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

Nathaniel looked at Reggie. “How’s Isabella doing? How’s she really doing?”

Reggie took a deep breath. “Hard to say. Honestly. She focuses on her work aboard Old Siberian, so we don’t talk much. Not like we used to.” He glanced at Lomomu and smiled. “She and this guy are close, though.”

“I’ve known Zella since college,” said Lomomu. “After we graduated, I got my commercial starpilot’s license, and she went on to do somethin’ actually related to her degree, but we always stayed in touch.”

“No Mrs. Thulomo?” asked Nathaniel. “Being in your thirties, I’d think you’d be feeling the urge to head back to home world and straighten that out.”

“Not yet,” said Lomomu. “I actually took the pilgrimage back to Taht’Alqamar a little ahead of schedule, but there wasn’t a good match. Maybe they know what they’re doin’, tellin’ us to wait until we’re thirty.”

“How many times are you allowed to go?” asked Nathaniel.

“Four more times, or until I’m fifty,” said Lomomu. “Whichever comes first.”

“Got it,” said Nathaniel. “Good luck, man.” He glanced at Reggie. “How’d you get Isabella to join your crew?”

Reggie smiled slightly. “She really prefers Zella, and I didn’t have much to do with it. She quit her job at Icosadyne after Paddy’s estate got settled. Said she felt compelled to join the crew and fill his shoes, so I took her in, and Lomomu came with.”

“Is she?” asked Nathaniel. “Filling Paddy’s shoes?”

“And then some,” said Reggie. “She could run the ship by herself if she wanted.”

Nathaniel leaned back in his chair. “What about you? You and Paddy were married forever.”

“Thirteen years,” said Reggie, and he tapped his hand. “Not forever. Not long enough. Well. Almost thirteen years, so… I’m getting by. One day at a time.”

“If you ever need anything, you let me know,” said Nathaniel. “I mean that, okay?”

“Thanks,” said Reggie, and he glanced toward the entrance as Zella bustled through.

“We’re needed straightaway,” said Zella. “Ellylle’s already called fir a taxi.” She hugged Nathaniel sidelong. “Sairy, but we got tae go.”

“Thanks again for dinner,” said Reggie.

“My pleasure,” said Nathaniel. “Thanks for joining me, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the peace of mind. Lomomu, it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Reggie and Zella, I’ll see you around!”

Reggie, Zella, and Lomomu hurried outside, just as a goldenrod sedan descended to the curb. A black and yellow checkerboard pattern decorated the rooftop, below a cluster of weathered electronics that quietly whirred and clicked. Thick steel hoses passed behind swooping fenders as they linked the engine compartment to the underbody propulsion array, and grimy headlamps shined from either side of a narrow grill. The rear doors slid back on rails, locking against the trunk, and the vehicle bobbed slightly as they climbed inside.

Reggie directed their driver to the marble overpass.

Upon their arrival, Ellylle quickly disembarked, hurried over, and leaned through the driver’s window. After a moment of hushed conversation, the cabbie nodded, gathered up his personal effects and exited the vehicle. Grinning, he gazed at his account balance as he wandered off.

Ellylle looked at Lomomu. “You drive.” She scooted onto the back bench as he climbed over into the operator’s compartment. From her phone, she projected a holographic map of the city walls and their connected power centers. She navigated to a point south on the map, where she outlined a transceiver tower in red. “This is where we’re going. Is this map sufficient, or do you need directions?”

He slipped his hand into the map projection. Deftly, he tossed the holographic image toward the dash, where the navigation computer chirped. A moment later, it projected flight data and their destination’s landing facility information. “Got it.” Lomomu studied the control panel, and a moment later, steam billowed forth as the taxi slowly lifted off. Gaining speed, they quickly crossed the distance to the city walls, where they veered left.

Winds died down the further south they traveled, replaced by increasingly dense fog. Neon signs added their brilliant colors to the mix—ever-shifting islands of pink, green, blue, and yellow. Lomomu switched on the underbody search light. It cranked and groaned as it lowered from its nose compartment, but did little to pierce the thick, silver haze.

As they at last neared their destination, he slowed to cruising speed. Relying strictly on the navigation data, he touched down on an elevated tarmac. “We’re landed,” he announced. “I just hope it’s the right place.”

“It is,” said Ellylle, and led her cohorts from the taxi. “They’ve got minimal staff. There’s one guard at the front desk, another one up top on the roof next to the tower, and a rover. I’ve already had a conversation with the dispatcher to make sure the front desk is unattended when we arrive but stay alert.”

They crossed the tarmac and walked down a flight of grated stairs, clanking as they stepped. Ellylle passed Reggie a sheet of digital paper, containing two lengthy rows of alphanumeric and special characters. “You’ll need this.”

Reggie glanced at the sequences. “What for?”

“You’ll be reading them off as Lomomu inputs them,” said Ellylle.

“All right. Then what’s the plan?” asked Reggie.

“Once we’re inside, I’ll remain in the lobby to run the doors and mitigate the human factor. You three head straight for maintenance staging and suit up. Zella’s going to hack the transceiver’s entanglement bridge.”

“A’m hackin naw such thing!” She cleared her throat. “Beggin yer pardon, but thaur’s a physical component whit cannae be hacked!”

“You’re worried about the quantum exchange,” said Ellylle.

“Damn right, Ah am! How many lasers are pinted at it, at any given moment—a thousand?” asked Zella. “Ten thousand?”

Ellylle nodded patiently. “There’ll be an access card waiting for us at the front desk. Use it to enter the vault. It’ll trip the system into maintenance mode, and that’ll open the quantum housing. You’ll be safe from the lasers for sixty minutes. That should be more than enough time for you to write and implement a bypass script.”

Reggie held up the sheet