Drifters' Alliance, Book 3 (6 page)

Tam sighs. “It was … an incompatibility. That’s all I can say about it.”

I shake my head. Maybe this is where the lie will be revealed. He’s holding back information, but that’s not going to fly on my ship. “Nope. That’s not all you can say about it. We want to know everything, or you die. It’s that simple.” I play along to make him think I’m stupid. “Goodbye hard drive, goodbye upload, goodbye whatever the hell you’re talking about that’s inside that head.” I point at his skull.

“No, I don’t mean I’m withholding information from you. I’m saying that’s all I know. The Outlanders only give us enough information to function in everyday life, and they decide when it’s time for a permanent host, not us. And they haven’t decided yet.”

I cannot detect a single falsehood in anything he’s saying. So either this is the truth or he’s convinced himself that it is. Goosebumps come up on my arms.
Is this for real? Are the Outlanders really out there? Are they really coming to human biodomes and offering bodies for implantation of consciousness uploads?
The uploads are a real thing; I know that from my OSG life. But the bodies? Science fiction … until now.

Both Baebong and I roam the room with our eyes. I don’t know about him, but I’m kind of freaking out, thinking we’re about to be visited by Outlanders.

“Are they listening right now?” Baebong whispers.

Tam laughs. “No, man. I don’t think so, anyway. They just show up.” He goes more pensive. “Kind of out of the blue. It’s always a little startling, actually.”

I grab Baebong by the sleeve and pull him behind me to the door.

“What?” he asks, confused. “Where are we going? I was just getting to the good stuff.”

I yank Baebong over the threshold and shut the door, looking up to the ceiling as I do it. “Adelle?”

“Yes, Captain?”

“Under no circumstances should anyone … or any
thing
… get into that chamber I just closed without my express permission. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Captain. Would you like the status of my sweep now?”

“Yes,” I say, sighing and slumping down to nearly half my size. I’m so tired of being the captain of this Little Ship of Horrors.

“You have three listening devices, two explosive devices, and one tracking device located on or in the hull of this ship.”

“Daaaaaamn,” Baebong says in a high whisper.

“Stay here and keep an eye on him until you hear from me.” I leave him standing there as I start my jog to the flightdeck, yelling to my compubot as I go. “Details, Adelle! I’m going to need the details!”

Chapter Nine

I’M RUNNING DOWN THE CORRIDORS that lead to the flightdeck as Adelle reads off the tally of offending equipment attached to my ship. My mind is racing with thoughts about how I should handle this latest mess and who I should trust to help me with it. The list of people who qualify is getting shorter with every hour that passes, it seems.

“One listening device is located in your bunk, under your bed. It has been disabled, but it is recommended that you have it removed and disassembled manually. It appears to have reset capability.”

“Awesome.”
And by awesome I mean totally and completely messed up.

“The second listening device is located in the dining area, under the table.”

“Near which chair?” I pass my hand over the keypad to open the portal to the flightdeck.

“Two on the left from the captain’s chair.”

“Jens,” I growl out.
Sneaky little bastard. Just wait until I get my hands on you.

“The last listening device is located inside the PC Mahalo which is being towed by this ship.”

Interesting.
I wonder if good old Captain Boob knew he was being listened to.
Even more so, I wonder who was doing the listening.

“Can we do a back-trace on these devices to determine who was receiving the signals?”

“I can attempt to do this, Captain, but it is not likely to be successful, considering that I have jammed the signals as you have instructed.”

“Can’t you just un-jam them?”

“Yes, but typically, a person or computer monitoring the transmissions realizes their signal has been discovered from the moment it is jammed at the other end and will remove any trace of its existence from the link in response.”

“Oh.”
Another excellent decision by yours truly. The fun never ends!

“You said we have two explosive devices.” I walk onto the flightdeck and find Jeffers there, staring out the clearpanel at the other members of the Alliance. None of the ships has moved position or aimed anything deadly in our direction.
I guess I have that going for me.
I take a seat in my chair and lean back, preparing myself for the next bit of bad news I expect to be delivered by my compubot.

“Yes, Captain. One explosive device is located near the landing gear on the exterior of the hull, and the other is located on the flightdeck.”

Jeffers turns slowly to look at me as my eyes bug out of my head. My ass is starting to twitch really bad.

“Where is that explosive device, exactly?” I ask, my chin trembling as I await her answer.

“It is under the captain’s chair, Captain.”

I look down between my legs as my entire body breaks out in a cold sweat. “Oh. Shiiit.”

Jeffers stands in a hurry. “Adelle, what and where is the trigger?”

“The device appears to be something that would be triggered remotely. I have blocked the signal. It does not appear to pose a threat to you at this time.”

I burst into tears. Without any warning, without any thought first, I turn into a giant baby who needs her momma.

Jeffers holds his hands out toward me, waving them in his direction. “Come here, girl. Come here, right now.”

I grip the arms of the seat and squeeze, trying to lever myself up. But I’m too afraid. I’ve heard of too many bombs that went off when the weight was lifted from the triggering device. It doesn’t matter that I’ve sat in this chair countless times without setting anything off, or that the bomb has to have been put here before I came onboard. I look at Jeffers and shake my head silently.

“You’re going to be fine. Come over here. Come on, come on.”

I shake my head harder. “I can’t.”

“It won’t explode. You heard Adelle. Just stand up and walk over here.”

“I’m trying,” I say in a reedy whisper. “I can’t do it!”

The door to the flightdeck opens, and Lucinda walks through. I turn to her in a panic.

“I was just coming up here to …” She gets one look at me and stops in mid-stride. “What the heck is wrong with you?”

I can barely get the word out from behind my tears. “Bomb.”

Her eyes go wide. “Did she just say bomb?” She looks over at Jeffers for confirmation.

“It’s not a threat. I just need her to leave her chair and come over here.”

Lucinda walks backward to the door. “It’s over there? At her place?”

Jeffers nods.

Lucinda does a one-eighty and runs back through the portal and down the corridor.

I bark out a laugh in the middle of all my tears, admiring her sense of self-preservation if nothing else.

Jeffers frowns at the empty space where Lucinda used to be before he turns his attention back to me. “Okay, that’s enough of the tears. Get up and get over here. Now. Cass … don’t make me come over there.”

I laugh again, smiling weakly as my lips tremble. “You sound like my grandfather.”

“Yeah, well … I had a granddaughter who you remind me of, so listen to what I say and no one will get hurt.”

Gripping the edge of the arms of the chair, I finally find the strength and courage to stand. My legs are wobbly, but I make it over to him without blowing anything up and without vomiting. I consider that a win, even though my face is completely soggy from all the stupid crying I’ve done.

He puts an arm over my shoulders and pulls me up next to him. We’re both staring at the chair that has the offending object under it —a bomb neither of us can see from where we’re standing— when Lucinda comes running back down the corridor and onto the flightdeck. She’s holding a big canister in her hands and breathing heavily.

“What’s that?” I ask as she advances into the room.

“Cryoblaster. Let’s freeze it. It can’t blow anything up if it’s frozen solid, right?”

I look up at the ceiling, my heart soaring at the idea that Lucinda wasn’t running away … she was running to get something to save us. To save
me
.

“Adelle, what do you think about freezing this bomb? Good idea or bad idea?”

“Without knowing the exact circuitry, I could not say for certain, Captain. But some bombs are detonated by extreme shifts in temperature, so I would not advise taking that risk.”

I shrug a shoulder at Lucinda, sorry that she couldn’t be our hero today. “Probably not worth it, but I appreciate the thought.” She came back with a solution, even though she could have been injured or worse as a result. I respect the hell out of this girl right now, and it’s going to take a lot of terrible things on her part to change that.

She rests the canister on her thigh. “Yeah, well, I don’t want that thing hurting my plants.”

Or not a lot. Maybe just a few.

 
I walk backward, breaking contact with Jeffers, continuing until I can lean on the console near his chair. “Adelle? You mentioned a tracking device. Where can I find that?”

“The tracking device is located in the brig.”

 
A shiver moves up my spine. “Which chamber?”

“The chamber hosting your prisoner. The shadow, Tam.”

I drop my face into my hands and take several long breaths to try and control myself. Just when I think things can’t get worse …
does that mean the Outlanders are following me? Oh, shit. Now I’m acting like they’re real too! Is this what Darksickness feels like?

“What’s going on around here?” Lucinda asks. “Seriously. A bomb? A shadow? Did I get off the DS Anarchy and walk onto another ship without realizing it?”

I shake my head and finally look up. “Unfortunately, no. We’re both still here, and shit is seriously messed up.” I grin. “But as it turns out, it was screwed up before I got here, so you can’t blame me for any of it.”

“Huh. Guess you’re the clean-up crew.” The barest hint of a smile lights up her face before she turns to go. “Call me if you need me,” she says as she disappears down the corridor.

Jeffers drapes an arm over my shoulder. “I guess this is as good a time as any for me to tell you one more thing.”

My arms drop to my sides and my hand rests on my knife as I sigh long and loudly. “Please don’t make me stab you, Jeffers.”

He chuckles. First a little and then a lot.

“I’m not kidding.” I can’t even look at him. I just stare straight ahead.

“I’m sorry,” he says, his laughter dying down. “I just couldn’t resist. You look so stressed.”

I turn just my head to look at him. “Seriously? That’s how you work your magic, healer?”

He shrugs. “I use whatever means I have at my disposal. Humor is great medicine at times.”

I pull my knife out and hold it up at him. “So’s the blade. What’s your secret?”

He holds up his hands in surrender. “I confess that I accidentally burned Macon’s fritter.”

I grin a little as I slide my knife back home. “Good. He needs a little incentive to talk.”

Jeffers points to my chair and the offending object hiding beneath. “What are we going to do about this?”

“Good question. Adelle?” I’m looking at the ceiling again. I don’t know why; it’s not like Adelle is a god or anything.

“Yes, Captain.”

“Tell Gus to report to the flightdeck with bomb defusing equipment handy.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“And Adelle? Make sure he doesn’t take any detours toward the brig. Alert me if he does and lock him out of access to that area of the ship until further notice.”

“Yes, Captain.”

I stare down at my boots for long enough that I start swaying.

“Do you want me to manage the bomb situation while you manage other things?” Jeffers asks.

“What other things?” I look up at him.

“Macon? Lucinda? Tam?”

“No rest for the weary.” I stand more steadily, adjusting my flight suit as best I can.

He shakes his head. “Unfortunately not. And we need to show up at that meeting with something to offer our friends.”

I point out the door that Lucinda just exited. “I guess that means the biogrid is my next stop.”

“It would be if I were captain.” He bows at me and steps back.

I leave with zero bounce to my step. A garbage scow out of here is looking really good right now.

Chapter Ten

LUCINDA IS NOWHERE TO BE found when I get to the biogrid. I let myself in past the antechamber and wander the first couple rows of food items, assuming she’s going to appear any second. Tomatoes surround me along with their vines’ sharp green scent. This place is starting to feel like it’s mine, now that there’s a certain familiarity to it. I know that my next few steps will bring me to racks of lettuce and then farther on there will be peppers. I could swear the vegetables are even riper now than they were when I saw them mere hours ago. I feel pride I probably don’t deserve to have. Lucinda is the architect of this wonder, not me. But I’m going to do whatever I can to keep it going and even improve it if possible. She’ll have all the labor she needs. I just worry that if there’s a bunch of Romanii in here together, we’ll have to nail down everything on the ship we don’t want repurposed.

I open my mouth to call out to Lucinda, but then think better of it. Now’s my chance to get a closer look at things without her glare boring holes into my head. Maybe if I get a really good bead on things, I can make my own estimations about how much help we’ll need and how I might be able to compensate those people. It’s possible we could get by with just the existing crew for now, by taking turns helping out, and then handling some of the bigger projects while we’re docked at different stations, using temporary help. Surely Lucinda’s Romanii network is present enough around the galaxy that she could call members in as needed, no matter where we end up.

I take a left into an area I haven’t yet seen, and as I continue deeper into the grid, my nose is filled with the scents of growing things — soil, water, and vegetables, along with the occasional twang of flowers. It’s crazy to think all of this was happening right under Langlade’s nose without him having a single clue. He has to be the most inattentive captain who ever roamed the dark. I know he has a few ships to keep track of, and by the looks of this one, he probably didn’t use it much, but still. This is just plain neglect. He put way too much trust in that Tremblay person.