The Cyber Chronicles VI - Warrior Breed (31 page)

"Who sent the
distress signal?"

"A yacht
claiming to be unarmed, called Argent. They say they're being
attacked by three pirate ships."

Sabre looked
pensive. "I don't know if I want to get involved in someone else's
problems. Three pirate ships would be a threat to us as well. How
far away are they?"

"Half a light
hour."

"By the time
we get there, it'll probably be too late." He paused. "But why
would pirates attack a yacht? It has no cargo to steal. Unless its
passengers are worth ransom, but then it should be armed. Odd."

"Only one way
to find out," Tassin murmured.

"It will be
dangerous."

"Is this ship
a match for three pirates?"

"That depends
on the pirates." He glanced at her. "You think we should help
them."

"We've had a
lot of help. I think we should pay some back."

He turned back
to Vior. "Lay in a course, light speed."

The fourth
lieutenant looked eager. "Yes, Commander."

"Stop at a
safe distance. Let's see what we're up against before we rush
in."

Vior nodded
and left, and Tassin turned to Sabre. "Perhaps the pirates want to
steal the ship itself."

"Most of the
advanced worlds have AIs in their ships; they're impossible to
steal. They could be after parts, I suppose. Or fuel."

"Maybe it's
not an advanced ship."

"Then there
would be little point in stealing it."

"Surely even a
primitive ship is worth a lot?"

"Not as much
as you'd think." Sabre rose and picked up his trousers, frowning
down at his strapped arm.

Tassin stood
up. "I'll help you."

"I don't know
why Tarl insisted that my arm should remain immobilised for so
long. The injury isn't that serious."

She took his
trousers from him. "You should be glad that he cares so much about
you."

He snorted.
"He doesn't. I'm just his pet project; his little experiment. He
probably did it so I can't shove him around the next time he annoys
me."

"You should
stop shoving him around. He does care, and you know it. You just
don't want to admit that an ex-cyber technician is capable of being
a good person."

"If anything,
he's just trying to salve his conscience."

Tassin
fastened his trousers and picked up his tunic, helping him to put
his free arm in the sleeve and drape it over his shoulder,
fastening the clips. "This may come as a shock to you, but you're
wrong. Tarl cares a lot for you."

Sabre grunted
and bent to pull on his boots, then headed for the door, Tassin
following. On the bridge, Vior shot her a resentful look, but with
Sabre at her side she was safe from censure. Atrel arrived a few
minutes later, his eyes bloodshot.

"Slowing to
sub light," Vior stated. "Target ships dead ahead, fifteen light
minutes away."

A soft female
voice spoke calmly in an alien language, and Sabre cocked his head,
listening to it. "Vernaxian." The voice spoke again, in a different
language, and Sabre looked intrigued. "Spraytaal." The dulcet tones
used a third tongue, and Sabre's brows rose. "Amendialect...
Loxarn... Avondese..." The voice spoke in Anglo, and finally Tassin
could understand it.

"This is the
yacht Argent. Please help us. We are being attacked by three pirate
vessels. We are unarmed."

"It repeats
the message in twenty-four languages," Vior supplied, studying
Sabre. "How many can you understand, Commander?"

Sabre smiled.
"Pretty much all of them."

"All
twenty-four?" Vior looked amazed.

"No, all the
known languages."

Vior's brows
shot up, and several officers glanced around. "That's got to be
over a thousand, Commander."

"Actually,
it's three thousand seven hundred and fifty-two, counting all the
dialects, which, although they're variations of a language, are
impossible to understand if you can only speak the mother tongue.
That's also counting the forty-four alien languages we know of."
Sabre paused, listening to the message again. "And that one, I
don't know."

The voice
spoke in a lilting, melodic tongue that sounded like poetry. Sabre
turned to gaze at the forward screens as a distant cluster of
specks became visible.

"Should we
reply to the message, tell them we're here to help them?" Vior
asked.

"No. Let's see
what we're up against first, and I don't want to alert the pirates.
With any luck they're too busy with their target to notice us, and
I don't want them to know our intentions even if they do see
us."

Chapter Nineteen

Ramela opened
her eyes and turned to Kyllia. "Another ship is approaching,
dearest."

"Friend or
foe?"

"It does not
speak. It came at light speed, but now it seems to be
stopping."

"How does it
look?"

"Another
primitive, but larger than the first three and more sophisticated.
It is heavily armed. A warship, I think. It is silver, with red
markings."

"Silver is
good, a pure colour. Red is bad, a sign of anger."

"Another
foe?"

Kyllia
inclined her head. "Here in the below realm, most are foes. I had
hoped to summon one of the great ones."

"Perhaps one
will still come."

Kyllia stroked
the column of light at her side. "Our brave Argent still hurts. Her
power wanes to ward off the weapons of the three. Her injury
festers."

"The new ship
has stopped. Still it is silent. Should Argent speak to it?"

"No, leave it
be."

****

Sabre frowned
at the scene in the screens. The ship the pirates attacked was hard
to make out. Its outline shimmered, and it gave off so much light
that looking directly at it was painful.

He looked
away, blinking. "Those pirates seem to have cornered an injured
mobile bloody star."

"We can take
them, Commander," Vior said. "The largest is a mere frigate, the
other two barely more than fighters. Nemesis is a destroyer."

"You just want
to fight someone, Vior."

"As any
warrior would."

Sabre sighed.
"Okay, go to battle stations."

A siren
whooped, and distant clanks and whines signalled the deployment of
the huge lasers.

"All guns
warmed up and functional, targets in range." Vior announced.

"Main forward
lasers, target the two nearest ships. Port side auxiliary lasers
target the third pirate. Fire at will."

Twin beams of
red light shot from under the screens, and a third lanced from the
left side of the ship. A burst of fire blossomed on the nearest
pirate ship, which broke off its attack and turned to confront
Nemesis. The second pirate was hit, and swung away from its target,
but the auxiliary laser missed the third ship. Beams of orange
light spat from the bows of the first pirate, strafing space close
to Nemesis' starboard side.

"Evasive
manoeuvres," Sabre ordered.

Nemesis moved
sideways as the starboard thrusters fired, and the beams of red
light missed their target while the lasers turned to keep the enemy
ship in their sights. The lasers re-acquired the target, and
glowing spots appeared on the pirate's flank. The other two moved
to engage Nemesis, which shuddered as a laser bolt struck it.

****

Ramela smiled,
bowing her head. "The new ship has attacked the three."

"That does not
make it a friend, sweetness. It may wish to capture us itself."

"But now
Argent can use her power to heal herself."

Kyllia stroked
the column of light. "Argent's wound is deep."

"The new one
is powerful, dearest. Already it has wounded one of the three
badly. It flees."

"And we may be
in even greater danger if the new ship is also a foe."

Ramela closed
her eyes, raising her face to the soft fall of golden light that
engulfed her. "The new ship is now also wounded, but it has wounded
another of..." Her eyes opened wide, and she gave a soft gasp. "It
is destroyed... they perish." Ramela stepped out of the column of
light, folding her hands before her. Tears ran down her cheeks.
"May they fly to the light."

"Dearest,
though it pains you, I must know what is happening," Kyllia
murmured.

Ramela bowed
her head again and stepped back into the golden light. "The last of
the three is fleeing. The new ship appears to be badly wounded. It
leaks something..."

"The primitive
ships are metal shells that hold in air for their inhabitants, and
fuel to power their flight."

"They may also
die."

"Yes."

"They saved
us."

Kyllia looked
away. "They chose to fight. We cannot help them."

"That seems
cruel, sweetness."

"Look at them,
and see what is in their hearts."

Ramela raised
her face to the light once more, closing her eyes. "They are great
warriors... they live to fight. They came to save us... and..."

Kyllia glanced
around. "And?"

"There is
one... who is not like the rest... he is strange. He has..."

"What?"

"Light."

****

"Damage
report," Sabre ordered.

"Our starboard
neosin bank has been breached. The thrusters are preventing us from
rolling, but we're losing power fast. Transferring the remainder
into our empty crystals. Some minor damage to one of the port
thrusters, and our forward hull plating has been weakened."

"How much
power have we lost?"

"Thirty per
cent."

Sabre cursed.
"We're not going to make it to Omega Five. The nearest planet where
we can refuel and have repairs made is Avarice Two, a nasty place,
and probably where those pirates are based. It's also in the
opposite direction, and the only one we can reach with our
remaining neosin."

Vior looked up
from the star chart he was perusing. "You're right. How do you know
that, Commander?"

Sabre
shrugged. "I know a lot of things."

"Even a pirate
world would not take on a Trykon warship, surely?" Atrel asked.
"They know we will fight to the death, destroying many of them
before we were also destroyed. It would be pointless."

"All they have
to do is refuse to sell us the neosin."

"What about
them?" Atrel jerked his chin at the shining ship in the screens.
The venting neosin had pushed them closer to it, and now they
drifted nearer still.

Sabre glanced
at the star ship and squinted, looking away with lights dancing in
his eyes. "I doubt that ship uses the same fuel as we do. And
judging by the fact that they're adrift, they may have even more
problems than us. Ask them if they need any more help."

****

"It speaks."
Ramela's eyes opened. "Not the pure one... another. They ask if we
need more help."

"Tell them we
do not." Kyllia stroked the column of light. "Argent heals herself
now. Tell them we are grateful."

"Their ship is
badly wounded, sweetness. If we leave them here, they may die."

"What can we
do, dearest?"

"I think we
should speak to the pure one, in person."

Kyllia turned
large, colourless eyes upon her companion. "Bring him into
Argent?"

"Yes, dearest.
Let us see him more clearly."

"For what
purpose?"

"Curiosity?"

Kyllia smiled.
"Do you really think this is wise?"

Ramela closed
her eyes. "Never have I encountered such purity in the below
realms... he is born of the light."

"You speak out
of turn, sweetness. That is not possible."

"He is
light... and sorrow. We can help him."

Kyllia bowed
her head. "Many hours remain before Argent is healed. Speak to him
then, if it pleases you."

****

The atmosphere
was expectant on Nemesis’ bridge as they waited for a reply. One of
the officers had activated the light screens, which dulled the star
ship’s brilliance and revealed a vaguely ovoid shape with curving
streams of radiance arcing out from it, like solar flares. Tassin
jumped when the communications console came to life, and the soft,
dulcet voice spoke in Anglo.

"Greetings,
good ship. We are grateful for your aid, and mourn your wounding in
our defence. We wish to speak to the pure one amongst you, and will
convey him hither. Be not alarmed, he will not be harmed."

"Pure one?"
Sabre glanced at Tassin, looking puzzled.

She shook her
head, then her eyes widened in alarm. "They must mean you."

"Why me? I'm
not -"

A tunnel of
blinding light shot from the star ship in the blink of an eye,
making Tassin close her eyes and throw up her hands to ward off its
brilliance. When she opened them again, blinking away the dancing
spots, Sabre was gone. She gaped at the space where he had been
standing.

"No!"

Atrel scowled.
"Target that ship! Prepare to fire."

"No!" Tassin
shouted again, swinging to face him. "Sabre's aboard it, you could
injure him!"

"Be silent,
non-com," Vior said.

"They said
they wouldn't harm him," she said.

"I said be
silent!" Vior stepped towards her.

"Leave her,"
Atrel commanded. "She's right on both counts. Tell them to return
the commander, or we attack."

Vior sent the
message, and tense moments passed before the dulcet voice spoke
again. "The pure one is safe with us. We will return him soon."

A pregnant
silence fell as Atrel digested this, then he nodded. "Very well. We
wait."

****

Blinding white
light stabbed Sabre's eyes, and he clamped a hand over them with a
grunt of pain. A soft floor cushioned his feet, and warm, perfumed
air surrounded him. The cyber's scanners were blank. Crouching, he
ran his fingers over the floor's satin surface, keeping his eyes
closed.