The Cyber Chronicles V - Overlord (25 page)

The young
Overlord looked up with a smile when Sabre entered the plush black
and red suite, some of his joy ebbing when he noticed the slow,
cautious way Sabre walked.

"Sit, Sabre.
How are you feeling?"

The cyber sank
onto a white sofa with a sigh. "Like shit, pretty much."

"It's good to
see you on your feet again, nevertheless." He rose and went to the
refreshment counter to pour a fruit juice, which he handed to
Sabre.

"Thanks."

Fairen sat
opposite, leant forward and folded his hands. "I have a favour to
ask you." He hesitated, frowning. "I know I'm the one who owes you
for saving my life, so you may ask a favour of me in return."

"What do you
want?"

"Teach me to
fight like you do." It came out in a rush, and the boy looked
abashed, a faint flush colouring his pale cheeks.

Sabre eyed him,
sipping the drink. "You'll never be able to do that."

"No, of course
not, but I wish to be able to defend myself. If I'd been trained,
the Corsair would not have been able to take me hostage."

"Yeah, he
would. He was a match for me. Corsairs are extremely
dangerous."

Fairen nodded.
"I thought I was safe. He was bound in duronium chains, but he
broke them like they were string."

"They're as
strong as a cyber. You don't need to learn to fight; you have an
army here to protect you, and if your soldiers had lasers, they’d
be a whole lot more effective."

"They were
useless. The laser ban is for a reason. It ensures that no lasers
can be brought onto the ship without my internal scanners picking
them up. Since they’re the weapon of choice, it’s a useful
safeguard, and since my men don’t have them, they’re easy to detect
and track. Anyway, I'm not planning on bringing another Corsair on
board my ship, but I would like to learn to fight, nonetheless.
Call it a whim, if you like."

Sabre studied
the boy. "I guess I could teach you a few self-defence moves, but
so could your soldiers."

"I want you to
teach me."

"Why?"

Fairen gave up
trying to maintain his air of cool detachment and leant forward,
his eyes eager. "Come on, Sabre. It'll be fun."

The cyber
smiled and looked down at his drink. "You just want to spar with a
cyber, don't you?"

"Not just any
cyber. You. Will you do it?"

"And you'll
grant me any favour I want?"

Fairen's eyes
slid away. "Within reason."

"Order Myon Two
to stop producing cybers."

"I was afraid
you would ask for that."

"I guess that
means it's not within reason."

Fairen sighed.
"Unfortunately, I would be going against the law, which states that
an Overlord may not cause harm to innocents, even indirectly,
unless it's to prevent a horrific crime or a lot of suffering.
Although the men who work on Myon Two are not exactly innocent,
neither are they criminals, and the economies of two planets depend
on cyber manufacture. If I did it, the other Overlords would vote
to overturn my order."

"Does no one
care about what's being done to the cyber hosts?"

"We do, but the
needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

"Even when the
many are torturing the few?"

Fairen inclined
his head. "If saving those few will endanger the lives of the many,
yes."

"Let them build
something else. Robots, for instance."

"All their
technology and equipment is for manufacturing cybers."

"They've got
rich from our suffering; they can afford to refit," Sabre said.

"Robots cannot
replace cybers, and many important people, planetary leaders,
statesmen and ministers would become targets for dissidents and
revolutionaries, causing chaos on many worlds. Cybers perform an
important function in today's society; removing them would be
detrimental to a great many people. Nor can I order them to allow
the cyber hosts free will. The risk that some of them would abuse
their power is too great. Ravian has already done as much as we can
to help them without causing more problems."

Sabre nodded,
staring at the floor. "Then I'll decide what I want at a later
stage. I'm sure something will crop up."

"As you wish.
When can we start?"

"When I'm a bit
stronger. Right now, you could knock me over with a feather."

Fairen grinned.
"Oh, I doubt that."

"You'd be
surprised. Have Ravian and Ramadaus left?"

"No. There have
been no distress calls in this sector. Couldn't you show me
something now? Something that doesn't require much strength,
perhaps?"

Sabre smiled.
"There are many things that don't require much strength, and hurt a
lot, but I'm not doing them to you."

"Why not?"

"Apart from the
fact that you're an Overlord?"

Fairen snorted.
"Forget about that for the moment. Show me."

"No. You're a
child."

"I'm strong. I
exercise every day."

"Your bones are
like twigs. I might break something."

The boy
addressed the air. "Send in a guard."

Sabre glanced
around as the door opened. A soldier entered, marched over to
Fairen and stopped before him with a bow.

Fairen said,
"Sabre is going to demonstrate some self-defence moves. You will
comply with everything he says."

The soldier's
eyes flicked to the cyber. "Yes, My Lord."

Sabre sighed,
put down his glass and beckoned to the man. "Come here and kneel
beside me." The guard obliged, looking wary, and Sabre held out his
left arm. "Take hold."

As soon as the
man gripped it, Sabre grabbed the soldier's middle finger with his
right hand and bent it back until he let go with a hiss and
snatched his hand away, nursing his finger.

"That's it?"
Fairen demanded, his brows raised.

"The easiest
forms of self-defence are the simplest."

"But if someone
was trying to kill me, twisting his finger isn't going to stop
him."

"No, that's
more for warding off unwelcome intrusions."

"Useful, but I
want to know how to stop an attacker who's trying to kill me, like
the Corsair. He gave no indication of his true abilities until I
was within his reach. He allowed my guards to drag him in here with
only token struggles, and let himself be chained."

Sabre nodded.
"When he realised where he was, he hoped to kill you."

"But he didn't,
even though he could have. Surely he was trying to blackmail me
into releasing him and his ship?"

"No. Since they
can't communicate with us, he couldn't do that. He was probably
savouring his victory, perhaps hoping to torture you before he
killed you."

"So why was it,
when my guards wanted to rush him after he knocked me down, he
threatened to bite me, preventing them, but when you charged him,
he let me go?" Fairen asked.

"Corsairs have
a strange mentality and customs. A group of men is a threat, and
they'll use any means to counter it, but a single attacker is a
challenge, and they can't resist those. If I had drawn my lasers,
he would have killed you, since he had no hope of winning, then. As
long as he thought he had a chance of winning, he had to accept the
challenge. In their culture, if you don't accept a challenge,
you're a coward, and reviled, even put to death."

"How do you
know so much about them?"

Sabre picked up
his drink and sipped it. "When Corsair space was invaded thirty
years ago, Myon Two studied them, as they do all possible
adversaries. I was trained to deal with all the dangerous alien
beasts, and Corsairs."

Fairen frowned
at the floor. "The time I spent in his grip was horrible. His lust
for my death and all the people on my ship was overwhelming."

"They are
savages."

The boy looked
up. "Show me something else. What's the easiest way to kill a
man?"

"Shoot him."
Sabre smiled as Fairen rolled his eyes, and added, "It depends on
whether you're in close combat or have room. If you aren't that
strong, a blow to the nose will do it pretty easily."

"That doesn't
sound very deadly."

"It depends on
how you do it. If you hit it just right, the nasal bones are forced
into the brain, and death is quick."

Fairen leant
forward. "Show me."

Sabre turned to
the soldier and held his hand in front of his face, palm towards
his nose. "Now you strike, angling upwards."

"That seems too
easy."

"I wouldn't try
it unless you aim to kill the man."

"But it
wouldn't work on you, would it?"

Sabre shook his
head. "My nose is reinforced. Anyone who tried to do that to me
would get a barrinium spike through their hand."

Fairen
contemplated him for several moments, then dismissed the soldier
and said, "That's enough for today; you're tired. Go and rest, if
you wish."

Sabre stood up
carefully, and Fairen watched him leave with a forlorn expression
that he tried unsuccessfully to hide.

Sabre did
little but sleep and eat for the next two days while his strength
returned. Tassin and Tarl kept themselves amused with the wide
variety of entertainment on offer, went shopping and chatted to
Sabre when he was awake. Fairen requested Sabre’s company in his
private lounge for a couple of hours each day, and they talked
about many things, mostly to do with combat and morality. On the
third day, the guard led Sabre to a spacious, padded room furnished
with a selection of gleaming ultra-modern exercise equipment and
scarlet foam floor mats. Fairen lay on a bench, lifting weights, an
instructor standing over him. He slotted the weights into the stand
when Sabre entered and sat up, mopping his face with a towel.

The instructor
bowed and withdrew at the boy’s gesture, shooting Sabre a
narrow-eyed look when he passed him. Fairen was stripped to the
waist, and, although narrow-shouldered due to his youth, had a
well-defined physique.

Sabre wandered
over to a stand of dumbbells and leant against it. "You're kidding,
right?"

Fairen smiled
and tossed aside the towel. "Why would I be kidding?"

"You want to
fight me?"

"Why not?
That's the best way to learn, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I
thought I would only be demonstrating on one of your crewmen."

The boy stood
up and wandered closer. "I trust you. You've regained some of your
strength I trust?"

Sabre shrugged.
"I'm only at sixty-two per cent."

Fairen picked
up a dumbbell and hefted it. "You know, that liner has security
cameras in every corridor, and everything that happened was
recorded. I've seen your battle to reach the shuttle. Now I'm
curious. You were so weak your friends had to almost carry you, but
when your laser ran out, you were able to attack a Corsair and
break his neck. How did you do that?"

"It’s called an
energy burst. Everyone has a natural version of it, which is why,
in an extreme situation, they become stronger and faster. I'm
genetically engineered to produce more potent adrenalin, and in
larger amounts than normal. When necessary, the cyber triggers a
dump into my system, which gives a short burst of strength. Of
course, it clobbers my bio-status, so I can’t do it very
often."

"I see." Fairen
put down the dumbbell and dusted his hands. "Well, let's get
started, shall we?"

"I really don't
think this is a good idea. Bring in one of your crewmen."

"Why?"

"Because I have
trained responses that are hard to control,” Sabre said. “You could
get hurt."

"I can handle a
few bumps and bruises; I'm not a wimp."

"It could be
more serious than that."

"I'll take my
chances," Fairen hesitated. "There's another reason for my request.
You're right, my men could teach me, except I don't like them
touching me, and this kind of training requires contact, doesn't
it?"

Sabre nodded,
and Fairen went on, "One of the disadvantages of being an empath is
that any touch brings with it a host of sensations and second-hand
emotions. In my case, these are strong, since I'm a powerful
empath, and I don't have to touch a person to read them, like the
others. Therefore, actually touching someone is... unpleasant. But
I don't mind your touch."

Sabre tilted
his head, studying the boy. "So no one ever touches you?"

"No."

"When you were
a child?"

Fairen
shrugged, pulling a face. "Then I couldn't prevent them. It used to
give me nightmares, and I learnt to pinch or slap people who tried
to hug me or pick me up. Apparently my parents thought I was mad. I
don't remember them, of course."

"Why am I
different?"

The boy smiled.
"You're strange. You have very few underlying emotions, and none of
them are bad, so it's not unpleasant to touch you."

"What is it
about other people that repels you so?"

"Petty
emotions, like jealousy, envy, anger, malice, fear. Most repugnant
is lust for power or pleasure, money, that sort of thing. Even if
they're not thinking about those things, or feeling them at the
time, I still pick them up."

Sabre inclined
his head. "No, I suppose I don't have those."

"So, shall we
start?"

The cyber
sighed. "Okay, but we'll do it slowly, and I'll play the part of
the aggressor. I trust I'm not going to get shot full of poison
darts as soon as I touch you?"

Fairen grinned.
"No, they have strict instructions not to interfere."

"That must have
gone down well."

"Like an
overdose of laxative, judging by their expressions. They don't
understand why I want to do this with an outsider when they've
dedicated their whole lives to the service of an Overlord."

"Yeah, I can
imagine." Sabre wandered over to the unsuspecting boy and snatched
him into a throat hold. "Now, all I have to do is twist your head,
and you're dead. Can you think of a way to escape?"