by R. M. Olson
Contents
The Ungovernable series
Dedication
Title Page
TIME BOMB
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
ENJOYED THE BOOK?
The Ungovernable series:
Zero Day Threat
Jailbreak
Time Bomb
Insider Threat
Blacklist (coming October 2020)
To my writer friends, who consistently talked me off the cliff as I wrote this
TIME BOMB
Book 3 in The Ungovernable series
R.M. OLSON
Copyright (c) 2020
R.M. Olson
All rights reserved
TIME BOMB
A virus planted on a computer or system that is programmed to come into effect at some specified later time.
CHAPTER ONE
Jez tossed a handful of gambling chips onto the open cockpit floor of the Ungovernable and eased herself down into a slightly stiff slouch. “Alright, Olya, listen up. You know how to play fool’s tokens, right?”
The eight-year-old gave her a skeptical look. “You know my mamochka, Aunty Jez. What do you think?”
From the copilot’s seat, Lev gave a long-suffering sigh. Jez looked up at him and winked.
Despite the fact that he still looked like a damn scholar, something about his dark, tousled hair and mild, intelligent eyes made her heart stutter just a little. It had been happening far too often over the last couple days.
Which was completely stupid.
She shook her head and turned back to Olya. “Fair point. OK, first—”
The ship jolted, and Jez grabbed for the corner of her pilot’s seat with her good arm as gambling tokens skittered across the floor.
She swore through her teeth.
“What—” began Lev, but she’d felt that kind of jolt before on a ship. She jumped to her feet, swearing louder as her broken ribs protested, and flipped the holoscreen up. A red dot flashed from behind them, then another, then another, and as she watched, a streak of yellow shot out from the one in the centre towards their ship.
Damn. This far out in deep space they shouldn’t have to deal with this crap.
She slid into the pilot’s seat and flipped power to the rear shields on instinct as it hit, and a crackling spark of energy shot up the back of the ship as it jolted again.
“We’re being shot at,” she gritted. “Someone’s firing on my damn ship. Olya, get back to your mama, I’ll teach you to gamble later.” Olya nodded, face pale, and slipped out the cockpit door.
Adrenalin crackled through Jez’s body, but she couldn’t stop grinning. Probably shouldn’t be, but hell, it had been way too long since she’d gotten into a decent fight.
Three days, at least.
She shoved down on the controls, and the Ungovernable nose-dived as another shot skimmed their port side.
“Strap down, everyone,” she called over the ship’s com. “Things are about to get interesting.”
Lev had already strapped in, his face slightly pale.
“Get Ysbel onto the guns,” she snapped at him, and he nodded and hit the com.
Jez whipped the Ungovernable in a tight circle, the pressure of the restraints against her injuries bringing momentary stars to her vision, then yanked back on the controls as another shot whispered just under them, her beautiful, perfect ship responding to her lightest touch as if reading her thoughts.
That was the secret—if you got too far, they’d adjust their aim. Let them think they had you, every single time.
A red damage report scrolled across her screen from the last hit, and she swore under her breath.
Whatever these ships were using, it wasn’t a short-haul ion-cannon.
“What the hell was that?” she snapped over the com. “Tae?”
“I don’t know.” Tae’s voice over the com was strained. “Stand by, I need to get on the shields.”
Another shot, and at the last moment she pulled into a roll, the shot sliding past her starboard side.
She had visuals on her attackers now, three bright points against the clean, cold black of deep space—sleek, fast short-hauls with the slim body and short wings of something that could go in-atmosphere as well as out. Something designed for speed and maneuverability, and from the looks of it, a hell of a lot of firepower.
They’d be fast.
But they had no idea what they were getting into.
“Ysbel, you on?” she called into the com.
In response, Ysbel’s guns cracked out, a thin line of blue slicing through the black, and caught the wingtip of one of the sleek flyers, sending it spinning away from them, energy sparking across its shields.
“That shot should have vaporized them,” Ysbel grunted over the com in her heavy outer-rim accent. “They’re running shields I’ve never seen on a short-haul.”
The two remaining ships spun in formation, and another yellow crackle of energy jolted past her, followed by two more—the damaged ship had, apparently, rejoined the fight. At the last second Jez pulled into a roll, biting down hard against the pain as her body pressed against the restraints. Two of the shots slid past her starboard side, but the last slammed into her shields. More red scrolled across her holoscreen.
Tae staggered into the cockpit, trademark scowl on his dark face, dressed, as usual, in his worn mechanic coveralls that almost made him look like the street-kid he’d been, up until a month ago. He shoved his hair out of his eyes and glared at her. “For heaven’s sake, Jez, I said—”
“Bit busy now, trying to keep us all alive and everything,” she shot back. She pointed her ship’s nose starboard, then spun hard to port, whipping the Ungovernable’s stern around so she was coming up on the belly-side of her attackers.
Another blue line from the Ungovernable’s gunports lit the black of space, narrowly missing the foremost ship.
Ysbel swore over the com. “I can’t aim if you won’t let me line up, you idiot pilot.”
“Might not have to,” she murmured. “Just give me a sec.”
The ships had caught on to her maneuvers now, and split up, flying in close. They were going to hit her from three sides, which, if they were firing regular ion cannons, wouldn’t be a problem with the kind of shields her angel was running. But whatever they were firing—
Three bolts of yellow crackled on her screen. She waited until the last second, then she jammed the thrusters, sending the Ungovernable leaping up and out of the way. The three ships scattered to avoid friendly fire, but one of them took a bolt to one wing.
She grinned.
“They’re using modded Aro tech,” Lev said in quiet triumph, glancing up from his screen. “
That’s why their shields are so good.”
Tae looked up from where he was crouched by the control panel to one side of Jez, feverishly re-connecting wiring. He’d somehow managed to strap in, anchoring his harness to the cockpit floor.
“I’ll hook something into our blockers to take out the shields. They’re flying close enough it should work. Lev, I need specs.”
“Give me a second.” Lev scowled in concentration as he scrolled rapidly down his com screen. “Got it,” he said at last. “Sending it through.”
The lead ship swung around, staying under the Ungovernable’s port side and out of range of the guns. Tae yanked out a wire and re-connected it.
“Now,” he snapped, and Jez hit the blocker.
The ships sparkled for a moment, their surface glowing with a thousand glittering stars of dying electricity as the blocker took down the shields.
“Alright, Ysbel,” she said over the com. “Shall we show the plaguers how a real ship fights?”
“For once in my life, Jez, I think you and I completely agree on something.”
The ships were still riding low under her belly, out of range of the guns. Once their shields had disappeared, they’d apparently decided that keeping out of the damn way was the better part of valour.
She grinned.
Probably should have thought about that before they decided to pick a fight.
She barely had to nudge the accelerator, and the Ungovernable launched herself forward like a desert-dog after a rabbit. Jez sighed in ecstasy and played her fingers over the perfect, beautiful controls, the ship reading her movements like it was alive.
“Get ready, we’re going back through the middle,” she murmured.
A bolt of yellow lit her holoscreen, and she twitched the ship out of the way, letting the shot hiss past the shields with millimetres to spare, then whipped the Ungovernable around on her axis and jammed the thrusters.
Two of the attackers peeled off in panic as the Ungovernable shot between them.
“Now!” she called. “Get their attention, Ysbel.”
Her holoscreen lit up again, and twin blue jolts of energy shot out. The ships swerved wildly to avoid them, only to be met by two more bolts. One ship managed to dodge, but the second was clipped, what was left of its shields sparking like a reflection of the stars that cut the blackness behind it.
“Hey, you dirty plaguers,” Jez called over the general line. “Might want to learn how to fly before you come after someone.” She paused. “I told my friend on the guns to play nice. But the thing is, she doesn’t like playing nice. And I’m going to stop trying to hold her back pretty soon here.”
For a moment she thought the ships might make a break for it, but at last a sullen voice came over the com.
“Stand down. We don’t mean you any harm.”
She grinned. “That’s nice. Me on the other hand, I mean you a hell of a lot of harm. Why’d you attack us?”
“We mistook you for another ship.” The man on the other end of the com didn’t sound convincing.
“Ysbel?” She didn’t bother turning off the general com.
“Would you like me to vaporize them, or just take off pieces?” asked Ysbel. “I could hit their oxygen supplies. On ships that size they’ll have about ten hours of emergency backup. The nearest wormhole is eleven hours away, but who knows? They might get lucky.”
“We don’t want a fight!” It was a new voice this time, slightly panicked. Jez smiled to herself. Ysbel did tend to have that effect on people. Even if they couldn’t see her shaved head and muscles and the modded heat pistols she always wore.
“Yeah? Well maybe think about coming up with a better way to introduce yourselves next time, you bastards.”
“We mistook you for someone else,” said the same voice. There was a stubbornness to the undercurrent of panic this time.
“Yeah? Who?”
There was a long moment of silence.
“Hey Ysbel, that oxygen idea was actually pretty—”
“OK! Alright. We have a contract for a ship that looks like yours.”
She raised an eyebrow and turned to Lev. He frowned. Beside her, Tae typed rapidly into the holoscreen on his com, brows lowered in concentration.
“Just give me a sec,” he muttered. “Keep them talking.”
She hit the general com line again. “Yeah? Who gave you the contract?”
There was another long pause, and then the line went abruptly dead.
“Got it!” said Tae, just as a yellow jolt lit the ship’s holoscreen. Jez brushed the controls, the Ungovernable shivered gracefully, and the shot passed harmlessly over their heads.
The three ships turned as one and shot off towards the wormhole coordinates.
She flipped the com back to the internal line. “Give them something to remember us by, Ysbel,” she said. “No point killing them before they learn how to actually fly their plaguing ships.”
“And now you and I disagree again,” said Ysbel. “Alright. They get home in one piece.” She paused. “Mostly in one piece.” She paused again. “At least, no really important pieces missing.”
Three more crackling lines of blue streaked out towards the ships in rapid succession. Jez flipped back to the general line and listened with satisfaction to the swearing.
“What’d you do to them, Ysbel?”
“Well,” said Ysbel, “I hit them in the rear of the ship, where I assume they store their waste gasses. If I’m correct, they will have a slow-burning fire that will likely explode once they hit atmosphere wherever they’re going. I assume it will give them time to land before their ships blow up. Probably. If they’re fast. But, I may have miscalculated.” She paused. “I’m going to run some tests on the guns. I’ll meet you down on the main deck in a few minutes.”
Lev, face still slightly pale, let out a long breath and shook his head. “What in the name of everything sane was that about?”
Jez grinned and leaned back in her chair. “Bet Tae can tell us. You hacked them, didn’t you, tech-head?”
“Yes,” he said. “Can I stand up now, Jez? I swear I have more bruises from your flying than from breaking out of prison.” He scowled at her, but she’d known him long enough to see the faint smile under it.
Once Tae had left, Jez unstrapped, stretched, and winced, swearing softly.
“Jez. You have four broken ribs, remember?” said Lev from the copilot’s seat.
She glared at him. “They’re my ribs, genius-boy. Pretty sure I’m the one who got them broken.”
“You didn’t remember,” he murmured, and there was a look of faint amusement on his face. She glowered at him, and he chuckled, shaking his head. “Come on, let’s see what Tae pulled up.” He stood and turned towards her, and she found suddenly that she was looking directly into his dark eyes. Her heart quickened, and there was something warm and tingly and not entirely unpleasant in the pit of her stomach.
She swallowed hard.
Alright. This was not OK.
Well, at least, she wasn’t entirely certain if it was OK, and she was way too close to him every single day, and the way her damn heart had started jumping every time she saw this soft-boy who really should have been a scholar made it far too difficult to think about it clearly.
He reached out, hesitated, then put a gentle hand on her unbroken arm. “How are you feeling, Jez?” he asked softly. “Really.”
There was a concern on his face that made her breath catch.
She managed a grin, even through her heartbeat thrumming in her chest, and his hand tingling against her skin like a buzz of electricity.
“I’m fine. Besides, I learned how to swear through the boneset, so—”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure you never stopped swearing.”
She shrugged. “Maybe not. But now it doesn’t hurt.”
“Jez. It’s been exactly three days since you were beaten almost to death. You have four broken ribs, a broken arm, a broken jaw—”
She tried for a jaunty smile, although she felt less jaunty than breathless. “Yeah, well, I’m fine. Your doctor friend did good.”
He shook his head slightly, still watching her with a faint, rueful smile on his face. “I’d tell you to be careful. But I know that’s never going to happen.”
“Nope.” She grinned, somewhat shakily. “Anyways, we should get in there. Pretty sure whatever Tae found is going to be good.”
CHAPTER TWO
Lev shook his head wryly as Jez sauntered out of the cockpit. Her tawny face was a gruesome rainbow of bruises, but she still somehow managed to look cocky.
He drew in a long breath and ran a hand over his face, trying to bring his heart rate back to normal.
What was it about that damn pilot that turned him into an awkward teenager again?
Still shaking his head, he followed her down the short, narrow hallway and ducked out onto the Ungovernable’s main deck.
The semicircular deck had the same old-fashioned atmosphere as the rest of the ship, the antique wood paneling smooth from years of use, the metal of the floors and ceiling a dull, burnished shine. Tae was already seated at a one of the low tables, a holoscreen open in front of him. He glanced up as Lev entered, his face creased in concentration and his dark hair falling over his eyes. He still looked residually exhausted from their two weeks in prison, and Lev couldn’t help a slight smile. Yes, Tae was probably the best techie and hacker in the entire system, but you wouldn’t know it to look at him—with the dark circles under his eyes, he looked even younger than his twenty years.
Jez dropped into a chair across from Tae and pulled up one knee, wincing as she did so, and stretched the other leg out in front of her. She studiously avoided Lev’s gaze.
And then her whole body stiffened, and the grin on her face turned a bright shade of dangerous.
Lev sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.
“Masha,” he said.
“Hello Lev.” The woman’s voice was bland and calm and completely unremarkable. Lev blew out a breath and turned.