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

are famous for their strength and speed, it’s a closely guarded secret that the women are even stronger and faster. Since you’re not spending your life cloistered in one of the castles on Taht’Alqamar, I’d wager you don’t keep your strength a secret.”

Shulana laughed, and her pointed ears reddened slightly. “No, I guess I don’t.”

“I get why you’re asking her to join, but you should know my rig isn’t specced for lifting,” said Ikunku. He tossed back one of his sleeves to reveal his stump and offered Casey a look at the neural interface. “This thing’s a Spyri arm. Basically, it’s a multi-tool.” He glanced sidelong at the ruins of his prosthetic. “Or it used to be, anyway.”

“If you join my crew, our engineer will repair your Spyri arm,” said Casey. “If you’re willing to diversify a little, he can build you a lifting attachment and a brute harness too. All for free. What do you think?”

“Shoot, I’m in,” said Ikunku.

Shulana shook her head. “I wish I could, but not if it means Saki or Sturmhardt gets left behind. Sorry.”

Casey retrieved her datapad and typed in a series of numbers. “This is how much salary I can offer, combined. Of course, each of you will get a share of the bounties we collect, but this is it for base pay. It’s just this side of insulting split three ways, so you can see why I didn’t want to offend anyone by offering a four-way split. I guess if you’re willing to—”

“That’s so much money,” said Misaki.

“You have to split it four ways,” said Casey.

“I know! Even still, it’s way more money than Blacktusk was paying. How much are meals and rent?” asked Misaki.

Casey shook her head and furrowed her brow. “Those are included in your base pay. This is what you get, split three ways. Or four, I guess, but it would be a little less since we’d have to refactor for an extra mouth to feed.”

Misaki’s eyes went wide, and her ears faced forward. “No rent? Free food?” She practically squeaked with excitement, and she danced in place.

“Take a deep breath, Saki,” said Sturmhardt, and she looked at Casey. “Can vee haf a moment?”

“Sure,” said Casey, and she stepped away.

They discussed, and after a few minutes, Ikunku waved Casey back over.

“What’s the consensus?” she asked.

“We’re in,” said Ikunku. “We’re all in!”

Casey nodded. “That’s great!” With a hopeful smile, she gestured toward her shuttle. “Right this way.”

◆◆◆

Mike, Orin, and Torsha sat across from Shona, April, and Malmoradan within the passenger compartment of a Sunhawk transport. A member of the flight crew checked their restraints before returning to the cockpit. The last of the corpsmen loaded their gear and boarded. Before long, the ramp sealed shut, and the starship disengaged from Rocksaugh’s docking clamps. The Sunhawk drifted out into the void, leaving the Starwind alone in the maintenance bay, leaving the mining complex quiet once more.

Within his tower, the landing control technician yawned and stretched, and he settled in for the night.

April focused on her datapad, while Malmoradan spoke with Shona in whispers, answering the many questions she had about the vessel and Falcon’s personnel. Torsha sat with her head in her hands, and she flinched as weightlessness took hold. She did her best to meter her breathing, and Orin gently rubbed her back. “Here,” he said, as blue flames sprang from his fingertips. “Let me know if it’s too much.”

Torsha eased back down into her seat, the only one in the transport vessel to experience the effects of gravity. With wonder in her eyes, she regarded Orin. “Are you doing this?”

He nodded as he concentrated. “I am, and I should have plenty of focus to get you over to Fox Mendes. I’m still figuring a lot of this out, so please let me know if it gets uncomfortable at all.”

“It feels fine.” She patted his arm, gingerly at first. As she surrendered to the peace she felt within her body, she leaned against him. “Actually, it feels nice. Thank you.”

Mike’s thoughts wandered as the transport closed on Fox Mendes.

Once they had docked and disembarked, Mike guided his comrades to the quarters he shared with Torsha. He placed Nimbus within a recessed drawer, snug within rolls of clean socks. From there, the liaison officer joined them and showed the starship’s visitors down to Deck 4, to the rooms where April, Orin, Shona, and Malmoradan would be bunking. He led them to the ladderwells, the enlisted mess, the medical stations, and he explained how all the compartments were numbered.

“Don’t worry, guys. I served a tour aboard the Foehammer,” said Malmoradan. “The numbering’s pretty much the same. I can help if you get lost.”

The liaison officer raised his brows. “The Foehammer? I don’t know any ship by that name.”

“It’s her nickname. She’s the UNSS Tolkien, but her crew never calls her that,” said Malmoradan.

“Ah,” said the liaison officer. “A United Planets starship. Nice. Well, I look forward to hearing your war stories over chow. I guess you know better than to be late.” He smiled and took his leave.

◆◆◆

Later that night as most everyone else slept, Shona rolled off her bunk, put on her boots and stepped into the passageway. She wandered, stooping through coamings, careful not to hit her shins against the lower jambs. Headed for the rear of the starship, she at last found a broad viewport, and she stood before it. Leaning against the sill, she lost herself in the stars, in the rhythmic hum of the vessel’s baritone creaks and shudders.

“I think this might be the darkest part of the ship,” said Mike. Cloaked in shadow, he ambled close and stood at her side. “Can’t sleep?”

“Not right now.” She playfully nudged him. “What about you? You gonna start stalking me or something?”

“Ha! No,” said Mike. “A lot of people come down here. With that faint thruster glow lighting up the frame, and the sheer size of the viewport, this is probably the best view on the whole ship.” He