Rivers of Orion

to pieces and claimed self-defense.”
“That’s exactly why I can’t stay here!” He squared his jaw. Demurely, he added, “I can always meet you for lunch.”
“You’ve got to grow thicker skin. Liago treats everyone like garbage, okay?” She glanced away. “He’s ocelini. It’s just how they are.”
“Not all of them.”
Jasmine gave it some thought and nodded. “You’re right; they’re not all raging jackasses, but your friend, Torsha, is literally the only ocelini I’ve ever met who I didn’t want to skin after thirty seconds of conversation.” Her posture relaxed, and she waved him over. “Come on, come back with me. We got maybe thirty seconds before Dale starts ringing up customers; thirty seconds before basic math makes him cry. Do you really want to make Dale cry? Could you even live with yourself if you did?”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I meant it. I’m gone.”
She regarded him with sharp disapproval. “Don’t be stupid! You don’t have anything else lined up.”
“I still have my scholarship.”
“Not until next semester,” said Jasmine.
“You don’t know that for sure,” said Orin.
“It’s Terran Galactic! They process claims twice a year—at the beginning of fall semester, and the beginning of spring semester.” She stepped back and crossed her arms. “You know what happens if you can’t pay rent?”
“I end up like your mom?”
“Screw you, Orin.”
He shrugged. “Hey, she’s homeless, and you asked.”
“You know what? Fine! Quit. I’d wish you luck, but I wouldn’t mean it.” She turned around and marched back toward the hangar.
“Ouch,” he whispered. Drawing a deep breath, he hoisted his toolbox and continued across the parking lot.
She watched him walk away. Grumbling to herself a moment, she shouted, “Orin!”
He paused.
“You weren’t supposed to actually quit!” She looked worried and frustrated. Beckoning him over, she insisted, “Please come back!”
He wore a look of grim determination. “Never.”
She balled her fists and hurriedly returned to him. “Okay, if not for me, then do it for your truck.”
“There’s lots of work out there, and if worst comes to worst, I can always lease another truck,” he said.
“Orin, I love you, but I love me too.” She gripped his sleeves. “I told you when we first started dating, I wouldn’t go out with a freeloader. That hasn’t changed.”
He sighed sadly. “I know.”
“Good, then you’re coming back.” She regarded him rhetorically. “Right?”
He exhaled calmly, steadily. “You can keep your yoke.” Tenderly, he kissed the top of her head. “Goodbye, Jasmine. You can get your things tomorrow.”
Tears welled in her eyes, and she pushed him away. “You’re breaking up with me?”
“No, I’m quitting North Valley Spaceflight,” he said. “You’re enforcing your boundaries, and I’m respecting them.”
“Oh.” She wiped at her nose.
He turned away, and Jasmine didn’t follow. Pressing away tears, he soon reached the street and sat down heavily upon the curb. Within moments, an automated cab quietly rolled up. Rain pattered down around him, and he stooped inside. As he pulled away, he finally let himself cry.
◆◆◆
The taxicab passed under a well-lit banner emblazoned with the with the words “Valley of Light Interplanetary.” Upon arriving at the heart of the bustling starport, Orin disembarked, and the cab sped away. Covering his head with his backpack, he raced for a covered metro shuttle terminal. Standing beside a cylindrical radiator, rain drove down in sheets as he basked in the warm air and paused to enjoy the view.
Softly and colorfully aglow, the metropolis sprawled under the haze of the downpour. Thick, oily steam rolled forth from massive vents buried throughout. Rows upon rows of dingy retail centers and grease-stained parking bays sprouted from a dozen towers, all of them festooned with graffiti. Floating high above, neon signs and traffic lights directed the slow waltz of airborne vehicles.
Nearby, a bulky municipal shuttle slowly lifted off, visible just past the handrails that enclosed a metro station. A single tail fin and a pair of guide wings steered the path of the lengthy passenger transport. She wore a light gray coat of steel, painted with red and orange bands, adorned with warning lights. Her brilliant headlamps cast platinum cones into the clouds as she suddenly and swiftly ascended, their light glinting upon the edges of the viewports that lined the hull.
Under a vast awning, stripes and chevrons glowed dimly red, orange, and yellow as they offered paths to ticket kiosks, storage lockers, and boarding ramps. Suspended in front of a curved wall, bright blue symbols skittered across a display board that listed all departures and arrivals for the next two days. A young boy passed his umbrella through the display, giggled, and his older sister quickly nudged him away.
The kiosk beeped, and Orin claimed his pass. A transparent sigil glowed faintly green as it registered his gene key and deducted credits from his account. He crossed the grated floor, kept just under the overhang of a curved wall, and when he had reached its end, hurried for the cover of a pair of sheltered bus benches.
Occupying most of one bench, dressed in a suit and heavy long coat, a red tabby-coated ocelini hunched forward. He pored over a weathered paperback that looked tiny in his hands. Two others, a human couple, took up the other bench.
Enjoying the rain upon their slick, mottled skin, a nearby trio of cullthouns stood several paces off. Their tentacle arms moved as they discussed in excited clicks and watery squeaks, the gestures as much a voice in their conversation as the sound. Nostrils crowned their elongated foreheads, seated high above their colorfully glassy eyes and tiny, oral tentacles. Each stood upon a second pair of sturdy tentacles, darker in color with cylindrical boots. They wore deactivated vocoders around their necks.
Before long, engines thumped rhythmically off to his left and Orin glanced toward the sound. He smiled. A light gray behemoth glided close, and rain sizzled in sheets upon the shuttle’s plasma aura. It butted up against a boarding tube as its directional thrusters swung down and the plasma sheath faded away. A red light shone over the passage entryway,