Drifters' Alliance, Book 2 (17 page)

“What?” he’s looking behind him, seeing if I got any vomit on his back. “I can’t understand a damn thing you’re saying.”

I shove him out of the way and hop, skip, and jump up to the captain’s chair. Once there, I call up a frequency that I know by heart. Every OSG recruit learns it and commits it to memory, just in case we’re ever caught out in the Dark and in need of a rescue.

I lean down very close to the comm box and speak as slowly and as carefully as I can, hoping my words will come out clearly enough to be understood.

“Warship Baltimore, this is the DS Anarchy, extending a reach. Over.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

“WHAT IN THE HELL ARE you doing?!” Baebong yells at me. My eardrum is ringing from the vibrations of his anger. “You can’t call them over here! We’re waiting for the Alliance to show up!”

I hold my hands out to shut him up. I can’t yell back so he needs to calm down to listen. When he’s chill enough to just fume and glare at me, I respond. “I realize that. But do you see them out there anywhere?” We both turn to the clearpanel that shows nothing but distant stars, planets, and moons. “This is the only way to save Tam that I know of, unless you have other ideas.”

“I don’t know,” he growls, the anger down a notch or two. “Maybe we could fetch that bloated pirate and take his AI out. Maybe whatever he has could work for Tam.”

I try to laugh but it hurts too much. “Are you kidding? Are you that kind of surgeon? Are you that kind of
crazy
?”

Baebong says nothing because we both already know the answer to my question. He’s no surgeon, that’s for damn sure. He’s better at blowing things up than carefully slicing things and putting them back together.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

“At least move us to a new location first,” he begs.

I’m about to argue, but he’s making too much sense for that. I should have come up with that idea myself, but I’m obviously too panicked to be sly.

“Fine. Give us a few klicks to work with.” I sit down in the captain’s chair while he fires up the comm and the thrusters.

“Attention all crewmembers,” Baebong says, “we are about to take a little voyage, nothing to worry your pretty little heads over, but if you’re carrying any scissors, please secure them at this time. And do not, whatever you do, run with them.”

I stroke my neck, trying to calm the burning soreness in the front of it that feels like it’s slowly wrapping around to my spine. Baebong gives us twenty-five percent aft thrust and a destination fifty klicks from where we are currently. With our gravity algos working to negate the inertial displacement, the crew will probably think we’ve only gone two klicks, and we’ll get there in less than a minute if my quick math is any good. I don’t even sense the ship moving, but I can see through the clearpanel and my instrumentation that it is.
Fifty seconds remaining…come on, Overshine, don’t answer me yet. Just give me … forty-five more seconds…

A voice comes out over the comm as we’re slowing down at our new location. I breathe out a sigh of relief and hold up a hand at Baebong so he knows to maintain our current position. His hands work the array to set up our anchor point.

“DS Anarchy, this is Warship Baltimore, reach accepted. State your position.”

“I’d like to speak to your captain, Baltimore, if possible. Terrick Overshine, I believe his name is.” Hopefully he hasn’t been replaced or relieved of duty in the day and a half we’ve been apart.

There’s a long pause and Baebong takes the opportunity to give me two more cents’ worth of advice. “We just got rid of those guys, and now you’re going to call them over. You’re going to regret this, I know you are.”

“Just shut up and try for once in your life to support me.”

“Support you?
Support you
? That’s all I’ve ever done since I met you. Maybe you haven’t noticed it, but I’m the guy always walking around behind you cleaning up your messes.”

I snort. “Yeah, right. And you aren’t ever making any messes that others have to clean up, is that it?”

He just glares at me because we’re hearing a voice again on the comm.

“DS Anarchy, this is Captain Overshine.”

His voice gives me both chills and thrills. He is my salvation and could be my demise too. Baebong is probably right about me eventually regretting this conversation, but what else could I do? I have a crew member dying. I can’t just let that go because I’m afraid of what will happen to me.

I hold my hand on my throat, hoping for the pain to subside. “Captain, thank you for accepting our reach. I had a little problem with a rogue pirate, and now I’ve got an injured crew member on board who needs more MI than we can handle.”

Baebong leans in to the comm at his station, links up, and speaks. “Make that two crewmembers.”

I flip him off as Overshine comes back to us.

“Is it one or two? State the nature of the injuries.”

I glare at Baebong, warning him silently not to cut in again. “Knife wound to the abdomen. Couple of broken bones. Crushed windpipe.” I try to clear my throat, but it hurts too much so I give up. It may have sounded like I burped over the comm.

“Cass?” Overshine says. “Is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” I sound completely defeated, which is perfect since that’s how I feel.

“I take it you’re the one with the crushed windpipe.”

I don’t bother answering.

His voice comes over again, only this time it’s quieter, like he’s trying to keep his own crew from listening in. “I wondered when someone was going to finally give you a run for your money.”

Baebong strides over and pushes me away from the comm, keeping me from saying what I really, really want to say to that arrogant jerk. He leans over so he can speak into my array. “Captain Overshine, our coordinates are x-ray 369, yankee 640, zulu 120, trajectory kilo. We are anchored.”

“Coordinates accepted. We are en route to your position, E.T.A. nineteen minutes. Remain anchored until further notice.”

“Yes, Captain. We’ll do that.” Baebong shuts off the comm and glares at me.

I glare back.

We stay that way for a really long time, neither wanting to be the first to back down. His face could be carved from stone it’s so smooth, so perfect, so without any expression at all.

“You blinked,” he finally says, backing away toward his console.

“Fuck that, you blinked.” I look away and close my lids a few times to lubricate my eyeballs. I hate playing that game with him. He always wins.

“Didn’t.” He turns around and sits down with his back to me.

If I had anything on me that could detach, I’d throw it at his head, but all I have as weapons right now are insults. “Just because you’re a slant-eye doesn’t mean I can’t tell when you’re blinking.”

He snorts. “Don’t be jealous.”

We sit in silence for a long time. He messes around with his array trying to pick up the approaching warship, and I chew on my lip as I consider our situation.

Tam’s in the infirmary already on the way to dying. If his heart and brain stop before the Baltimore gets here, I know we can keep him alive until they’re in a position to intervene. That’s the good news. The bad news is that they might have to put some AI in him to get him back on his feet, and I never trust those part-human bastards who aren’t 100% flesh and blood.

I’ve always been a purist at heart, and that damn Captain Boob certainly isn’t inspiring me to change my thinking on that, but maybe I’ll have to make an exception for the twins. This hunk of junk ship is not going to fly without those two in the engine room putting out fires.

Jeffers is probably going to be nervous about the OSG being so close, so I’ll need to explain to him that it’s not meant to get him in trouble. And who the hell knows what’s up with Macon or Lucinda. Probably both of them would rather shoot me than look at me. Macon will probably freak, thinking I’m going to give him up to the OSG. There’s no way I can hide him away, though. Those OSG bastards are going to be all up in my butt as soon as we’re docked together.

Gah! Everything is awesome on the DS Anarchy! So glad I won this ship in a card game!
If I ever see Langlade again, I’m going to kick him in the balls. I’m starting to think he lost on purpose.

Chapter Twenty-Six

I’M STANDING IN THE CARGO bay with Jeffers on my right and Baebong on my left. Gus is with his brother, monitoring the heart/lung machine he’s hooked to, the only thing keeping Tam alive right now. The airlock is open, thanks to Lucinda. The girl with short, black hair I remember seeing from the last time we were boarded by the OSG appears on the WS Baltimore’s end.

She waits until two of her armed crewmates are behind her before she steps over to our side. Courtesy says they should leave their weapons in there, but of course they aren’t into the whole manners thing. They board my ship with their firepower strapped to their legs and slung over their backs.

“Where is the patient?” she asks.

I nod at Jeffers before looking at her. “Nice to see you again. My man Jeffers will show you the way.”

Her eyes flash annoyance, but she nods and follows behind him, one of her crewmates joining her. The other remains at the entrance to the airlock on our side.

Baebong leans in closer. “You want me here or in there with Tam?”

I turn to face him so the guy at the door can’t read my lips and whisper in his ear. “You stay here. If anything happens to me, you’re in charge. Go meet up with you know who, you know where, and continue on as planned.”

He frowns, trying to speak low without looking too suspicious about it. “I’m not leaving here without you or Tam.”

I shrug and glance over my shoulder just in time to see Overshine appearing at the far end of the airlock. “You might not have a choice.”

I separate from Baebong and walk over to meet the captain of the WS Baltimore at my door.

“Captain,” he says, stopping and giving me a slight nod. His eyes roam the cargo area, taking in details most people would probably miss.

“Captain,” I say back. “Thank you for your assistance.”

“Haven’t given any yet,” he says, his eyes back on me. “You cleaned your ship.”

“Just a vacuum cycle.”

“Any reason you were hanging around out here in the middle of nowhere?” He puts his hands behind his back, standing at military rest, but I know better. He’s on high alert, waiting for me to do something crazy or for some big surprise to come out at him.

I shrug. “Just conserving energy, not looking for trouble. Cleaning up.” I sweep my arm around the area. “As you can see, we still have some work to do.” I rub my throat, hoping he’ll get the hint that I don’t exactly feel like being chatty.

The guy behind him glances at me and then stares straight ahead again.

“What happened?” He gestures at me with his forehead. “To your face. And your throat.”

“Some guy, a pirate …” I rub my throat again.

“That his rig out there?” Overshine turns slightly to recognize the PC that’s still strapped to the ship, albeit farther down the hull than it was originally. We had to move it back to make room for the docking maneuver with the WS Baltimore. Baebong’s ridiculous lasso system is working well enough that we can use it as a temporary sling holding the PC to us.

I nod.

“And he just showed up out of nowhere?”

I shift my weight to my other foot and then wince.

He frowns at me.

Hoping to distract him from his last question, I hold out my foot. “Managed to break a toe or two.” I life my hand. “And a finger.” I smile. “Not so great for the balance.”

His eyebrows go up. “Sounds like you took a beating.”

I nod. “He had some AI going for him. It wasn’t a fair fight.”

A jaw muscle twitches out at the side of his face. “You should be looked at.”

I wave him off. “Nah, I’m fine.”

“I insist.”

I open my mouth to protest, but he’s already turning away. “Corporal, see the captain to our infirmary.”

“Yes, Sir,” says the guy standing at the doorway. He turns sideways, expecting me to just do what I’m told.

I try like hell not to lose my temper. “In case you haven’t noticed, I have a ship to run here.”

Overshine’s smile is tight. “Not to worry. We won’t let anything happen to your ship while you’re otherwise occupied.” He holds a hand out and gestures for me to go ahead to the airlock. “After you.”

“I need to wait for my crewmember, Tam, to be taken care of.”

Overshine puts his hand on his chest. “I will personally see that he is escorted onto the ship and treated. You’ll be of more use to your crew when you can walk, talk, and flip a bird properly, trust me.”

My jaw goes off kilter as I consider the fact that he just tried to be humorous. I’m pretty sure that’s what he was doing, anyway. I don’t remember him being the type to crack jokes, though. The confused expression on his crewmate’s face tells me I’m not alone in this.

“I have two hands, you know,” I say, walking past him. “Two birds.”

It’s not going to do me any good to argue with him on this, so I act like it’s my idea to go through the airlock and into the belly of this beast of a warship. The footsteps behind me can only belong to him. He acts like he owns the place instead of just captaining it. I smirk.
I own my ship, asshole. You’re just piloting one.

“Take a right,” he says.

I limp to the right as instructed, but go as fast as I can so he won’t be inspired to try and help me.

“Tell me why you’re really out here,” he says. His voice is closer. Really close. I’m surprised I can’t feel his breath on the back of my neck.

“I already told you. Cleaning up.”

“You’ve made some modifications to your cargo area.”

“Noticed that, huh?” I knew he was scanning the space. He probably thinks he’ll find clues of my plans hanging on the walls or something. He always did underestimate me.

“Kind of hard to miss. You missing your Level workouts?”

I snort. “Yeah. Right.”

“You could always come back, you know. All would be forgiven.”

 
I slow down so he can catch up. Then I stop and he does the same, standing next to me. “Don’t think for a single second that I have any interest in being involved with the OSG,” I say in a low, but serious voice. With the problem I’m having in my throat, I sound like a wounded animal or something.