The Cyber Chronicles IV - Cyborg (24 page)

"You're a
queen?"

Tassin smiled.
"A meaningless title away from Arlin, except to posturing idiots
like Jerrad Mandure."

"But you're a
real queen."

"Of a
primitive country on a forgotten backwater planet." Tassin turned
to Sabre. "Please take that ugly thing off your head."

Sabre
unclipped the helmet and pulled it off, rubbing his face.

"So should I
call you 'Highness'?" Kole enquired.

"I'd rather
you called me by my name. ‘Highness’ is the wrong term in any case;
it's the title of a prince or princess. A queen is ‘Majesty’."

"Okay."

"So now we
just have to buy a ship and go home." Tassin grinned at Sabre.
"Isn't that wonderful?"

Kole shook his
head. "Actually, you can't buy a ship here."

"Why not?"
Tassin frowned at him. "Surely they sell them here?"

"Oh, sure,
luxury yachts by the bushel, but that's not the problem."

"Then what
is?"

"If you buy
from a reputable dealer, you have to produce identification, since
the ship has to be registered in your name. You don't exist."

Tassin raised
her brows. "I beg to differ."

"I mean, you
don't exist in the system. People from restricted planets like
Omega Five aren't registered in the intergalactic directory."

"So..."

"So you'll
have to travel to an outlaw world and buy one there, on the black
market, no questions asked."

Tassin sighed,
some of her happiness leaking away. "Or you could register it in
your name."

"Sure, if you
want the enforcers here in two hours."

She groaned,
shaking her head. "I don't want to go to another outlaw world."

"If you want a
ship, we'll have to."

"Fine. But not
one as bad as Rashid, I hope."

Kole shrugged.
"They're all pretty lousy."

Tassin turned
to Sabre again, who stared out of the window with a pensive
expression. "Sabre? What's wrong?"

He looked down
at his hands, which were clad in tough armoured gloves. "I... had a
memory flash when you told Jerrad you were a queen."

"That's
wonderful! What did you remember?"

"Killing a
slave on Patril Two."

Tassin's mouth
dropped open. "You did?"

He nodded,
frowning. "It's fuzzy, but I was ordered to kill a girl who had
displeased her master. He happened to be the son of the woman who
owned me."

"That wasn't
you. That was the cyber."

"It makes no
difference. It was my hands that throttled her."

"Of course it
makes a difference. You weren't responsible."

He looked out
of the window again. "It makes me wonder what other terrible things
I'm going to remember."

"You never
told me much about your past. But there are some good memories,
too. The main thing is they're coming back."

"Perhaps
Shasen's injections are finally working," Kole commented.

"She was an
innocent," Sabre said.

Tassin nodded.
"How did she displease her master?"

"I don't know.
They don't tell cybers why, they just ordered me to throttle her...
slowly. She begged for mercy. She clawed at the brow band as if she
wanted to tear it off and free me so I would stop."

Tassin
shivered and touched her throat. "And you would have, if you
could."

"But I
couldn't. I had to watch her die..." Sabre's expression stiffened
and his eyes grew distant. "Kole, there are two air-cars pursuing
us with four armed cybers in each."

"Shit." Kole
pushed the control lever forward, and Tassin grabbed her seat as
the air-car dived towards the dense woodland below.

"Who could it
be?"

"Mandure, I'll
bet," Kole said. "He'd like to get his money back."

"Is everyone a
crook in this universe?"

"I thought he
was too quick to hand over so much money. Billionaires don't
usually part with it that easily. If we can just reach the next
estate, we'll be okay."

"How far is
that?" Tassin hung onto her seat, her stomach churning. They
descended into the forest and weaved between huge tree trunks.

"Twenty-four
kilometres."

"We'll never
make it," Sabre said. "They're catching up fast, and we're on their
scanners."

"Can't you jam
their scanners?"

"No."

Tassin twisted
to look at Sabre. "What can we do?"

He shrugged,
apparently relaxed. "Crash the air-car and seek cover behind
stone."

"How?"

He gazed at
the forest floor whizzing past below. "First we disable the
anti-collision circuit, then slow the car until we can jump out.
There's bound to be stone down there."

"Why can't we
just keep going? How can they stop us?"

"They wouldn't
be chasing us if they couldn't stop us. They might use a grapple on
us, or shoot out our engines and crash us. The credit wafers are
indestructible, after all."

"What about
the law? That's murder!"

Kole said, "On
Charon, the moguls make the laws. They own the bloody planet."

"Oh,
wonderful. Why did we come here?"

"Because only
moguls like these will pay millions for an oddity. Okay, Sabre, how
do I disable the anti-collision?"

The cyber
leant forward between the seats, brushing past Tassin to feel under
the dashboard in front of her. Ripping off a metal plate, he groped
inside and tore out a handful of crystals and wires with a shower
of sparks, making her yelp. The air-car shuddered and bobbed. Kole
pulled back on the lever, and the vehicle slowed. Sabre opened the
door beside him and peered at the ground.

"Get ready to
put it on autopilot, and as soon as I say go, jump. Tassin, come
here."

She climbed
into the back seat, and he put his helmet on her, then studied the
ground again. "Go a bit lower, Kole. We're still too high."

The air-car
sank towards the ground, and Sabre closed his eyes, concentrating.
"Okay, there's an area of stone coming up, get ready." He turned to
Tassin and pulled her into an embrace that she would have enjoyed,
if not for his armour. "Kole, bend your knees and roll when you hit
the ground."

"Right."

Sabre tensed.
"Go!"

Tassin gasped
as he rolled out of the door in an odd move that ensured he landed
feet first. The ground rushed up, then his arms dug into her back
as his feet hit the ground. He rolled sideways through the leaves,
shielding her from the impact. When they stopped rolling, he jumped
up and pulled her to her feet. Kole sat up a few metres away,
looking stunned, and gripped his ankle, his hair full of dead
leaves. Tassin tottered after Sabre, who hauled her towards a slab
of rock partially hidden under the leaves. Her stiletto heels sank
into the soft soil, soon becoming clogged with leaves. Kole limped
after them, cursing. Sabre scowled at the sheet of stone.

"Bugger."

Releasing her
arm, he bent and slid his fingers under the edge of the slab,
settled his feet wider apart, and lifted. The rock sheet rose with
a soft ripping, then cracked several metres along its length.

Sabre turned
to them. "Get under it, quick!"

Tassin
hesitated only for a moment, thinking of the numberless creepy
crawlies in the darkness, before she crawled under the slab. Kole
rolled in beside her. Sabre knelt, trembling under the strain of
holding the slab up in such an awkward position. Kole placed his
palms against it, trying to help. Sabre ducked under the slab's
edge and crawled in, letting it scrape across his armoured back. An
explosion made the ground shiver, and Tassin turned to Sabre, who
remained on his hands and knees, supporting the slab. Moments
later, two air-cars hummed overhead, slowing.

Tassin
breathed in short, jerky gasps as she fought the urge to crawl out
from under the slab, which would crush her if Sabre failed to
support it. The distant hum of the air-cars steadied and time crept
past as the tension rose. She watched Sabre, whose brow became
sheened with sweat.

"They're
searching the wreckage," Kole muttered.

"How long is
that going to take?" Tassin whispered.

"Not long.
They have scanners."

The hum of the
air-cars rose, then grew louder until they passed overhead again,
flying slowly.

"They're
searching for us now," Kole said.

"If we were on
their scanners, how could they have failed to see us jump out?"
Tassin asked.

"They didn��t,
but their mission is to retrieve the money, so they had to check
the wreck, and now we've vanished."

Something
crawled into Tassin's dress, and she squeaked, trying to brush it
out.

Sweat ran down
Sabre's face to drip from his nose and chin, veins stood out on his
brow. The air-cars circled, moving further away, and Tassin
scratched the crawling sensation in her blouse. Something bit her,
and she yelped. The air-cars' hum faded, but Sabre waited for
several more minutes.

"All right,
out," he said.

Tassin crawled
into the open, Kole close behind. He gripped the edge of the slab,
straining to hold it up while Sabre edged out until it rested on
his shoulders, then raised his arms and lifted it, ducking out from
under it.

"It's okay,
I've got it," Kole assured him.

"Oh, good."
Sabre released the slab, whose weight yanked Kole downwards,
slamming his fingers into the soft earth.

He pulled them
free, straightening. "Bloody hell. How much does that weigh?"

"No idea."
Sabre swung away. "Come on, move."

Tassin
struggled to remove the helmet, and he gripped her arm and pulled
her forwards. Something still crawled around in her blouse, making
her shudder.

"Wait! There's
an insect in my clothes."

"It can
wait."

She gasped as
he dragged her along so fast her legs could barely keep up. "What's
the rush? They've gone!"

"They'll be
back."

Kole limped
after them, cursing, and they ran through tracts of leafy woodland,
leapt streams and clambered over areas of slippery, lichen-covered
stone. Tassin's legs soon ached, and the fragile high-heeled
sandals threatened to twist her ankles. She stumbled beside Sabre,
his grip on her arm supporting her. Her lungs burnt and her legs
turned to rubber, then gave way. The cyber swung around, took her
other hand and pulled her back to her feet, then bent and lifted
her onto his shoulder in a smooth movement, sprinting onwards even
faster. His shoulder pummelled her midriff and made her queasy, and
her head spun as she hung upside down on his back.

Several miles
further on, Kole slowed, clutching his side. Sabre veered to the
right, and, moments later, put Tassin down in the darkness of a
cave. She sank onto the dry, sandy floor, rubbing her ribs. Kole
staggered in and fell to his knees, panting. Tassin struggled with
the helmet again, and Sabre unclipped it and took it off. He sank
down, breathing deeply. Sweat ran down his face, dripped onto his
chest and spiked his hair.

"Are we safe?"
she asked.

Sabre shook
his head. "We're out of the immediate area, but they'll search
here, too."

Kole groaned
and flopped onto his back. "I can't... run anymore."

"We'll rest
here for a while."

Tassin
clutched her ribs, grimacing.

Sabre eyed
her. "Are you hurt?"

"Maybe a bit
bruised."

"Sorry."

"God, don't
apologise."

He unclipped
his armour and stripped it off.

"You should
keep that on," Tassin advised.

He shook his
head. "It's hot."

"I think I
twisted my ankle," Kole muttered.

Tassin gazed
at the cave entrance. "Now what do we do? We're on foot with no
food or water, miles from anywhere."

"We walk to
the next estate and hope they'll help us," Sabre said.

She looked
down at her silk dress, now smeared with dirt and sprinkled with
detritus, her sandals caked with mud. "I wish I hadn't worn this
stupid dress now."

"I thought you
liked it," Kole said.

"I do, but
it's not very practical, is it? If we have to spend the night here,
I'm going to freeze." She rubbed her bare shoulders.

Kole pulled
off his jacket and held it out. "Here."

"Thank you.
Now you'll freeze."

"I'll
live."

Sabre rose and
went to the entrance to gaze out, then returned. "If you've
recovered, Kole, we should keep going."

"No, not
yet."

"Mandure will
send his cybers out to search for us."

"We're under
stone."

"They'll be on
foot, and they can see."

Kole groaned.
"Aren't we far enough away? We ran for bloody kilometres."

"No."

"Do we even
know what direction to go in?"

"We're twelve
kilometres from the border."

Kole rubbed
his ankle. "Just a bit longer."

Sabre squatted
down. "Every minute increases the danger. The cybers will be
dropped off from air-cars, each one searching a grid area."

"Okay, okay.
Just a few more minutes."

Tassin plaited
her hair while they waited, wishing there was some water to drink.
Time crawled past, and Sabre put his armour back on, clipping the
helmet to its holder on his hip. Kole rubbed his ankle. Tassin
found the insect in her blouse and evicted it with a gasp of
relief. Sabre rose and went back to the entrance.

"Come on,
let's go."

Kole stood up
with a groan, hobbling after him. Tassin followed, cursing the
high-heeled shoes that sank into the soft ground.

Sabre raised
his hand. "Go back."

"What is it
now?" Kole grumbled.

"A cyber, two
hundred metres away, heading this way."

Kole and
Tassin retreated, and Sabre flattened himself against the side of
the cave entrance. Tense minutes passed, and she wished she could
see the approaching menace. Sabre moved back a pace, drew a laser
and held it ready. The soft crunch of footfalls made Tassin tense,
then a shadow moved into the cave entrance, the lights of a brow
band flashing. Sabre's arm snapped up to press the laser's muzzle
to the cyber's ear, and a flash lighted the gloom, accompanied by a
vicious buzz. The cyber crumpled, his control unit blazing red.
Sabre holstered his weapon and knelt beside the body. Tassin and
Kole came forward, and she gazed at the corpse, her heart heavy
with sorrow and relief.