Read 3013: STOWAWAY (3013: The Series) for Free Online Page B

said, his words clipped and his tone devoid of all inflection.
    “Fuck. Sorry. I didn’t know she was here.”
    Sonja was getting tired of this. “What are you apologizing for, Trevar? I don’t understand.”
    “Do you want me to take her back down to the med-bay while you do your thing?” Trevar asked, ignoring her question.
    “No, it’s fine. She was going to find out anyway.”
    “She’s right here, and she wants to know what the fuck both of you are talking about.”
    Trevar’s expression softened to one of regret as he rose from the chair, moving back so there was room for them to step further into the cramped space. “Sorry, kitten. I didn’t mean to talk around you. Why don’t you take my seat and enjoy the view while Deke deals with the computer.”
    She turned her head to glare at Trevar. “That wasn’t an answer. I’m not going anywhere until you answer my question.”
    “Great. Now I have two women on board this ship who think they’re in charge. Let me make this clear, sweetheart. You are not the one in charge here. Now get your sweet little ass in my chair and then I’ll explain.” Trevar pointed to his newly emptied seat, and before she could argue further Deke stepped up and lowered her into it, then spun the chair around so it faced front, away from the two men.
    Oh, hell no.
    As tempted as she was by the view, there was no way she was going to enjoy it until they explained what was going on. She spun the chair back around to face them again, wondering how many times she could do this before she got dizzy. “So, what’s the story? What did I miss?”
    Trevar sighed and scrubbed a hand through his too-long hair. Deke was touchy about telling people about his implant. Not that anyone could blame him. The reactions to that bit of information were rarely positive ones. If he’d known Sonja was within earshot, he never would have said anyth ing, but the ship was the one place in the galaxies where neither man worried about protocol…or pretenses. “You want to tell her?”
    Deke nodded once and looked down at Sonja. Trevar couldn’t get a read on Deke’s emotions. The other man had locked himself down tight. The only feelings he could pick up on came from Sonja. She was frustrated, which wasn’t a surprise. More than that though, she was concerned. Not for herself, but for Deke.
    Well, I’ll be damned.
    Deke raised a hand and tapped his forefinger to a point just behind his right ear. “I’ve got cybernetic implants. And before you ask, yes, they’re Alliance approved. Hell, they’re the ones who installed them. They allow me to mentally sync with computers. Any computer. I can get into their heads, or more accurately, their processors. The implants are designed to allow me to interface with them on a deeper level.”
    He dropped his hand and went silent, waiting for Sonja to respond.
    “Incredible,” she murmured, tipping her head to one side so that her hair spilled over her shoulder in a curtain of chocolate colored silk.
    Trevar broke the unwritten rule of empaths and did as deep a sweep of her emotions as he could manage. No fear. Not even dismay. She wasn’t hiding anything. Every emotion she was feeling showed clearly on her face. Son of a bitch. When was the last time he’d met someone that honest?
    Never.
    “ That’s amazing! What’s it like?” her question snapped him out of his thoughts and he glanced up at Deke, who was looking like a pole axed steer. Yeah, Trevar could appreciate his confusion. The girl was surprising him, too.
    “Huh?” Deke asked.
    “Syncing with a computer, what’s it like? Can you show me the implant? When did you have this done? Who did it? It doesn’t hurt you, does it?” The questions flowed one into the other until Deke finally threw up a hand to halt her queries.
    “I’ll tell you all about it soon, I promise. First off, I need to get the ship to understand that you’re supposed to be here, and for that I need a few minutes of