The Cyber Chronicles IV - Cyborg (11 page)

When he had
sealed both her palms with the artificial skin, Sabre dug in the
medical kit again and withdrew two adhesive dressings, peeled off
the backs and stuck them onto her palms. Tremors ran through him,
making his head twitch and muscles jump. When her injuries were
dressed, he dug in the medical kit once more and took out a pill
bottle, flipped open the lid and tipped four little white pills
into his palm, offering them to her.

“
Painkillers,” he explained.

Tassin popped
them into her mouth, discovering that they had a minty flavour and
slid down her throat easily when she swallowed. He tipped another
four into his own mouth, and she gazed at him, becoming more and
more convinced that something was horribly wrong. His reactions
were off, even after three years apart. There was no recognition in
his eyes, even though he knew her name, and his behaviour was
clinical and detached. A dread grew in her, snuffed out her joy and
filled her heart with despair. Sabre did not remember her. What had
the barbarians at Myon Two done to him?

Tassin
wondered how fate could be so cruel. This was not how she had
envisioned their reunion at all. He still looked slightly dazed,
either from aftermath of the mammoth mental duel, or because he was
missing large chunks of memory. Clearly he had not lost all of it,
since he knew how to treat her wounds and where the ship’s medical
kit was, which still mystified her, although it did not seem to
have surprised Kole. Sabre’s drawn, pallid countenance and the
lines of strain around his eyes and mouth indicated that he was in
a lot of pain, and she guessed he had a pounding headache.

“
What the hell went wrong?” Kole asked, shooting Sabre a
guarded glance. “Why did he obey Previd?”

“
It wasn’t his fault,” she said. “It wasn’t him, it was the
cyber. Previd said when I gave him Sabre’s serial number it gave
him control.”

“
I thought it was risky, but when he removed the patch I
figured I must be wrong.”

“
I guess he couldn’t order the cyber to attack you while you
had a laser to his head. Or at least, he wasn’t willing to take the
risk that you might shoot him before Sabre killed you, and he
wanted you alive. But we had to take the chance. It was the only
way.”

Sabre looked
up. “What you did was worse than foolhardy, it was insane. You
can’t use a cyber against a Myon Two technician. They have a tattoo
that identifies them to cybers. If you had ordered the cyber to
kill Previd, or even hurt him, it wouldn’t have obeyed.”

“
It worked, though,” she said.

He nodded. “He
obviously didn’t believe I could get free, or he’d never have
removed the patch. He thought he could order me to kill you
afterwards, once he had control of me. He almost succeeded, too. I
only just managed to prevent the cyber from shooting you. If he’d
given the order five seconds sooner, you’d be dead and Kole would
be on his way to Myon Two now, to be convicted of aiding in cyber
tampering and given a life sentence.”

“
Why did the cyber grab him, then, and where’s this
tattoo?”

“
A cyber will obey his owner first and foremost, and will
kidnap a Myon Two official, but he won’t hurt him. It’s a delicate
trade-off the programmers had to make in order to satisfy customer
demands for complete control while still ensuring some level of
additional safety for Cybercorp executives. It also prevents
criminals from gaining immunity to cybers by using Myon Two techs
as shields. The tattoo is here.”

Sabre turned
to the corpse, which lay against the corridor bulkhead, its head
twisted at an impossible angle, and pulled aside its garish pink
shirt, exposing a coin-sized, flame-like tattoo on its right
shoulder. “The registration number gives off ultraviolet light,
which cybers can detect even through clothes. Enforcers don’t have
them, because they’re out in the field and easier to kidnap, and
also because they’re more likely to turn against Cybercorp or
become criminals. They don’t take an oath and sign a lifelong
contract like technical personnel.”

A short
silence fell, then Tassin forced a weak smile. “Thank you for
saving me.”

Sabre lowered
his eyes, nodded and smiled. His reticence spoke volumes of
confusion and uncertainty. It reminded her of when she had first
met him in the cave on Omega Five four years ago, and she hoped it
would change soon. Then, it had only taken a few days for him to
adjust to his newfound freedom. He had been through a lot since
then, however, and she longed to talk to him alone and find out
what had happened after he had left Omega Five.

Sabre climbed
to his feet and helped Tassin to hers, and she sat on the sofa and
hugged herself, trying to quell her trembling, while he returned
the medical aid kit to the galley locker. When he came back, he
glanced at Previd’s body.

“
Space him?”

“
Definitely,” Kole said.

Sabre carried
the corpse to the back of the ship, returning a minute later empty
handed to sit on the sofa opposite.

Kole sighed
and ran a hand through his hair. “We can’t stay here now. Soon
Malatar’s absence will be discovered and all traffic stopped. This
is still one of Myon Two’s worlds, and they won’t be happy about
losing a Cybercorp department head.”

“
Where will we go?” she asked.

“
Well, your highest bidder is on Charon Six, and he’s offering
one and a half million credits for the sword, but I don’t have
enough fuel to get there. We can make it to Rashid Four, which is
quite a lawless place, and then we’ll have to make enough money to
buy fuel, since I can’t access my accounts without giving away our
location.”

“
I thought you had a new identity?”

“
I do, but if I refuel the ship’s name is logged, and I’m sure
they’ve found out everything about me by now.”

“
How will we make money?”

He shrugged.
“I’ll think of something.”

“
Okay.” She stood up. “I want to talk to you,
Sabre.”

Tassin did not
care if Kole thought she was rude, she needed to find out just how
bad Sabre’s memory problem was. She headed for the cabin down the
corridor, and he followed, glancing around as he entered the cream
and grey compartment. There were no chairs, so she sat on the bed
and patted the crimson cover beside her, and he settled upon it.
She wanted to take his hand, but the dressing made it impossible,
and it hurt, so she just gazed at him.

“
I’m so glad you’re back. I missed you so… much.” To her
horror, her chin wobbled and her throat closed.

“
Hey, don’t cry. It’s okay.”

The concern in
his soft, husky voice brought a rush of memories, and tears flooded
her eyes. She shook her head. “No it’s not. You don’t know who I
am, do you? Do you remember me at all?”

He hesitated,
looking down. “You’re my owner.”

“
No, I’m not!”

“
According to the cyber’s information, you are, since
–”

“
No!” Her throated closed, and she raised a hand to cover her
mouth.

He looked
confused, and bowed his head.

She swallowed the lump. “Sabre... I bought the cyber to free
you. I didn’t buy
you
! I… I came to free you. Don’t you remember? Please try to
remember.”

He shook his
head. “I know you, but I don’t know how.” He raised his eyes and
studied her. “I think my heart remembers you. You were important to
me, weren’t you?”

“
I like to think so.” Her tears overflowed. “It wasn’t supposed
to be like this. I never thought…” She gulped, drew a shuddering
breath and brushed at her cheeks.

“
Careful,” he said. “Don’t hurt your hands. I’ll get you a
tissue.”

Sabre started
to get up, but she put out a hand. “No. Stay.”

He sank back
down, looking uneasy, and she forced a tremulous smile. Clearly her
distress troubled him, so she said, “It’s okay. I’m just glad
you’re finally free. You did it. I knew you could.”

“
You got the software patch removed, or I wouldn’t have been
able to. You did it.”

“
What did those bastards do to you on Myon Two?”

“
I don’t remember, so I guess they took away my
memories.”

She rubbed her
nose with the back of her hand, recovering her aplomb somewhat.
“Maybe it was the shocks the cyber used to try to stop you freeing
yourself. You had to do it twice, too, in quick succession.”

“
Yeah. I did the unthinkable when I killed a Myon Two
technician.” He lowered his eyes to his hands. “Thank you for
freeing me.”

“
God, Sabre, did you really think I would abandon you? I swore
I would find you, and I meant it.” Her throat closed again, and she
shook her head. “But you don’t remember that, do you?”

“
No. Still, I’m amazed that you succeeded.”

“
It wouldn’t have taken me so long to come looking for you if
you hadn’t hidden that damned sword. I spent three years searching
for it, because you hid it.”

“
Sword?”

“
Yeah, the one with the Core in it, from the Death Zone.” She
sighed. “It doesn’t matter. You’ll remember when you get your
memories back.”

“
I hope so.”

Tassin picked
at the dressing on her hand, hating how awkward things were between
them now, as if they were strangers again. She did not know what to
say, and he seemed ill at ease. She had envisioned their reunion as
a joyous one involving hugs and tears of happiness, and cursed Myon
Two afresh. Clearly he would do anything she asked of him, since
she had freed him, and was trying hard to please her, but it was
not working. They no longer shared anything. She was a stranger to
him.

She stood up.
“We should get back. Kole will be wondering what we’re up to.”

“
Yes.” His eagerness to quit her company hurt her.

Tassin found
Kole on the bridge, sipping a drink. She flopped into the
co-pilot’s chair, and Sabre leant against the wall in the corridor
just behind them.

“
So, have you figured out how we’re going to make enough money
to get to Charon Six?” she asked.

“
Yeah, I hope so.” He shot Sabre a sidelong glance. “A free
cyber is unheard of, but, since Sabre is one, he can enter arena
fights and make a lot of money. Enough to buy the fuel.”

“
No. I don’t want him to have to fight. There must be another
way.”

“
Well, I could try my hand at gambling, but that’s a risky
business, obviously. I could lose what little cash we
have.”

“
I’d rather try that first. I don’t think he’s in any shape to
fight now, anyhow.”

Sabre glanced
up. “Not really. My co-ordination and reflexes are severely
impaired.”

“
Which means you could kill a man in three seconds instead of
two, right?” Kole asked.

“
He’s not fighting,” Tassin said, scowling at him. “He just got
free, and already you want to shove him into an arena so he can
have his brains battered some more.”

“
He’s a cyber.”

“
That doesn’t mean he won’t get hurt. In order to pass as a
free man, he’d have to fight like one, and that means he’d have to
let his opponents hit him. He’s not doing it.”

The hacker
raised his hands. “Fine, I’ll have a bash at gambling.”

“
It’s okay,” Sabre said, “I understand the necessity, and I’ll
do whatever I can to help, of course.”

“
You’re not fighting,” she told him as fiercely as she had told
Kole. He looked away, and silence fell for several moments, then
she said, “We also need to find someone who can help with Sabre’s
co-ordination and memory problem.”

Kole raised
his brows at her. “He has a memory problem, too?”

“
Yes.”

“
So… He doesn’t remember you?”

“
No. Yes. Sort of.”

Kole glanced
back at Sabre. “Wow. That’s got to suck. After everything you did
–”

“
Yeah, I know. That’s why we need to find someone who can
help.”

“
Well, that’s not going to be easy, is it? It’s not like we can
take him to a regular doctor.”

“
Exactly.”

“
Right, so this would be my job, I guess.”

She smiled at
him. “You’re the best hacker in the galaxy.”

“
It doesn’t take a hacker to track down a
neurologist.”

“
One who can treat a cyber?”

“
That just takes a bit of researching skill.”

“
And you’re good at that, too, huh?”

He snorted and
shook his head. “No need to butter me up, Tassin, I’ll find you a
neurologist who will treat our cyber friend, although he’ll
obviously be a back street kind of guy. There are a few
sympathisers to the anti-cyber cause. I’ve heard of some Net sites
that went up, protesting cyber host treatment, but Cybercorp took
them down within hours, and their owners were doubtless hounded
till they fled known space, just like Trevare. Only difference is,
he made mega-millions from his naughtiness, while these guys just
drop themselves in the shit, and for what? No one listens to them.
Very few care, and the ones who do are inevitably silenced one way
or another.

“
Anyone who goes up against Cybercorp is going to get
flattened. Those guys practically run the galaxy. Anyway, we’re
going to Rashid Four, that’s all we have fuel for. It’s a safer
place for us, since we’re now fugitives. I gave them a false ship
identity when we arrived, but once the shit hits the fan about
Malatar’s disappearance, Myon Two will investigate. They’ll check
the videos from the security satellites and realise that Striker
isn’t Dejan Vordon’s rather pretentious yacht.