The Cyber Chronicles VII - Sabre (6 page)

"Why should I
be the only exception?"

"Who knows?
Perhaps your implants aren't in quite the right place."

Sabre looked
away. "Ask Grundel."

Barrin shot
Grundel a surprised glance. "What does he mean?"

"His implants
are perfectly positioned, Commander."

"Have you ever
seen a cyber stretch, or scratch, or yawn?" Sabre asked.

Barrin shook
his head. "Of course not."

"Have you ever
had an itch you couldn't scratch, or a stiffness you couldn't ease?
Or been thirsty or hungry and been able to do nothing about it? Or
better still, how about being terribly wounded, yet unable to stop
fighting or cry out in pain? That's what it's like to have a body
you don't control."

"That's
enough," Grundel said. "Stop this, or I'll paralyse him again."

Barrin snorted
and turned away. "It doesn't bother me. What are you going to do
now?"

Grundel turned
back to his keyboard. "I'm going to install a copy of the software
patch that reinstated the cyber's control before, then shock his
brain into submission and see if I can get the unit in control
again. Once I've done that, his ability to command it will become
redundant."

"Good. Let me
know when you've done it."

Barrin strode
out, and Sabre turned his head to glare at Grundel, his silver eyes
filled with hatred.

"Torturer."

"Be quiet."
Grundel fitted a crystal memory chip into his computer's reader and
typed on the keyboard, downloading the software patch into the
control unit. When it was installed, he attached a pair of electric
cables to the cyber unit to boost its power. He swung back to his
bank of screens, tapped the keyboard and pressed a button.

Sabre's spine
arched as the shock sizzled through his brain. He strained at the
restraints, his face twisted in a grimace of pain. Grundel studied
the screens, where the cyber's in-control areas mapped the brain in
a brief flicker before vanishing again as Sabre recovered.

Chapter Four

After the
second explosion of blinding pain and white-hot light lanced
through his mind, Sabre realised that resisting was futile and
self-destructive. The technician would persist until he succeeded,
doing a lot of damage in the process. After only two of the
powerful shocks, parts of his memory were disintegrating and his
thoughts were becoming hazy. Grundel did not care how much damage
he did. The cyber would regain control once Sabre's mind was
sufficiently weakened, and, although a damaged brain would lessen
its abilities, Grundel would be the victor.

As the pain of
the shock ebbed, Sabre ordered the cyber to change the lights on
the brow band to an in-control configuration. He turned the seven
control lights green one by one and sent a false set of graphical
readouts to Grundel's monitors. If he could fool the technician
into believing the cyber was in control, he would be released. Then
he would have a chance at regaining his freedom, to say nothing of
an end to his torture. Closing his eyes, he switched to the cyber's
optical inputs.

Grundel stared
at the monitor as the areas of the rogue cyber's brain turned green
one by one, hardly able to believe his luck. Turning to the cyber,
he studied the brow band. All seven control lights were green, and
other areas were returning to a normal configuration. Amazed, he
turned back to the monitors to reassure himself that all was as it
should be, a rush of pride and triumph filling him. It seemed that
the rogue cyber's ability to remain in charge had been more tenuous
than he had thought. He had done it. Swinging back to the rogue
cyber, he studied his face.

"Cyber unit,
serial number XCA-6352-JY9019, status."

"Unit is
functional." The cyber spoke in a normal, flat tone.

Grundel
grinned and rubbed his hands together. "Excellent. Your designation
is Cyber Three."

"Acknowledged.
This unit requests owner location."

"Ah, of
course. We can fix that." Grundel turned back to his keyboard.
"I'll just access your owner registration files and change..."
Grundel gaped at the screen. "Bloody hell." He touched a com-link
beside him. "Commander, you'd better get in here."

"On my
way."

Two minutes
later, Barrin entered, looking curious and a little irritated.
"What is it?"

"I've done it.
The control unit's back in charge."

"How did you
do it?"

"A couple of
boosted brain shocks."

The commander
went over to Sabre and studied the brow band. "That was easy. Too
easy, perhaps?"

Grundel
bristled. "There's no way he can fake this. Look at the
monitors."

"It looks
good." Barrin nodded. "Well done."

"There's just
one problem."

"What?"

Grundel
pointed at the writing on the screen in front of him. "That."

Barrin read it
and cursed. "Overlord Fairen owns him?"

"That's what
it says."

"I thought
that girl owned him."

"So did
everyone."

Barrin
frowned, considering. "Change it. Then transfer one of our cybers
who's the same age to Overlord Fairen. That way he can't accuse us
of stealing his property. He'll never know the difference. When we
get back to Myon Two, we'll contact Overlord Fairen and inform him
that we picked up his cyber in a registration sweep, and send him
back."

"The
registration numbers won't match."

"Can we swap
them?"

"No. They're
burnt into the control unit's ROM, and also tattooed on the inside
of the host's top lip and the back of his scalp."

"Bugger."
Barrin looked pensive. "But would he check it?"

Grundel
shrugged. "If he does, we're in the shit. Besides, Overlord Fairen
knows this cyber was free."

"So we fixed
him. That's our job. Better still, we found that he was
malfunctioning and destroyed him, so we've replaced him. That's
exactly what we'd do for an Overlord."

Grundel
hesitated, doubtful. "Overlord Fairen forbade Myon Two to capture
the rogue cyber. That's why we're doing this in secret,
remember?"

"Yeah, okay,
it's risky. So it was a bureaucratic bungle. We weren't notified,
or we didn't know who this cyber belonged to until after he was
destroyed, or that he was the cyber Overlord Fairen forbade us to
hunt. We apologise and replace him. What more can we do?"

"I guess it
might work. We didn't know who he belonged to, that much is true.
But you can't lie to an Overlord, Commander."

"I know that."
Barrin glowered at Grundel. "But it will work through a third
party, as long as he believes it. President Niare could tell that
story to Overlord Fairen in complete honesty, because he doesn't
know the truth."

Grundel
nodded. "I suppose so."

"Change the
owner registration, then you can release him and do your
experiments."

Grundel typed
in the command that deleted Fairen's name from the registration
information and replaced it with Myon Two, then gave command
privileges to himself and Barrin.

Commander
Barrin glanced up from a routine vidreport as one of his officers
entered his study. Unlike the functional blandness of the rest of
the ship's décor, his cabin owned a number of creature comforts and
personal decorations, including family holoimages on the sideboard
and several plush rugs on the floor.

The officer
looked anxious. "Sir, we've received a message from Myon Two. It
seems..." He cleared his throat. "An Overlord has... is in orbit at
Myon Two, and he's demanded the return of the rogue cyber."

Barrin
frowned. "What do they want us to do?"

"We're to stop
and give them our location."

"They're
giving him back? They've admitted that we took him? Why would they
do such a thing?"

The officer
licked his lips. "Apparently the Overlord has threatened to destroy
Myon Two if they don't obey him."

Barrin's mouth
dropped open, and he sat in stunned silence for a full minute,
staring at the officer, who shifted under his gaze.

"Bloody hell."
Barrin stood up and walked around his desk, rubbing his brow.
"Overlord Fairen."

"Yes, sir. How
did you know?"

"A wild guess.
He's the one who forbade us to hunt the rogue cyber, you
idiot."

"Yes, sir.
What do you want to do?"

Barrin glared
at the luckless man. "Let him destroy Myon Two, what do you think?
Leave the corridor and send the damned co-ordinates."

"Yes,
sir."

The officer
left, and Barrin hurried to the examination room where Grundel was
still experimenting on Cyber Three. The new cyber stood in front of
a heatproof board, and Grundel fiddled with a laser. Reliant’s
original two cybers waited nearby. Several red marks marred Cyber
Three's chest, one oozing a trickle of blood. Grundel glanced up
when Barrin entered, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Commander,
you have to see this. It's amazing."

"Put him in a
casket."

Grundel looked
astonished. "Sir?"

"Overlord
Fairen's on his way. We have maybe an hour to hide him."

"Oh, shit.
Okay, but watch this first. It'll only take a minute."

"What? He's
fireproof now? We know that."

"Yeah, but not
to what extent. A full power, one-second laser bolt does absolutely
no damage. A needle gun cuts him, but only after several seconds,
and it takes almost six seconds for a normal laser to do
significant damage. Watch this."

Grundel
pointed the laser at the impassive cyber and pressed the trigger,
aiming at an unmarked area of Cyber Three's chest. His skin glowed
golden, almost glimmering, and for several moments nothing
happened, then the area reddened, and a moment later, oozed blood.
Cyber Three stared into space, expressionless, but the smell of
burning flesh irritated Barrin.

"That's
enough. Yeah, it's great, now pack him away."

"This means
he's practically invincible, Commander."

"Yay. Pack him
away!"

"Yes, sir."
Grundel paused, frowning. "You said Overlord Fairen's on his way
here?"

"Yes."

"Then you'll
have to report to him yourself. You won't be able to lie to
him."

"That’s why I
can’t do it myself. I'm sending my second officer, Montral. He
doesn't know what's happened to Cyber Three, so if I tell him he's
dead, he'll think it's the truth. I'll tell him I'm unwell."

Grundel's
brows rose. "You think that will work?"

"It'll have
to, won't it?"

****

"You've run
out of time, President Naire," Fairen said.

Niare bobbed,
his eyes darting. "I need more time, My Lord. I'm not sure my
message got through. Please, another day, I beg you."

"Your two days
are up." Fairen glanced at the hooded figures of Tassin and Tarl in
the shadows beside the dais, then at Shrain. "Commander Shrain,
prepare the main gun."

"Yes,
sir."

"Please, My
Lord, another six hours!" Niare pleaded, wringing his hands.

"No." Fairen
turned to gaze at the pale globe. "I think your enforcer factions
are trying to call my bluff, which makes them either incredibly
audacious or monumentally stupid. My presence here is something
they cannot have failed to notice. Your message got through."

"Perhaps they
can't locate the ship. Please My Lord, just another four
hours!"

"No. Report,
Commander Shrain."

"Main gun
arming, My Lord. It will reach firing capability in two
minutes."

Fairen turned
to Niare. "The main gun takes a while to prepare, President Niare.
Shall I tell you why?"

Niare nodded
miserably.

"It fires
bursts of superheated plasma, combined with particle disintegrator
beams. The particle disintegrators fire first, boring a hole to the
planet's core, which takes about twelve seconds. The ship is in
geosynchronous orbit, naturally. Once the planet's core is reached,
the gun fires the superheated plasma, which combines with the
molten core, raising its temperature to that of a sun. Myon Two
will be consumed from the inside. It's quite spectacular. First the
volcanoes erupt, then giant earthquakes tear the mantle apart.
Finally the entire planet becomes molten."

"Please, My
Lord Fairen, just one more hour!"

"You will live
to see it, Niare, then you'll join your people."

"One minute to
main gun firing, My Lord," Shrain said.

"I did
everything I could!" Niare cried. "I tried! Don't punish us for the
actions of a few. We'll hunt them down and exterminate them all, I
swear it!"

"Main gun's
vent doors opening, My Lord," Shrain said.

Fairen nodded.
"That means the plasma is almost ready, Niare. When it reaches this
kind of temperature, it's a threat to the ship itself, so vent
doors open to allow the heat to disperse into space. Even though
we're on the day side, this ship is now a bright star in the sky,
visible even through your cloud cover. If your rebel factions
thought I was bluffing, they know I'm not now."

Niare looked
pale and sick. "My Lord..."

"The main gun
is ready to fire, My Lord," Shrain said.

"Good."

Niare's
com-link beeped, and he snatched it from his pocket, almost
dropping it. He juggled with it for a moment before he got it under
control and held it up. "Wait! I have the co-ordinates, My Lord!
The ship is called Reliant, and her position is 693-945-1124. She's
left a corridor and stopped." Niare sagged, panting.

Fairen waved a
hand. "Get him off my ship. Commander, power down the main gun and
prepare for translocation to those co-ordinates."

"Yes,
sir."