The Cyber Chronicles V - Overlord (5 page)

He turned to
the refreshment counter and took a handful of nuts. "I'm nothing
but the cause of trouble. Everyone would be better off without
me."

"But Tassin
cares for you, and she's a remarkable girl. Do you care for
her?"

"I don't
know."

"Yes, you
do."

"My feelings
are irrelevant."

She smiled. "Is
that because you think you shouldn't have them?"

"Partly."

"And the rest
of the reason?"

"That's none of
your business." He glanced at the decanters.

"Nothing is
alcoholic," she assured him, stepping closer. "So, allow me to make
an assumption. Your feelings are irrelevant because you don't
understand them, right?"

"Partly." Sabre
poured a green drink and sipped it.

"Then the rest
of it is because...?"

"None of your
business."

She pouted.
"But it is my business. The Overlord wants to know."

"Why?"

"He's going to
judge you."

"Then let him
flush me into space. It's none of his damned business either."

"So, you don't
fear him,” she said.

"Why should I?
I don't care if he kills me."

"He might send
you back to Myon Two to be repaired instead."

Sabre frowned
at his drink. "Feelings serve no purpose."

"Ah. Useless
emotions. All your life you've been numbed by the cyber's control,
a helpless onlooker of your terrible fate. Didn't you even feel
anger or hatred?"

"A little.
Mostly I felt helplessness, and a lot of pain."

"And what do
you feel now that you are free?"

He shrugged.
"Relief."

"You are a
strange man indeed. What would you feel if I told you that the
Overlord intends to execute all of you, and this is just an
experiment to satisfy his curiosity?"

"Nothing. I
would plan to free us."

"That would be
impossible." She turned and gestured to the far wall. "Look over
there."

Sabre glanced
around with a frown. A holographic image had appeared, which showed
Tassin, Tarl and Kole being dragged along a corridor, struggling in
the grip of soldiers.

"They're being
taken to an airlock, and will be flushed into space."

Sabre dropped
the glass and sprinted for the door. As he reached it, a flash of
cold blue light revealed a network of glimmering lines, and he was
flung back with a crackling hiss. Rolling to his feet, he scowled
at the force field that barred his way, then swung to face the
woman.

"What would it
take to stop it? My life?"

"Your life is
already forfeit, but you might gain the upper hand if you kill
me."

"Why?" He shook
his head in confusion.

"It's a
test."

"And I have to
kill you to pass?"

"Yes."

He approached
her with long strides. "Who are you?"

"Does it
matter?"

"Why does the
Overlord want me to kill you?"

She frowned.
"So many questions. Soon it will be too late to save your
friends."

"You're an
innocent."

"So is Tassin.
Would you not kill one innocent to save another, especially one you
care about?"

Sabre stepped
closer, and she took a pace back, a flicker of doubt and
trepidation crossing her face. He clasped her shoulders and his
fingers brushed her throat, where a rapid pulse beat.

She nodded, as
if to encourage him. "Save her. Kill me."

His hands
closed around her throat, and her eyes widened as she gazed deep
into his.

"So few
emotions. You have far less than a normal man. You have much pain,
deep-seated trauma and scarring, but only a little bitterness and
pent-up rage. You have none of the ugly emotions like hatred or
vengefulness, malevolence or malice. And there, deep down, so well
hidden behind walls of conditioning, is your love for Tassin. It is
strong."

"You can read
my mind?"

"No. I'm an
empath. Do it. Kill me."

With a low
growl, Sabre shoved her away, sending her staggering back. He swung
and sprinted across the room again, this time straight for the
wall. Tearing away the silk to reveal the black velvet panelling,
he punched the wall with a terrific bang. The panels smashed and
fell away, exposing a metal bulkhead with a deep dent in it. Blood
oozed from his knuckles as he smashed his fist into the metal
again, deepening the dent. His third strike tore through the
two-centimetre thick wall, and the sharp edges sliced into his hand
when he yanked it free and punched the wall again.

"Stop," the
woman said.

He hit the wall
once more, enlarging the hole.

"Sabre, stop.
Your friends are in no danger."

Sabre glanced
at her, stepped back and kicked the hole, the resulting bang making
his ears ring. The metal tore, and he gripped the edge and yanked,
almost pulling himself into sharp rim as his feet skidded on the
smooth floor. His action tore a hole large enough to crawl through,
and he started to do just that, then paused as her words sank
in.

Turning to her,
he frowned. "Show them to me."

She gestured,
and another holo-image appeared. Tassin reclined on one of the
chairs in their quarters, talking to Kole and Tarl, who sat
opposite.

"This one is
real," she assured him.

"You tricked
me. Why?"

"As I said, it
was a test."

"To force me to
kill you."

She nodded. "To
see if you would."

"And I
failed."

"No, you
passed. If you had tried to kill me, you would have been prevented,
and then condemned." She smiled, dimples appearing in her cheeks.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sheriana Travarin, but you may
call me Overlord Ravian."

Sabre stepped
back, his eyes raking her. "You put yourself in danger to test
me?"

"Did I?"

"You had no way
of knowing what I would do."

She shook her
head. "I was never in any danger. While you were unconscious, my
engineers made me this." She drew a hand from the folds of her gown
and showed him the tiny black box in it.

He frowned at
it. "An override. How could you have found my frequency and
codes?"

"I used the
enforcers' database. They know your serial number, and Myon Two
supplied the rest."

"An override is
keyed to a specific brow band. It cannot be duplicated, or the
enforcers would have done so already, to capture me."

"Normally, yes,
but I have many resources, and a good deal of knowledge even Myon
Two does not possess."

He hesitated,
considering her. "Could you deactivate the control unit?"

"No, that is
beyond even my powers. My engineers tell me it is impossible.
There's just too much hard wiring involved."

"So what is
your judgement, Overlord?"

"You have shown
yourself to be a gentle and honourable man, but I have not yet
reached my final judgement." She considered the hole in the wall.
"Your abilities are impressive. I did not think a man would be
capable of punching a hole through two centimetres of
duronium."

Sabre glanced
at the hole, then down at his hand, which dripped blood from split
knuckles and deep gashes where the sharp edges had sliced into it.
"I'm not a man."

"Ah, but you
are a man, and so much more. You are a man with so many advantages
now. One who has been combined with machine to the extent of being
almost invincible. Only this can defeat you easily." She held up
the override. "When I planned this meeting, I considered placing
snipers around the room with poisoned darts, but your scanners
would have detected them, and even trixophan, the most deadly
poison available, will take several hours to kill you. I thought
about using a personal force shield, but the cyber is capable of
interfacing with other systems and deactivating them. You could
have deactivated the force field on the door, but it would have
taken too long, and you thought you had mere minutes to save your
friends. Had you decided to kill me, however, I have no doubt you
would have overcome all my defences. I came to the conclusion that
the override was the only way to stop you. I could not even lie to
you, so I had to use the hologram and avoid any direct duplicity. I
learnt a great deal about cybers. Allow me to tend to your wounds
while you tell me about your youth. I want to know all you have
suffered. Sit."

Sabre went over
to the chairs and sank down on one, surprised when Ravian took a
box from a shelf in the refreshment counter and sat beside him. She
took his hand and wiped off the blood with a sterile swab.

"Tell me
everything."

Sabre left
nothing out this time, as he had done when he had told Tassin, who
would not have understood the technical parts. Ravian ministered to
his wounds, her touch so light he felt almost no pain. He ended the
tale with the details of the electronic shock training he had
received to speed up his reactions, his voice becoming husky with
the emotional stress of recalling the agony he had suffered, even
though he had been the best of his class and therefore received the
least shocks. When he glanced at Ravian, she gazed at him with wide
eyes that glimmered with tears, his hand clasped in hers. Her
extreme youth struck him as incongruous, for she could not have
been more than twenty-five years old. She looked down at his hand,
stroking it.

"What was done
to you is shameful. I was unaware of the extent of the torture to
which cybers are subjected, as are the rest of the Overlords. It is
unacceptable."

"Then you'll
stop it?"

She tilted her
head, studying him. "After meeting you, I think I shall. I expected
you to be hard and cold, a man of steel inside and out, yet I find
you to be warm and gentle. I understand why Tassin cares about you
so much. You are a warrior with the soul of a poet, and I have
shared your pain."

He glanced down
at the hand she held. "You have to touch me to read me, don't
you?"

"Yes."

"Are all
Overlords empaths?"

"Yes. It
ensures that we're always fair and just, but also compassionate. An
empath is incapable of inflicting unnecessary pain on others, even
if we don't share it." Ravian turned her head and said, "Set course
for Myon Two."

"You're going
to stop them from making more cybers?"

She lowered her
gaze. "No. I cannot do that without causing suffering to all those
who rely on that unwholesome trade. What I will do is order them to
ensure that the hosts do not suffer."

Sabre glared
across the room. "Is your judgement finished now?"

"You're
angry."

"You could stop
it altogether. You care more about those butchering bastards than
the helpless children they torture."

"No, I don't.
Unfortunately, those butchering bastards have families and children
of their own. Millions of people make their livelihood from the
cyber trade, directly and indirectly. The sudden collapse of the
trade would cause starvation and poverty on two planets. The
unlimited power of an Overlord must never be used to do such harm,
and, even though we strive to be fair, many hate us. I hope you
don't hate me for not stopping it."

He frowned.
"No. But you could order them to phase out human hosts, and make
robots instead."

"You know full
well that a robot could never match a cyber."

"If there were
no cybers, robots would suffice, if Myon Two had the motivation to
build better ones."

"They have
tried, but it's simply not possible. I'm sorry."

Sabre nodded,
and she released his hand, rose and crossed the room to put away
the medical kit, returning with a glass of the green beverage and a
bowl of the nuts he had sampled earlier. She handed him the glass
and placed the bowl on the table before him.

He glanced at
her. "What more is there about me to judge?"

"I have
concerns. Your mental state is lamentable. Your self-esteem is
non-existent; you're depressed, bitter and suicidal."

"What does that
have to do with anything?"

"If I'm going
to save you from the enforcers, I want to know that you're not
going to throw it all away in a fit of bitterness."

He sipped the
drink. "If I make it back to Omega Five, I'll be all right."

"What will you
do there?"

"Live in peace,
hopefully."

"Become a
farmer? Raise meat animals and grow vegetables?"

"Or be a
woodcutter, perhaps a carpenter. Who knows?"

She shook her
head. "That's a waste. You're capable of so much more. You could do
so much good."

"What are you
suggesting?"

"Work for me.
You could spend most of your time on Omega Five, but sometimes I
would have missions for you. Spying, mostly. I hear much of what
goes on in the universe, but a lot escapes me. Subtle plots are
hatched that cause a lot of suffering, and all too often the
Overlords can only clean up the mess. I hear rumours, but without
proof or intelligence, I can do nothing. I have spies, of course,
but none with your capabilities. Many die. You would be very useful
to me."

He considered.
"Is this a condition?"

"No, it's a job
offer. It would afford you some adventure and excitement, as well
as the satisfaction of doing good."

"What has this
to do with your judgement?"

"Nothing. I
have decided to spare you and your friends. I shall rescind Tarl's
death sentence and pardon Kole and Tassin. If you choose not to
accept my offer, I shall release you, and you'll be on your own. If
you accept it, you'll become my agent, and, as such, you'll have my
protection. The enforcers will not be able to touch you."

Sabre stared at
his drink for several moments, aware that Ravian watched him. Her
offer surprised him, and the prospect of having the protection of
an Overlord filled him with a strange warmth he was unable to
identify. "Would I have to pretend to be a cyber?"