The Cyber Chronicles IV - Cyborg (18 page)

The three
cyborgs performed a graceful ballet, leaping and diving to avoid
attacks with such speed Tassin's eyes could barely follow them.
They moved almost in unison, trying to strike each other in
mid-air. By comparison, the enforcers were slow and clumsy,
hampering each other in their efforts to wound Sabre, and once even
shooting one of their own men. The settlers jeered and shot at
them, scoring hits while the enforcers were engrossed in their
attempts to capture Sabre. He concentrated on the cybers,
occasionally striking an enforcer when opportunity allowed. Like
them, he seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, and
anticipated their attacks as if he could read their minds. More and
more enforcers were wounded and dragged out through the tunnel,
until only five remained behind two shields. None of the cybers had
yet struck another, but sweat sheened Sabre's skin.

A cyber lunged
at Sabre, trying to grab him. He spun aside and punched the cyber
on the side of the head, cracking his helmet with a brittle report.
The cyber staggered sideways, then spun away as his cohort dived
into a forward roll and leapt to his feet behind Sabre. His fist
shot out at Sabre's head. To Tassin's amazement, Sabre flung
himself into a backflip and whipped his legs around his opponent's
neck.

The cyber
staggered back and fell, Sabre on top of him. He aimed his lasers
at Sabre's flanks, but he gripped the cyber's wrists and twisted,
ripping one weapon free. He ducked as the second cyber swung around
and fired, the shots hissing over him. Sabre punched the prone
cyber in the face, smashing his helmet, then rammed the business
end of the hand laser into the cyber's eye. The cyber heaved,
flinging Sabre off before he could fire, and they rolled away in
opposite directions.

The second
cyber followed Sabre with pulses of laser fire, and two of the
enforcers joined in, since the firing from the settlers had
diminished due to their fascination with the cyber fight. Tassin
turned to find Kole agape, his weapon dangling from his hand, and
punched him in the shoulder.

"Shoot
them!"

Kole jumped
and glanced at her, then raised his weapon again. Sabre leapt up
with a strange twist that defied gravity and fired at the second
cyber, who sprinted towards the far pod. He ran up its side and
flipped over backwards in a graceful somersault, trying to get
behind Sabre while his partner rushed at him from the side. Sabre
dropped and rolled, lashing out with a foot. The cyber jumped over
it as his comrade landed and lunged at Sabre, who leapt up and
spun, his boot striking the second cyber on the side of the head
again.

The blow tore
his helmet off, revealing a youthful version of Sabre's face, with
a shaven head. His eyes were closed and his expression impassive as
he staggered sideways, then spun, raising his weapons. Sabre had
lost the laser cannon, and drew one of his hand lasers in a blur of
motion to snap off three shots at the cyber's head. He ducked, and
his partner fired at Sabre's back as he spun to avoid it, one bolt
clipping his shoulder. He fired back, and glowing spots appeared on
the cyber's chest armour. Sabre dropped and rolled again as the
second cyber rushed him from the side, firing. One of the shots hit
Sabre in the flank, and blood oozed from his shoulder.

The settlers
fired at the helmetless cyber's head, forcing him to duck and roll.
He snapped off a few shots at them, then fired at Sabre, forcing
him to take evasive action as his partner rushed at him from
behind, firing at his back. Sabre dropped and spun, grabbed the
cyber's arm as he leapt up and swung him into the pod. As he
rebounded, the second cyber rushed in, looking for a close up shot
that would not allow Sabre to evade it. Sabre flung himself
backwards and performed three backflips as the shots flashed
past.

The cyber
pursued him, and Sabre bounced to his feet and sprinted at the side
of the hold. He ran up the wall like a cat and somersaulted over
his pursuer. The cyber spun around as Sabre aimed point blank at
the back of his head, flinging himself backwards before Sabre
fired. The first cyber fired, and Sabre cartwheeled sideways. The
second cyber followed with a series of backflips, and they bounced
to their feet together. The second cyber aimed at Sabre's head, but
he flung himself into a forward roll. His feet hit the cyber in the
gut and sent him staggering back.

Sweat ran down
Sabre's skin now, and drops splattered from his opponents. Tassin
wondered how long they could sustain this level of effort. It
continued, a graceful, perfectly performed ballet of highly skilled
combat manoeuvres performed with incredible speed and precision. So
much so that hardly any blows or shots hit their elusive targets.
Fatigue might eventually become the deciding factor, Tassin
realised, and, since Sabre was not controlled by a machine, he was
at a disadvantage. The enforcers behind the shield dwindled to four
as one fell to a settler who crept around behind them, and the rest
retreated towards the airlock.

One of Sabre's
shots grazed the side of the helmetless cyber's head, burning away
a chunk of skin to reveal the golden gleam of barrinium. The other
cyber slipped on the bloody floor, and Sabre sent him spinning into
the wall with a powerful kick. Fatigue took its toll, and Tassin
calculated that the fight had gone on for almost half an hour.
Sabre lost his balance while performing a spinning kick and fell,
and his opponent stamped on his chest, forcing a grunt from him.
Sabre rolled to his feet and fired, but his laser sputtered and
died. He drew the second one, hurling the first at the other cyber,
who snapped off a series of shots that missed only because Sabre
dived sideways.

Tassin noticed
a subtle shift in the enemy cybers' strategy. One slowed almost to
a standstill, offering a tempting target, and Sabre attacked him in
a graceful bound, leaping high in a spinning kick. The cyber was
smashed sideways, his helmet crushed by the blow. Sabre followed
him down, trying to press his laser to the cyber's eye. The cyber
grabbed his wrist, holding him at bay while he attempted to press
his weapon to Sabre's ear. Sabre smashed his arm away, but the
second cyber reached them and aimed at Sabre's back. Sabre flung
himself sideways to avoid the shot, but the first cyber hung on,
trying to hold him long enough for his partner to finish the
job.

Sabre raised
his legs and forced them into the cyber's chest, then kicked,
ripping himself free with such force that Tassin expected some
fingers to be torn off. The second cyber flung himself on top of
Sabre, trying to pin him down. Sabre jerked up his legs, planted
his feet on his opponent's chest and sent him flying with a
powerful kick. The other cyber leapt at him, and Sabre rolled,
hurling him away as he hooked his fingers into the neck of the
cyber's armour. It tore off with a ripping sound, exposing the
cyber's chest. The first cyber leapt up and fired, two shots
hitting Sabre in the chest before he could roll away. Tassin
groaned, chewing her lip.

The settlers
fired at the cyber with the exposed chest, several shots hitting
him despite his evasive tactics, yet they hardly seemed to do any
harm. Sabre also seemed unaffected, and rolled to his feet, then
dived for his laser, which he had dropped. Both Myon Two cybers
were now helmetless, with identical youthful faces and shaven
heads, although one had his eyes open in a classic blank gaze. The
duo converged on Sabre again, firing, and he evaded all except one
of the shots, which hit him in the thigh, making him stagger. He
spun away, but a cyber grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm in a
move too fast for Tassin to see.

Sabre whipped
around, ignoring what must have been a considerable amount of pain,
and kicked his assailant in the shin. His partner leapt to grab
Sabre's other arm, but he evaded him. His arm snapped up and
pressed his laser to the second cyber's eye. As he jerked away,
Sabre pulled the trigger. The cyber stiffened, the lights on his
brow band blazing red. He crumpled, and Sabre swung the weapon
towards the cyber who held his arm, but his foe smashed it from his
fist. The remaining cyber was the one without chest armour, and
multiple laser burns oozed blood down his belly. He moved jerkily,
his fist cracking into Sabre's jaw, snapping his head around. Sabre
allowed the momentum to spin him right around, his elbow popping as
he ripped his arm from the enemy cyber's iron grip.

One of the
enforcers behind the shield shouted, and the cyber paused, the
lights on his brow band flashing, then turned and strode towards
the tunnel. The settlers roared and fired a parting barrage as the
cyber and the enforcers retreated into the tunnel, dragging the
shields. The airlock doors rumbled shut, and Tassin ran to Sabre,
her stomach a knot of anguish. He gasped in quick harsh breaths,
and steam rose from his skin. Blood ran from his shoulder, chest,
flank and thigh, mingling with the sweat that poured off him, and
red marks and swellings marred his skin in dozens of places. The
settlers quit their hiding places and gathered around, a few
kicking the dead cyber, whose brow band still blazed red.

The captain
bellowed, "Let the doc through!"

Tassin blinked
away her tears. "Sabre, rest, you're injured."

"Unit is
functional," Sabre intoned, but he sank down on his haunches and
bowed his head.

"At what
level?" Kole asked.

"Fifty-two per
cent."

A plump man
with bushy sideburns elbowed his way through the crowd and knelt
beside Sabre, opening a white case. He glanced up at Tassin.

"Give me
access."

His request
confused her, then Kole nudged her and she realised what she had to
do. "Sabre, allow the doctor to treat your wounds."

"Tell him to
lie down."

Tassin gave
the order, and Sabre obeyed, closing his eyes. The effort of
keeping his face blank when in so much pain must have been
considerable, Tassin thought. The doctor cut away Sabre's vest,
swabbed the wounds and applied adhesive dressings, then probed
Sabre's ribs with total disregard for the pain he caused. Sabre
stiffened, and the doctor paused, frowning.

"Your control
unit seems to have developed a problem," he said.

Tassin
frowned. "Give him a painkiller before you do anything else."

"What
for?"

"Because I
said so."

The doctor
glanced at Ravel, who shrugged. The doctor injected Sabre in the
vein in his elbow, and then continued his examination.

"He's got two
cracked ribs."

He strapped
Sabre's chest and examined his hands, which bled where he had
ripped off the other cyber's armour. When they were bandaged, he
turned his attention to Sabre's elbow, flexed the joint and shook
his head.

"His elbow's
torn up pretty bad. This will take months to heal. Probably won't
ever be the same again."

He placed a
cast on Sabre's arm and strapped it to his chest before concluding
his examination. "The rest is just bruises, pretty bad ones, but
nothing I can do about them." He fingered Sabre's jaw. "This should
be broken, but it's not."

"Why do you
say it should be broken?"

"Because I saw
how hard he was hit, little lass. Only the reinforcing saved
it."

Tassin nodded,
struggling to hide her misery, and glanced at the dead cyber. His
brow band still blazed, and some of the settlers squatted to study
him. One used a knife to cut open the skin of his face, revealing
the barrinium plating.

"Why is his
brow band still on?" she asked Kole.

"Battery
backup. It will die soon."

Ravel nodded.
"Some say a cyber will continue to function for several minutes
even after he's dead, if the brain's not damaged. That one's got a
cooked brain, that's why he's not moving."

Tassin looked
away, nauseated by the settlers' brutal butchering, and the doctor
stood up, extending his hand. "That'll be five credits."

Tassin's mouth
fell open, but Kole drew a translucent wafer from his pocket and
handed it over. Ravel gazed down at Sabre, shaking his head.

"That fight
lasted almost two hours. Amazing. You want to sell him?"

"No." Tassin
frowned. "I'd like a cabin."

"Well now,
cabins are pretty scarce."

Kole held out
another wafer. "We can pay."

Ravel took it.
"That's good. I'm sure we can find something for you." He touched
his ear and smiled. "The enforcer ship's leaving; seems it's
getting too hot out there, even for them."

"The cyber's
corpse is worth almost two hundred thousand credits," Kole said.
"We'll let you keep it for safe passage away from Rashid."

Ravel's eyes
narrowed. "You'll let me keep it?"

"We still have
a cyber, and he killed him, not you. The corpse belongs to us."

"Have you
forgotten where you are, son? This is Rashid. There are no laws.
But yeah, you do still have a cyber, so I'll let it go."

Kole nodded.
"Where are you headed?"

"Arfendis One,
which you've never heard of. Where were you headed?"

"Charon
Six."

"We're not
going anywhere near there."

"How much
would your engineers charge to repair my ship?"

Ravel
shrugged. "That depends on what's wrong with it."

"Then I'd like
them to have a look at it."

"Sure." Ravel
glanced down at Sabre, whose breaths had slowed to deep even gasps.
"I tell you what. I'll give you ship clamp out of this system if I
can borrow your cyber while he's here."

Tassin stifled
a gasp, and Kole raised his brows. "What for?"

"This bunch."
Ravel indicated the men. "They fight amongst themselves."

Kole nodded.
"But no command privilege. If you have a problem, one of us will go
with you."