Drifters' Alliance, Book 3 (26 page)
“I’m ready whenever you are,” I say over the comm to Gus in the engine room. I’m sweating through my flightsuit already, and we haven’t even started yet.
“Okay. Remember … first we’re going to shut down the rest of the station’s lights, comm devices, weapons, and signal detectors … then we’ll go dark and cloaked. You’ll have approximately fifty-five seconds to get us out of here before they can regenerate power.”
“Not fifty-six?” I smirk as I let my hands hover above the array, ready to let my fingers start flying over the sequence that will launch us from the dock. I’ve already retrieved our airlock ramp. We’re all buttoned up and ready to ride, unfortunately several crew members short. But I’m confident we’ll have them back onboard in no time. I know I can count on my Alliance friends.
“Maybe. Or fifty-four. I’m not a hundred percent sure on that.”
I roll my eyes. “Let’s make it fifty and call it a draw.”
“All right, full station blackout in
ten
…”
My hands are trembling as I wait for the countdown to finish.
“
Niner
… niner, niner, sixty-nine her.” Gus’s voice has gone sexy, or what he probably
thinks
is sexy.
I roll my eyes.
“
Eight
and feeling grrreat.” Gus is having too much fun with this countdown.
“
Seven
, I hope we don’t end up in heaven.”
Tam’s voice takes over, sounding annoyed. “
Six
.”
I laugh, my nerves making it seem way funnier than it is.
“
Five
, hey look, I’m still alive!”
I nearly choke on that one.
“
Four
, Gus, your rhyming is really poor.”
“That’s the spirit, brother!
Three
, we’re almost free!”
“
Two
, don’t make me slap you.”
Gus’s voice loses all humor. “
One
, and now it’s done.”
There’s a long
beeeeeeeep
over the comm and then total darkness.
Feel the force,
I say to myself. Then I laugh like a maniac and start the sequence that will move my ship away from the docks and out through the exit bay.
Chapter Forty-Three
I’M NOT SURE I LIKE being a ghost. Our ship is dark, all running lights turned off for the great escape. It’s the only way the cloaking device can work. All the other ships around us are lit up, but without lights inside the station and the pedestrian tunnels, it’s almost as if it’s just the machines here and all the people have abandoned the place. Or died. It’s creepy.
“We are off-dock,” I say at almost a whisper, leaving the comm-link to the engine room hot.
“Good job, Captain,” Tam says. “Just keep her steady.”
“No one’s blasted us so far,” Gus adds. “Seems like the jammer’s working. That’s a plus.”
I kick up the thruster to a level I’d never normally use in a station like this. But with all the ships docked and no one free-flying around, it makes it a lot easier to maneuver without worrying about hitting anything. Besides, I only have about forty more seconds to get the hell out of here before the station comes back online.
“I’m taking exit Bay Golf-November,” I say to the guys, not that they care. I smile with satisfaction over the fact that I’m leaving out of a DS-sized bay and not a CS-sized cavern.
We’re there in ten very long seconds and slide in without incident. We’re not home free, though. Not yet. Not with those two gargantuan warships out there waiting for me. And their signals aren’t jammed; their cannons will be working just fine. This cloaking device is the only thing keeping us from being turned to dust by one of them.
My heart is hammering away. Every inch of my flightsuit is sticking to my skin. Sweat trickles from my scalp, down my neck. My head itches, but I can’t take my hands away from the array to scratch it. I’m really going to need a wash after this mission is over.
“What’re our Alliance meeting coordinates?” I ask the engineers.
“Already programmed in. Just punch up a wormhole and give us a shout. We’ll handle the rest.”
My clearpanel goes dim as we slide into the exit bay. Starlight isn’t enough to illuminate this small space we have to pass through in order to get out into the Dark.
We’re centered in the bay now, our ship with just two meters of clearance all the way around. “You guys ready?”
“Yeah. You have about ten seconds left. Not trying to rush you or anything, but …”
He doesn’t need to say anything else. I know what we need to do.
“Lock it down, boys, I’m shooting us out of here.” I crack my knuckles one time before tapping out the launch sequence.
I salute the vision of the station, knowing I’m flying away from more than half my crew. “Goodbye, my friends. Until we meet again …” I push the button to start the launch, and the DS Anarchy shoots out of the exit bay, full thrusters ahead. The warships go by in a blur of light. They make no moves to indicate they’ve seen our cloaked ship slipping past. My pulse is going so fast, I feel like I’ve just sprinted the entire circumference of the ship.
As soon as I know we’re out of range, I hit the fore thruster to slow us down. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I transmit to the engine room. “I’m ready to nightcrawl if you are, boys.”
“Call us
men
,” Gus says in a bold voice, “because we are no longer boys.”
I laugh at his bravado. “Okay, men. I’m ready.”
“Booyah,” he says. “Coordinates are input and we are ready. Gartan, here we come.”
My finger hesitates over the button that will send us into the dark space to travel over time. “Gartan? What the …”
A voice comes out over my speakers and an emergency red frequency starts flashing on my clearpanel. “DS Anarchy, this is the Warship Baltimore. State your position.”
I’d recognize that voice anywhere. “Drake,” I whisper, my voice laced with both fear and hatred. He’s in charge of the WS Baltimore while Overshine is indisposed, I’d bet my flightsuit on it.
Dammit.
“Are we going, Captain?” This is Tam, and he sounds as worried as I am.
“Yeah buddy,” I whisper, just before pressing the button that’ll send us through the wormhole that’s opened up just in front of the ship.
“We are nightcrawling, men. We are nightcrawling.” The warships disappear from my clearpanel as we’re drawn into the hole. Relief fills me to the brim.
The familiar muffled boom comes to my ears and then the
whoosh.
Silence comes next as all sound is ripped away. Pricks of light bend down toward the center as our ship is pulled into the wormhole. My guts feel like they’re being gathered up by a great big hand that intends to drag me away, and then suddenly the hand of Death is gone and I’m full to bursting, like the Dark is trying to fill me and blow me up from the inside out. I sag into my chair as the ship moves into that place where time no longer exists as a perpetual, ever-moving thing, marching us toward an uncertain future.
We’ve done it. We’re safe.
And then … everything goes black.
I would LOVE to get your feedback on
Drifters’ Alliance, Book 3.
I read all my reviews!
Want to read more of my books?
Please ask your friendly librarian to add more Elle Casey books to your library’s collection
!
Want to get an email when my next book is released?
Sign up here:
http://bit.ly/ellecaseynews
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elle Casey
is a prolific,
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling American writer who lives in Southern France with her husband, three kids, and several furry friends. She writes in several genres and publishes an average of one full-length novel per month.
A personal note from Elle …
If you enjoyed this book, please take a moment to leave a review on the site where you bought this book, Goodreads, or any book blogs you participate in, and tell your friends! I love interacting with my readers, so if you feel like shooting the breeze or talking about books or your family or pets, please visit me.
You can find me at …
www.Facebook.com/ellecaseytheauthor
Want to get an email when my next book is released?
Sign up here:
http://bit.ly/ellecaseynews
OTHER BOOKS BY ELLE CASEY
SCIENCE FICTION
Drifters’ Alliance
(ongoing series)
Winner Takes All
(short story prequel to
Drifters’ Alliance
,
Dark Beyond the Stars Anthology)
CONTEMPORARY URBAN FANTASY
War of the Fae
(10-book series)
*Book 1, The Changelings, is a free ebook at most retailers*
Ten Things You Should Know About Dragons
(short story, The Dragon Chronicles)
My Vampire Summer
Aces High
DYSTOPIAN
Apocalypsis
(4-book series)
ROMANCE
By Degrees
Rebel
Wheels
(3-book series)
Just One Night
(romantic serial)
Just One Week
(romantic serial)
Love in New York
(3-book series)
Shine Not Burn
(2-book series), also available as an Audiobook
Bourbon Street Boys
(3-book series), also available as an Audiobook
Desperate Measures
Mismatched
ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
All the Glory: How Jason Bradley Went from Hero to Zero in Ten Seconds Flat
Don’t Make Me Beautiful
Wrecked
(2-book series),
Book 1 also available as an Audiobook
PARANORMAL
Duality
(2-book series)
Dreampath
(short story, The Telepath Chronicles)
Monkey Business
(short story, Blood Iris 2012: A Dark Fantasy Anthology )
Pocket Full of Sunshine
(short story & screenplay)
For more of the humor, action, and writing style you’ve enjoyed so far in the Drifters’ Alliance series, check out my 10-book YA Paranormal Urban Fantasy series, War of the Fae. Start with Book 1: The Changelings, a free ebook at most retailers.
