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

point of my own blade. I remain motionless as I take in the details of my predicament.
    The sharp end of my knife is ten centimeters from my eyeball and it’s being held by a miniature person with the whitest hair and the wrinkliest skin I’ve ever seen.
    “Looking for something?” the small man in front of me asks, his face expressionless, his body language anything but.

Chapter Thirteen

    I STAND SLOWLY, PULLING THE front edge of my flightsuit down to remove the folds and wrinkles from it. “Hello, Papa.” Putting my shoulders back, I stretch myself up to my full height, happy to find I have at least twenty centimeters on him. Not that I relish the idea of dropping a guy at least forty years my senior, but he does have my blade, and he is pointing it at my heart right now.
    “Hello, Captain.”
    I lift a brow. “Are you going to give that back to me, or am I going to have to take it from you?”
    He flips the knife around so fast I barely see it happening before the handle is facing me.
    I reach out to retrieve it, expecting a trick, but receiving nothing other than his penetrating gaze, taking my measure. As the knife goes back into its sheath, I breathe out a sigh of relief.
    “So, where do we go from here?” I ask.
    He shrugs. “You’re the captain.”
    “And you’re …” I wait for a response, not certain I’m going to get one from this mysterious man.
    “I am grandfather to Lucinda. I hope you’ll not blame her for my presence here.”
    I smile. “Of course I will. Who else is to blame? Jeffers? Tremblay?”
    The old man shrugs.
    “Do you have a name?”
    “I do.”
    “Feel like sharing it?”
    “Simion.”
    I nod. “And you’re the one I can thank for this biogrid, I take it.” I raise my hands up and gesture to the plants around us.
    “My granddaughter is the mistress of the grid.”
    “Ohhhh. Mistress of the grid? Fancy.” I step back, suspecting that this guy’s as wily as they come, and I really, really don’t want to cut him. If he comes at me, though, I’ll do it.
    “Shall I summon her?” he asks.
    I can’t decide if he’s worried, planning something, or completely unfazed by all of this. His expression is as plain as Baebong’s is when he’s asleep.
    I shake my head. “No need. She’s busy collecting food for our friends, and I have other things I need to do. You and I can catch up later.”
    He nods and folds his hands in front of him, reminding me of Jeffers. Do they know each other?
    “You don’t need to hide anymore,” I say as I’m walking away sideways, keeping my eyes on him. “Now that I know you’re here, there’s no point.” He’s kind of a stowaway and kind of not, since he is at least partially responsible for the food we’ll be eating and the system that generates it. Unlike Macon, he’s not taking without giving, and he’s been a shadow member of this crew since before I arrived.
    “We were never hiding from you,” he says as I turn the first corner.
    I don’t bother to go back and discuss that with him, because first of all, I don’t believe it, and second of all, I already have enough mystery on this ship to manage. I have a party to go to, and before I get there, I need to decide how much of my current situation I’m going to share with the other Alliance members. Dealing with a hidden Romanii grandpa is last on my list of priorities.  
    I’m sliding into my boots when Macon comes around the corner ahead of Lucinda. He takes one look at me and jumps up, spinning around to face Lucinda and block her cart from going any farther. She remains just out of sight as a result, giving me enough time to finish putting my boots on before she shoves Macon out of the way with her cart and sends him sprawling to the ground at my feet.
    “Move!” she yells. “How many times do I have to tell you, we’re on a tight schedule!”
    She stops short when she comes around the corner and sees me. “What are you doing here?” She glances over at the