Free Drifters' Alliance, Book 2 by Elle Casey

got here. So what or who is the connection among him, Rollo, and me? Because I have no idea who this character Captain Bob is, and I’ve never met Rollo before in my life.

Chapter Eleven

    I HIT THE COMM BUTTON and bring up both the engine room and the biogrid. Captain Bob hasn’t responded to my last transmission yet, so I’m going to take advantage of his reticence to gather some info.
    “Attention, Gus, Tam, and Lucinda. If you know anyone named Captain Bob of the PC Mahalo, speak now or forever hold your peace. I’m about to blow him out of the Dark unless he’s a friend of yours.” My plan is not actually to blow him anywhere, but I need an immediate answer from my crewmembers, and I figure this is the best way to get it.
    The twins are the first to respond. “Tam and Gus here. We don’t know him. Are you really going to vaporize him? Can we watch?”
    I cut them off without responding.
    Lucinda is next. I can tell from her tone that she hasn’t forgiven me. “He’s no one I know.”
    She wouldn’t let a family member fry, so I’m not going to worry that I’ll upset the Romanii nation on this one.
    “I don’t know him either,” volunteers Jeffers, “but he could be anyone. He’s not necessarily a threat.”
    Captain Bob finally comes back on the line. “Rollo? Who’s Rollo? I don’t know any Rollo.”
    His clueless denial and its delayed arrival scream culpability to me. “Okay, then, I guess you won’t mind watching him float.” I let the comm stay hot while I issue my next order. “Jeffers, please go get our stowaway and escort him to the float chamber.”
    Jeffers stands slowly and then points to himself and the door, mouthing something silently. While I can’t figure out exactly what he’s trying to say, I assume he’s asking if I really mean what I said, so I nod and gesture again, urging him to hurry up. The sound of the flightdeck door opening and Jeffers’ retreating footsteps transmit over to the PC Mahalo.
    “In about five minutes, Captain Bob, you’re going to see your friend Rollo’s face in the float chamber’s airlock, and by then it’ll be too late. Once I press that button, it’s all over but the exploding lungs.”
    I look over at Baebong while muting the comm. “Put that chamber on live comm. Let Captain Bob hear what Rollo has to say.”
    “You’re not really going to float him out there, are you?”
    I shrug, trying to act casual about something I’m now in too deep to completely control. I have no plan other than to try and get this guy to fold before I have to. Of course I’m not going to float that idiot Rollo, but I’m not against using him to further my purposes. At least he’ll have some value to me before I dump him off at the next station. Hopefully this Captain Bob won’t call my bluff.  
    “Not if I don’t have to,” I say, when Baebong doesn’t seem satisfied with my body language. It’s better if my crew believes I’ll do it. Tone of voice can tell too much about a person’s state of mind, and I don’t want Baebong or Jeffers letting this Bob guy know I’m bluffing.
    “Crazy bitch,” Baebong mutters, but he turns around and links in the comm from the float chamber. Soon, the sounds of a struggle and Rollo’s frustrated voice come over the line. I love how he’s playing the roll of freaked out prisoner on death’s doorstep so well. If this Captain Bob knows him at all and likes him even the littlest bit, we’ll find out.
    “What’s going on?!” Rollo screeches in fear. “Why is Rollo here in the float chamber?! Rollo hates float chambers! Rollo’s claustrophobic! Rollo’s allergic to the Dark!”
    Apparently he didn’t hear my last transmission asking whether anyone knows Captain Bob. Even better. I flick on the visual link so we can see what’s happening.
    Jeffers has Rollo’s arm twisted behind his back and his body pressed into the side wall of the chamber very near the clearpanel. I find myself smiling, looking