Drifters' Alliance, Book 3 (3 page)

I catch just a glimpse of him as he disappears around a corner. He’s moving pretty damn fast for a guy who was dead less than a day ago.

“Get back here, Tam!” I’m hoping he’ll hear me over the sound of all the machines working in here. “I need to talk to you!”

“Just leave him alone!” Gus grunts out, trying to stand amidst the chaos he crashed into. “He’ll be fine in a little while. He just needs some time …”

“Screw that.” I take off at a light jog, hopping over parts that shouldn’t be on the floor. “Tam! Stop running!” I reach the corner and hesitate. “And don’t you dare throw anything at me, or I’m going to make you eat it when I finally catch you.”

There’s no response and no sounds of crashing equipment anywhere close by, so I continue on after taking a quick look to verify it’s safe. The next aisle is empty, save for more bits of metal on the floor.

“Adelle!” I’m already breathless. I think it’s adrenaline making me feel like I’m about to run out of oxygen, though, and not my fitness level. Except for the panic making my chest heave, I feel like I could run fifty kilometers.
Thank the scarciossis chamber for that.
Who knew I’d need the extra boost of new bone strength to tackle one of my engineers?

“Yes, Captain.” Her voice is everywhere in here.

I climb over a large piece of equipment I can’t identify, abandoned right in the middle of the aisle. “Where is Tam?”

“Tam is behind you, Captain.”

I stop in my tracks and spin around with my fists up, expecting to be delivering a knockout punch that’ll save my life.

Except … there’s no one there. Just equipment — hot, stinking, and blinking lights like it always does.

“No, Adelle, that’s Gus back there. Where’s Tam?”

“Tam is behind you, Captain.”

My fists lower to my sides. “Okay, Adelle … then where is Gus?”

“Gus is behind you, Captain.”

My head drops to my chest. “Adelle. I really, really hate you sometimes. Did you know that? And just in case you were wondering, now is one of those times.”

“I am sorry, Captain. Have I done something to displease you?”

“Yes, you have. You’re telling me both of the twins are behind me, when I just saw one of them running ahead of me. So, unless this engine room is one big circle, which I’m pretty sure it isn’t, then you’re not being truthful. Or at the very least, you’re confused. Either way, it makes me hate you, because if you were a human, you’d have an excuse for your failures, and I’d have reason to feel forgiving. But you’re not, so I can’t, and I don’t.”

“I understand your logic, Captain, but the mistake is not mine.”

“Well, whose is it, then?”

“It is yours, Captain.”

I stand there listening to the engine’s computers whirring and the mechanical clanking and hissing of parts sliding together as they do the engineers’ bidding. But for the life of me, even though nothing else is intruding on my thought process, I cannot figure out how she could possibly be correct.

“I don’t get it, Adelle. Please explain to me how the twins can be ahead of me and behind me and also
both
behind me at the same time.”

“The crewmember you saw running ahead of you, who remains ahead of you crouched down behind wall seven, space six, is the shadow-self of the human formerly known as Tam. Tam’s twin brother Gus, the host of Tam’s true consciousness and himself a fully functioning human, is behind you. That, Captain, is how the twins, as you call them, can be both ahead of you and behind you simultaneously.”

My hands and feet go numb as the reality of what she’s saying settles in. My whisper is high and almost not there. “Holy mother of all freaks of nature …” The lack of feeling in my feet causes me to stumble, and I fall backward slightly, banging my shoulder and back into a bank of servers. Alarms blare out at me until I get off them by righting myself.

Footsteps come from around the corner behind me, and Gus shows up. He opens his mouth to say something, but I stop him completely with a punch to the nose. I rest in a fighter’s stance, staying light on my toes with my hands up, ready for anything.
This can’t be happening! This can’t be happening! They’re not real! Shadowing is not real!

His head snaps back and he stumbles, while his hands fly up to protect his face from further abuse. Blood comes out from behind his fingers as he finds his feet and stares at me, fear in his eyes.

“Get back to the front of the engine room,” I growl at him, lowering my hands a little so he can see my eyes, understand that I mean what I say.

“What the hell, Captain! I mean heck. What the heck? Why’d you hit me?” He sounds like he’s going to cry.

I point to a spot over his shoulder, leaning toward him enough that he draws away with fear in his eyes. “Get
back
to the front of the engine room and wait for me there. Don’t
leave
, don’t fucking
call
anyone, and don’t under any circumstances do
anything
to affect that shadow-beast back there.” I jerk my thumb behind me before putting my fists up together again. I am so ready to knock his stupid ginger ass out.

Gus’s face falls. “Shadow-beast? He’s not a shadow-beast. He’s my brother.”

“My ass, he’s your brother. He’s a monster, and you know it.” I don’t know what the hell is really going on here, but if Adelle is right, and Tam really is what she says he is, we are in a shitload of trouble.

I leave Gus there, promising myself that if he doesn’t follow my orders to the letter and bring his stupid ass to the front of the engine room, I’m going to float him
and
his science experiment gone wrong without a single regret.

Chapter Four

I FIND THE IMPOSTER EXACTLY where Adelle said I would, crouched in a niche of wall seven at space six. He looks smaller when he’s balled up the way he is, making it even easier to not recognize him as Tam anymore.

I want to kick this alleged non-human until he keels over dead, but I don’t. I stand a meter away, legs apart, ready for anything. If he so much as looks at me funny, I’m going to cut his head off.

“Get up.” I recognize my tone and cringe a little inside. There’s too much Drake in me.
Too much, too much, too much. This whole thing is too much.

He doesn’t move.

“I said, get
up
.” I take in a deep breath and let it out, trying to bring my temper and fear down a few notches. I need to be rational and reasonable. If handled incorrectly, this situation could turn the entire crew into a mob of angry people.
Please don’t let there be a whole crew of shadow-beasts on here!
I nearly laugh out loud at myself then.
What am I thinking? Shadowing isn’t real. It’s just stories told in the dark to get people riled up.
But something weird is going on here, and until I know what it is, I’m not letting my guard down.

“You’re going to kill me.” He’s afraid. I take that as a very good sign.

“Yeah. Maybe. For sure I will if you don’t do what I tell you to do.”
Five seconds, Shadow or whatever you are. You have five seconds to get up or I will stab you in the neck.

He lifts his head and stares at me with the saddest expression. “I’m not a shadow-beast. I’m human. As human as you, but with my consciousness uploaded as a copy and the original stored elsewhere.”

That just pisses me off. Even if he’s only deluded, it’s like Adelle telling me she’s a person. “No, shadows are
not
human.” I nudge him with my toe. “Get up right now or you’re going to say goodbye to your consciousness copy or whatever it is you think you have in that head of yours.”

He slowly unwraps himself and gets to his feet. He stands slouched over, his head nearly to his chest. “I’m up. Now what?”

I’m not sure I believe I’m standing here looking at a real, live shadow. Like everyone I’ve ever known, I thought those things were only beasts of myth and legend, tales imagined and spread by outlaw scientists in the Far Reaches to keep the OSG centralized and motivated to remain that way. We all have our bogeymen, even the OSG.

I motion with the knife I’ve pulled from my thigh holster. “Move.”

“Where are we going?”

“Not we,
you
. I’m moving you to the brig where you will remain until I figure out what the hell I’m going to do with you.” He’s either crazy off the range, or some kind of science experiment. Regardless, I don’t want that nonsense around my engine room. It makes me shiver to think how long he’s been in here messing around already.

He trudges ahead of me, but doesn’t go quietly like I wish he would.

“You can’t run this ship without me here. If I’m stuck in the brig, you’re going to have problems.”

“Gus can handle it.”

“Gus can handle the electronics. He can’t handle the mechanics.”

If what I know about shadow science is right, if the myths are to be believed, this is a lie. “Sure he can. He’s got both of you in his head, right?”

“Yeah, but he can only use one consciousness in one body at a time, and you need two bodies down here to use both consciousnesses.”

My head is spinning.

Shadow-Tam turns the corner and moves down wall six. “The ship’s already barely functioning as it is. You can’t afford to lock me away.”

“And I can’t afford to let you work down here without supervision!” I scream at the back of his head, beyond frustrated. “So where does that leave me?!”

Macon’s comments about me being set up to win this ship are making more sense with every passing second. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that someone out there hates my guts enough to orchestrate this entire thing, and is watching all of this roll out and laughing his ass off. Hell, whoever it is is probably broadcasting it as some sort of reality entertainment for the universe to enjoy. It makes me sick to even imagine it — being the star dupe in the con of the century.

He crouches down and pauses in response to my yelling at him, probably waiting for me to stab him in the back. After a couple seconds he looks over his shoulder at me. “Gus supervises me all the time. You don’t have to worry about it.”

I gesture at all the crap on the ground around us. “Yeah. He’s doing a fabulous job of that, I can see.”

Tam has the decency to look a little chagrined. “Sometimes I get frustrated. It’s all part of the process.”

I press my hands over my ears, careful not to nick myself with my blade in the process. “Shut up. I don’t want to hear that garbage.”

“It’s not garbage, Captain.” His voice is bleeding through my fingers, much as I don’t want it to. “It’s my life. It’s who I am now.”

I let my ears go and point my knife at him. “Shadows are fucking monsters, and I don’t want to hear another word about your so-called life, okay? Just shut up and walk. Not another word.”

He turns and does as I asked, every step leaden and deliberate. His boots kick loose parts strewn on the floor off to the side indiscriminately. I maintain a safe distance, watching his arms for any sudden movements toward our equipment, telling myself I’ll throw this knife into his spine to keep him from destroying anything. But he does nothing outwardly threatening, and we reach the engine room’s workspace without incident, sparing both of us that nightmare.

Gus is waiting with streaks through the grime on his face. He’s been crying. “You’re okay,” he says to Tam, sighing with relief.

“No, Gus. I’m not okay,” Tam says, disgusted. He looks away, and fixes his gaze on a spot on the wall.

I take the long way around Tam and end up at the door. Facing them, I speak to Gus, the only semi-sane person in the room besides me. “Both of you are to report to the brig immediately.”

“Adelle can’t run this room by herself,” Gus says.

“Adelle is not a
her
!” I scream, sounding a little unhinged but unable to stop myself. “It’s a fucking compubot! It doesn’t get to be a
her
, and
that
doesn’t get to be a
him
!” I jab the air in Shadow-Tam’s direction.
Great. Now I’m defaulting to actually believing what he says is real.

Gus’s eyes go wide but he nods, his voice very calm. “You’re right. About Adelle. I’m sorry.” He puts his hands out like he’s surrendering to someone with a gun. “I’m just saying that the compubot is not capable of managing the engine room. You need hands.” He holds his out for me to see, wiggling his fingers for effect. “Two sets of them.” He looks over at the shadow version of his brother. “You need me and Tam.”

“Too bad we don’t have Tam, then, isn’t it?” I stride over and grab the wannabe human by the shoulder, shoving him toward the door. “Get to the brig.”

Tam leans over and opens the portal with a swipe of his hand.

I point at Gus while keeping half an eye on his brother. “You stay here. Don’t leave.”

“Don’t hurt my brother,” he says, for the first time sounding strong and unafraid.

“How could I possibly do that? According to you, your bother is already dead.” I glare at him one last time before leaving him and locking the door behind me.

Chapter Five

“YOU KNOW … I’M GLAD THIS happened,” Shadow-Tam says as he walks in front of me to the brig.

“Stop talking.” I hate that this person, this
thing,
is speaking to me.

Apparently, part of my brain has decided Gus and the-thing-formerly-known-as-Tam could be telling the truth.
Why can’t it just shut up until I can figure out what to do with it?

“It’s better if we get things out in the open. There are too many secrets on this ship. I can see now that you’ll never be able to be an effective leader without knowing what’s really going on.”

Much as I’d like to keep telling him to shut his mouth, now he has me curious. And I’m not naive enough to think that this wasn’t his plan all along, from the moment he started talking.

We reach the brig, and I open the nearest door. “Get in.”

He walks inside and turns around when he’s in the middle of the chamber. “Please don’t be angry at Gus. He’s just doing what any loving brother would do in his situation.”

“Bullshit. I’d never do it.”
Shadow science? Moving cerebral uploads into other bodies? No way.
The OSG always taught us that cerebral uploads were for future scientific uses with computers, not something that would actually be put into a walking, talking, breathing body that comes from … who the hell knows where.