The Cyber Chronicles VIII - Scorpion Lord (19 page)

Sabre
muttered, "I'm not a bloody performer."

"But you could
be. It would be easy money. No harm done."

"No."

"You want to
go to jail?"

Sabre raised
his head. "Fairen will be here in a few hours."

"If your
message was sent. If not, we could be stuck here for a while, until
you can steal a ship, or contact your friend again. Meanwhile, Myon
Two is searching for us."

"And you want
me to give a public display."

"If we end up
in jail, the enforcers will find us easily," Martis said.

"I'm not going
to jail."

"If you fight,
that'll make it worse. Then we'll be in bigger trouble, and you
can't fight the entire Eden police force. That will lead the
enforcers right to us."

Sabre stared
across the room. "No one will find us here."

"They already
have. We ordered room service, so they know this room is occupied.
Surveillance has logged our entry, so they know what we look like.
If we leave without paying, we're thieves. That's illegal even on
Eden, isn't it?"

Sabre nodded.
"Murder and robbery are crimes here."

"So, what do
you suggest?"

"I liked your
first idea better."

Martis glanced
at Estrelle with a smile. "Okay, we pimp out Estrelle, but you'll
have to make her do it. I don't want another black eye."

"I have a
cracked rib," she pointed out.

"Right. And
I'm not worth much, so even if I worked really really hard, it
would take a long time to make much money."

Sabre eyed
them, frowning. "You're ganging up on me now?"

"Well, at
least neither of us suggested pimping you out. And he'd do well,
don't you think, Estrelle?"

"Oh yeah, he'd
have them queuing up."

Sabre smiled
and shook his head. "You're both nuts. I'd have to work harder than
Martis, and for less."

"No way. With
your looks..." Estrelle sighed. "We could make a fortune."

"My looks?
Martis is better looking than me."

Estrelle
looked at the sandy-haired, brown-eyed tech, whose even features
and high forehead could be called handsome, but his overall
appearance was marred by narrow shoulders and a spreading
midsection.

"You're
kidding, right?"

"With all my
scars? No."

"Ah, but
ladies love scars. Very macho."

He snorted,
shaking his head. "Anyway, it's impossible, as you both know
perfectly well."

Martis leant
forward. "Oh, I don't know, with the right drugs..."

Sabre shot him
a surprised look, and Estrelle giggled. "We're teasing you, but I
think the exhibition idea is a good one too."

"No, we stay
here until Fairen comes. He'll get us out."

"What if he
doesn't come? Maybe your message didn't get through. If we stay
here too long, they won't let us leave, then we'll be stuck until
they throw us in jail."

Sabre sighed
and rubbed his brow. "I'm only at seventy-one per cent."

"It's an
exhibition, not a fight," Martis said. "And we can order up some
high protein shakes and body building supplements to boost your
status."

The cyber let
his head fall back, closing his eyes. "All right then. Just a short
one."

Martis jumped
up. "I'll go and arrange it."

"I'll order
protein shakes." Estrelle reached for the com-unit.

"Only because
otherwise the two of you will argue me to death," Sabre
grumbled.

Martis grinned
and headed for the door, catching a lift down to the lobby.
Approaching the front desk, he found a hotel official and drew him
aside to ask about the possibility of putting on an exhibition in
the hotel. At first the man was reluctant and not very helpful,
then his eyes narrowed and he looked furtive, lowering his
voice.

"If you want
to make some quick cash, and this man of yours is a good fighter, I
could arrange a fight with a cyber."

Martis raised
his brows. "I thought cybers were illegal here?"

"They are, but
on Eden... Well, we find ways to do what we want. The law isn't too
well enforced, if you know what I mean. Grease a few palms, and
anything's possible."

Martis
scratched his head, frowning. "I don't know. Cybers are dangerous,
and impossible for a normal man to beat. What's the point?"

"It would be a
B-grade, and the fight ends when your guy gives up, but a lot of
people would pay to see a man try. You get my drift?"

"And if he
wins?"

"You'd be
swimming in cash if you laid a bet."

"But you can't
beat a cyber without either knocking him out or killing him,"
Martis said.

"So kill
him."

"Almost
impossible."

"Okay, well,
all your guy has to do is go a few rounds. You suggested beating
the cyber, not me."

"Right."
Martis nodded. "Okay, arrange it. I'll talk to my guy."

"Come back in
an hour."

Martis hurried
back to the suite, where Sabre sipped a protein shake, looking
disgruntled, and Estrelle tried to persuade him to take some body
building pills. They looked up when Martis burst in.

"I did it!" he
announced.

"Goodie,"
Sabre muttered.

"No, you don't
understand. I arranged a fight."

"I'm not
fighting anyone."

"A cyber
fight." Martis bounced with eagerness.

"No way."
Sabre shook his head. "No cybers allowed here."

"They've got
cybers, trust me. You fight a B-grade. It's all arranged. Beat him,
and we're filthy rich."

"And just how
exactly do you suggest I beat him?"

"You'll have
to kill him. We bet all our money on you, and make a fortune."

Sabre snorted.
"I've got a better idea. You fight him, and we'll bet on the
cyber."

"Bad odds.
Come on, Sabre, you can beat a B-grade, easy."

"Easy, huh?
You fight him then."

"I'm not a
cyber. If I was, I would."

Sabre put down
the protein shake and glared at Martis. "If you were, you'd be
stuck in a dark corner in your mind, with no control over your
body."

"Right. Sorry.
You have to do this. We need the money."

"No, I don't,
and I'm sick of fighting for money."

"You've done
it before?"

"Yeah, and I
didn't enjoy it then either. It's not fun."

Martis shot a
pleading look at Estrelle. "Look, we choose armed combat, with a
knife. You stab him in the eye, you win."

"Oh, right,
just stab him in the eye; sure, no problem."

Estrelle said,
"He could get hurt, Martis."

"Oh, that's a
given," Sabre agreed. "I will definitely get hurt."

"What's your
bio-status now?" Martis asked.

"Piss
off."

Estrelle
pondered for a moment. "Why can't we use one of the cybers from the
shuttle? You know all the Myon Two codes. You used them when you
reprogrammed Sabre. Couldn't you use them on one of them?"

"No," Sabre
and Martis said in unison.

"Why not?"

Martis sighed.
"Different codes. Those were programming access codes, but I
already had access to Sabre's control unit. Without the start-up
codes and passwords to input owner information, I'd be locked out.
It won't work. And besides, we'd get more money if people think
he's a man."

"I am a man,"
Sabre said.

"Right, I
meant a normal man. An unaltered man."

"You're
getting dangerously close to a thick lip," the cyber remarked.

Martis flopped
onto a sofa and threw up his hands. "Fine, we go to jail then."

"What happened
to the exhibition?"

"I couldn't
arrange it."

"How hard did
you try?"

"Look, that
sort of thing takes time to arrange. It has to be advertised, so we
get a crowd in, and it won't attract as many people, because they
don't know what they're going to see. But this is obviously an
underground fighting ring. They have a guaranteed audience, which
they can alert in a few hours. These people have money, and they
want to see a fight. You don't have to win. Lose then, just go a
few rounds with him, do your thing, leap around, maybe whack him a
few times, and we get paid. Not as much as if you win, but
enough."

Sabre glanced
at Estrelle, who chewed her fingernails. "Maybe."

"Excellent!"
Martis jumped up and grabbed a box of body building supplements,
offering them to Sabre. "Get some of these down you; we need you to
be at least at eighty per cent."

"I said
maybe."

"So... what,
you want to think about it?"

The cyber
gazed out of the window, and Martis experienced a twinge of
guilt.

Estrelle shot
him an accusing look. "You shouldn't try to force him. It isn't
fair."

Martis
returned to his sofa and flopped down again, chewing a pill. "I'm
not. I can't force him to do anything, can I? But he's the only one
who can do it, and he's the reason we're in this predicament."

"Oh, right,
blame me," Sabre said. "If not for you two, I'd have flown that
drone ship somewhere better than this, so we're actually here
because of you. And even if I had come here, I wouldn't be staying
in a bloody hotel room, ordering room service and wanting to buy
clothes. I'd be waiting in the shuttle now, eating something I
stole."

"If not for
us, you'd be a drooling vegetable by now," Martis pointed out.

"Martis!"
Estrelle gasped, frowning.

"It's
true."

"So, because
you saved me from that, now I'm your personal tool, to do as you
want, even if I get my head bashed in, is that it?" Sabre
asked.

Martis looked
away. "When you put it like that, it sounds bad."

"It is bad.
I'm guessing you've always wanted your very own cyber, haven't
you?"

"I'm trying to
get us out of this situation, that's all."

"But you'd
like to see me fight this cyber, and you'd really really like to
see me kill him."

Martis sighed,
chewed another pill and pulled a face. "God, this stuff tastes like
shit. Look, I've done more for you than help you escape Myon Two.
That reprogramming I did was all highly classified stuff. Only a
host researcher could have done it, and I did it to help you.
Without it, you'd probably have ended up psychotic. All I'm asking
is that you leap around a bit with this cyber and make us a bit of
money. Okay, maybe you get a few bruises; I wish that could be
avoided."

"So, now I owe
you, huh?"

"This isn't
just for me, it's for all of us, so we don't go to jail."

Sabre turned
his head to stare out of the window, and Estrelle chewed her
fingernails, shooting Martis a worried glance. She shrank back when
the cyber stood up and headed for Martis, who leapt from his chair
with a yelp and retreated. Sabre veered off and went over to the
window, gripped the ledge and gazed out. Martis watched him with a
frown, and Estrelle rose and moved away from him.

"I think you
might have pushed the boom button, Martis," she said.

Sabre leant
forward until the brow band touched the glass with a soft tap, then
tapped it again. Tap, tap, tap. The tension rose as the techs
waited, Estrelle chewing her fingernails again.

Sabre sighed.
"When Tassin asked me to fight for her, I did. I've killed so many
men I've lost count. I would give my life for her, not because I
owe her my life, which I do. Never, not once, did she tell me to
fight because I owed her. Never. She didn't want me to fight, to be
hurt. And I wouldn't hurt her for anything. I would die to protect
her."

Sabre jerked
his head forward, and the control unit hit the glass with a sharp
report, cracking it. Swinging around, he strode over to Martis, who
backed away, encountering the wall. He raised his hands, gulping,
and Sabre gripped his throat and lifted him off his feet.

"Do you know
how easily I could kill you?"

The young tech
made a strangled sound, and Estrelle started forward, then
hesitated.

"Please don't
kill him."

Martis' face
mottled, and Sabre dropped him. He sagged against the wall,
clutching his throat. The cyber glared into his eyes. "What do you
think would happen to you if I turned psychotic?"

The tech
coughed. "You'd probably kill us."

"So why did
you reprogramme me, really?"

He looked
away. "I... I thought you were becoming dangerous."

"So who did
you do it for, really?"

"Us. Me and
Estrelle."

"Right." Sabre
tilted his head, considering the cringing tech. "But you saved me
from Myon Two, and that's the only reason you're still alive. I
hate killing. But cyber techs..." He shook his head. "Let's just
say, I might not mind too much. Especially host researchers. You
did me a favour, reprogramming me, that's true. And I did ask you
to do it, although you didn't do it because I asked you to, you did
it because you were scared of what I might become. But don't ever
tell me that I owe you."

"Sorry."

"And don't
ever act like, or think, you can order me to do anything. You
can't, got it?"

"Got it."

Sabre patted
the side of Martis’ neck. "Good boy."

"That was
definitely a boom button," Estrelle said.

"And he had to
push it."

"He said he
would."

"And now he
knows how stupid he really is."

She giggled.
"Like stowing away on a drone ship."

Sabre smiled
and returned to the settee, sinking onto it. Martis rubbed his
throat and frowned at Estrelle, who smirked at him.

"Next time
someone doses you with aphrodisiacs, Estrelle, I won't be the one
begging Sabre to save you."

"Really? Well
next time Sabre has you by the throat, I won't be the one asking
him not to kill you."

Sabre raised
his hands. "Here we go."