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

older corpsman as he applied fresh dressings to Malmoradan’s wounds. After he had finished, he injected the ocelini with antibiotics and secured his arm against his torso. “I was able to stop the bleeding, but he’s going to need surgery to reattach everything, as well as several courses of electro-biologicals. I’ll ask the captain to authorize treatment aboard Fox Mendes. Considering the circumstances, I’d be shocked if she said no.”

“I’ll coordinate with Officer Cartwright,” said April. “She’ll want to head back to Watchtower as soon as possible, I imagine. If that’s the case, do you think she’d be able to accompany Fox Mendes back to Rhyon?”

The corpsman removed his gloves and wiped his brow. “I don’t see why not, but it’s not my call. One of you will need to run that by Captain Aguirre.”

“Understood,” said April. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He smiled slightly. “Your colleague should be waking up soon. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I still have plenty of work to do.” With a polite nod, the corpsman took his leave.

April squeezed Malmoradan’s good hand. “Hang in there,” she said, and she glanced toward Orin and his friends.

◆◆◆

At last, Orin stirred. Slowly, he opened his eyes and grinned drowsily as he beheld Mike and Torsha. “You guys missed the party,” he croaked. Wincing in pain, he slowly moved his arms as he sat up.

“Well, someone did change the address at the last minute,” said Mike.

“That’s too bad,” said Orin. “There was music, dancing, a shooting gallery, a kissing booth, and even a piñata.”

“A piñata, huh?” Mike glanced at the warthog’s wreckage.

“Shona already gave us the highlights,” said Torsha. “But I’d still love to hear your side of the story.”

“Maybe later,” said Orin. “How did you guys find me? Casey changed course pretty early on.”

“We had some help,” said Mike. “Your psychic friend visited me in my dreams and told me where you were going.”

“Who, April?” asked Orin.

“That’s right,” said Mike. “Izel led the charge from there.”

“I’m so glad you made it,” said Orin. “I don’t know what would’ve happened if Falcon hadn’t arrived when they did. I’m sure April’s around here somewhere if you wanted to say hi to her in person.”

“I’d like to,” said Mike.

Softly, Torsha punched Orin’s knee. “Why didn’t you tell us you were a binary?”

Orin ignited his hands for a moment. “Well, if you ever started smoking, I didn’t want you hitting me up for a light.”

“I’m being serious,” said Torsha.

“I doubt he was aware of it before that night outside the club,” said April as she approached. “I’m Marshal Deputy April Sattari. Hello, Mike. You must be Torsha.”

“Good guess,” said Torsha. “And hi. Thanks for bringing Orin back, even if I don’t completely approve of how you did it.”

April blushed slightly. “I did what I had to.”

Orin winced, but not from the pain in his arms. “I salute your sacrifice.”

With a sigh, April shifted her weight to one side. “That’s not how I meant it.”

“Of course not,” said Orin.

“I meant that I broke my promise to you!” She tapped the side of her head. “Remember? I promised I’d never enter your mind without asking, but I did anyway. That’s what I meant.”

“Ah. Okay. Cool.” Orin nodded.

“Orin…”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you in person,” said Mike, and he firmly shook April’s hand. “You look exactly like you did in my dream. I told you we’d make it!”

“I don’t seem to remember it quite like that,” said April. “But I’m thrilled you found us. I can’t thank you enough, all of you!” She leaned in close and said, “If Casey comes sniffing around, I’d appreciate it if you were light on the details of our first encounter.”

“That won’t be a problem,” said Mike.

She wore a relieved smile. “Again, thank you.”

“Where’s Blacktusk?” asked Orin.

“He’s handcuffed in the back of Casey’s shuttle, seated across from Ky,” said April. “Hey, Orin.”

“Ky? How the hell do you cuff a man with one hand?” asked Orin.

“To one of his ankles in a pinch,” said April, and she moved her hand to her waist. “But we cuffed Ky to a belt chain. Orin, listen…”

“It’s okay,” said Orin. “You don’t need to explain anything. I get it. You have a deep understanding of how my pneumonic structures work because you’ve seen them firsthand. In the end, I’m just a dumb guy, so when someone kisses me, the last thing I’m doing is thinking. With certain neurotransmitters down, you turned up the ones I needed to get my memories back. It was a good move, and like you said, you did what you had to. Thanks for rescuing me.”

“I… Um, sure,” said April.

“That reminds me,” said Torsha. “If you’re a psychic, then where’s your badge? Aren’t binaries supposed to identify themselves and show us their badge?”

“Agency binaries, sure,” said April.

“Don’t all binaries belong to the agency?” asked Torsha.

“The rules are a little different for us psychics,” said April. “We’ve been around since the earliest days of recorded history, and most of us aren’t binaries. Since the agency found themselves processing millions of additional new psychic tips and claims every year, they decided to give us a pass on mandatory inclusion. At least for anyone expressing G-class aptitude and below, that is.”

Torsha sat with arms akimbo. “Are you a binary?”

April nodded. “I am, but I only rated high-K, low-G on the MABAS scale, so I don’t get a badge.”

“Does that mean you’re powerful or not? I don’t know how any of that MABAS stuff works, to be honest,” said Torsha.

“Are you familiar with how they rate the stars in the sky?”

“Like blue, yellow, and red?” asked Torsha. “Like that?”

“That’s part of it. There’s also a letter value that describes how bright they are. M is the dimmest.” April glanced at Orin. “And O is the brightest.”

“Ah, okay, I get it,” said Torsha. “Thanks! Me and the t-net can take it from here.”

Orin got slowly to his feet and carefully stretched. He paused to look around. “Where’s Nimbus?”

Mike sniffed, and he dabbed his eyes with his