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

Kendra’s hope returned. “I will! Give me an hour.”

“Take two. Maintenance is still banging away on the bottoms.”

She beamed. “I’ll see you in an hour, Captain!” Kendra hurried from the mess deck through the opposite door.

Casey stood awhile, leaning against the cool steel curved against her back. Machinery hummed on the other side of the bulkhead. From the galley, she heard a clatter, and a string of colorful, French epithets. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she shouted, “Cajun, keep it down in there!”

“Then you do the cookin’!”

With an amused smile, she strolled from the mess deck into a wide passageway. Bulkhead lights cast warm crescents toward the deck and the overhead alike. Her boots clanked as she approached a circular four-way intersection. A green light flashed overhead, and she stepped over the jamb into the circular compartment before her. Taking a left, she followed the passageway to its end, where she turned to face a door.

The instant before she could knock, April pulled it open from within. “What’s up?”

“I was… Stop doing that!”

“Doing what?” April smiled playfully, her pale skin stark against her flowing black hair as she tilted her head to look up at Casey. Her amber eyes twinkled.

“You need to let me knock once in a while, even if you know I’m coming,” said Casey.

April’s loose-fitting T-shirt rumpled as she crossed her arms. “I’ll make a point to remember that.”

“You always say that, but you never do it!” Casey looked insistent. “Anyway, I’m here on official business. It’s about Kendra.”

“What’s going on with Kendra?”

“She quit. Well, retired, more like. She promised us another fugitive—one with an outlandish bounty—but we’ll see what she can actually get for us. She wants to trade the info for a trip to New Falkirk.”

April looked puzzled. “New Falkirk… Where’s that?”

“Ixion System.”

“I’m not familiar with it, at least not by name.”

“It’s in the eastern arm, right at the edge,” Casey answered.

April whistled. “That’s a bit of a trek.” She took a moment to consider, slipping her hands into her jeans’ pockets. “There’s a lot of new terraforming out that way, too. It’s not exactly a bounty-rich environment.”

“I know that. That’s why I need your advice.”

“Do you want it as your cousin, your telepath, or your first mate?”

“As my first mate.” Casey counted on her fingers as she spoke. “One—can you find me another scout? And two—if Kendra comes up empty, what do you think we should do?”

“As to one,” April began, “I’ll start looking around next time we’re planet-side. I don’t have the kind of range a scout has, so—”

“I know, I remember.”

“Okay, then for two—we should do nothing. She finds her own way. She knew the risks when she quit.”

Exhaling pointedly, Casey argued, “Except that we’re doing really well, these days. We can afford it, and she’s been flying with us for years.”

With a shrug, April said, “Hey, you’re the captain. You asked me for my advice. Do what you want with it.”

Casey looked torn. “Is it because of the time involved?”

April offered a noncommittal shrug in response.

“It’s the precedent it sets.”

At that, April nodded.

Casey pressed her lips together. “Damn it, April.” After a moment of thought, she added, “See you for chow.” She turned completely around and strode across the passageway to the door opposite April’s. She placed her palm on the scanner panel, and its maglock clicked. She pushed it open and disappeared into her own quarters.

◆◆◆

Two hours later, someone tapped upon her door, and Casey arched up from her terminal. “Coming,” she said, and she took a moment to stretch. “Is that you, Kendra?”

“Yes, it’s me,” she answered, her voice uncharacteristically mousy.

Casey greeted her hopefully. “What’s the word?”

“Can I come in?”

Somewhat surprised, Casey said, “No.”

“Well, you’re not technically my captain anymore, so…”

“That’s an even harder no,” Casey laughed, and she led Kendra out into the passageway, closing the door behind her. “What did you find?”

Kendra cleared her throat. “There’s good news and bad news. The good news is I found someone in the same system, on Rhyon. It should be an easy takedown.”

“What’s the bad news?”

“I couldn’t find a bounty for him anywhere on any of the boards.” She glanced at her feet. “But he’s burning so bright, I figure he must be deep undercover. There’s got to be a ton of money connected to him from somewhere, right? I mean, how else does he burn that bright and stay under the radar?”

Casey rubbed her eyes and ran her hands through her hair. “That’s not enough to go on. How can I broker anything without a bounty?”

“Well, um, that’s what I mean. It’s probably a false identity, and… there’s probably a bounty under his actual name, but I just can’t track it down right now. I’d need access to local resources. He might even be a spy, and those guys are worth a ton, even without a bounty.”

Chewing on the inside of her lip awhile, Casey asked, “Do you have a current alias, at least? Some kind of starting point?”

Kendra brightened. “I do!” She pulled a square of holopaper from her pocket and unfolded it. The image of a young man sprang to life upon its surface—blonde and tall with deep blue eyes.

Casey studied his personal info. “Human. An even two meters and a hundred kilos. Well, that doesn’t sound too bad. Orinoco Everett Webb. Goes by Orin.” She regarded Kendra. “File says he’s twenty-one years old, with a humanities scholarship at Terran Galactic, New Cal. Undercover or not, that’s no easy feat on an ocelini world.”

“It is, if you’re actually a hundred years old and pumped full of gene therapy.”

Casey laughed. “You’re really going out on a limb here, and you’re asking me to join you.”

“You know I’m good for it! This guy is bleeding light on practically everything he touches—he’s got to be some kind of waveformer. With as much output as I saw, he could be an A-class, maybe even a B-class.”

“I hope not. We’d need government resources to