The Cyber Chronicles VIII - Scorpion Lord (5 page)

Sabre forced a
grim smile. "That one was psychotic. They would have incinerated
him, too, except he would have felt the fire."

"Oh, god," she
groaned, looking ill.

"You have a
surprisingly weak stomach for a researcher."

"I do control
unit research, not host."

"Ah. Pleasant,
isn't it? Now you see what good use all your expertise is put
to."

"I thought
they were..."

Sabre snorted.
"Yeah, and now you know they're not." He stepped closer. "Whatever
you do, don't air your dislike for this to the others, or you'll
end up in the dump with the next load of trash, got it?"

She nodded,
and Sabre glanced past her as a thunderous hammering came from the
door, sharp-edged bulges appearing on its inside.

"The enforcers
have arrived," he commented, turning to the techs, who opened tanks
with studied torpor. "You lot, get a move on! Faster, damn it!
Hurry up!"

The techs
worked a little faster, casting furtive glances at him. The freed
boys opened doors and dragged out the tanks’ occupants as fast as
they could. Sabre looked down as the first boy he had freed came to
his side, his eyes full of trepidation.

"What do we do
now, Father?"

Sabre's mouth
twisted. "I'm not your father, boy. I'm your brother. Just get as
many out as you can."

"Do we run, or
do we fight?"

"We
fight."

The boy nodded
and hurried off, slipping in the slime.

Estrelle
frowned. "How can you tell him to fight? He's just a boy."

"There's
nowhere to run."

She gazed at
the boy, who opened another tank. "His control unit doesn't control
him yet."

"No. At this
age, it's fifty-fifty, and he seems to be well in control, unlike
some of the others."

Estrelle
followed his gaze as he turned to look at the other boys, some of
whom clearly had problems controlling their limbs. One writhed on
the floor, his face twisted, his limbs jerking in paddling motions.
Another reached for the handle of a tank, but his hand kept closing
before he could grasp it. He chewed his lip, frowning in
concentration as he battled for control of his appendage.

Sabre said, "That's
his
hand he's struggling to use. It belongs to
him
. It should obey him,
just as yours do, but it doesn't, because of that little monster on
his head. Your monster."

"I didn't
invent it."

Sabre went to
open another tank as the hammering on the door stopped and a
glowing red spot appeared on one side of it. Molten metal oozed
from the spot, which moved around the door, slicing through the
metal. All the tanks had drained by now, and the boys inside had
pulled out their tubes. They hammered on the walls, begging to be
let out, and Sabre strode down a row, opening the doors.

About seventy
boys had been released by the time the enforcers burnt through the
door. As the piece of metal fell inwards with a clang, Sabre
shouted, "Get them boys! Kill them!"

The boys
charged the enforcers, slipping in the slime. Some fell when their
legs refused to obey them, others collided with tanks as their
control units steered them off course. Those who reached the door
flung themselves at the enforcers in a wave of shrieking, wild-eyed
fury. Estrelle shrank back against the wall, clutching the baby.
Most of the enforcers carried lasers, and burnt down the boys by
the dozen, others used batons to club the youngsters.

Sabre moved
between the rows of tanks, freed more cyber hosts and sent them
into the fray, shouting at Jorran and the other techs to do the
same. Two production techs slunk away between the tanks, seeking
cover at the back of the room. Sabre walked up behind one, yanked
him into a choke hold and placed his other hand on the side of the
man's head. The tech shrieked and struggled until Sabre squeezed
his throat closed, cutting off his air long enough to pacify him.
Sabre walked towards the enforcers, using the tech as a shield.

"Get out, or
he dies!" he yelled.

The enforcers
hesitated, then three fired, the laser bolts hitting the tech in
the chest. Sabre dropped the body and jumped into a forward
handspring, tumbling with gymnastic elasticity towards the
enforcers. Laser bolts strafed the air, and Estrelle gasped and two
shots hit Sabre's armoured chest. He reached the enforcers and
leapt into a spinning kick that smashed two to the floor. Dropping
into a crouch as he hit the ground, he sprang sideways and punched
an enforcer in the side of the helmet, smashed it and sent the man
sprawling. The enforcers strafed him with laser fire, most of the
shots hitting other enforcers as the cyber jumped, dropped, spun
and lunged in an amazing ballet of graceful, deadly movement.
Estrelle's mouth dropped open as she watched him with wide
eyes.

Some of the
surviving boys punched and kicked the enforcers, but lacked the
strength to do much harm. They died with soft shrieks and grunts,
their brow bands blazing red as they writhed in the slime. Sabre
snatched up two lasers from the floor and fired at the enforcers,
avoiding their shots with amazing agility. The occasional bolt that
hit an exposed part of him made his skin glow golden, but left no
mark. Estrelle rocked the baby as he began to cry, her eyes riveted
to Sabre's spinning, leaping form.

A number of
enforcers at the back of the gang in the doorway raised dart guns
and took careful aim at the elusive cyber. They missed, and the
darts hit enforcers near Sabre. Some glanced off their armour,
others impaled flesh. The enforcers who were hit staggered from the
melee, or Sabre clubbed them down as their movements slowed. Dozens
of darts bounced off Sabre's armour, then a slim metal missile hit
him in the side of the neck. He yanked it out, but within moments
his movements slowed and became clumsy. The enforcers closed in on
him and bore him to the ground through sheer weight of numbers,
fighting off the growling boys who tried to rescue him. Estrelle's
eyes stung as he vanished under the black-clad mob.

As the last
few boys were dispatched or knocked out, the enforcers drew back to
reveal Sabre lying on the floor, his face bruised and bloody, his
eyes closed. She wondered if they had killed him, but his brow band
blazed with red lights. Jorran emerged from behind a tank and
walked up to the unconscious cyber, nodding at the enforcer officer
who stood over him.

"Good work,
Lieutenant," Jorran congratulated the panting man. "He was going to
kill us all."

The officer
kicked Sabre in the ribs. "He killed fifteen of my men."

"Right..."
Jorran looked uncertain. "Well, that's all over now. I'd like him
taken back to my lab, if you please."

"He should be
incinerated. He's a menace."

"He's a
prototype, Lieutenant, he's valuable. Take him back to my lab."

The officer
glared and spat, then turned to give orders to his men. Medics came
to tend to the enforcer wounded, carrying away the badly injured on
floating stretchers, and an enforcer approached Estrelle.

"I'll put the
host back, Miss," he said, holding out his hands.

Estrelle's
arms tightened on the soft, warm baby boy, then she recalled
Sabre's words and held him out. "Thank you."

The enforcer
headed for the door, but Jorran beckoned him over and muttered in
his ear. The man nodded and marched off. Estrelle leant against the
wall, clasping her hands to still their trembling. The enforcers
loaded Sabre onto a floater cart and took him away. A maintenance
crew arrived to clean up the mess, loading the dead boys onto trash
carts to be hauled away to the incinerators. A morgue wagon removed
the enforcers' bodies with a great deal more respect, each covered
with black cloth emblazoned with Myon Two's crescent moon and star
sigil, to be cremated with honours. The surviving cyber hosts were
put back into the tanks, and a sendep tech arrived to reactivate
the units.

Jorran came
over to her, rubbing his head. "Are you all right?"

She nodded.
"Fine. A little shaken, that's all."

"I warned them
about bringing him here. I told them it was too dangerous."

"Looks like
you were right." She forced a brittle smile. "What will you do with
him now?"

"Oh, he's
going to be used for demonstrations, only now I'll make sure he
can't get free."

Estrelle
swallowed stinging bile and turned to leave. "I need some fresh
air."

Jorran caught
her elbow, halting her. "You sure you're okay? This must be a bit
shocking for you."

"I've always
known how hosts are produced. The violence was shocking, that's
all."

He nodded. "Of
course. Good. I'll see you back at the lab. We'll have to repair
the damage to the prototype before we can use him for
demonstrations."

"Right."
Estrelle nodded and marched off.

Chapter Three

Tarl looked up
as Tassin entered his lab again, putting down the tangled mass of
wires and crystals with a groan. "I keep telling you, badgering me
isn't going to make this happen any faster. In fact, it's just
slowing me down, so leave me alone."

She leant
against the workbench, frowning at him. "Are you making any
progress at all?"

"Some." He
rubbed his face, resting his elbows on the bench. "I'm not a bloody
communications tech."

"Cybers use
communications, don't they?"

"That's in the
brow band. I'm a host repair tech, remember? I'm more like a doctor
than an engineer."

"But you
studied a brow band."

"Yeah, but
that doesn't make me an expert in high-frequency receivers."

"You said you
could -"

Tarl brought
his fists down on the bench with a crash, making her jump. "I said
I'd try!"

"So now you
can't?"

"I don't
know." Tarl picked up the tangle of wires and crystals, turning it.
"This should work, but it doesn't. I don't know what's wrong with
it."

"How will you
know if it's working unless it has a signal to receive?"

"Of course!
Why didn't I think of that?" Tarl glared at her. "Do I look like a
complete idiot? This diode is emitting a high-frequency signal in
the same bandwidth. I should be picking it up." He pointed at a
flashing light on a tiny metal object.

"How do you
know it's emitting the signal?"

"Because
that's what it does!"

"You mean
that's what it's supposed to do, but -"

"No." Tarl
gripped his hair and tugged at it. "That's what it does! If the
light's flashing, it's emitting the signal, end of story! It can't
flash without emitting the fucking signal!"

"Okay..." She
bit her lip. "Then maybe it's the wrong frequency."

Tarl clasped
his head and groaned. "Please go away."

"I'm just
trying to help."

"You want to
help? Find me a communications engineer!"

"It's no good
getting angry with me."

Tarl sighed
and buried his face in his arms. "I can't help it. I'm tired and
frustrated, and worried sick about Sabre. I only had four hours’
sleep, and I still can't think straight, but I can't sleep,
either."

"I could
summon a mage to help you."

He lifted his
head and stared at her with bloodshot eyes. "A mage. Are you out of
your mind? This isn't magic!"

"Mages are
clever. He might be able to help."

Tarl threw up
his hands. "Fine! Summon a mage! At least it will give you
something to do."

Tassin
glowered at him and stalked out, her back stiff with indignation.
Tarl watched her leave, part of him longing to call her back and
apologise, offer some comfort, but he had none to give. She had no
idea what horrors Sabre faced at the hands of Cybercorp’s techs,
and he was not about to tell her. He wanted to sweep the defunct
receiver onto the floor and stamp on it, smash the lab and all the
high-tech equipment in it to smithereens.

What good was
it without Sabre? He was a cyber tech without a cyber, a man
without a purpose, now that Sabre was gone. After he had euthanized
Alpha he had been depressed, his life empty, purposeless,
pointless. Finding Sabre had been a dream come true, and, even now,
Tassin and Sabre had no idea how much it meant to him to be able to
take care of a free cyber. One who complained about pain and shoved
him around with the heavy handed camaraderie he had cursed, but
enjoyed. Sabre had saved his life, and he wanted desperately to
return the favour, but could not.

****

Estrelle gazed
down at the cyber's impassive face with conflicted emotions. He was
dangerous, yet fascinating, part machine, but capable of suffering,
and Jorran was going to make him suffer. For the two days since his
rampage through the centre, he had been clamped to the metal table
where he now lay, helpless. Tranquilisers kept him groggy while med
techs tended to his wounds, which were healing well. The ugly red
welts on his chest had faded to pink marks under the layer of
regeneration jelly, and the bruises on his face had turned a
mottled greenish-yellow already.

The lights on
the control unit flashed in a strange configuration she had never
seen before. The seven control lights remained red, but a motor
control light shone green and two sensory bypass diodes glowed
amber. Five lights on the left hand side of the brow band flashed
in an in-control pattern, at odds with the seven red master control
lights. She frowned, wondering what it all meant, for it made no
sense.

"What are you
doing?" Jorran's voice spoke behind her, making her jump.

She turned
with a frown. "Studying the control unit's lights."

"Wouldn't you
learn more with some testing equipment?"