“She’s the perfect operative then,” Burn grunted. “They programmed us to defend the weak. She definitely looks the role. I bet she’s an assassin.”

The door to the room opened, causing Rena to feel dread as another cyborg in black leather uniform walked in. She was astonishment when she saw it was a female cyborg.

She had her hair chopped short to her head but there was no mistaking her feminine features, even if she was six feet tall and muscular. She carried a bag with her. The female stopped, her gaze roaming over Steel’s body, a grin curving her lips.

“If you need help, then clear the damn room, Steel. I’ll definitely tend to any damn thing that hurts on you. I heard you were single again.”

“It’s not me, Wire. Tend to the human. Burn thought she was attacking me and harmed her. He pinched her nerves in her arms so give her something for pain.”

Burn took a step forward. “Disable her, Steel.”

Steel glared at Burn. “Wire was never in detention so you’re safe while she’s here. If Rena wanted to disable us she wouldn’t be able to do that to Wire. If you think Wire couldn’t defend you against a human, you tell her she can’t watch your back. Wire would kick your ass if you do. The human is no danger so stay the hell away from her.”

Rena saw Burn glare at her but he didn’t move forward. The female cyborg stared at Steel as he bent over, picked up his pants and then straightened. The woman grinned and turned her head, a pair of bright green eyes flashing amusement until her focus landed on Rena. Her look hardened as she moved forward.

“I heard we had a human onboard. What I want to know is why.” The woman turned her head and glanced at Steel as he pulled up his pants. She snorted. “Never mind. That question is answered. The commander is single again and he decided to celebrate with a little…” Wire’s gaze flashed over Rena. “Oh hell.” She turned her head to Steel, frowning at him. “You’ve got half a dozen women on this ship, me at the top of the list, who would jump on you in a heartbeat and you pick up this little thing? Why? She’s like a snack instead of a meal.”

Steel studied Wire then yanked a shirt over his head to cover up his muscular chest and abs. “She was a gift from Flint. You know how he is. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Wire opened her bag, yanked out a scanner and ran it over Rena’s arms, where red marks showed. Wire watched the screen where the x-rays were displayed. The woman hesitated and then ran it slowly over Rena’s body, studying the screen. She paused at Rena’s hip for long seconds, then moved down her body and then up her back to her neck, pausing again.

She sighed. “Nothing broken but there’s going to be some bad bruising on both arms and on her hip. I’ll dose her with a two-day time capsule of pain meds. That should get her through the worst of it.” She dumped the scanner in the bag, grabbed an injector programming box, and punched in the dosage. In seconds she gave Rena a shot. The woman stood, taking her bag with her.

“Who wants to explain to me what the hell is going on here and why do I need to kick Burn’s ass for thinking I can’t cover his ass?”

“The human has verbal code words that can shut down any cyborg who survived human detention centers. It seems they put bombs in our heads that she can activate.”

Rena gasped as the huge cyborg woman suddenly turned on her, a growl coming from her throat, and took a defensive posture. In the blink of an eye the woman’s foot flew at Rena’s face. She jerked back but Steel intervened first, grabbing hold of the boot and yanking upward, knocking Wire on her ass. Steel stood between Rena and the downed cyborg woman.

“What the hell is she doing breathing?” Wire got up, cursing as she glared at Steel.

“She’s a danger to most of the men on this ship. If she can kill with a few words, take her out, damn it.”

“It’s not a literal bomb,” Steel shot a glare at Burn. “According to Rena it’s a shut- down chip that works for about ten minutes, knocking us out cold, making our systems reboot. She can’t kill us with a few words but she can temporarily disable us. Burn is afraid she’ll talk and knock us out. I was reminding him that you’re here and you weren’t in detention. If she were to attempt the vocal commands you’re here to cover our asses.”

Wire rubbed her ass as she stood up. “What did you do to piss off Flint so damn fast, Steel?” She shot Rena a glare. “She could be an Earth assassin. If I were in charge of them I’d totally pick someone like her. She’s little and looks harmless.”

“That’s what I was saying.” Burn glared at Rena. “I say we kill her.”

“No one is going to kill her,” Steel backed up a little, keeping his body between Rena and the other three cyborgs.

The door opened and another black-haired cyborg walked in. This one was in a gray exercise outfit. He carefully observed the room. “What’s going on? I heard you needed a medic.” The man’s blue gaze landed on Rena where she still sat. Black eyebrows rose. “I heard there was a human. Damn, she’s small.” He turned his attention on Steel. “Did you break her?”

Rena listened to Steel explain the situation to the newcomer. The pain was gone from her body, telling her that the shot was working. She moved her arms, feeling her hip where it had hurt but realized it was getting better. She slowly stood, keeping her back to the wall and staying close to Steel, who addressed the new cyborg as Blackie.

Blackie appeared incensed, staring at Rena. “We need to lock her in isolation because she’s a threat to most of our men. I’ll take her myself and interrogate her.” He smiled at Rena coldly. “It will be a pleasure for me. Not so much for you, human.” He turned his gaze on Steel. “I’ll find out everything about her, including if she’s an operative.” He looked back at Rena. “I was never in detention. I escaped with the first wave of cyborgs so you aren’t a danger to me.”

Pure terror gripped Rena and she automatically reached out to grip Steel’s shirt. He turned his head, looked down at her. She opened her mouth to beg him to not let the other cyborg take her but he spun, tearing out of her grasp, his hand covering her mouth gently.

“Don’t,” he said softly. “If you speak, they’ll take it as an attack.”

His hand eased away from her face as they stared at each other while she silently pleaded with him. He hesitated.

“Everyone but Blackie leave the room now. I want to talk to her and that way I’m the only one she poses a threat to.”

“She’s no threat to me,” Wire crossed her arms over her chest. “I want to stay.”

Burn and the blond cyborg left the room. Steel sighed. “What, Rena? You can talk.”

“I’m not a threat. You know damn well I wouldn’t hurt you or anyone else. I’m not a killer.” She shot a frightened look at Wire. “I’m not an assassin either.” She looked at Blackie. “Or an Earth operative. I know what one is. My parents were both military but I’m not a spy.” She met Steel’s gaze. “The only damn reason I used the code on you in the first place was…” She swallowed. “You know why.” She refused to tell the other cyborgs why she’d knocked out Steel. “The second time you asked me to prove I could do it. I just want to stay with you.”

“That isn’t an option until we know what exactly was done to Steel and the men you can influence. For all we know you could kill them with your words.” Blackie sighed.

“She needs to be isolated, Steel. You know it as well as I do that she’s a danger to the ship. I’ll get everything out of her, one way or another.”

“Please, Steel.” Rena stared up at him.

He frowned. “Take her, Blackie. Find out what she knows and then we’ll know what was done to us so we can fix it. I don’t like the idea of any human being able to shut me down and take me out while I’m defenseless.”

He may as well have slapped her. Pain flashed through her as he stepped away from her. Blackie moved forward, reaching for her but Steel suddenly gripped the man’s wrist, halting him. He turned his head to give a warning look to the other cyborg.

“Don’t hurt her. She’s mine. Do we understand each other?”

The cyborg’s features showed his disbelief and irritation. “How the hell am I supposed to make her talk? Serve her cookies and milk?”

Steel released his wrist. “Get Gene. He can tell if she’s lying. No one harms her.”

“So no pain? Are those your exact orders, Commander? Anything else goes, right? We just can’t damage her body or cause her pain?”

Steel nodded. “Exactly.”

Blackie grabbed Rena’s arm. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Five

Rena was terrified as she stared into a pair of dark blue eyes, body to body with a big silver-skinned cyborg who had his arms wrapped around her, her feet not touching the floor. She could barely breathe with him holding her so tightly in a bear hug.

“Tell me what you do for a living.” Gene was one scary-buff cyborg. He was about six -one with a bulky body.

“I’m an insurance investigator and recovery agent.”

He took a deep breath, making her aware that he was bare chested and she just wore a bra-like shirt she was given and a pair of panties similar to shorts so they were skin to skin, touching from the waist up. Gene’s dark eyes narrowed. “Explain what you recover and investigate.”

She swallowed again. “When valuable property is stolen, I investigate the crime scene and try to figure out who stole it. If we get a lead on where the property is it’s my job to go out and try to get it back.”

“Why did you go after the Star?”

“My company owns it now. We paid the claim on it so it was my job to go get it back.”

He frowned, his intense gaze narrowing. He turned his head to look at Blackie in the small interrogation room. “She’s lying about that last part, about it being her job. Her heart rate increased and her eyes told me she was lying. This one is pretty easy to read.”

He looked back at her. “Don’t look away from my eyes and tell me again, this time the truth, why you went after the Star.”

She was surprised that he could tell when she was lying, but he could. “Okay, it’s not my job to go into deep space to recover ships but I volunteered for this mission. The bonus, if I recovered the Star as lead investigator and recovery agent, was going to be huge.”

He nodded. “The truth. Did you know cyborgs had it?”

“No.”

He blinked. “Did you know that there was a chance you’d run into cyborgs out here?”

“I had no idea I’d run into your kind. I thought you were all gone.”

He frowned. “She’s lying about thinking that we were all dead. She didn’t expect to run into us though.” His hold on her tightened slightly, painfully. “Stop lying to me. You don’t want to piss me off.”

Tears filled her eyes. “Okay.”

“Why the lie? You knew we existed still.”

She hesitated. “My parents were both military. My father was a guard at the detention facilities for ten years. He was harmed in the line of duty and forced behind a desk with a leg disability. My mother…”

He glared at her. “What about your mother? What does she have to do with cyborgs and knowing we survived?”

She blinked back more tears. Pain gripped her chest but it wasn’t from the tight hold the man had on her. “My mother shot my father to release the last five prisoners held where he worked. She was a cyborg sympathizer. She thought my father was at home that night but he’d been called in to cover a shift after she left for the detention center. He was a direct guard of a cyborg and when she came face-to-face with him, he tried to talk her into not freeing them, believing cyborgs were dangerous.” Her voice lowered. “She shot him in the leg to disable him so he wouldn’t die and she escaped with all five prisoners.