The Cyber Chronicles IV - Cyborg (22 page)

"That's fine
for you, we're the ones who have to sleep on the floor," Kole
grumbled.

"Take the bunk
then, I'll -"

"No." Tassin
scowled at Kole. "Sabre sleeps on the bed."

"Did I ask him
to give it up?"

"You're the
only one complaining around here..." Tassin trailed off, noticing
Sabre turn his head towards the door, his expression distant. "What
is it, Sabre?"

"It seems that
we're about to find out how treacherous the captain is. He's just
left his cabin and he's heading this way with five armed men."

"Your scanners
can see his cabin?"

He nodded.
"This ship's interior walls are all plasteel, but the metal hull
doesn't stop the scanners either, only stone does."

"What should
we do?"

Sabre sat up
and swung his legs off the bed, grimacing. "Let's see what he
wants."

Despite the
warning, the thunderous knocking made Tassin jump, and she took a
moment to calm herself before opening the door. Ravel stood there,
scowling. His gaze impaled her, then flicked to Kole.

"You, back to
the bunk room."

Tassin raised
her chin. "I want him to stay here."

"I'll just bet
you do, but it's against ship's rules."

"We'll pay
extra."

"I'm not
interested in your money, missy. Ship's rules apply to everyone. If
I let him stay with you, all the couples will want to be
together."

"Where's the
harm in that?"

"It leads to
more fighting. We don't have cabins for everyone, and if men and
women sleep together in the bunk rooms, it's bedlam."

She shrugged.
"So, we have a cabin. It's not the same."

"They won't
see it that way, or they'll all want cabins, which we don't have. I
did you a huge favour kicking out one of my crew, but this is as
far as I go."

"We're only
here for a few days. No one needs to know."

Ravel stepped
closer and thrust out his chin. "This is a ship, missy, there are
no secrets. It's like a damned gossip convention."

Tassin met his
eyes and folded her arms. "Then we'll return to our ship, where
your rules won't apply to us."

Ravel opened
his mouth, then froze as her words sank in. Whatever he had been
expecting her to say, that was clearly not it. He closed his mouth
and shook his head. "No."

Tassin's eyes
narrowed. "Why not? We won't be using your supplies, and we'll have
comfortable quarters."

Ravel glanced
at Sabre, who sat slumped on the bed, his eyes closed. Tassin could
sense the cold calculations going on in his head. He smiled and
stepped aside. "All right, you have a point."

Tassin nodded.
"Good, I'll get my things."

As she turned
away, Ravel grabbed her collar and yanked her towards him,
snatching the laser from his thigh holster. He had barely drawn it
when Sabre crossed the room in a bound. His fist hit Ravel's arm,
knocking it upwards, and the laser bolt hit the ceiling with a
flash of fire and a shower of sparks. The cast on Sabre's left arm
split with a sharp crack as he grabbed the front of Ravel's jacket.
Jerking the captain into the cabin, he twisted the weapon from his
hand and pressed it to Ravel's brow, bearing him to the ground.

The crewmen
reached for their lasers, but Sabre raised his head and said, "Drop
the weapons or he dies."

"Do it!" Ravel
rasped, his eyes bulging as Sabre knelt on his chest.

They obeyed,
kicking the lasers away down the corridor. Tassin stared at the
scene, a hand on her throat. Kole looked stunned. Tassin recovered
first, and scowled at the prone captain.

"That was an
incredibly stupid thing to do, Ravel. Did you really think you were
faster than a cyber?"

"I thought his
injuries would slow the bastard down."

"What were you
planning? To take me hostage? Steal the ship and our money?"

He glowered at
Sabre. "No."

"Tell the
truth."

"What does it
matter now?"

"It matters to
me, because I suspected it, and I want to know if I was right.
Clearly your intentions were not good," Tassin said.

"Go to
hell."

"Sabre, hurt
him."

"No!" Ravel's
eyes widened as Sabre released his jacket and reached for his face.
"I was going to kill you, then make Kole transfer the cyber to
me."

"You were
after my cyber?"

"Yes."

"What makes
you think Kole has the codes, or that he would comply?"

Ravel coughed,
his face reddening as Sabre's knee dug into his chest. "He must
know where they are, or we'd have found them. He has command
privilege, so he could do the transfer, and I figured he would once
we had a gun to his head. The cyber wouldn’t have been able to
protect you both at the same time."

"That's even
worse than I thought. Here I was assuming you wanted the ship..."
She glanced at Sabre. "That's why you let us aboard when Kole told
you we had a cyber."

"Yeah."

"And I suppose
you thought he'd be injured in the fight with the enforcers, so I
would be unprotected."

"Yeah."

Kole scowled.
"You bastard. You were going to kill Tassin for a stinking
cyber?"

"I'd rather
have taken her alive. I could have got a bundle for her from the
slave merchants on Orrisa Three, but it didn't work because of the
stinking cyber."

Tassin shot
Kole a glare, then turned back to the captain. "Well, now that my
stinking cyber has you at his mercy, you'll repair our ship and
we'll all leave together. We'll release you on Rashid. If any of
your men try anything, you'll die. Got it?"

Ravel
nodded.

"Okay, Sabre,
let him up, but keep him hostage."

Sabre got off
Ravel's chest and gripped the front of his jacket, hauling him to
his feet. The captain staggered, rubbing his chest, then gave
orders at the men in the corridor, sending them to find the
engineers. When they left, Ravel eyed Sabre, and Tassin was struck
again by his unhealthy interest.

"If you wanted
a cyber so badly, why didn't you just buy one?"

"Do I look
like I have seven hundred thousand credits?"

"You offered
to buy him."

Ravel
shrugged. "I wasn't serious, but I've always wanted one."

"My heart
bleeds for you." Tassin reached under the bed and drew out the
sword, strapping it on, then brushed past Ravel and led the way
down the corridor. Kole directed her through the warren of
corridors to the airlock were Striker was docked, and he opened the
door.

On the ship,
Sabre pushed Ravel down on a sofa in the lounge and holstered his
laser. Kole flopped into the command seat with a smile and greeted
Striker, who replied in her usual calm, sultry manner.

Chapter Eleven

Five hours
later, Striker’s engines were repaired, Sabre's lasers had been
returned, along with the dead cyber's armour, and they were on
their way back to Rashid. Kole landed the ship at a spaceport, and
Ravel was ejected with rather more force than necessary. As the
door slid shut, Tassin slumped, leant against the bulkhead and
closed her eyes.

"That was
horrible."

Sabre strode
away down the corridor, vanishing into his cabin. Tassin hurried
after him, concerned, and found him stretched out on the bunk,
nursing his arm, which the cracked cast hung off, his face twisted
with pain.

"Oh, god,
Sabre, I'm sorry." She dug in his medical kit and shook two
painkillers into her palm, popped them into his mouth and fetched
him a glass of water. He swallowed them, grimacing.

She sat on the
bed beside him. "Are you all right?"

"I've been
better."

"You're so
good at hiding it; I forgot how much that must have hurt. You saved
my life. Thank you."

"I'd like a
favour."

"Anything."

He closed his
eyes with a sigh. "A few days of rest."

"As long as
you want, I promise."

Kole appeared
in the doorway. "Let's not be too hasty with the promises. There
are landing and parking fees to pay, and we can't leave in Striker
unless we get a ship clamp. Otherwise, we'll have to buy passage on
a liner, and that's not cheap."

"Then we
should go back into space. That's free, isn't it?"

"Yeah, except
for the fuel to hold orbit. Oh, and if we want to leave in Striker,
we're going to need more fuel."

Tassin turned
to glare at him. "Don't you dare suggest that Sabre should fight
again."

"Fine, I
won't. You think of a way to make enough money to get off this
shithole planet then."

"And don't you
ever call Sabre a stinking cyber again, either."

Kole snorted
and left. Tassin closed the door and returned to Sabre's side. He
looked pale and gaunt, his brow sheened with sweat. His bruises had
turned blue now, and mottled his chest, arms and one side of his
jaw. She stroked his cheek, and he opened his eyes, looking
puzzled.

"One day soon,
you'll never have to fight again," she murmured.

"Promise?"

Tassin nodded,
her throat tight. "I promise."

"I look
forward to it."

"If not for
that bastard Manutim, we wouldn't be in this mess. He tipped off
Myon Two about you and me."

"Who's
he?"

"Your previous
owner." He frowned, and Tassin shook her head. "I'm sorry; I should
have said the cyber's former owner."

"That's okay."
He closed his eyes. "I'd like to rest now."

"Of
course."

Tassin went to
the bridge, where Kole sat glaring out at the dark airfield, a
drink in hand. He looked up as she flopped down in the other
chair.

"How is
he?"

"In a lot of
pain, but asleep, hopefully."

He sipped his
drink, swirling it to make the ice tinkle. "We can park here for a
week, or get half a tank of fuel, or passage on a liner."

"If we leave
Striker here, what will happen to her?"

"I'll put her
into a high orbit. She should be able to hold it for about two
weeks with the fuel she has, then she'll have to leave orbit and
drift, or land on a moon."

"I hate to
suggest it, but what about selling her?"

Kole shot her
a chilly glance. "I'd get a fraction of what she's worth, and,
considering that all my accounts are frozen, I'd have a problem.
Already I'm going to have to change my name again and open new
accounts, and that costs money."

"We've caused
you a lot of trouble, and I'm sorry."

He sighed and
sipped his drink. "It's my fault. I didn't have to get
involved."

"But I'm glad
you did. I'm very grateful to you. If there's anything I can do to
help, please ask."

"We've just
got to figure out a way off this rat-hole planet." He studied the
golden fluid in his glass. "I know you're not going to like this,
but the truth is, we only have one real asset."

"Sabre."

"Yeah. Like it
or not, he's all we've got. We're doing this for him, so he's going
to have to pull his weight."

"Don't you
think he's done enough already?"

He shrugged.
"It won't be enough until you're safe."

"Perhaps we
should contact the highest bidder for the sword and ask him to come
here."

"Unfortunately, Rashid is not a good place to be trapped. We're
fairly safe from enforcers, but no honest, and especially rich, man
is going to come here; it's too dangerous."

"All right,
let's buy passage to Charon."

Kole turned
and tapped on a keyboard, consulting the screen beside him. "Well,
there are two freighters, a passenger ship and a private yacht
going to Charon in the next few days. The freighters are cheaper,
but not too safe; the liner will cost everything we have."

"We can take a
freighter."

He tapped the
keys again. "Okay, we're booked on Phoenix Voyager, tomorrow at
ten."

"Good, I'm
going to get some sleep."

"I'll join
you." She raised her brows, and he added, "In my own cabin, of
course."

****

Tassin sighed
and raised her eyes to Kole's grim countenance on the other side of
the cracked green plastic table. They sat in a cramped, windowless
room in cheap lodgings on Charon Six, waiting for Sabre to recover.
He lay on the narrow bunk behind her, resting, as he had been for
the past four days. The room had two sets of double decker bunks,
and she slept in the one above Sabre while Kole used the one on the
other side of the room. The table stood in the middle, with four
chairs around it, and at one end was a cupboard-sized kitchen and
an equally tiny bathroom. The off white walls showed years of
grime, children’s scribbles and mildew, and all the fittings, Kole
had assured her, was decades old. The room was deep within a
towering accommodation complex honeycombed with passages and
identical self-catering apartments.

"She's a
marked ship," Kole said. "I'm going to have to sell her."

"You're very
fond of her, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Don't you
have a friend who would buy her officially, but let you keep
her?"

"Trevare would
do it, but the enforcers will suspect him and keep following her,
hoping that she'll lead them to me, and you."

Tassin looked
down at the table. "How much trouble are you in?"

"Accessory to
murder and aiding and abetting a fugitive. They could lock me up
for a few years."

She ran her
finger along the stains on the table’s surface. "Come to Omega
Five, and bring Striker. You'll be safe there."

"The enforcers
will follow her."

"But it's a
restricted planet. They can't land. Is it protected?"

Kole nodded.
"There are satellites. Manutim must have used a very small ship to
slip past them."