The Cyber Chronicles 05: Overlord

by T C Southwell

  "My lord..."

  Fairen sighed. "Just do it."

  "Yes, My Lord. The Corsair is aboard."

  "Bring him to me." Fairen donned his veiled mask.

  Commander Shrain, a grey-haired man in his mid-fifties with a bluff countenance and receding hairline, tapped his com-link, his expression anxious. A few minutes later, four soldiers dragged in a struggling Corsair who snarled and bared his teeth. His arms were shackled behind his back and a short length of chain bound his ankles, barely long enough to allow him to walk. He hissed at the sight of the hooded Overlord and struggled more fiercely, making the men stagger. Ten more crewmen took up positions around the prisoner, their silver weapons trained on him. Fairen drew a gloved hand from the folds of his robe and beckoned. The soldiers hauled the Corsair closer, forcing him to his knees at the bottom of the dais.

  Fairen gazed down at him. "Do they understand us?"

  "No one has ever been able to communicate with Corsairs, My Lord," Commander Shrain replied.

  "But he's not stupid. He must know if he tries to attack me he'll die."

  "Corsairs are well known for suicidal attacks, My Lord. They cannot be trusted."

  "I can't read him while the men are touching him. Corsairs fear Overlords, that's why they tried to run."

  "We don't know what they fear, My Lord. An Overlord's ship is large and powerful, anyone would run from it."

  Fairen stepped down from the dais. "Is he their leader?"

  "There's no way to tell. We translocated him from their command centre, but he could be a pilot for all we know. He injured two crewmen before they got the chains on him."

  "Release him."

  The soldiers stepped back, looking tense. The Corsair watched them, his lips drawn back to reveal long fangs. Fairen stepped closer and pulled off his right glove.

  ****

  "We've got to do something!" Ravian said.

  "Why is he being such a fool?" Ramadaus cursed. "I could send one of my cybers."

  "That's forbidden."

  "To save his life? He doesn't know what he's dealing with. Neither do his men. Only Varlain, you and I have had contact with Corsairs before."

  Ravian shook her head. "He must know enough not to take any chances. He must have heard the stories."

  "You know Fairen. He thinks he's invincible."

  "If he tries to read one..."

  "He will, that's why he's captured their ship. He could have one with him even now."

  "There is one cyber we could send. One who's not yours, and who has been invited aboard Fairen's ship and judged to be innocent."

  Ramadaus scowled at her. "He's as unpredictable as a damned Corsair."

  "No he isn't." Ravian turned to her commander. "Translocate the free cyber from the liner to Fairen's ship, as close to Fairen as you can."

  "Fairen's men will shoot him. You can't do it without warning," Ramadaus said.

  "He's a cyber."

  "He's not invincible."

  "He's our only hope." She nodded at Korlin. "Do it."

  "Yes, My Lord."

  ****

  Sabre stared at the three ships on the vidimage screen, shaking his head in disbelief.

  Tarl broke the stunned silence. "What is this, a damned Overlord convention? Three Overlords in the same place. It's unheard of."

  Tassin glanced at him. "Fairen seems to have come for the Corsairs. Maybe he'll destroy them."

  "He'll want to judge them first, and if he tries to read one, he'll be in danger," Sabre said, frowning.

  "Why do you say that?"

  "Myon Two study all potential opponents. Corsairs are as fast as a cyber and as strong. They're one of the most formidable adversaries ever discovered. More importantly, their saliva is toxic, and they're immune to all forms of poison. Overlord guards use poison dart guns, which are useless against Corsairs."

  "Fairen must know that."

  "I hope so. Corsairs are also extremely intelligent. They don't advertise their abilities."

  Tassin frowned at the screen. "You killed dozens of them."

  "With a laser."

  "But if they're as fast as you, why didn't they dodge the bolts like you do?"

  He smiled. "I told you, the control unit predicts weapons’ trajectories. In tests, an armed cyber won every time against an armed Corsair, but in unarmed combat, the cyber succumbed to the venom when he was bitten. The techs spent three years developing an immunisation for it."

  "So you won't die from their venom?"

  He shook his head. "But it will make me pretty sick."

  "Corsairs are basically toxic," Tarl explained. "The poison they use in their guns is their females' milk mixed with their urine, which is acid. Their blood is poison too."

  "Then why did the gas kill them?" Tassin asked.

  "They breathe oxygen, same as us. That gas binds with oxygen, making it unusable."

  She shuddered and turned to Sabre, rubbing her arms. "Where are the ones who are still on this ship?"

  "After they left the hold, they spread out to search for us, so they know someone killed their comrades. When their ship left they moved back to the docking port, and they're still there."

  "What do you think they'll do if Fairen destroys their ship?"

  "Probably hunt us again."

  ****

  Fairen spread his hand towards the Corsair's face, pleased that the creature now seemed placid. Perhaps they knew to respect an Overlord, and fear had inspired this one's prior struggles. Yet he showed no sign of it; his wide blue eyes met Fairen's gaze boldly. The emotions seeped into his mind, and he closed his eyes.

  Searing hatred mingled with malicious joy at the deaths of humans and a lust for blood and suffering. Fairen snatched his hand back and recoiled with a curse, swinging away to clasp his brow. The cold tang of the Corsair's mind stayed with him, evil and corrupted with loathing and a longing for the taste of human blood again.

  "Foul savage," he said in Andrae, his mother tongue.

  Pulling his glove back on, he turned to face the strangely beautiful golden monster. "I judge you to be guilty. Execute him, and destroy his ship."

  The Corsair tensed, whipcord muscles on his arms bulging as he strained at the shackles. The metal creaked, and then the chains snapped with a dull plink. He snarled and leapt at Fairen. A dozen poison darts hit the alien in the back, enough to kill a small army, but it did not even make him stagger. The impact sent the boy sprawling, the Corsair on top of him.

  The guards froze for an instant of stunned disbelief, then charged forward to protect their master. The Corsair bent his head to menace Fairen's throat with bared fangs, forcing the men to halt. The alien hissed, and his mouth worked as if he strived to speak human words, but what issued was a snarl.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sabre tensed as the cyber flashed a warning in his mind and turned his head to scan the ship for danger. He stepped back as his bones tingled, glancing down at himself.

  Tassin looked alarmed. "What is it?"

  "I don't know. I -"

  The cabin vanished, and a dark, dizzying vortex engulfed him, combined with a complete loss of equilibrium and intense cold that prickled his skin. Before he could react, the sensations vanished and he landed on a polished black floor. His training took over in a flash, and he dropped and rolled, his armour clattering. A volley of missiles skittered off the floor where he had been.

  "Hold your fire!" someone shouted.

  Sabre crouched, glancing around at Fairen's command centre. A dozen guards aimed their weapons at him. Fairen lay on the floor several metres away. A Corsair straddled him, fangs bared. The young Overlord had lost his hood, and stared up at his captor with frozen eyes. Acid saliva dripped onto his cheeks, making red marks on his pale skin.

  Sabre's first instinct was to draw the lasers strapped to his thighs. Quick though he was, however, he knew his movement would make the Corsair attack Fairen. He leapt up and raced towards the alien, who straightened to meet
his charge, the boy forgotten in the face of Sabre's challenge. The impact sent them rolling across the floor, and Fairen rose to his feet as his guards ran to surround him.

  The Corsair ended up on top, and his hands shot up to grip Sabre's wrists in a vice-like hold, pinning him to the floor. The alien's long legs whipped around the cyber's thighs, clasped them powerfully and trapped his lasers. This was Corsairs’ preferred fighting method; brutal close combat, a tactic that had proven effective against cybers in the past. The alien lunged at Sabre's neck, and Sabre jerked up his arm, his wrist guard clattering against the Corsair’s fangs. The alien recoiled, his claws scraping on Sabre's armour as he struggled to force the cyber’s arm aside and expose his throat.

  "Help him!" Fairen shouted.

  Five soldiers left the ring around him and rushed to join the fray, grabbed the Corsair's arms and tried to pull him away. The alien swung around and bit one man, who released him with a curse and retreated, clasping his bleeding arm. The rest grappled with the Corsair, who sank his fangs into another soldier. Sabre was dragged along the floor as the Corsair held onto him, his claws hooked into the cyber's armour.

  The man who had been bitten first collapsed with a groan, writhing, and the second released the Corsair as he realised that he faced the same fate. The Corsair twisted in the grip of the remaining three soldiers and snapped at one. Sabre hit him on the side of the head, his blow weakened by the fact that he had to overpower the alien to move at all, but he prevented the Corsair from reaching his target. The second man collapsed in convulsions, and someone shouted for a medic.

  The alien snarled and lunged at Sabre's throat again. The cyber overpowered him and smashed his armoured forearm into the Corsair's mouth, causing blood to ooze from his crushed lips.

  "Kill him, you idiots!" Sabre growled as he held the Corsair at bay. A soldier punched the Corsair in the back of the neck in an attempt to break it, while the others kicked him. Apart from their useless dart guns, the guards were unarmed, and a Corsair was far too tough for a normal man to kill with his bare hands. Sabre could not reach his lasers while his wrists were trapped, and the Corsair hung onto his arms for that very reason. The guards could not reach the weapons either, while the alien had them pinned to Sabre's thighs.

  A brave soldier gripped the Corsair's head and twisted, trying to break his neck, but the alien ripped free and bit the man's hand. The soldier ran to seek help from the four white-suited men who had entered the room, and they clustered around him. The remaining two men beat on the Corsair's back, but were afraid to take hold of him now.

  "Help him, I said!" Fairen yelled.

  Another ten men rushed into the battle, but they were as useless as the first two, since they were also unarmed and unwilling to tackle the Corsair. Sabre glared into his foe's bright blue eyes, read the hatred in them and knew the alien meant to sell his life dearly. Neither of them was winning the battle for supremacy. Sabre held the Corsair at bay, and the alien prevented him from using his hands. The Corsair was larger than Sabre and heavier, and used his long legs to pin the cyber's, preventing him from twisting free or throwing him off. He also had the advantage of being on top, and used his weight to aid his attempts to reach Sabre's throat.

  Sabre switched his glare to the men who beat on the Corsair's back and snarled, "Get a laser!"

  "No lasers are allowed on Overlord -"

  "Then a dagger! A knife! Something sharp!"

  Two men ran off, and the rest continued their futile bid to beat the Corsair to death with their fists and boots. The alien grunted and turned his head to hiss at them, making them recoil. Sabre writhed, seeking purchase on the polished floor, but his boots skidded on the slick surface and the Corsair shifted his weight to keep the cyber pinned. The alien lunged at Sabre's face, and his fangs brushed the cyber's cheek as he jerked his head to the side. Sabre heaved, almost throwing the Corsair off, but the alien absorbed the push with his arms and retained his position.

  The Corsair snarled and spat. The saliva hit Sabre in the face, and some went into his eyes. Pain lanced through his skull, making him grunt and screw them shut. The cyber's infrared vision appeared in his mind, mixed horribly with the image from the tiny camera in the brow band. His face burnt and his eyes were on fire. A red warning flashed in his brain and an amber analysis scrolled past, several words blinking red as the cyber identified the poison and started countermeasures. Tears flooded his eyes and streamed down his cheeks, flushing out some of the toxin. Fortunately, Corsair blood and saliva, while venomous, were not as acidic as the fluids they used in their ammunition. He writhed again, desperate to free himself and kill the Corsair before the venom blinded him.

  A soldier found enough courage to grab the Corsair around the waist and try to drag him off. The alien's grip on Sabre's forearms and thighs was too strong, however, and once more Sabre was dragged along the floor. The Corsair lunged at Sabre's face again, scenting victory now that the cyber was blind. Sabre jerked his head forward and smashed the brow band into the alien's bloody mouth.

  The Corsair recoiled with a hiss, spraying blood onto Sabre's face and neck. Sabre twisted his arms to try to free them from the alien's grip, which bruised him even through his armour. The Corsair, apparently frustrated by the stalemate, sank his fangs into Sabre's left hand. The steel mesh glove grated on his teeth, and he worried at it, trying to pull it off. Sabre clenched his hand to keep the glove in place, but the alien tugged it away from his wrist.

  A soldier kicked the Corsair in the side of the head, breaking his hold on Sabre's hand. The blow jerked the glove down further, however, exposing a slither of skin. The kick had little effect on the Corsair, whose brain was encased in a centimetre-thick skull and protected from impact by a latticework of bone that held the brain in place. Corsairs had few weaknesses. Their dense, thick bones were far stronger than a human's, and their ribcage ran the length of their torso, making it rather inflexible, but also immune to the beating the soldiers were inflicting upon it.

  In a bid to end the conflict before he was bitten, Sabre let his left arm fall with a clatter, and, at the same instant, pushed with his right. The Corsair lost his balance, and Sabre used all his strength to roll on top, scattering soldiers. They grabbed Sabre and tried to pull him away, but the Corsair hung on.

  "Let go!" Sabre shouted.

  The Corsair hissed, spraying saliva into Sabre's face again. It made little difference who was on top, but it did take some of the strain off Sabre's arms. The soldiers tried to pry the Corsair's legs from Sabre's thighs so they could reach his lasers, but the alien's grip was still too strong. Sabre smashed the brow band into the alien's mouth again, wondering why it was taking so long for the soldiers to find a bladed weapon. The Corsair spat blood at him, and Sabre straightened. Pulling his arms together with an immense effort, he pitted his strength against the Corsair's and found them evenly matched.

  On impulse, Sabre bit the Corsair's hand. The alien gave a soft shriek and released the cyber's wrist. Sabre yanked back his fist and smashed it into the Corsair's face. The bone broke with a dull bang, and blood and brains sprayed across the floor as the alien's head exploded like a rotten fruit. The Corsair convulsed, bruising Sabre's wrist and thighs with the power of his death spasm, then went limp. Sabre jerked free and rolled off the dead alien, gasping. Sweat ran down his face and trickled inside his armour. Steam rose from him as he lay on his back and ripped off his gloves to wipe the venom off his face.

  "Medics, help him!" Fairen cried. "Save his eyes!"

  The medics reached Sabre before he could touch his face, and grabbed his wrists to try to stop him. They were no match for him, however.

  "No! Don't rub it, you'll make it worse!" one yelled. "Lie still!"

  Although the need to wipe off the venom was overwhelming, Sabre lowered his hands as the medics sprayed his face with scented liquid.

  "Open your eyes!" one of them ordered.

  Someone gripped Sabre's face and pried open an eye. Sab
re wanted to fend off the medic, but stopped himself, even though his eye burnt twice as much when exposed to air. The medic sprayed stinging liquid into it, and Sabre growled and grabbed the man's coat to pull him away. Two medics straddled him, and one called the soldiers to help them. Four more men joined the tussle and pinned Sabre's arms as the medic pried open his other eye and sprayed liquid into it. Sabre cursed and writhed, threw off the medics and jerked free of the soldiers. Rising to his knees, he pawed at his eyes. A medic gripped the brow band and raised Sabre's head, then shoved a finger into his eye, smearing it with ointment.

  "Don't bloody fight us, you idiot cyber," he muttered as Sabre shoved him away. "We're trying to save your sight!"

  "That damned well hurts!"

  "Keep still; almost done."

  Sabre growled again when the medic smeared ointment in his other eye. Two soldiers gripped the cyber's wrists to prevent him from shoving the man away again.

  The medic muttered, "Since when do cybers complain about pain? Where's his owner? Is he one of Ramadaus'?"

  "And why is our lord concerned about his sight?" the other medic, who examined Sabre's wrist, said. "Cybers don't use their eyes."

  Sabre wanted to tell them, but a strange floating sensation invaded him, the strength drained from him in a rush, and he collapsed.

  "He's been bitten," the medic who examined his wrist stated. "He's dying."

  Their voices became distant, and Sabre's muscles tensed with involuntary spasms. He glanced inward at the virtual control panel in the dark, peaceful recess of his mind. A host of red statistics flashed, and lines of amber writing scrolled up, listing the components of the Corsair's toxin and the measures the cyber had instigated to counteract it. Amongst them were two genetic enhancements, previously dormant genes that the control unit had just activated. He became aware of movement close by and glanced at the video feed again. The medics stood up and retreated.