inspect the situation. The lower grade explosives were eerily familiar to her. They were the sort used in the mines to widen tunnels or bring down a curtain of rock in an emergency situation. The brand was one her father had used many times, but it had been phased out of use by the time she started working on her own.
Knowing how volatile old explosives were, she gingerly approached the first device and quickly identified the parts. Explosives. Ignitor. Switch. Power source. It was a simply built bomb, very similar to the ones she had learned to build as a young child. It wouldn’t be powerful enough to knock a hole in the wall of the ship, but it would be enough to cause the gangway to collapse. Eyeing the other explosives, she could see that was the intent. Each successive explosion would destroy the walkways and cut off the HVAC section where Reckless likely planned to disperse the gas.
Without any tools, her options were limited. She checked the device from various angles, pressing her body flat to the grate so she could see beneath and along the sides. Fairly certain it wasn’t rigged to blow if moved, she held her breath and picked it up. When it didn’t explode, she exhaled slowly and traced the wires connecting the power source to the switch and ignitor. Once she had a good idea of how it had been constructed, she grasped the wire connecting the power source to the triggering components and yanked it free.
She flinched, expecting the worst even though she was confident in her skills. With a sigh of relief, she tore the battery from the bomb and ran off to the next one. Without a power source, Reckless wouldn’t be able to hastily fix them.
One by one, she deactivated the nine remaining bombs between her and the HVAC unit. Her arms were loaded with batteries, and her feet were bleeding from the pressure of the sharp grates as she reached her destination. She put the batteries on the first available flat surface and tried to get her bearings. The gangway expanded to include a huge platform with a massive air flow unit in the center. There were so many pipes and ducts arcing off of it. She couldn’t even begin to make sense of where they all started.
But none of that mattered.
Her horrified gaze landed on the canisters of gas taped to the ducts. There were tubes connected from the tank regulators into slits in the ducts that had been sealed over with more tape. She rushed forward and checked the regulators to make sure they were closed. They were but it would only take a few seconds for Reckless to open them and set off his murderous plan.
“I thought I smelled a whore’s perfume.”
Brook whirled around to find Reckless standing behind her. His ugly face was contorted in disgust, and she shuddered as he leered at her. “I think you and I are going to have a lot of fun together on my ship.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you!”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he replied dismissively. “Do you want to stay here and die an excruciating death?” He shook his head. “You’ll come with me and keep my bed warm until I find someone who wants to buy you.”
“I’ll take the excruciating death,” she snapped.
“Suit yourself.” He took a menacing step toward her, and she retreated. It seemed to amuse him. “You want to play a little cat and mouse? Have me chase you a bit before I catch and kill you?”
As Reckless taunted her, she spotted movement behind him, just off to his left side. She schooled her features, keeping her gaze on his nasty face as Terror seemed to materialize from thin air. The one-eyed operative stalked toward Reckless, and she did her best to keep him occupied. “Your explosives were garbage. I was building better charges when I was eight.”
“I’m sure you were.”
“You won’t be able to isolate this room now. SRU will send in their techs and remove this gas.”
“No, they won’t.” He seemed so very pleased with himself. “They’ll all be dead soon. I saved the very best canister for them. They won’t even smell it coming.”
She narrowed her eyes. Had he rigged up something at a different HVAC unit? Maybe one that served the SRU? “You’re insane. Killing all these innocent people? You need help.”
Reckless snorted. “I’m insane? If I thought you had more than twenty minutes of your life left, I would