The Cyber Chronicles VI - Warrior Breed (26 page)

“
I’m not. I’ll give Cybercorp a run for their money, and
Ramadaus, too, but I’m not dragging you with me. I’m afraid I won’t
be able to protect you, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“
If you leave me, you’ll be hurting me. You couldn’t hurt me
more, in fact. I’d rather die with you than live without
you.”

He shook his
head. “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. I want you to be safe in
Arlin. You don’t know what you’ve got yourself into, Tassin. This
is a dangerous game, and I’m going to lose it eventually. I’m up
against a super-corporation that doesn’t ever give up, that won’t
even listen to two Overlords, and an Overlord.”

“
I don’t care! I want you to fight for us, so we can be happy
together.”

“
I will fight them, but that will only delay the inevitable,
and I won’t let you throw away your life.”

“
It’s my life, and I’ll do what I damn well please with
it.”

He smiled and
pulled her close again. “My little warrior queen.”

“
You’d better not forget it.”

“
How could I?”

“
So don’t do this. Stay with me in Arlin when we get there. You
don’t have a beacon anymore, so they can’t track you
down.”

“
They have cybers with scanners, who can spot me at two
kilometres,” he said.

“
I don’t care. We’re going to fight them together.”

“
You’re fighting for a lost cause.”

“
No I’m not. I’m fighting for the man I love, and I’m never
going to stop.”

Sabre closed
his eyes and hugged her. She laid her cheek against his with a
sigh, revelling in the rare and exquisite opportunity to lie in his
arms. A short silence fell, and she tried to pull away so she could
see his face, but he held her close and murmured, “I’m not going to
argue about it, okay? I know how stubborn you are."

"I have our
future already planned, and you’re not going to change it now."

He stroked her
hair, and some of the tension leaked out of him. "You're trying to
turn a fighter into a lover. I don't even know if that's
possible."

She raised her
head to gaze down at him. "You don't have to change for me. I love
you just the way you are."

He looked
away. "I'm already failing."

"No you're
not. Don't say that. Don't even think it." She gripped his face and
made him look at her. "Don't you dare leave me, either. I’ll just
track you down again."

He gazed at
her with a mixture of tenderness and sorrow that made her heart
ache, reaching up to brush a stray lock of hair from her brow.
"Okay. Let’s see what happens when we get back to Omega. If, by
some miracle, Cybercorp and Ramadaus don’t come looking for me,
I'll stay with you for as long as you want me."

"No. Don't do
it because it's what I want. What I meant was, don't leave me
because you think you'll disappoint me. Promise me that."

"Okay. If you
promise that if you get sick of me, you'll tell me."

She smiled,
relief washing through her. "I promise."

"Good. Now I
think I should go and have a shower."

"No, I haven't
finished with you yet." She ran her fingers down his cheek. "I like
having you at my mercy."

"So what did
you have in mind?"

"There's still
the question of ravishment."

He chuckled.
"I think not, fair maiden. Not today."

She pulled a
face. "Go and shower then."

Chapter Sixteen

Sabre jerked back as blood sprayed across his face. His sword
cut through bodies like they were butter. Entrails spilt out over
the bloody floor, and a man died with a gurgling scream. Blood
dripped from Sabre's hands and reddened his arms to the elbows. It
splattered the walls and slimed the floor. It rose in a mighty tide
to engulf him, filled with twisted, screaming faces and flashing
weapons. He cried out, lashed out with fists and sword, kicked
unseen enemies that hacked at his legs. The scythe-like spike on a
long alien tail sliced into his chest, spilling his blood into the
melee. Shards of crystal flayed his skin, and his raw flesh pulsed
fountains of blood. He lashed out as weapons hacked into him, and a
distant voice called his name.
Something
touched his shoulder, making him shudder and gasp, then he was
sitting up on his bed, panting.

Sweat ran off
him, and his muscles thrummed with adrenalin. His eyes swept the
room, searching for the enemies and blood that had been there a
moment before. Tassin stood nearby, looking distraught.

"What the hell
happened? Where did they go?" he demanded.

"Who?"

"The men who
were fighting me... and the alien."

"There's no
one here but us. You were dreaming."

He raised a
shaking hand, searching for signs of blood. "Dreaming?"

Tassin nodded,
glancing at the deep dent in the wall beside his bed, and he stared
at in surprise. The door burst open and Tarl galloped in, pulling
on his shirt and glancing around in alarm.

"What's all
the ruckus about?"

"It's all
right, Sabre just had a bad dream," Tassin explained.

Tarl turned to
Sabre, his eyes lingering on the dent. "A dream?"

"Yes."

Sabre shook
his head in confusion. "A dream is a pleasant vision of the future.
That's not what I had. It was horrible, and I was asleep."

Tassin asked,
"You've never had a dream while you were asleep before?"

"No."

Tarl rubbed
his face. "Oh, boy."

Tassin frowned
at him. "What is it?"

"This is
bad."

"Why?"

"Cybers don't
dream."

"Why not?"

Tarl sank down
on the edge of the bed. "The control unit prevents it... prevented
it. Seems like it's losing more control over his mind."

"Then that's
good."

"Not in this
case. Look what he did to the wall." He shook his head, running a
hand through his rumpled hair. "There's a reason why cybers don't
dream."

"Why is
that?"

He turned to
Sabre. "What was the dream about?"

"A
battle."

"That's why.
Dreams are caused by the subconscious working through problems
while we sleep. Cyber designers decided to suppress them so hosts
would always get restful sleep. It was probably the only favour
they did them. What Sabre had wasn't a dream, it was a nightmare,
and after what he's been through, he's going to have a lot of
them."

"Oh." Tassin
frowned at Sabre. "But maybe it will also help him to work through
his problems. Perhaps it's a good thing. Maybe he needs to
dream."

"Maybe. But it
would be dangerous for anyone to be close to him while he's asleep
now. What if your head had been where that dent is?"

She
shuddered.

"It's also
going to deprive him of a lot of sleep," Tarl said.

Sabre rubbed
his face. "This is going to keep happening?"

"Possibly.
Unless it was a temporary glitch."

"It was
unpleasant."

"Maybe you'll
have some nice ones too," Tassin tried to console him. "Dreams can
be wonderful."

"If people
have them, then I should have them, too."

Tarl grunted
and headed for the door. "Good luck with that."

Tassin took
his place on the edge of the bed, and Sabre glanced at the dent in
the wall. "Perhaps it’s not such a good idea for you to sleep here
now. Lucky I didn’t hurt you."

"I was in the
bathroom, but I'll wake you up before it gets bad."

He sighed and
lay back. "Do you have them often?"

"Not too
often."

"Are they ever
terrible?"

She lay down
beside him. "Occasionally."

"I try not to
think about my past, now it's going to come back to haunt me while
I sleep."

"Is your
memory completely restored?"

"There are
still a few gaps, I think."

"Maybe things
will get better when we're back on Omega. The peace and quiet there
will soothe your mind."

Sabre drew her
close and closed his eyes. "I hope so."

****

Fairen's
commander stopped before the dais and bowed. "A report just in, My
Lord. A Trykon warship has been sighted outside Trykon space,
heading towards the Varga Sector in a super-light corridor.
Complaints from commercial shipping have been lodged with several
world leaders along their route."

Fairen
shrugged. "If they haven't attacked anyone, I'm not concerned. Let
someone else attend. I want to know what progress you've made
finding the cyber."

Shrain
shifted, frowning at his feet. "There has been no word as to his
whereabouts, My Lord. No sightings on any of the planets where you
have spies, and no rumours. He's vanished."

"People don't
vanish, Commander. Find him."

"Yes, My
Lord." He glanced down as his com-link beeped, and read the screen.
"Overlord Ramadaus is attending to the Trykon warship."

"Good."

****

Atrel turned
to Sabre, who sat in the command seat on Nemesis’ bridge, gazing
out at the stars. "We've exited the corridor. Starting deceleration
burn."

"Set course
for corridor TWU306-795-54 as soon as we're sub light."

"Speed
dropping to one hundred times light, inertia dampeners in full
force, ship's attitude optimal."

Sabre nodded.
"Your crew shows skill, Atrel. How is it that a race that's banned
from leaving its space has photon ships?"

"A legacy from
our space-faring days."

"A fortunate
one, for me."

"May I ask
where we're going?"

Sabre shook
his head. "Not yet."

A mild
vibration rattled the ship, and some of the officers touched their
controls, correcting the imbalance. It abated, and Sabre leant back
as the ship continued to slow under full deceleration. Tongues of
flame swept past the forward screens from the massive engines. The
inertia would have crushed all aboard if not for the inertia
dampeners, which counteracted the vast force of the engines,
filling the ship with a stasis field and making it hard to
move.

"Slowing to
sub light," an officer announced.

"Lay in a new
course..." Atrel's eyes widened, and his mouth fell open.

Sabre followed
his gaze, and his stomach knotted. A vast, moth-shaped ship filled
the screens dead ahead. "Hard to port! Evasive action, full power
burn! Get us back into the corridor!"

A couple of
officers turned to gape at him, the rest did their best to obey,
and Atrel shot him a disbelieving look. The starboard thrusters
fired, and the ship started to swing away, then slowed so abruptly
that Atrel staggered as the inertia dampeners failed to
compensate.

"We're
caught," an officer said, and another man touched his console,
cancelling the now useless thruster burn. Nemesis drifted towards
the massive Moth Ship.

Sabre rose to
his feet and turned to Atrel. "That's Overlord Ramadaus, and he
wants me dead. You must hide me, and my wards. Agree to do whatever
he demands, which will probably be to return to Trykon space. Just
do it." He pulled off the gold torc. "Here, put this on. You're
commander until he's gone."

"You know
him?" Atrel looked thunderstruck.

"Yeah, we've
met. Here." Sabre thrust the torc into Atrel's lax hand.

"Why does he
want you dead?"

"Long story.
I'll tell you when we're safe. Just do it."

Atrel looked
down at the golden torc. "It's dishonest -"

"My life
depends on it. You do want me to live, don't you?"

"Yes,
Commander. But Overlords can tell when people lie."

"Only if
you're close to them, and Ramadaus is a particularly bad empath.
Put it on." Sabre glanced at the screens, where the Moth Ship
blocked out the stars. "There's not much time."

Atrel pulled
off his silver torc and handed it to Tronan, the new second
lieutenant, then slipped the gold torc on.

Sabre gripped
his shoulder. "Good man. I'm relying on you."

"What should I
tell him when he asks what we're doing out here?"

"Exploring."

"But -"

"If you can
think of a better explanation, use it. I must go; soon he's going
to scan us."

Sabre cast a
last glance at the Overlord ship and left the bridge, breaking into
a lope in the corridor. He needed to find something that would
shield him from Ramadaus' scanners, like trinium, a form of stone
sometimes used in engine shielding. His scanners showed blank areas
in the engine room that indicated the presence of an impervious
material. Otherwise, the barrinium on his bones would proclaim him
a cyber, and Trykons did not own cybers, so it might make Ramadaus
suspicious enough to investigate. There was also a chance Ramadaus
would not scan Nemesis, if Atrel was convincing.

****

Atrel stared
at the Moth Ship, his mouth dry. The second lieutenant donned the
silver torc, looking uneasy.

"The penalty
for lying to an Overlord is death, First Lieutenant."

"I'm aware of
that, Tronan. What would you rather do, betray our commander?"

"If an
Overlord has sentenced him to death, he must have done something
terrible."

"He's still
our commander. Our loyalty lies with our clan."

"He's already
ordered us to commit treason."

Atrel frowned
at him. "And betraying him would be a greater crime."

"By rights, he
should have been imprisoned and taken before a high commander."

"And who would
have imprisoned him, you? There's a reason why we choose the most
powerful men to rule us, and when one is so powerful that no one
can stand against him, his word is law. Sabre could become our
warlord if he chose to challenge Arzam. You joined the ship after
the battle. You haven't had the privilege of seeing him fight."