The Cyber Chronicles IV - Cyborg (12 page)

“
Once they figure out who she really is, they’ll put it
together with Malatar’s disappearance. Killing him wasn’t part of
the plan. I wish Sabre had just knocked him out; then we could have
released him. We’d still have been in major trouble, but not as
much as we are now that we’ve murdered a senior Cybercorp
executive. I reckon that’s put us at the top of their shit list. We
need somewhere to lie low for a while.”

She nodded.
“All right, but… if you’re docked here with a false ship identity,
why can’t you buy fuel here instead of at Rashid?”

“
It wouldn’t fit.” He sighed. “The ship runs on neosin, okay,
same as just about everything else, and it comes in power crystals,
right? Well, the crystals that fit Vordon’s yacht won’t fit
Striker.”

“
Oh. I see. Pity.”

“
Yeah.”

Chapter Five

The club’s
throbbing mood music pounded at Tassin’s ears, making her wish she
had earplugs. She scanned the people who packed the sleek, chrome
and black velvet interior, all of whom were in various stages of
intoxication and undress. The long, teardrop-shaped lights that
hung from the sparkling ceiling gave off a soft yellow
illumination, and a vast bar spanned the far wall, the shelves
beyond it packed with an amazing array of weirdly shaped and
coloured bottles. Five barmen roamed its length, handing drinks
over the counter to swaying patrons. Couples clinched in dark
corners and drunken oddballs sparked spats with sober patrons.

Tassin glanced
at Sabre, glad to have him at her side, and himself again, sort of.
She wondered if the awkwardness between them would remain until he
regained his memories, not wanting to entertain the possibility
that he might never remember her. He wore a black shirt, matching
leather jacket and jeans, which Kole had bought for him earlier, so
he could blend in. A cyber in combat kit would stand out a mile in
a recreation club. A black headband hid the control unit, which did
not protrude sufficiently to make its presence obvious. With it
covered, he looked like a normal man, the faint scars on his face
hardly noticeable. He looked so different in civilian clothes, she
mused, it was almost possible to forget what he was, especially
with the brow band covered and his eyes filled with sharp
intelligence.

Kole touched
her arm and pointed at a gilt-framed door on the right hand side of
the room, set into a glass wall through which an assortment of
gaming tables was visible. The music was too loud to allow him to
be heard, but she knew what they were here to do. Kole had searched
the local Net and found a man who might be able to help Sabre with
his memory and co-ordination problems. His impairment was barely
noticeable, but his hands still had a slight tremor and his neck
muscles jerked occasionally. His last battle with the cyber, she
knew, had been the worst ever. Since then it seemed to have given
up, for now, at least, to her relief. She sensed, however, that it
waited, like a beaten, but not dead beast, in the back of his mind,
just waiting for the opportunity to spring to the fore and take
over again. It did not try while he was asleep, since any such
attempt would immediately wake him up and the battle would be on,
but the moment he was knocked unconscious it would be ready.

Kole was here
to try to make some money gambling, so they could buy the fuel to
reach Charon Six. She and Sabre were here to find the neurologist
Kole had located, who was anti-Cybercorp. The man they were looking
for was called Vershasen Korazon, and they had all seen an image of
him from his personnel file at the experimental lab where he
worked. He had put up several anti-Cybercorp sites, which had been
hacked down within hours, but had still earned the wrath of the
enforcers, who hunted him now. He had come to Rashid Four to escape
them, since enforcers were not welcome on the outlaw world, and had
been in hiding here for several years. This club, apparently, was
where he hung out, which Kole had found out by hacking through
several firewalls into the lab’s servers and finding Shasen’s
online avatar and the chat room he frequented. He had then gone
into it pretending to be a young girl and asked to meet Shasen. The
process had taken several hours, and she hoped it was worth it.
Kole headed for the gaming room, and Tassin wandered towards the
bar, searching the dim corners for the young renegade neurologist.
Sabre followed her, his presence immensely comforting.

At the bar,
she handed over one of the translucent wafers that were used for
money in this modern society, which Kole had given her earlier.
Staggered cloudy glass barriers cut down the volume of the music
around the bar, making it possible to talk, and she ordered two
mild, fruity drinks that Kole had recommended. A bar stool became
vacant beside her, and she settled upon it, still scanning the dim
recesses. Sabre leant against the bar and sipped his drink,
glancing around. Tassin had also purchased new clothes on Kole’s
shopping trip, since her Omega Five garments were hardly suitable.
She now wore a pair of slim-legged black jeans and a stretchy
sleeveless black top under a short grey velvet jacket, a pair of
black suede ankle boots making her almost as tall as Sabre. She
thought her new outfit was extremely fetching, and Kole’s eyes had
lingered on her with blatant appreciation when she had changed into
it on the ship, but Sabre had not seemed to notice. That had always
been the way of it, she thought with a frustrated sigh, and now
they were back to square one. Not that they had got very far beyond
it before Manutim had taken him away, she thought, except in those
final few minutes.

Struck by an
idea, she beckoned to one of the bartenders, a giant bald man with
a ring through his nose, and he came over to lean on the bar
counter and cock an ear at her.

“
We’re looking for Vershasen Korazon,” she bellowed.

He shook his
head. “Never heard of him.”

“
We need his help,” she added.

“
Still never heard of him.”

Tassin drew a
translucent wafer from her pocket and pushed it across the counter.
“We’re sympathisers.”

The barman
tucked the wafer away, leant closer and bellowed, “Never heard of
him!”

Sabre’s hand
flashed out, gripped the man’s neck and slammed his head down on
the counter. While he struggled to free himself, the cyber took
hold of the bartender’s nose ring with two fingers.

“
Shasen Korazon,” he said.

The barkeep
pointed. “He’s in the gaming room, corner table.”

Sabre released
the man, who glared, rubbing his neck, and retreated to shout at
one of his cronies.

Tassin cast
the cyber a grateful smile and slid off the barstool, picked up her
drink and headed for the dim corner of the gaming room. The man who
sat in it was a mystery in the shadows, and she could not make him
out even when he straightened at their approach. She sat on the
chrome and black velvet chair opposite, Sabre beside her. The
gaming room’s glass wall blocked the sound from the dance floor and
made it possible to talk.

“
Shasen Korazon?” she asked.

“
Who wants to know?”

“
We’re friends. We need your help.”

“
With what?”

“
A friend of mine has amnesia.”

He shook his
head. “I don’t consult. I’m a researcher, not a practitioner.”

“
We can’t go to a regular doctor.” She leant closer. “We’re
also wanted by Myon Two.”

“
And that’s supposed to make me want to help you?”

“
We hoped it would.”

“
Unless you tell him Myon Two is after you, a doctor won’t
know, will he?”

She shook her
head. “We can’t let a regular doctor examine him. You’ll understand
why when you see him.”

He was silent
for several seconds, as if considering. “What are you
offering?”

“
Offering?”

“
I don’t do stuff for free, you know. With amnesia cases, there
are expensive drugs involved, too.”

Tassin’s heart
sank. “We don’t have any money.”

“
Well, then, why should I help you?”

“
Is there something else you want?”

“
Classified information about Myon Two, or cybers.”

She glanced at
Sabre. “We might be able to help you with that, but I need to speak
to my friend first.”

He shrugged.
“Fine. The information had better be good, though, and genuine. The
only stuff I don’t know is highly classified.”

“
Oh, it’s the best,” she assured him. “The type of thing no one
else has got.”

“
About cybers, or Myon Two?”

“
Both.”

“
Okay, I’m interested. Bring me the information, and I’ll help
your friend with his amnesia. Do you know what caused
it?”

“
Electrical shocks.”

He leant back
and sipped his drink. “That should be curable. Come back when you
have the info.”

Clearly he was
not interested in further conversation that did not include the
information he craved, so she rose and made her way back to the
bar, sidestepping drunken or drugged patrons who stumbled into her
path. Those she could not avoid, Sabre shoved aside. The barman
with the nose ring stayed away, and a different barman served them
another round of drinks, which they sipped while they waited for
Kole to finish in the gaming room.

A couple of
hours later, Kole emerged, looking smug and more than a little
drunk. He beckoned to them and headed for the club entrance, and
they exited it into the parking lot to find him waiting for
them.

“
I did it!” he crowed. “Man, did I get lucky!”

“
You won?” she asked.

He scooped her
up and swung her around. “Did I ever!”

She squeaked
in surprise. “Enough to buy fuel to Charon?”

“
And then some.” He lowered her feet to the ground and held her
close, then glanced at Sabre and released her. She had the
impression that he would have done something they both would have
regretted, if not for Sabre’s presence. She tugged her jacket
straight and forced a smile.

“
That’s great. So we can leave as soon as Sabre’s memories are
fixed?”

“
Sure.” He shrugged. “I don’t see a need to rush, though. I
like it here.”

“
I must sell the sword and go home. I want to go
home.”

“
Right.” He frowned and swung away. “Let’s get back to the
ship.”

Kole marched
away towards the hired air-car, which was on the far side of the
car park. Tassin followed, the cool air making her a little
light-headed after the four drinks she had consumed. Kole had
clearly had far more. Sabre had switched to fruit juice after two
of the mild drinks. An approaching hum made her glance to the right
as two air-bikes with no lights shot towards Kole, two big men
aboard each one.

“
Kole! Look out!” she shouted.

The hacker
turned as the vehicles reached him, and Sabre sprinted past her.
The passengers jumped off, and one punched Kole in the gut while
the other grabbed something from inside his jacket. The thugs swung
around as Sabre reached them, and one took a swing at him. He
ducked and lunged, sending the beefy mugger flying backwards with a
double fisted blow to his chest. The other thug dashed towards the
air-bikes, and the two men aboard them drew lasers and opened fire.
Sabre threw himself aside, and Tassin yelped and crouched as shots
hissed past her.

Due to the ban
on weapons in the leisure club, the cyber was unarmed. He dropped
and rolled towards the men, and his headband came adrift. The
exposed control unit’s lights sparkled in the darkness, and one of
the mounted men shouted, “Shit! It’s a cyber!”

Sabre leapt up
beside the mugger who was scrambling aboard a bike and sent him
crashing to the cement with a punch. The other two snapped off a
few more shots, one of which hit the cyber’s thigh as he dived
aside. The muggers gunned their bikes and shot away with a scream
of engines. The two thugs Sabre had hit lay unmoving, and Tassin
wondered if they were dead. Kole sat up, clutching his head, which
he had evidently banged on the concrete, his expression
thunderous.

“
Bastards!” he bellowed after the muggers.

Sabre rose to
his feet and searched the clothes of the last man he had knocked
out, coming away empty handed.

Kole turned to
him. “Well? Did you get it?”

The cyber
shook his head. “He must have tossed it to one of his friends.”

“
Why didn’t you stop them?”

Sabre’s brows
rose. “I tried.”

“
I thought you were a bloody cyber?”

“
I am.”

“
So?”

“
I’m unarmed, and my reflexes are very slow. And I can’t run
faster than an air-bike.”

“
Shit!” Kole groaned and rubbed the back of his head. “Now
we’re back at square one. Worse, since now I don’t have any seed
money to go gaming again.
We’re
screwed!”

Tassin hurried
up to Sabre, who clasped his thigh. “You’re hurt!”

“
I’m okay. It’s just a laser burn.”

She bent and
pushed aside his hand to reveal a black-edged hole in his trousers
that oozed blood. Picking up his headband, she tied it over the
wound.

“
We are so screwed,” Kole muttered again.

Tassin shot
him a frown. “What about the local authorities?”