Drifters' Alliance, Book 3 by Elle Casey Read Free Book Online

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.