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

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