Rivers of Orion by Dana Kelly (a court of thorns and roses ebook free .TXT) 📕

“What the hell is going on?” asked Malmoradan.

Artificial components of every variety—from replacement limbs to pacemakers, from dental implants to cosmetic enhancements—twinkled under the afternoon sun. A full set of prosthetic legs, from pelvis to toes, glimmered at the top of the pile. They all appeared spotless.

Tears welled in Shona’s eyes. “What happened to them?”

“I don’t know,” said Malmoradan. “We’d better get back. I’m starting to get a real bad feeling about being out here on our own.”

“I told you we should’ve brought help,” said Shona. “Can I borrow your camera?”

Malmoradan unclipped his shoulder camera and passed it over. “Here you go,” he said. “Please hurry.”

Shona climbed up through the roof and stood on the driver’s seat as she recorded images of the mound. “Should we get it from another angle?”

“I suppose we should,” said Malmoradan. They traded seats, and he slowly circled the mound as Shona filmed. Moments later, she dropped back down, and the tires spun out, kicking up dust as they sped away.

Chapter 24

Sunset Beach

Ten days earlier, Old Siberian was racing through the nightmare with Ellylle’s world seed on board. As Ellylle had predicted, it had taken three months to return, almost to the day. Determined to restore the galaxy’s natural balance at any cost, the next phase in Ellylle’s plan was ready to begin…

Facing one another, two oceans of cloudy amethyst drifted in parallel, joined by threads of crimson lightning. Old Siberian rocketed through the space between them, and mountains erupted from the darkest shadows, covered with hungering eyes. They watched the starship as she moved, and they shrieked into the abyss.

Where the crystalline horizons converged, a single point exploded into a varicolored, glowing maelstrom, and the vessel plunged into it. She crossed through the nightmare gate and emerged on the other side. Scarlet gases and spectral lampreys clung to her hull only for as long as it took to complete the transition back into primary space.

Within Reggie’s quarters, lights flickered on, and a cheerful alarm echoed from his nightstand. Yawning, stretching, he quickly dressed, scarfed down a meal bar, and drained a water pouch. He emerged from his cabin, boarded the lift, and joined Ellylle on the bridge.

She studied a crudely modeled image of a planet.

“Guessing you don’t sleep,” he said.

“This is frustrating,” said Ellylle. Her branches jostled as if stirred by powerful gusts, and all her flowers bloomed bright red. “I can only get details on one meridian. Nothing else is coming in. These can’t be the only population centers, so clearly something’s interfering with my sensor transmitters.”

Reggie crossed his arms. “Your sensor transmitters, huh?”

She pivoted to regard him flatly. “For as much as I’ve paid you, you could purchase two Old Siberians, brand new!”

He leaned over the curved railing. “Yeah, and thank you, but that’s still my name on the pink slip, you get me?”

Her branches stilled for a moment, swaying gently as her flowers bloomed dark crimson. “Yes, your name is still on the pink slip. Bearing that in mind, CaptainYao, something on the surface is interfering with the ship’s sensors. What would you suggest we do about it?”

“Wait for Zella,” said Reggie. “She’s my hacker.”

Ellylle curved from one side to the next before slowly straightening. “So you’ve said. Certainly, she’s quite competent at navigating the console’s basic interface, and an expert at using the document search function.”

“I’d say sarcasm doesn’t look good on you, except for all the purple you’re wearing right now,” said Reggie.

Ellylle held his gaze. After a moment, she stepped away from the console and approached the starboard bulkhead. Pointedly, she switched off her vocoder and stood awhile, rustling to herself. Reggie shook his head and took his seat in the captain’s chair.

The lift chimed, and the doors opened. Zella and Lomomu stepped onto the bridge. The planetary display drew Zella’s attention. “Whit’s this?”

“Trying to get a read on the population centers,” said Reggie. “All we’re getting is this one ring around the poles. Ellylle thinks we’re being jammed.”

Zella tilted her head slightly. “This far out? ‘At’s nae likely.” She studied the sensor configuration file. “No offense Cap’n, but ye’re doin it all wrong. Trionides is a t-net hub. The people runnin the data exchange are nae goin tae leave thaur rackhouses exposed.”

Ellylle switched on her vocoder. “Which means what, exactly?”

“Ye havtae adjust fir the radio-absorptive material.” After adding several commands, Zella saved the file and ran it again. A minute passed, and data points swarmed across the planet’s eastern hemisphere. “Aim fir the spaces betwixt the structures.”

Ellylle moved to stand at Zella’s side. “You’re inferring data from the voids.”

“Aye, like a stencil,” said Zella.

“Right. A stencil.” Ellylle spun the image slowly around. “Is this correct—the population centers only exist along the prime meridian? I assume that’s the prime meridian.”

“In a sense,” said Zella. “Trionides is whit’s known as an eyeball planet; she’s tidally locked with her star. It’s swelterin on the light side and baltic on the dark side. However, right in between, well thaur’s yer habitable zone.”

“No one lives in all these other buildings?” asked Ellyle.

Zella zoomed in on a coastal section of the eastern hemisphere. “Ah suppose thaur might be a handful o’ skeleton crews that work the data centers, but I doubt anyone calls those buildings home. Baltic, remember?”

Ellylle crossed her branches, and her flowers bloomed purple. “I can’t wait to read the Ocean Health Index.”

“I don’t think it’s goin’ to make you very happy,” said Lomomu.

“That was the point,” said Ellylle.

“Well, you aren’t exactly easy to read,” said Lomomu. “I don’t speak tree, and your vocoder is light on inflection.” He absently tugged at his fur coat. “What are you so interested in, anyway?”

“I need to speak with someone,” said Ellylle. “A certain Florin Blösch.”

“Who’s that?” asked Reggie.

“He’s the planet’s parliamentary lord,” said Ellylle. “Zella. Locate him for me, will you?”

“Aye. Fine,” said Zella, and she sighed.

“No chance you’re sharing the why of it, is there?” asked Reggie.

“I’ll tell you what you