The Cyber Chronicles V - Overlord (32 page)

"Odd, but good.
Bring him up."

"At once, My
Lord."

"Are you going
to judge him?" Tassin asked.

"Why would
I?"

"So you can
see..." She shook her head, taking another gulp of her drink.
"There's something you should know. There's a girl on that ship who
-"

"I'm not
concerned with your petty squabbles. I'll return you to the ship
when the cyber has been executed."

"Murdered, you
mean."

"Call it what
you will."

"Fairen won't
let you."

He shook his
head. "Fairen won't find out until after he's dead."

"You can't do
this! He's not guilty of anything!"

"I've already
explained my reasons."

"You're wrong!
Besides, he's..." Tassin glanced around as the doors opened. Four
guards entered, escorting Sabre, who was unarmed. Two cybers
brought up the rear, clad in standard issue combat clothes, their
expressionless faces almost identical to Sabre's. They were in
their prime, with fewer scars than him. Tassin's pounding heart
seemed to leap into her throat, making her queasy with dread. The
cyber turned his head towards her, and, when the guards halted
several feet away, ignored the order to stop.

Ramadaus
stepped back. "Halt, cyber, or she dies."

Sabre stopped,
turning his head to scan the room. His blank gaze passed over the
many soldiers who stood by the walls, their silver weapons trained
on Tassin.

Ramadaus said,
"A neat ploy, cyber, but you don't fool me."

"He's not
pretending," Tassin said.

He turned to
her. "Do you really think it would make any difference if he was
under cyber control again?"

"It should! You
want to execute him because he's free, and now he's not, so what's
your reason?"

"He can get
free. This just makes it impossible for me to read him, so you have
no reason to complain if I don't."

"You never
intended to."

He shrugged.
"True."

"So why did you
bring him here? You could have executed him in his cell."

"I had intended
to inform him of the reason for his execution, as is customary, but
if he's truly under cyber control, there's no point."

Tassin yelled,
"Sabre, trigger the beacon!"

The cyber's
hands snapped together to clasp the silver bracelet on his left
wrist.

"Stop him!"
Ramadaus shouted.

Nobody moved,
which did not surprise Tassin, since it was clearly too late. A
moment later the disembodied voice said, "Outgoing transmission
detected; Overlord codes."

"Did you stop
it?" Ramadaus demanded.

"No, My
Lord."

Ramadaus
cursed. "Then we have little time." He turned to Tassin. "That was
ill advised. All you did was speed up his end."

"We're not
going to die without a fight. Bringing me here was a mistake. If
he's going to die, so am I. What were you going to do, order him to
keep still while you killed him, or you'd kill me? That might have
worked on Sabre, but it doesn't work on the cyber, does it? Unlike
Sabre, it can't disobey me."

"You wouldn't
be that stupid -"

"To die for the
man I love? Yes, I would!"

"That won't
stop his execution, and he can't protect you."

"I don't care!
You don't understand, do you? You've never loved anyone. Sabre,
kill them all!"

"No!" Ramadaus
shouted.

Sabre turned to
the guard beside him, gripped his head and snapped his neck with a
vicious twist. The other three men reached for their weapons as a
volley of poison darts hissed across the room from the soldiers by
the walls. Sabre leapt high, and the darts passed under him,
skittering off the floor. Ramadaus backed away as some of the
deadly missiles passed close to him. Sabre landed beside another
soldier and smashed his skull with a hammer blow that sent him
sliding across the floor. The remaining two guards drew their
weapons. Sabre kicked the gun from one man's hand and broke the
other's arm with a sweep of his fist. A second volley of poison
darts hissed from the walls. Sabre leapt sideways this time, landed
in a graceful handspring and despatched the unarmed guard with a
powerful kick that produced a crunch of breaking ribs.

"Cybers, kill
him!" Ramadaus bellowed.

The cybers drew
their lasers and fired at Sabre, who avoided the beams and the
darts that shot past from the guards around the walls. Tassin
snatched up her glass and smashed it on the counter. She charged
Ramadaus, her back prickling as she expected the sting of darts.
One of Ramadaus' cybers caught her before she reached the Overlord,
grabbed her arm in a crushing grip and yanked her off her feet. She
fell with a grunt, the broken glass slicing her hand. Sabre sent
the cyber sprawling with a kick that broke his grip on her arm with
bruising force. Leaping up, she charged Ramadaus again. More
missiles flew past, perilously close.

The second
cyber almost intercepted her, but Sabre attacked him, forcing him
to take evasive action. The first cyber hit her from the side and
sent her sprawling. The force of the impact made her skid across
the floor, clawing at the smooth surface. She jumped up and raced
towards Ramadaus once more, glimpsing Sabre to one side, smashing a
soldier's face into the floor. Several guards converged to protect
the Overlord, pointing dart guns at her. Sabre charged them,
forcing them to aim at him. He leapt high to avoid the darts,
landed almost on top of them and knocked several down.

Tassin tried to
reach Ramadaus, a shard of glass still gripped in her bloody fist.
Once more a cyber smashed her aside, punching the wind out of her,
and her ribs made an ominous cracking sound. She lay stunned,
trying to suck in air as the world receded into a red haze. She
wondered why Sabre had not protected her, then spotted him locked
in battle with the other cyber. They moved with fluid grace, their
actions a blur as they matched each other's blows as if predicting
them.

More poison
darts hissed past, and Sabre used his opponent to aid his leap this
time. Landing beside the second cyber, he dropped into a crouch and
tried to sweep his opponent's legs out from under him, but the
cyber leapt over his leg. A dart hit the first cyber in the chest,
and he collapsed, his blank eyes glazing in moments.

Tassin sucked
air into her aching lungs before the darkness closed in, pain
flaring from her ribs. "Sabre! Take the Overlord hostage!"

Sabre leapt
high again as more darts whispered past, performing a graceful
backflip. His boots passed within a hair's breadth of his
opponent's chin as the cyber jerked aside to avoid the blow. The
move took him closer to Ramadaus, who retreated. Ramadaus' cyber
raced after Sabre, who spun in time to avoid the blow aimed at the
back of his neck. He dropped flat as yet another volley of darts
flew past, over him this time. Ramadaus' cyber flung himself at
Sabre, who rolled aside and leapt up. He charged the Overlord,
smashing aside the two guards who rushed into his path.

Ramadaus' cyber
jumped up and gave chase, and again Sabre was forced to spin and
face him. He blocked the blow this time and struck back, but once
more the conflict became a match of blows and parries, fluid
motions too fast for the eye to follow. Darts shot past, but Sabre
avoided them, hardly distracted from his battle with his clone, who
looked so like him that it was hard to tell them apart. Only
Sabre's scars gave him away, for he now possessed the same blank
expression and sightless eyes.

Tassin tried to
crawl towards Ramadaus, but sharp stabs of pain from her ribcage
made her gasp and stiffen. The situation was hopeless. Ramadaus'
cyber would not allow Sabre to reach the Overlord, and eventually a
dart would hit Sabre, ending the conflict, and his life. Tassin
gazed at Sabre, her heart heavy with grief and anguish.

An alarm
whooped, making her start, and Ramadaus glanced around. "What
now?"

"My lord, we
are in stasis lock," the disembodied voice said.

"Stasis lock?
Who the hell would dare to attack me?"

"Overlord
Fairen."

Ramadaus
muttered a foul curse and swung to face the screens. The blackness
of space had been turned blood red by the massive Scorpion Ship.
Tassin's jaw dropped. Fairen's ship was far too close. The
thousands of tiny lights scattered over its hull glittered like
tiny diamonds. Ropes of green light blazed from the huge emitters
on its curving legs, which closed upon Ramadaus' ship as it clasped
its prey. A shudder went through the floor, and a distant,
gargantuan metallic groan echoed through the Moth Ship.

"My lord," the
disembodied voice cried, "we are in direct contact!"

"That bloody
idiot!" Ramadaus said.

The fight
between the two cybers continued unabated, but the darts stopped,
either because the soldiers had given up trying to hit such an
elusive target, or because they had run out of ammunition. Sweat
sheened the cybers' skin and their brow bands flashed in energetic,
identical patterns. Now Tassin understood why two cybers would
fight each other until exhaustion claimed them. The control units
had become synchronised, matching each other perfectly. They hardly
landed any blows; every punch and kick was avoided, and their speed
defied her eyes to follow them. Sweat sprayed from their arms and
brows as they spun and lashed out. She wondered how long they could
keep it up, amazed by the energy and stamina they displayed.

A commotion at
the door drew her attention. The guards stationed there stepped
aside, bowing, and a slight, hooded figure strode in. Immensely
relieved, she tried to sit up, groaning when pain flared in her
ribs.

Ramadaus faced
his peer. "I did not invite you onto my ship."

"Nevertheless,
I am here," Fairen replied, stopping two metres away.

"And now that
you are, what the hell do you intend to do?"

"First, you can
put an end to that futile display of fighting skill, which,
although impressive, is pointless."

"It takes two
to stop it."

"I'm certain
Tassin will oblige." Fairen turned his head towards Tassin, who
nodded, shooting Sabre a concerned glance.

Ramadaus said,
"Cyber, stop."

One of the
cybers leapt backwards, quitting the fight. Sabre started towards
Ramadaus, following Tassin's last order.

"Sabre, stop,"
she said.

He turned and
walked over to her, assuming a guard pose beside her, sweat
dripping from his hands.

She sat up and
held out her hand. "Help me up."

He clasped her
wrist and hauled her to her feet, and she groaned as pain stabbed
through her ribs.

"You have three
broken ribs," he stated.

"That many?"
Tassin clutched her flank, leaning on him.

Ramadaus turned
to Fairen. "Release my ship."

"When you
release the cyber."

"You dare to
threaten a peer?"

"I dare a great
many things that most Overlords don't. That's why I'm called the
Wild Child, isn't it?"

"You cannot
interfere with the judgement of another Overlord."

Fairen tilted
his head. "Aren't you even going to offer me refreshment? How rude
of you."

"You boarded
without an invitation! You hold my ship in a stasis field! The only
reason I allow it is because I don't wish to do battle with a peer.
It's forbidden!"

"So I've
heard." Fairen approached Tassin and Sabre. "What's wrong with
him?"

"He's... under
cyber control again," she said through gritted teeth.

Fairen turned
to Ramadaus. "And you intended to execute him?"

"He can get
free."

"But until he
does, he's just a machine, no different from yours. All you're
doing is destroying a valuable piece of property."

"Mine can't
free themselves."

"Are you sure
this is even the right cyber?"

Ramadaus
nodded. "She admitted it."

"Ah, well she
would, wouldn't she? This could be a ruse."

"But it
isn't."

"Perhaps not.
However, I lay claim to him." Fairen turned back to Tassin.
"Transfer him to me."

"But..." Tassin
hesitated, shaking her head.

"You want him
to live? Do it."

She looked up
at Sabre. "Sabre, what's your serial number?"

"This unit's
serial number is XCA-6352-JY9019."

"Cyber
XCA-6352-JY9019, command input, authorisation password, moonlight.
Initiate transfer protocol."

"Password
accepted. Transfer protocol initiated," Sabre said in a dull
monotone. "Proceed."

"New owner's
name is Overlord Fairen, transfer codes are..." Tassin closed her
eyes, struggling to remember the codes. "Midnight, enigma,
velocity... image... brigand, starburn."

"Codes valid,
transfer accepted. Proceed with voice imprint."

"Make two voice
imprints," Fairen said. "This one... and this is the second one."
As he spoke the second sentence, his voice changed from the sexless
tone to the soft voice of an adolescent boy.

"Voice imprint
successful, two imprints stored. Transfer complete." Sabre released
Tassin and stepped away, robbing her of his support, and she
staggered.

"Stay with
her," Fairen commanded. "Help her."

Sabre renewed
his support, and she clung to him.

"We both know
this is bogus," Ramadaus said. "Since he can free himself, he
doesn't really belong to you."

"That's
debateable, isn't it? By law, he does, and you're not allowed to
destroy the property of a peer."

"You neglected
to pay for him."

"I will, in due
course."

Ramadaus spread
his hands. "Then he's free to go. But if I find him again, I will
execute him."

"Before you do,
make quite certain he no longer belongs to me."