The Cyber Chronicles V - Overlord (18 page)

Tarl stood up,
his expression grim. "What is it?"

"A group of
twenty coming this way. The rest are moving towards their ship,
preparing to leave, I think. Something must have spooked them."

"Someone
answered our call?"

"Possibly.
They've sent a battle group to find out what happened to the ones
in the hold."

"Okay, so we
sit tight. Maybe they won't have time to search the ship for
us."

Sabre nodded,
glancing at the group of terrified women. "Let's hope so. They've
just entered the corridor outside, everyone keep quiet."

Chapter Twelve

Overlord Ravian
frowned at the boxy, dull grey ship that was docked with the sleek
intergalactic liner like a leech on a fish. Corsair vessels were
crudely built and functional; the aliens wasted no effort on
aesthetics. Many were pirated freighters that had been converted
into warships. Solar wing generators budded from its sides in dark,
lopsided protrusions, and a row of square, blackened heat engine
openings ran along its stern, used for normal flight between
planets and corridors. Laser cannons sprouted from its sides in
clusters of glittering spikes, and tiny windows glowed with dull
orange light.

By contrast,
the Traverian ship, four times the size of the Corsair vessel, had
graceful lines. Its swept-back solar wing generators resembled the
fins of a predatory fish and its normal-space engines were a
cluster of ovoid openings in a bulbous tail section. The liner's
age showed in the streaks of dust and micro-meteorite pits on its
hull, yet it retained most of its original grace.

Since it was
extremely difficult to attack a ship in a photon corridor, the
Corsairs had attacked the liner while she was crossing from one to
another. This meant that she had been travelling at sub light, and,
since she was unarmed, an easy target. All the ships were still
travelling at just under light speed, but in the vastness of
interstellar space they could do so for years without encountering
a solar system. There was a solar system a few days’ travel ahead,
however. The liner's name, emblazoned in dark blue just in front of
her standard space engines, appeared to be Triumphant, or something
similar, but dust and meteor scars partially obscured the
letters.

The ships were
in a slow spin, probably started when the liner's captain had tried
to evade the Corsair's attempt to attach a boarding tube. Tiny
flames sprouted from the row of square thrusters on the alien
ship's left side, slowing it. The spin would be unnoticeable aboard
the liner, whose artificial gravity would remain constant, and only
someone who looked out of a window would be aware of it. Magnetic
grapplers clung to the liner's sleek hull, holding it to the
Corsair with massive, glinting metallic cables. Distant stars
glittered beyond the ships, which drifted in deep space.

Ravian's
commander stood at her side, holding a com-link.

"They've seen
us," he said. "They're retreating. Do you wish to destroy them, My
Lord?"

"No. Let them
go. We did not condone the invasion of their territory. We have no
quarrel with them. Are there any survivors on the liner?"

He glanced down
at the box’s screen. "A few scattered throughout the ship, and a
group near the cargo hold. Scanners indicate a band of Corsairs
close to them, possibly hunting them."

"Fire a few
shots close to their ship to hurry them up."

"Yes, My Lord."
Commander Korlin tapped the box, and four bolts of red light shot
from one of the massive arms just visible at the edge of the
screens, streaking past within a few metres of the Corsair ship. He
studied the box and shook his head. "No reaction."

"Is there a
cyber on board?"

"Yes, My Lord,
there is one with the group."

Ravian nodded.
"Of course, he’s keeping them safe. Are the Corsairs leaving
now?"

"No, My Lord.
The aliens near the cargo hold haven’t moved."

"Fire four more
shots. Closer."

"Yes, My Lord."
The commander tapped the box, and another four streaks of ruby
light shot past the alien ship, less than a metre away this
time.

****

Sabre turned
from the door's access panel, the electric blue light in the
control unit fading. "It's locked."

"See if you can
reroute the external cameras to the vidimage monitor," Tarl said.
"Let's see who's scaring them off."

Sabre's brow
band filled with blue light once more, and a few moments later, a
vista of stars appeared on the vidimage screen in the cabin’s
lounge.

Tarl shook his
head. "Try another camera."

Two more views
of stars followed, then the screen filled with the vast form of the
black Spider Ship.

"Ravian," Tarl
whispered.

Sabre nodded.
"So, he came."

"No wonder
they're running for their lives."

"He isn't
attacking them."

Tarl frowned at
the image. "Why not?"

"Maybe because
he doesn't have to?"

"They just
butchered everyone on this ship except us. Why did he come if he's
not going to destroy them?"

Sabre shrugged.
"You'd have to ask him."

Tarl muttered
an oath as a second ship shimmered into being beyond Ravian's, a
gold and silver moth-shaped vessel with vast filigree wings.
"Ramadaus!"

Tassin groaned,
"Oh, no."

"I didn't think
even one Overlord would show up, never mind two," Sabre said.

"He's not
exactly friendly."

"He must have
heard our call too. But Ravian's here..." Tarl shook his head in
confusion.

"Ravian can't
stop him from taking me," Sabre pointed out.

****

Ravian turned
away from the gleaming ship in her screens, glancing at Commander
Korlin, who averted his eyes. Stepping down from her dais, she
walked to one of the pale circles on the floor.

"Request
contact."

The commander
tapped on his com-link, and, after a few moments, the shaft of
golden light engulfed her, a second forming on the circle beside
her. Ramadaus appeared in it, turning to smile at her.

"Ravian, how
strange to meet you here."

"Why strange,
Ramadaus? You know I protect the free cyber."

"Even after
Fairen put an end to your little tryst with him? You should choose
your companions from amongst the willing, dear girl."

"What are you
doing here?"

"You know
perfectly well. I'm here to execute him."

"Fairen opposes
you in that little venture, too."

"Fairen should
stop poking his nose in where it doesn't belong," Ramadaus
said.

"I agree. But
in this, he's with me."

"I don't see
him."

Ravian turned
to Korlin. "Request contact with Fairen."

"What do you
imagine he's going to do?" Ramadaus enquired.

"I don't know.
He's an unpredictable little tyke, isn't he? You're just as wary of
him as the rest of us."

The commander
cleared his throat. "Request denied, My Lord."

Ramadaus
smiled. "Very unpredictable."

"The Corsair
ship is undocking, My Lord," Korlin said.

"Apparently two
Overlords are enough to panic them into abandoning their men,"
Ramadaus commented.

"Do you intend
to destroy them?"

"No. I have no
quarrel with them, and I'm not here to rescue anyone."

Ravian turned
to her commander again. "Find a ship and order them here to pick up
the survivors."

"Yes, My
Lord."

Ramadaus raised
his brows. "So, you don't intend to kidnap him again?"

"No."

"You're afraid
of Fairen."

"Afraid?" She
snorted. "No, I only admit that he's right. You should, too."

"I don't allow
my peers to govern my decisions."

"Neither do I.
But I do listen to them," she said.

"Then listen to
me, and don't try to interfere with my judgement."

"You're making
a mistake."

Ramadaus shook
his head. "He's an abomination."

"You have not
read him."

"I don't have
to."

"My lord,
look!" Korlin exclaimed.

Ravian turned
to gaze out of the screens, and Ramadaus looked in a different
direction, where the screens aboard his ship were. The crimson
Scorpion Ship moved with majestic splendour between Ravian's ship
and Ramadaus', so close that its curved stanchions almost brushed
theirs.

"He's too
close," Ravian said. "Take evasive action."

"Yes, My
Lord."

"What is that
bloody idiot doing?" Ramadaus demanded.

"Interfering
again." Ravian smiled.

The Scorpion
Ship halted, and a beam of green light engulfed the Corsair ship,
preventing its departure.

"What
is
he
doing?" Ravian asked.

"If I know
Fairen, he's going to judge them." Ramadaus frowned. "Foolish boy,
he puts himself in grave danger."

"We've got to
stop him."

"How?"

****

Fairen smiled
at his commander. "That's got them riled. Bring me the Corsair
leader."

"We have no way
of knowing which one is the leader, My Lord."

Fairen gave a
grunt of annoyance. "Then just bring me one of them. I don't care
which."

"My lord, they
are dangerous."

"Do as I
say."

"Yes, My Lord."
Commander Shrain glanced down at his com-link as it beeped.
"Overlord Ravian is requesting contact again."

"Denied."

"My
lord..."

Fairen sighed.
"Just do it."

"Yes, My Lord.
The Corsair is aboard."

"Bring him to
me." Fairen donned his veiled mask.

Commander
Shrain, a grey-haired man in his mid-fifties with a bluff
countenance and receding hairline, tapped his com-link, his
expression anxious. A few minutes later, four soldiers dragged in a
struggling Corsair who snarled and bared his teeth. His arms were
shackled behind his back and a short length of chain bound his
ankles, barely long enough to allow him to walk. He hissed at the
sight of the hooded Overlord and struggled more fiercely, making
the men stagger. Ten more crewmen took up positions around the
prisoner, their silver weapons trained on him. Fairen drew a gloved
hand from the folds of his robe and beckoned. The soldiers hauled
the Corsair closer, forcing him to his knees at the bottom of the
dais.

Fairen gazed
down at him. "Do they understand us?"

"No one has
ever been able to communicate with Corsairs, My Lord," Commander
Shrain replied.

"But he's not
stupid. He must know if he tries to attack me he'll die."

"Corsairs are
well known for suicidal attacks, My Lord. They cannot be
trusted."

"I can't read
him while the men are touching him. Corsairs fear Overlords, that's
why they tried to run."

"We don't know
what they fear, My Lord. An Overlord's ship is large and powerful,
anyone would run from it."

Fairen stepped
down from the dais. "Is he their leader?"

"There's no way
to tell. We translocated him from their command centre, but he
could be a pilot for all we know. He injured two crewmen before
they got the chains on him."

"Release
him."

The soldiers
stepped back, looking tense. The Corsair watched them, his lips
drawn back to reveal long fangs. Fairen stepped closer and pulled
off his right glove.

****

"We've got to
do something!" Ravian said.

"Why is he
being such a fool?" Ramadaus cursed. "I could send one of my
cybers."

"That's
forbidden."

"To save his
life? He doesn't know what he's dealing with. Neither do his men.
Only Varlain, you and I have had contact with Corsairs before."

Ravian shook
her head. "He must know enough not to take any chances. He must
have heard the stories."

"You know
Fairen. He thinks he's invincible."

"If he tries to
read one..."

"He will,
that's why he's captured their ship. He could have one with him
even now."

"There is one
cyber we could send. One who's not yours, and who has been invited
aboard Fairen's ship and judged to be innocent."

Ramadaus
scowled at her. "He's as unpredictable as a damned Corsair."

"No he isn't."
Ravian turned to her commander. "Translocate the free cyber from
the liner to Fairen's ship, as close to Fairen as you can."

"Fairen's men
will shoot him. You can't do it without warning," Ramadaus
said.

"He's a
cyber."

"He's not
invincible."

"He's our only
hope." She nodded at Korlin. "Do it."

"Yes, My
Lord."

****

Sabre stared at
the three ships on the vidimage screen, shaking his head in
disbelief.

Tarl broke the
stunned silence. "What is this, a damned Overlord convention? Three
Overlords in the same place. It's unheard of."

Tassin glanced
at him. "Fairen seems to have come for the Corsairs. Maybe he'll
destroy them."

"He'll want to
judge them first, and if he tries to read one, he'll be in danger,"
Sabre said, frowning.

"Why do you say
that?"

"Myon Two study
all potential opponents. Corsairs are as fast as a cyber and as
strong. They're one of the most formidable adversaries ever
discovered. More importantly, their saliva is toxic, and they're
immune to all forms of poison. Overlord guards use poison dart
guns, which are useless against Corsairs."

"Fairen must
know that."

"I hope so.
Corsairs are also extremely intelligent. They don't advertise their
abilities."

Tassin frowned
at the screen. "You killed dozens of them."