Reavers (Book 3) by Benjamin Schramm Read Free Book Online

mop.  In his reverie, Tardos had run into another of the new crewmembers assigned to this meaningless task.  As he was about to apologize, he realized the other mop wasn’t moving or struggling to free itself. 
    A glance at its operator explained why.  Sasha was leaning on the handle completely lost in thought.  Tardos noticed she was still wearing Kevin’s clothes.  The pants were too long for her, and they bunched around her knees and ankles.  From Tardos’ point of view she was tall, but then again everyone was to him.
    In actuality, she was just under a head’s length shorter than Kevin.  The shirt was a bit of a tight fit around her chest.  Sasha wasn’t as well endowed as captain Dubois, but she wasn’t lacking either.  From the dour look on her face it was obvious she was thinking about that morning.  Her eyes seemed a bit puffy and her cheeks seemed a shade redder than Tardos had remembered them being.
    “Excuse me,” he said gently.  “I believe we’ve tangled these silly things.”
    Startled from her thoughts, Sasha lost her grip on the wooden handle.  Slipping on the slick floor, the girl gracelessly fell back.  At the last moment, a pair of arms reached out and caught her.  Both Tardos and the girl were astonished when they realized it was Kevin who was now cradling her.  As the girl’s face settled into a deep blush, Tardos heard a hollow rattling sound.
    Turning his head, he found Kevin’s mop resting on the floor - clear on the other side of the room.  Mentally measuring the distance, a smile formed on his mouth.  The only way Kevin could have made it to the girl’s side in time, from that distance, is if he had been watching her the whole time.  Maybe his young friend wasn’t as dense as he had thought.  Turning his attention back to the young pair, he watched as Kevin gently set the girl on her feet and helped her get her balance back.
    “I’m sorry about this morning,” Sasha said in a low voice.  “I’ll make sure I wash your clothes before returning them.  I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve . . .”
    “Keep them,” Kevin said interrupting.
    Tardos was shocked.  It had taken the boy an entire week before he spoke in the cramped access tunnels of the Freeport.  In under a day’s time, he had gotten comfortable enough with the girl to speak to her.
    “What?” Sasha asked, obviously stunned.
    “The clothes,” he said.  “Keep them.”
    “I . . . I can’t . . . They’re yours,” she said, stammering.
    “I can get more.  You look good in them.  Keep them.”
    As his words sunk in, the girl’s face seemed to glow.  A single compliment and the entire morning’s embarrassment vanished from her mind.  As a warm smile filled her face, she pulled her mop free from Tardos’.  It was all he could do not to chuckle as the girl returned to her job, humming contentedly as she went.  Without another word, Kevin returned to his mop and got back to work.  He worked his way toward Kevin.  With a smile and a nudge, he winked at his young friend.  Kevin raised an eyebrow, seeming not to understand.
    “That was nice of you,” Tardos said.  “Plus, I see you’re a bit more free with your words around the ladies.”
    “She doesn’t belong here,” Kevin said in a thoughtful voice.
    “What?” he asked, stunned.
    “A girl like that has no business being on this ship,” he said in a cold voice.

Chapter 3: Stirrings
    A soft repeating sound wafted past the man’s ears.  Straining to lift his head, he glanced around him.  His eyes were horribly unfocused, blurring the surroundings to the point he couldn’t make out a single detail.  All he could make out was the dull gray of the walls.  A single shaft of light poured out from a round orifice overhead.  Focusing on the sound, he slowly recognized it as the movements of a large fan circulating the air in the room.
    No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t focus clearly.  His mind racing, he couldn’t