The Cyber Chronicles VIII - Scorpion Lord (12 page)

"No, I... I
knew you could save us, that's all."

"Right, you're
a host tech. A good one, I'd say, right?"

"Yeah, pretty
good."

Sabre sighed
and closed his eyes. "You're right, I do hate host techs."

"How do you
feel about control unit techs?" Estrelle asked.

"They're even
worse."

"So you hate
us both."

"That doesn't
mean I'm going to kill you."

Estrelle
shivered. "May I ask you something?"

"When did you
stop?"

"How are you
going to stop us from freezing?"

"Ah." He
smiled. "How cold are you, exactly?"

"My fingers
and nose are going numb."

"Okay." He
raised his bandaged hand and beckoned. "Come here."

Estrelle
hesitated, glancing at Martis, who averted his eyes with a frown.
She rose and approached Sabre, who looked up at her. Lowering his
hand, he patted the floor beside him.

"Sit."

She folded her
legs and sank down next to him, chafing her arms.

"You'll have
to come a bit closer,” he said. “I don't bite, in spite of what
Martis thinks, and if he wants to stay over there and sulk, he can
freeze. I'm prepared to help you two, but a little trust is
definitely called for in this situation."

"I don't think
you're a killer."

"But I am a
killer. A very efficient one. That's what I was designed to be. Ask
Martis."

Estrelle
shifted a bit closer to him, tensing when he slid his hand around
her shoulders and drew her against his chest. He was still only
clad in a pair of silk shorts, and when she put out a hand to hold
herself away, the contact with his warm skin surprised her.

"You're
hot."

"Mmmm." Sabre
leant his head against the console behind him and closed his eyes
again. "One of the many uses of a cyber: foot warmer."

"But
how...?"

"He raises his
metabolism," Martis said. "A cyber can survive without clothing for
seventy-two hours at minus thirty degrees Celsius, then he pretty
much runs out of fuel. He doesn't have to warm his skin all that
much though; he's doing it so he can keep you warm."

"Fascinating
stuff, isn't it?" Sabre asked. "And you don't want to know how they
discovered how long a cyber can survive."

"They froze
him?" Estrelle hazarded.

"I would
assume so."

"That's
horrible."

"More horrible
than designing the supercomputer that controls him?"

She nodded,
relaxing against him, his warmth soaking into her. "Yeah. I never
actually tortured a cyber."

"Neither did
I!" Martis denied.

"You do host
research; you must have experimented on them."

"No, not a
live one. I was researching the retrovirus that Jorran's going to
use to retrofit cybers with Sabre's genes."

"That won't
work, by the way," Sabre commented.

"Why not?"

"Because the
changes were made to me on a molecular level, not genetic."

"How do you
know that?"

Sabre
shrugged. "I just do."

Estrelle
reached out and pulled the silk Sabre had ripped out of the casket
over herself, draping it over his chest as well.

He smiled.
"I'm not cold."

"No, but it
will keep me warmer, with your heat."

"Ah."

"Aren't you
cold?" she asked Martis.

"I'm okay." He
hugged himself, trying to hide his shivering, but his nose was red
and his breath steamed in the chilly air.

"I'm quite
prepared to keep you warm, Martis, but if you want to stay over
there and freeze, that's your problem," Sabre said.

"I guess he's
afraid you'll snap his neck." Estrelle giggled.

Sabre turned
his head to glance down at her. "And you're not?"

"No, not a
bit."

"Good. But
Martis would rather freeze than risk it."

"I'm just not
comfortable with cuddling up to a man," Martis grumbled.

"Trust me,
freezing is much more unpleasant."

"You seem to
have overcome your conditioning to avoid close contact, which I can
understand with a woman, but how do you feel about a man?"

"Much the same
as you, I would imagine, but I'm prepared to bear it, and I'm not
the one who's cold."

Martis grunted
and stood up, spread his hands and turned around. "I'm unarmed,
okay?"

Sabre snorted.
"My scanners already told me that. You're just a youth, hardly more
of a threat than Estrelle. But I tell you what. If you continue to
treat me like a bloody cyber, you can stay there and damned well
freeze."

Martis
hesitated, frowning. "Sorry."

"Right."

The young tech
approached and sat down beside Sabre, shifted closer and tried to
pull the silk over himself. Estrelle growled and yanked it back,
glaring at him.

"Go rip some
more out of a casket. This isn't big enough for the two of us."

Martis sighed
and rose, went to the nearest casket and floated it down, then
overrode the locking codes and opened it. Gripping the silk inside
the lid, he tried to rip it out as Sabre had done, and almost
succeeded in yanking himself into the casket. Estrelle giggled, and
Sabre smiled. Martis looked embarrassed as he levered himself
upright again.

"Damn, this
stuff is tough."

"Use the knife
from the cyber's kit," Sabre advised.

Martis found
the knife and cut the silk free, then returned to Sabre's side,
putting the knife in his pocket without thinking. Sitting beside
Sabre, he followed Estrelle's example and draped the silk over the
cyber and himself, trapping Sabre's warmth under it. For several
minutes peace reigned, then Martis swore and pulled the knife out
of his pocket, throwing it away.

Sabre
chuckled. "Relax, Martis. I don't mind if you keep the knife. I
could break your neck before you could use it."

"I'd rather
not have my neck broken when you wake up and think I'm a
threat."

"What did I
just say about treating me like a damned cyber?"

"Sorry."

"So cut it
out. And for future reference, yanking the knife out like that was
more dangerous than having it in your pocket."

"Sorry."

For a while
all was quiet, then Sabre became uncomfortably aware of Estrelle's
hand on his chest, stroking him.

"Estrelle," he
muttered, "cut that out."

"What? Oh.
That."

"Yeah,
that."

"It's just...
you're very soft."

"I don't like
being stroked," Sabre said.

"Okay."

This time the
peace and quiet lasted about half an hour, then the soft hissing
from the oxygen cylinder stopped. Estrelle raised her head, which
had found its way onto Sabre's chest, and glanced over at the
cylinder.

"The air's
stopped."

"It's okay,
there's enough in the ship to last a while still."

"How long is a
while?"

"A few hours,"
he replied.

"When are you
going to change course?"

"Soon."

"Where are we
going?"

Sabre yawned.
"Esten Five is the closest inhabited world, but it's not ideal.
It's a mining colony with no long-range transmitters and a
transport that comes annually to collect the samerite and swap
crews. Vental Seven would be better, but it's three hours further
down the corridor. It's not great either. It's a colony of
religious fanatics who hate technology, so they might not have
long-range communications either. The best would be Eden Four, a
pleasure world, but that's another nine hours away."

"How long do
you think before Myon Two gives chase?"

"That depends
on how well you two covered your tracks."

"We left no
clues," Martis said. "I persuaded Estrelle not to pack."

Sabre
chuckled. "It's a miracle you two pulled it off."

"I persuaded
Martis to help me to free you," Estrelle said.

"I'm grateful
to you."

Martis said,
"She was going to swap you with another cyber for a couple of
hours, so you could send a message, which wouldn't have
worked."

"Actually, it
would. All I needed was two minutes in a Net booth."

"But they
would have caught you, and her."

"That wouldn't
have mattered. If I'd sent a message, we'd have been freed in a
matter of hours."

"How?" Martis
asked.

"Overlord
Fairen."

"Why would he
have come to save you?"

"He's my
friend."

"The Scorpion
Lord? Overlords don't have friends."

Sabre
shrugged. "This one does."

"Don't you
know anything, Martis?" Estrelle demanded. "Overlord Fairen forbade
Myon Two to hunt Sabre. When he finds out they kidnapped him,
they're going to be in a world of shit."

"Why are you
so important to him, Sabre?" Martis queried.

"He judged me
and found me innocent, and I saved his life."

"Wow. How did
you do that?"

Sabre yawned
again. "He was attacked by a Corsair. Now will you two shut up so I
can get some sleep?"

"How did
-?"

"Shush."

The flashing
red warning light deep in Sabre's mind dragged him from the soft,
dark pit of sleep, and he forced open leaden eyes. His heart
hammered and his breath came in rapid gasps. Alarm sent a rush of
adrenalin through him, and he jerked up his head, banged it on the
console behind him and brought himself fully awake. The amber host
status warning light told him that his oxygen level was dangerously
low. He pushed Estrelle off his chest, sitting up. His head swam,
and he quickened his breathing, then checked her pulse. She was
alive, but her lips were blue and her heart raced.

Freeing
himself from Martis' leaden bulk, he crawled to the casket and
reached inside to rip out the second oxygen cylinder. Gas hissed
from the broken hose, and he brought it over to the comatose
youngsters, waving it around to disperse the oxygen near them. His
heart slowed as his lungs absorbed the oxygen, and he waited while
Estrelle's colour returned. Martis was in a worse condition, being
larger. Sabre placed him on the floor and pushed on his chest a few
times to force more air into his lungs. Still he remained ashen,
his lips blue, and his heart raced. His breathing was too slow; the
oxygen deprivation had started to affect his metabolism.

Grimacing,
Sabre leant over the young man and gave him mouth to mouth, forcing
air into his lungs. After several large breaths, Martis' lips
turned pink, and Sabre sat back. A few minutes later, Estrelle
woke, looking dazed. Shivers racked her, and Sabre cursed and
pulled her into his arms, pressing her to his chest. His metabolic
rate had slowed when the oxygen level had dropped, and now he
increased it to warm his skin. Martis was also cold, and he dragged
the tech close, pulling the silk over him.

Estrelle
squirmed and raised her head, looking alarmed. "What happened?"

"We fell
asleep, and the oxygen ran out. I opened the second cylinder.
You'll feel better soon."

"I'm
frozen."

"Yeah."

She wriggled
closer, slid her arms around him and hugged him. "Is Martis all
right?"

Sabre glanced
at the tech, whose colour was good, but his shivering had stopped.
"No, he's got hypothermia. Move up."

The cyber
dragged Martis closer and pushed Estrelle aside so he could rip
open the front of Martis' uniform to press him to his chest.
Estrelle clung to his back, dragging the silk over herself.

"We've got to
get off this ship before we freeze, Sabre."

"Yeah. We've
been asleep for eight hours. Three more and we're at the pleasure
world. It's our best bet."

"Okay."

Chapter Seven

Tassin stared
into the depths of the apparently bottomless pit, despair swamping
her. Tarl stood beside her, his face carved in lines of furious
anguish. Tall trees surround them, and a chill wind nipped at
Tassin through her cloak. Spring had barely begun to chase away the
winter cold, and patches of snow lingered in the forest's gloom. It
had taken three days of riding to reach the remote glade to the
east of her castle, and this bottomless pit.

Tarl muttered,
"Those bastards."

"It's down
there?" Tassin turned to him. "You're sure?"

Tarl nodded,
moving the receiver around. "Yeah, it's down there. We'll have to
climb down with ropes."

"You jest.
This is the Orvalin Pit. It's full of water."

"Ah crap!"
Tarl swung away, swearing.

"What are we
going to do?"

"How the
bloody hell should I know? Damn it!"

"Could you
build a... thing to call Fairen with?"

He turned back
to her, his brows raised. "An intergalactic transmitter? Oh sure,
I'll just slap one together when we get back to your castle. Don't
be daft! If I could, don't you think I would have by now, instead
of wasting my time trying to find that damned thing?"

"But if that
tiny bracelet is an inter... thing, why is it so hard to build
one?"

Tarl ran a
hand through his hair. "Because that little bracelet is a high-tech
work of art. It's a charged particle wave generator with a reactive
fusion power unit and a synchronised crystal emitter. None of which
you understand. Suffice it to say, I can't build one with the bits
from Sabre's monitoring equipment."

"Could you
build one that could transmit a shorter distance, and perhaps
summon someone else who could help us?"

"I don't know.
Maybe. Why can't your mage just summon the bracelet up from the
bottom of that pit?"

Tassin shook
her head. "His magic doesn't work like that."

"Is there
anyone who could?"

"Perhaps
another mage."

"Well then,
maybe you should try to find one, because our best chance of saving
Sabre is at the bottom of that pit!"