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

Calling the lift, they traveled to the deck above, but the doors remained closed. A light flashed red on the interior console. “This is the recreation and command deck,” said April. “Sorry, but you’re not allowed on the bridge. I can show you pictures of the rec deck if you’d like.”

“Sure, that’d be nice. Thank you.”

They traveled up to the boiler room, where April explained how the starship used power, and how heat vented from the engine room. Above that loomed the reactor room. “There’s one more deck above the reactor, but it’s only accessible by stairs and an airlock, and since you need a vac suit to do anything with it, I guess that concludes the tour.” She smiled, looking deep into Orin’s eyes.

“Thank you,” said Orin, and he found himself captivated by her gaze. “That was very nice.”

“It was no trouble at all.” She squeezed his hands. “Let’s get you back to your quarters.”

They descended to Deck 6 and walked unhurried to Orin’s room. April removed the handcuffs, and after Orin settled in, she excused herself. She locked the door and faced the lift, wearing a wistful smile.

She found Casey marching toward her. Feeling a bit nervous, April asked, “Is everything okay?”

“The S-Ring just made some really interesting sounds,” said Casey.

“You heard that?”

“Everyone heard that!”

April nodded. “I see. I can promise you’ll never hear those noises again.”

“It was the prisoner, wasn’t it?” asked Casey.

“It’s possible. I can’t say for certain either way.”

Shaking her head, Casey stepped close. “No, you showed the prisoner our S-Ring, and he caused those noises, because he’s an O-class binary with an O-class nightmare body, and the S-Ring was never designed to function in the presence of something on that scale.” Incensed, she stepped back and stood akimbo. “We can’t risk taking him to the space station.”

“Nonsense. We’ll be fine!”

“The testing facility sits at the edge of a nightmare tunnel. If we get too close, he’ll switch. If his unphased presence puts that much stress on the S-Ring, imagine what happens when he’s phased.” She gestured an explosion. “We’re done for.”

“I won’t let you kill him,” said April.

Casey laughed dryly. “No, I imagine you wouldn’t. That’s okay, I’m not sure we can kill him, even if we tried. I have a feeling that if I’d spaced him, he’d have just gotten angry and switched forms.”

“Are we taking him back to Rhyon?” asked April.

Casey relaxed somewhat, staring off. “No. Actually, I’ve got an idea. Don’t follow me and stay out of my head. That’s an order.” With that, she spun on her heels and hurried for the lift.

“What are you up to?” April mumbled, and she made her way to her quarters. She worked the maglock, stepped through, and switched on a strand of white string lights affixed to the top edges of her chamber. In the dim light, she drew a deep breath and sat beside a viewport. She gazed at the stars, haunted by her memory of the S-Ring’s eerie song.

In time, her eyes grew heavy. She stood and stretched, feeling each quiet pop in her joints. Shaking her head, she crossed back to her recessed bed, where she changed out of her day clothes and into her nightgown.

She pulled back the covers and slid between the sheets. April tossed and turned, alert to every little noise. When exhaustion finally claimed her, she dreamed fitfully.

◆◆◆

April awoke with a start, and she hurried to the viewport. “Those are the wrong stars,” she said, and she pulled a hoodie on over her nightgown. She slipped into her boots and boarded the lift. As soon as she exited, she stormed the rest of the way to the command center.

“What’s going on?” asked April.

“You woke up quick,” said Casey. Standing at the navigation console, she pivoted to regard her first mate. “We’ve changed course.”

“I can see that much!” April glared at her captain. “Where are we going?”

“It’s in the navi-computer. See for yourself.”

Casey’s thoughts flickered across April’s mind. “You’re planning to hand Orin off to a rogue smuggler,” said April. “That’s reckless, bordering on depraved!”

“Where’s the dash cam footage?” asked Casey.

“I’m sure it’s hanging up on the ring,” said April.

Casey laughed frostily. “That’s what I thought too. It’s why I checked every single datastick, in case they were out of order.”

“What about the one in the camera?”

“Yeah, about that.” Casey turned fully around. She crossed her arms and leaned back against the console. “I checked that one too, and before you suggest, ‘Oh, perhaps it got corrupted or overwritten,’ I already had a look at the datastick’s serial number, and it doesn’t match what’s on record. Naturally, I retrieved the camera’s access log, and guess what I found?”

Clearing her throat, April stammered, “The… the camera has an access log?”

“Mine does,” said Casey. “Krané took the datastick. He’s a traitor, and he’s fired as soon as we’re done here. I’ll be arresting him for evidence tampering. He’ll be confined to quarters until we reach the next port, at which point I’ll hand him over to the authorities.” She narrowed her gaze. “Unless you know something I don’t?”

With a defeated look, April glanced away. “It’s not his fault. He destroyed the datastick at my request.”

“Why?”

With a pained look, April said, “This is why! This is exactly why! I knew if you weren’t able to leverage proof of Orin’s powers, you’d never be able to hand him off.”

Casey chuckled. “Unless it’s Ky. He’s happy to take my word for it.”

April blanched. “Ky Rego?”

“That’s right,” said Casey.

“Did you even try to reach out to the station crew?” April balled her fists. “They would’ve sent a shuttle, met us halfway!”

“So they can die in our place? I don’t think so.” The navigation console beeped, and Casey returned her focus to the display. “Consequence is huge. She’ll be able to weather Orin’s transformation, however monstrous his nightmare body ends up being. Then Ky