The Cyber Chronicles VIII - Scorpion Lord (27 page)

"Striker, full
reverse burn."

"In a
corridor?" Kole demanded.

"Reverse burn,
initiated,” Striker intoned. “Warning, warning, ion particle
overload in seventeen seconds."

"Sabre..."

"Shut up,
Kole. Striker, end burn in fifteen seconds."

Flames
sprouted from the ship's bows, dull against the backdrop of white
light. It lurched, forcing Sabre to brace himself as the thrusters
fought against the stasis net.

"Reverse burn,
ended," Striker informed them.

"It didn't
work," Kole said.

"Shut up.
Striker, initiate full reverse burn in two seconds."

"Counting...
Reverse burn, initiated. Warning, warning, ion particle overload in
sixteen seconds."

The ship
lurched again, more violently, and Sabre gripped the back of Kole's
chair, then slid into the co-pilot’s seat and strapped in. He could
no longer see the tactical readouts, but the ship's struggles were
going to get more violent.

"Striker, end
reverse burn before particle overload, then initiate another
reverse burn two seconds later," Sabre ordered. "Continue until
command is countered."

"I hope you
know what you're doing," Kole said.

"I'm a cyber,
Kole, what do you think? The overload is shed in two seconds, but
every burn gets a second shorter, due to the build-up of particle
matter -"

"Okay, don't
bother to explain it. I haven't a clue what you're talking about.
Will it work?"

"That depends
on how strong Striker's reverse thrusters are, and how strong the
enforcers' stasis net is. But it's weakening."

The ship
lurched again as Striker made another reverse burn, her running
commentary spoken in a sweet soft voice.

"The question
is: will it work in time to make the exit vector?" Kole asked.

Sabre leant
over him to study the tactical readouts. "Exit vector in nine
minutes. Maybe."

"Maybe? And if
it doesn't?"

"We get
dragged past, and we're in the shit."

"Great. Then
what?"

Sabre shook
his head. "We're in the shit."

The ship
lurched so violently that Kole was flung against his straps with a
curse. Sabre hung onto his harness, leaning on Kole's legs to see
the tactical readouts.

"Striker, stop
reverse burn loop. Full dorsal burn; full forward thrust, main
engines, emergency online protocol, initiate."

"Emergency
online protocol, initiated."

The engines
came on with a dull thump and rose to a scream in a few seconds,
making Kole's eyes widen in horror. "What the hell are you doing to
my bloody engines?"

"She can
handle it. We're out of the stasis net."

"We're still
in a corridor!"

"Warning,
warning, ion particle overload in seven seconds," Striker
intoned.

"Shutdown
engines before overload; deploy solar wings, emergency protocol,
set course for Lair Nine exit vector, initiate," Sabre ordered.

Kole stared at
the tactical readouts. "We're too close to the enforcers to deploy
the wings, Sabre!"

"Theirs are
off. They'll get a jolt, that's all."

"And my
generators will overload."

"Quit worrying
about the damned ship. It can be repaired."

"Deploying
solar wings," Striker crooned. "Emergency online protocol. Engines
offline."

Kole grunted
as the ship veered, then lurched. The vast wings of electromagnetic
power appeared on either side like networks of lightning.

"Solar wings,
deployed," Striker murmured. "Exit vector in three seconds, two
seconds, one, exit vector established."

"Striker,
emergency main engine burn, six seconds," Sabre said.

"Damn it,
Sabre!"

"Shut it,
Kole. Do you want to get out of this in one piece?"

"I'd like my
ship in one piece too, if that's not too much damned trouble!"

"She'll be
fine."

The main
engines came on with a dull thud and rose to a faraway scream,
making Kole grimace. Six seconds later, the scream died away, and
Sabre leant across Kole to look at the tactical screens.

"Okay, we're
away from them, but they're following. They won't catch up before
we exit. Striker, main engine burn, five seconds."

"Warning, main
engine three failure imminent. Fire danger. Explosion danger,"
Striker said.

"Take engine
three offline, burn with all other main engines only."

"Main engine
burn, initiating."

Kole winced as
another muffled bang turned into a tortured scream, and glared at
Sabre. "You're just going to keep doing this until they all bloody
fail, aren't you?"

"Engine three
was damaged before we came into the corridor. This isn't doing
enough damage to cause them to fail. They might need an overhaul,
but they probably need one anyhow."

"Approaching
corridor exit," Striker murmured. "Exit in three... two... one...
corridor exited."

"Main engines
online, course, Lair Nine."

"Lair Nine,
arrival, twelve minutes."

"Twelve
minutes?" Kole squeaked. "Just exactly how bloody fast are we
going?"

Sabre nodded
at the tactical screens. "See for yourself."

Kole looked
down. "Bugger me!"

The cyber
smiled. "Bet you didn't know she could go this fast."

"She can't! Do
we have enough fuel to stop?"

"I hope so.
That depends on how full your crystals are. How full are they?"

"You didn't
check before you put us into hyper light to the power of bloody
infinity?"

Sabre snorted.
"Of course I did, but we'll have to refuel at Lair Nine."

"Oh, right,
buy fuel from a bunch of smugglers!"

"Deceleration
burn, initiating," Striker carolled.

Sabre frowned
at Kole. "How about you stop being so bloody negative about
everything?"

"How about you
quit buggering up my ship?"

"Oh, so you
want to go to prison on Myon Two?"

"You two argue
even more than Estrelle and me," Martis commented from the
doorway.

"And that's
saying something," Sabre said. "Fine, Kole, you take over from
here, then. Let's see you shake the enforcers and dodge the
smugglers."

"Right, after
you've got us into this shit!"

"I got us out
of the shit."

"If it wasn't
for you, we wouldn't -"

Sabre raised a
finger. "Don't even go there."

Martis
coughed. "Guys, how about one of you take control before we get
into even bigger shit?"

"Striker's an
AI," Kole said, "she can go into orbit on her own."

Sabre glanced
at the forward screens. "That might not be so simple."

Kole looked up
and recoiled. "Bloody hell! Striker, evasive manoeuvres!"

A dark planet
loomed on the screens, but it was the flotilla of ugly ships
turning from their orbits to fire pulsing streams of crimson fire
that made Sabre's hackles rise.

"Striker, hold
course," he said.

"Are you
nuts?" Kole demanded. "Don't countermand me!"

"They're not
firing at us."

Kole stared at
the smuggler ships, his eyes wide. The crimson lines of laser fire
shot past all around Striker, aimed at the enforcer battle cruisers
that had followed them through the corridor exit.

"Why not?"

"Because they
don't like enforcers, but they don't know who we are yet."

"And when they
find out?"

"We'll worry
about that when the time comes. For now, the enemies of our enemies
are our friends."

Kole winced as
the streams of light flashed past, and pulsing blue lines came from
behind them to strike the smuggler ships and leave glowing spots.
"We could get blown away in the crossfire."

Sabre shook
his head. "They're all using targeting computers. They don't make
mistakes. We won't get hit unless we start bobbing and weaving.
Right now, we're not a target."

"There must be
thirty ships out there."

"Yeah, the
enforcers are a bit outnumbered."

"But better
equipped and armed." Kole looked down at his tactical readouts as a
red light flashed on the console. "Shit."

"What?"

"Four more
enforcer cruisers just exited the corridor."

Sabre scowled.
"Damn."

"They're sure
determined to make you a daddy."

Martis
chuckled, and Sabre shot him a glare that wiped the grin off his
face.

"Six battle
cruisers will make short work of this motley bunch," Kole said.

"Striker, is
the sideband frequency still jammed?" Sabre asked.

"No, Sabre,
the frequency is now open."

Kole glanced
at the cyber. "They're too busy!"

Sabre nodded.
"Striker, send this, priority one; Overlord Fairen, I require your
assistance urgently at Lair Nine. Sabre."

"Message
sent."

Sabre leant
back and watched the streams of crimson and blue light flash past.
"We'll be okay now."

"If he comes,"
Kole muttered.

"He'll
come."

****

Overlord
Fairen frowned at the screens, where curtains of laser light ate up
the land on the planet below. He had judged the leaders of the two
warring factions whose conflict had summoned him to Esten Prime,
and the touch of their slimy minds still made him shudder. The
condemned men had been executed instantly, and now he turned his
attention to the people on the planet. The factions had built up
vast stores of vile weapons, weaponised plagues, toxic gasses and
dirty bombs, with the intention of using them. There were still
billions of innocents here, though, and he had resisted the urge to
wipe out the entire planet. Perhaps he was mellowing with age.

The Scorpion
Ship hung like a massive hand of retribution in orbit around the
green and yellow world, its six legs curved towards the planet.
Pulsing streams of blue light poured from the tips of the legs and
the two main arms, vaporising everything it touched. The Scorpion
Ship's lasers were several thousand times more powerful than any
other ship's weapons, capable of burning right through a planet's
magnetic shields and ozone layer to vaporise the land below. He
targeted the military areas, where the factions' vast armies
resided, and their weapons. An entire continent had been reduced to
scorched earth, and he was working on the second faction's land
mass. Tracts of wild land and peaceful cities would be spared,
allowing the Esten society to rebuild.

Fairen turned
his head and addressed the air. "Commander, summon the opposition
leaders of the two countries."

"At once, My
Lord."

The young
Overlord walked to his golden-ornamented onyx throne and picked up
his veiled hood, pulled it on and adjusted the voice distorter in
front of his mouth. A minute later, eight of his black-uniformed
men brought in a weeping middle-aged woman and a thin, stooped man
with a receding hairline and sallow skin, then took up position on
either side of the door. A further twelve soldiers stood in the
shadows around the room, armed with poison dart guns.

Fairen sat on
the throne and beckoned to the pair. "Approach." His voice now had
a deep, sexless, menacing tone.

They sidled
towards the dais, bowing, and then fell to their knees.

"Lord, please,
have mercy," the woman wailed.

"I am the
Scorpion Lord," Fairen stated. "I am not known for mercy. Your
leaders were corrupt. They are now dead. Your weapons are
destroyed, and your armies. You will never make war again. You two
will sign a treaty, and you will enforce it. Break it, and your
planet will die."

The man stared
at the main screens, where the lines of laser fire consumed the
ground. "We will sign. Please stop the destruction."

"The task is
not yet complete." Fairen gestured, and an aide came forward,
carrying a standard non-aggression treaty.

The woman
grabbed the light pen and scratched it on the translucent treaty,
sobbing. The man went over and took it from her, signing where
Fairen's aide indicated. The aide studied the treaty, then turned
and nodded to Fairen before he left.

"This treaty,"
Fairen said, "will be lodged with your governments, and a copy will
be sent to the other Overlords. The punishment for disobeying an
Overlord is death."

"I beg you,
lord," the man said, "stop the destruction. Enough has been
destroyed! We have signed the treaty!"

"You should
not have attracted the attention of an Overlord if you were not
prepared to pay the price," Fairen commented. "Once we intervene,
we do so until we are satisfied, and I will be satisfied when that
line of fire reaches the coast, not before."

"My lord,
you're killing millions of innocent people," the man protested,
wringing his hands. "Please stop!"

"They are
soldiers, mostly, and the death of innocents, while regrettable,
is, at times, necessary. Millions of innocents have already died in
your war, and many more would have had I not intervened. Those who
are slain today are probably far less than you would have killed,
if your war had been allowed to continue. Be glad I have spared
your planet, for now. I have destroyed others for less. Tax me, and
I may change my mind on the matter."

Commander
Shrain entered, marched up to the throne and bowed, stepping
forward to whisper, "A message, My Lord. Sabre asks for you
aid."

Fairen stood
up. "Send them back. Ceasefire. Prepare to translocate."

The guards
hustled the Esteners out, and the wall of laser fire vanished,
leaving a curtain of smoke and burning, molten earth on the
planet's surface. The Scorpion Ship turned, and distant booms and
groans echoed through it as the massive arms retracted and folded
inwards. Fairen paced around, gazing out of the screens, then
turned to Shrain.