Drifters' Alliance, Book 3 by Elle Casey

telling me all the information he has about me right now, but instead he’s choosing not to. He’d rather play games. That tells me more than anything that I can’t let my guard down around him. I almost hope he tries to jump me from behind on our way up to the flightdeck so I can remind him once more that I’m not as easy a mark as he thinks I am.
    But he doesn’t do anything of the sort. Instead, he runs ahead of me so he can be the one to open the door. He waits and gestures for me to go first.
    “After you, Captain.”
    I sock him in the gut as I walk by and leave him wheezing in the door.
    “So, what’d I miss?” I ask, searching the space for someone to answer my question.
    The only one around is Gus. He’s under my chair with just his legs sticking out of the bottom. “Well, you didn’t miss much.” He sounds very unhappy, and I assume it’s because I have his brother in the brig. But when he slides out from under the chair and sits up, I realize it could actually be something else.
    “Just some dick cheese thinking it would be fun to surprise the person disarming your bomb with a little something extra.”
    His face is bright red, splotchy, and bleeding in spots.
    I walk closer. “What in the hell happened to your face?”
    “Acid spray. Nice, eh?” He throws a set of pliers and what I assume is part of a dismantled incendiary device over at the toolbox he brought with him. “You’re all set. No more bombski.”
    I walk closer and stop when I’m just in front of him, peering at his skin. Most of his freckles have been destroyed, and if he hadn’t been wearing the goggles he’s pushing up onto his head with a wince, he’d probably be blind too. He’s got to be in serious pain. “You need to get this looked at right away.”
    He tries to smile, but then winces when it makes his skin crack and bleed even more. “Good thing I’m going to a party with a bunch of med techs, isn’t it?”
      I nod, placing my hand on his shoulder and shaking him a little. The front of his clothing starts to fall away as the threads give up the fight against the acid. “We’ll get to the bottom of this very soon, I promise.”
    “Bottom of what? My face? All the bombs everywhere? My brother?”
    I try not to cringe at his accusatory words, but it’s impossible. This ship is just one disaster after another. “All of it,” I say finally. “I’m going to fix all of it, come hell or high water.”
    “Come hell or a device I can’t disarm, you mean.” His attempt at a grin comes out like starshine reflected off a gleaming hull of a new ship. It gives me hope that things won’t suck quite so much in our future if I can just get this crew of amazing, slightly crazy people to stick with me.
    “Do they make such a device?” I ask, tilting my head to the side.
    He grins again. “Not that I’ve ever seen. But I’m willing to try building one.”
    “That’s the spirit.” I look around. “Where’s Jeffers?”
    “I think he’s in the galley getting things ready for the party. Said he has a special brew planned.”
    I rub my hands together. “Goody. Just what I need. Something to drown my sorrows in.”
    “Just don’t get too sloppy,” Gus says as he heads for the door. “Once I get my MI taken care of, I’ll have the skin of a baby again. You’re going to have a hard time keeping your hands off me.”
    I wait until he’s gone before I burst out into laughter.

Chapter Fourteen

    MY CREW, MINUS ONE HIDEAWAY grandpa and one shadow, are standing in the cargo bay for a quick briefing before we head through the airlock to the meet and greet with the other members of the Alliance. I only had time for a quick wash before coming, but at least my flight suit is clean. I pull at the bottoms of it, hoping it doesn’t look too wrinkled. It didn’t have time to go through a full cycle in the machine.
    “So,” I say, addressing the group. “We’ve had quite the day.”
    Mutters come from my crewmates but