The Cyber Chronicles V - Overlord (22 page)

"Leave me," he
said.

"I can help
too, you know."

"You might need
your strength to run if the Corsairs catch up with us."

She snorted.
"You really think I'm going to leave you?"

"You
should."

"Well I won't.
Where are the Corsairs?"

"On the move.
Three are overtaking us in a parallel corridor, over there." He
jerked his head to the right.

"Can they sense
us or something?"

"I don't know.
They might have portable scanners."

"Then we're
screwed," Tarl said.

They rounded a
corner and almost fell over a huddle of black-uniformed bodies with
red insignia on their chests. Most had puncture wounds, while some
lay with their necks at impossible angles. Tarl cursed and dragged
the cyber around them.

"Fairen's men.
I didn't think they'd last long," Sabre said.

They continued
down the corridor, coming across more and more corpses, some
Fairen's soldiers, others the mutilated, partly eaten bodies of
passengers. On the wall beside them was a row of circular hatches,
each one with a stubby handle protruding from it and a panel of red
lights beside it.

"These are the
life pods," Sabre informed Tassin.

"Can we take
one?"

He shook his
head. "They've been sabotaged. Look at the access panels. The
Corsairs made sure no one would escape."

"Bastards,"
Tarl said.

"Those three
Corsairs have overtaken us. They're trying to cut us off. Turn into
the door ahead."

Tarl stopped at
the door and tapped the access panel, which buzzed, flashing a red
light. "It's locked, and there's not time to use the cyber."

"Step
back."

Looking
puzzled, Tarl obeyed. Sabre’s kick tore the door from its
fastenings and sent it flying into the room.

"Now it's not,"
Tarl commented as he dragged Sabre into a luxurious cabin with
white walls, black carpeting, glass furnishings and an antiseptic
air. The women crowded in and moved to the back.

Tarl turned.
"The only problem is, now we don't have a door."

Sabre
straightened, pulling his arm from Tarl's grip. He tapped Tassin's
shoulder with the side of his laser. "Let go and go wait with the
women."

"I thought I
was in charge?" She frowned up at him.

"I'll let you
know when that time comes."

Tarl rubbed his
shoulder. "What are you going to do?"

Sabre moved to
the door and leant against its edge, drawing his second laser.
"Kill them. Keep her out of the way."

"Right." Tarl
took Tassin's wrist and pulled her to the back of the room,
ignoring her glare.

Sabre bowed his
head, watching the points of purple light on the scanners. They
turned into the corridor ahead and moved down it towards him.

Tassin turned
to Tarl and whispered, "What does that bio-status thing mean?
Forty-one per cent sounds bad."

"It's bloody
awful. Unless there was imminent danger, the cyber would have shut
him down at forty-nine per cent."

Sabre turned
his head. "You two can stop whispering. You know perfectly well I
can hear you, Tarl."

"What's your
bio-status now?"

"It doesn't
matter. Bugger the bio-status; I'm not a bloody machine. I can
manage."

Tarl swore.
"It's going down, isn't it? That poison has a cumulative affect as
well as the initial one. What is it?"

Sabre sighed.
"Thirty-nine per cent."

"Damn! You'll
collapse at thirty-five per cent."

"I'm aware of
that."

Tassin tugged
at Tarl's sleeve. "Can't you give him something to help?"

"I don't have
my equipment or drugs."

"Where are
they?"

"In my
cabin."

Sabre turned
his head again. "Shut up, both of you."

Tarl shook his
head when Tassin opened her mouth to protest Sabre's rudeness,
pointing to the wall beside the cyber to indicate that the reason
for his rudeness was that the Corsairs were getting close. Tassin
nodded and bit her lip, glancing at the frightened women, who clung
to each other with stifled gasps.

Sabre waited
for a couple more minutes, then raised his lasers and stepped out
into the corridor to snap off three quick shots. Tarl hurried to
him as he staggered to the far wall and leant against it, glancing
at the crumpled forms of three dead Corsairs, each with a hole
burnt in his forehead. Beckoning to Tassin and the women, he placed
Sabre's arm over his shoulders again and reeled down the corridor
past the bodies.

"Four more are
behind us, and another five further ahead," Sabre informed him.

"They're
closing in. They must have scanners. Are any guarding the
shuttle?"

"Not yet."

"We'd best
hurry then."

Tarl glanced at
Tassin, who was trying to support Sabre with an arm around his
waist, but was not really helping at all. He looked over his
shoulder at the women who followed, spotting a strapping lass. "You
there, come and help us. Tassin, let him go."

The woman moved
up to replace Tassin as she relinquished her grip, placing Sabre's
arm over her shoulders like Tarl. With the extra support, they were
able to move faster, Sabre's feet dragging, even though he tried to
walk.

"Bio-status?"
Tarl demanded.

"Thirty-seven
per cent."

"Damn!"

Sabre bowed his
head and dry retched.

Tarl shot him a
concerned look. "You're starting the secondary stage."

"I know."

"How far to the
shuttle?"

"Four hundred
and fifty-two metres."

Tarl broke into
a staggering trot, shouting, "If you ladies want to live, help
us!"

Two ran up and
gripped the back of Sabre's armour, lifted him and pushed him
along. The others clustered around, but were unable to find
purchase.

"Where are the
Corsairs?" Tarl panted.

"The four
behind us are four hundred and thirty-four metres away and gaining.
The ones ahead are in a side corridor a hundred and seven metres
away, moving to intercept us."

Several bodies
littered the corridor ahead, and, as they passed them, one of the
women shrieked in anguish and fell to her knees beside a man's
mutilated corpse, crying a name. Tassin ran back to her and gripped
her arm, tugging at it.

"Leave him,
he's dead! Come on!"

Sabre glanced
back. "Tassin!"

Tassin tried to
drag the woman away, but she wailed and clung to the corpse.

"Tassin!" Sabre
shouted.

Tarl looked
back. Tassin hauled on the woman's arm, cursing, but the bereaved
female only wailed louder. Apparently realising that the woman was
not going to come, Tassin sprinted after the group, catching up
just as Sabre ordered them to enter another room. This one was not
locked, and they crowded into an office jammed with desks and
chairs. Sabre freed himself from his helpers and turned to glare at
Tassin.

"You stay close
to me, understand?"

"I was only
-"

"Understand?"

"She -"

"I don't want
to hear it. You do as I say, got it?"

She folded her
arms and scowled. "Now who's being bossy?"

"I'm trying to
save your life."

She looked
down, nodding. "Got it."

Sabre went to
the door and leant against the edge, doubled over and dry retched
again.

Tassin turned
to Tarl. "What's happening to him?"

"It's the
second stage of Corsair poisoning. Extreme weakness and vomiting.
He's not out of the woods by a long shot yet. We've got to get off
this ship before he gets worse."

Tassin gazed at
Sabre, wishing she could see his face. The group waited in nervous
silence, broken by the lament of the grieving woman down the
corridor. A minute passed before Sabre raised his head, tensing.
Tassin held her breath. Four fleet orange-clad shapes ran past the
doorway, heading for the weeping woman. Sabre stepped out and
snapped off four shots, then swung around in time to collect a
fifth Corsair in the chest. The force of the impact lifted him off
his feet and sent him sprawling. Tarl cursed and ran to the door,
Tassin hot on his heels.

The Corsair
straddled the cyber, trying to rip off the helmet that protected
Sabre's face and throat. Tarl ran towards them as Sabre raised a
laser and pressed the muzzle to the side of the alien's head,
blowing his brains out in a spray of red. Tarl dragged the body off
Sabre, glancing at the other four, who lay further down the
corridor, each with a neat hole in his back. The bereaved woman
walked towards them, her face pale with fright. Tarl gripped
Sabre's wrist and hauled him to his feet, supported him and turned
to drag him down the corridor. The women rushed to help, and Tassin
beckoned to the woman who had been left behind.

"Come on,
hurry!"

"Tassin!" Sabre
yelled.

"Coming!"

"Now!"

Tassin's blood
chilled as four Corsairs appeared beyond the woman, sprinting
towards them at an amazing speed.

Sabre yelled,
"Turn! Turn! Turn! Get behind me!"

Tassin dashed
towards him as soft pops came from the Corsairs' weapons and
missiles hissed past. Red bolts of laser light flashed in the
opposite direction, so close that she yelped in fright, and the
bereaved woman screamed. Tassin glanced back as the woman staggered
into the wall, her face a mask of pain. Terror lent wings to
Tassin's feet, and she flew down the corridor to duck behind the
crowd of women huddled beyond Sabre.

Sabre fired
from the shoulders of the two who held him up, and two Corsairs
collapsed. The others came on, firing, and more missiles hissed
past. One hit a woman close to Tassin, and she screamed,
frantically wiping the spreading stain on her tunic. The fabric
melted away to reveal her skin, and she shrieked and wiped her
hands on her trousers. Everywhere she touched, the material
disintegrated. Tassin tore her gaze from the horrifying sight in
time to witness the demise of the last two Corsairs. Sabre sagged,
glancing down at his chest.

Two splatters
of green fluid ate into his armour, hissing and bubbling. Tassin
glanced at the injured woman, who made horrible choking sounds.
Where the missile had struck her and where she had wiped her hands,
her skin melted away and blood poured from the wounds. She jerked
and retched, then collapsed, foaming at the mouth. Tassin swallowed
bile, looking at Sabre again. Tarl lowered him to his knees and
struggled to unclip his armour as the acid ate into it.

"Five more have
turned into a corridor that leads to the shuttle," the cyber
stated.

"Bugger it,"
Tarl swore, fumbling with the clips.

"Hurry up."

"I'm
trying!"

Tassin glanced
down the corridor at the bereaved woman, who lay beside the wall,
her back a mass of blood. Tarl unclipped the armour and ripped it
off, hurling it away. He dragged Sabre to his feet, and the women
helped to haul him along the corridor. Tassin trotted after them,
feeling useless.

Chapter Fifteen

Fairen studied
the scanner information on the screen, his brow furrowed. "They're
almost at the shuttle. They might make it."

Ramadaus said,
"If they can get past those five Corsairs heading for it too. The
cyber is slowing them down. He's entered the second stage of
Corsair poisoning. They should dump him, then they might make it.
He must be unconscious by now."

"If he's
unconscious, who's been killing the Corsairs?"

"Possibly the
other man; the ex-technician."

Fairen shook
his head. "I doubt that. Whoever it is, he's a crack shot."

"This is
certainly entertaining." Ramadaus sipped his drink, smiling.

Ravian looked
at him. "Perhaps you should make it more interesting, and send a
couple of your cybers to help them."

"Why would I
risk my expensive equipment to help a bunch of worthless
civilians?"

"Because
they're the people we're sworn to protect?"

"Too few to be
worth bothering about. Besides, why would I save that...” He
hesitated, glancing at Fairen. "Cyber? I want him dead."

Fairen gazed at
the screen again. "He's better than your cybers. He doesn't need
their help."

"How is he
better?"

"He's a man,
not a machine. He's driven by his emotions, not because he's been
ordered to do it. He'll push himself beyond his limits to save that
girl. I don't think he's unconscious at all, although he probably
should be."

Ramadaus shook
his head. "That shows how little you know about cybers. They will
go far beyond their limits if the situation calls for it, and
they'll keep going until they die. Injuries don't slow them. They
will fight on with broken limbs until they're dead."

"And that
doesn't strike you as barbaric?" Ravian enquired.

"They're
machines."

"You know as
well as we do that they're men."

"They have
human bodies, that's all."

Fairen’s heart
sank as he watched the screen, where the five purple dots had
almost reached the shuttle ahead of the group of people. "They're
not going to make it," he said. "I wish I could help them. If they
would just stay still..."

"You could save
one, perhaps two, and the rest would die,” Ramadaus said. “We don't
have limitless power. Your meeting with a Corsair should have
taught you something about that. What was it like to be at his
mercy?"

"Foul."

****

"They've
reached the shuttle." Sabre bowed his head and retched again, this
time bringing up a little bile.

"What do you
want to do?"

"Keep going.
There are four more behind us."