’t share his happiness. Every time she stepped out of her door, now, people came up to her and wanted to speak to her about the shard. They would express their fears and every scrap of gossip they had heard about the shard, the aliens who had made it and their evil intentions, along with the weak defenses of theEndurance, which grew weaker with every rendition she heard.
Devin now understood why being granted an appointment with the captain was such a rare thing. If the people hounding her behaved the same way with the Captain, Devin was surprised the Captain took public appointments at all.
She dressed with care for the occasion. “Nothing too showy,” Bishan had urged her. “Nothing mild, either. The last thing you want to do is blend in.”
Devin thought about how awkward she had felt in the Capitol, wearing what she considered to be a perfectly normal skirt and top. There had been nothing showy about it in her estimation, yet she had been aware of many startled glances in her direction as she had made her way to the Institute.
In particular, Adam had sized her up carefully. She didn’t know if he approved of the outfit or not—he wasn’t an easy man to read. Just the fact that he had been staring, though, and so had the little woman that led the Institute, meant her outfit had been “nothing mild” to them.
Devin didn’t know if she liked standing out because of something as superficial as clothing. However, fashion was a major interest among the people who she cared to associate with. The latest Liya Cassel design was the current fad. Everyone tended to judge and approve of other people if they were wearing something new, unique, or Liya-made. It was tiresome, yet it was the way things worked on the ship.
As she dressed in the garments she had chosen, a thought popped into Devin’s mind.When I’m Captain, I’ll change this.
She froze where she stood with her shirt in her hand, staring at nothing, letting the idea roll about, expand and turn.
When had she become so certain she would become captain? Had she finally accepted what Bishan was convinced would happen? Or was it just wishful thinking to whisper—only in her mind—“when” instead of “if”?
The really novel part of that idea was the implication that she could make that sort of change. True, she was only thinking about the ship’s silly obsession over clothing, yet if she could change that, what else could she change?
What if she changed, for instance, the way the more vulnerable children on the ship were cared for? What if she made it so that no child could ever go hungry, or be lonely, or cold, or frightened?
To affect such change! To beableto direct change at all, so that people’s lives improved…
Her heart thudded heavily as she considered the possibilities. All the little, petty irritants of life aboard theEndurance…all the flaws and faults and weaknesses could be examined and changed for the better.
Devin finished getting dressed, moving more slowly than she should because her thoughts were focused on the exciting possibilities.
As she walked through the house to find her shawl, the house AI alerted her to a private message. She asked it to display the message.
It was from Adam, sent to her public message drop. Nichola had pushed it through to her private code.
I heard about the thing with the Captain this morning. Good luck! –A.
Devin stared at the glowing letters, a small, warm bubble expanding in her chest and spreading to her limbs. Why had she thought Adam Wary to be a horrible man? This showed a thoughtfulness she hadn’t noticed before.
The AI reminded her of the time once more. She picked up her shawl and hurried from the house. The taxiboat she had ordered was already grounded and waiting for her. She nodded at Tom, the driver, and settled on the bench at the back of the boat as it lifted up and zoomed toward the Esquiline dock. There was still plenty of time to get to the Bridge and not be late. It would be unforgiveable to be late with the single appointment the Captain had granted. It would set an indelible first impression.
She knew she should go over the talking points that Bishan had laid out for her. Devin found, though, she couldn’t shake from her thoughts the enticing possibilities of a future that she could shape for the better.
Chapter Seven
The Bridge gate people were staring at Devin the same way everyone in the Wall District had stared at her the day she had gone to the Institute to find a way to contact Adam Wary and had run into Adam, instead.
Devin resisted the need to adjust her clothing in a self-conscious gesture that the guards would too easily interpret. The pants she wore were perfectly normal, although she’d adjusted the hems so they fell over the tops of her shoes, hiding her heel altogether and settling against the heel of the shoe itself. It just left the tips of her toes showing. These shoes were closed in over the toes, though, which seemed slightly more respectable than showing bare feet.
The shirt was also perfectly normal, except, as Bishan had suggested, it wasn’t mild. The fabric was very silky to touch and draped against her in a soft way that she enjoyed. The sleeves were full, gathered in at the cuff. There was a collar on the shirt, which some would protest was a waste of material. It nestled around her throat and tied in a big, loose bow that rested against her upper chest.
Over the top of the shirt, she had wrapped a colorful plaid wool shawl, which gave the simple outfit the “not-mild” tweak that Bishan had suggested.
