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

grounded right now,” said the pilot. “I’m Sini. Sini Koshka, second lieutenant with Russian Star Command,” and they exchanged introductions. “Colonial is evacuating the planet. All non-essential air traffic is grounded until they’re done.” She bit down into a kielbasa sandwich.

“Colonial?” asked April. “There’s no way they can possibly evacuate everyone in time! Even if their entire fleet were here, they’d only be able to save a few million people. What about everyone else? What happens to them?”

Sini took a long pull on a bottle of green soda. “Probably, they have been moved to underground shelters. This is not really my area of expertise.” She regarded her bench mates. “Why are you not somewhere safe?”

“We’re needed on the surface,” said Orin.

“You are first responders?” asked Sini.

“We are not,” said Orin.

“If you do not have an assigned shelter, you should see about getting passage aboard an Atlas vessel.” Sini took another bite of her sandwich. “If you’re above the surface when bombardment begins, you will die.”

“We’re aware,” said April. “We’re with the Falcon attachment.”

Sini wore a look of mild disapproval. “Neschastny. This word means ‘unfortunate’ in Russian.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” said April.

“It’s okay,” said Sini, and she smiled. “Apology accepted.”

April rolled her eyes, and Orin winced as she leaned against him. “You’re hurt!”

“It’s just lingering aches and pains from battling Old One-Eye,” said Orin, and he shifted slightly. “April, those spheres will be here tomorrow.”

“Are you ready?”

Orin shrugged. “Probably not. I’m meeting with BICOM tonight to get briefed in.”

She squeezed his hand. “I believe in you.”

“You mentioned BICOM,” said Sini. “I am part of their air support strategy.” Her look of curiosity turned to recognition. “Rhyondan Rampart. You are Rhyondan Rampart!”

Orin smiled patiently. “Maybe I just have one of those faces.”

“No, you are him!” Sini retrieved her phone. “Can we?”

“Sure,” said Orin, and he towered over Sini as he posed with her for a snapshot.

“Thank you very much, Mr. Rampart,” said Sini. “Tomorrow when the bombardment starts, if you can’t save all of Earth, it will still be okay if you can save Mother Russia.”

“Right.” Orin’s voice cracked slightly as he spoke. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure the planet is safe.”

April glanced up and spotted a small crowd approaching, their attention fixed on Orin. “That’s uncanny,” she muttered. “It’s like they can smell blood in the water.”

“Sometimes I really wish I could shapeshift,” grumbled Orin. “Feel like getting out of here?”

“Normally, I’d share your enthusiasm for a timely departure, but the Starwind is on the other side of your fan club,” said April.

“It’s okay, we can take a shortcut,” said Orin. “I’ve been working on something in my off time.”

April perked up. “What have you been working on?”

Orin spoke in a whisper. “Falling in a specific direction. Onlookers might mistake it for flying.”

“Can you show me?” asked April. “Can you take me with you?”

“I can, but people will talk,” said Orin.

April smiled giddily. “It’s what people do.”

Rising to his feet, Orin stretched and squatted in front of the bench. “Hop on.”

April secured herself piggy-back against Orin.

“What are you doing?” asked Sini.

“Can you keep a secret?” asked Orin.

Sini regarded him questioningly. “I’m Russian. What do you think?”

“Here it is,” said Orin. He and April shot skyward.

Sini stared, mouth agape. As the small crowd looked on with undisguised wonder, the rest of Sini’s sandwich tumbled out of her lap.

◆◆◆

By early evening, several large military vehicles had assembled within an open field. BICOM established a command center, joined by representatives from Orbital Defense and the Star Navy. A black Humvee picked Orin up from his hotel.

He arrived at the field soon after, where two BICOM agents escorted him to the command center. “Welcome, IPF Deputy Webb,” said a sharply dressed man as he stood up. “I’m Commander Richards.” He gestured to a uniformed man seated next to him. “This is Special Agent Gray Bachman, also known as Boost Congress. We’ve seized the global satellite network and will be working through the night to assemble an amplification uplink dish. He’ll boost your power, and you’ll channel your anti-momentum barriers directly into the dish. SATCOM will deliver targeted interceptions against the enemy.”

Gray stood up, showed his badge, and bowed politely. “It’s a real pleasure to meet you, Mr. Webb.”

“You too,” said Orin, and he bowed in return.

Commander Richards explained the details of the plan and gave Orin a tour of the command center. “This must be a lot to take in,” said Commander Richards. “I’ve been apprised of your binary incidents, and I understand you received very basic training. Do you have at least a rough idea of how much energy you’ve got in your reserves?”

“I don’t really start to feel it until I’m getting low,” said Orin. “It grows each time I run out, though, and Lafuega’s been running me ragged.”

“I’m sorry, who’s Lafuega?”

Orin related his training sessions. “Oh yeah, but I used my powers to fly April and me away from the courtyard,” said Orin. “If I can get a good night’s rest, I should have a ton of energy in reserve.”

Commander Richards stopped and held up his hand. “I’m impressed you figured out how to fly on your own. Even more impressive is that you figured out how to land without injuring yourself or your passenger. That being said…” He locked eyes with Orin. “If you pull another stunt like that, it could mean one of those spheres will impact when it otherwise would not have. Conserve your power. Am I clear?”

“Crystal,” said Orin.

“Good,” said Commander Richards, and he grinned. “Now, over there is the triage center, and that’s the BX tent. You ever tried calvarmi jerky? Because it is tender, it tastes good, and they sell it duty free. Plus, it goes great with coffee.”

“I’m more of a hot choc—”

“Not to worry, I’ll spring for it this time,” said Commander Richards. “You find us a place to sit.”

Orin smiled slightly. “Sure. Thanks.”

Commander Richards approached the Star Navy’s base-exchange pavilion, and Orin found a small table with a