"Can't we pretend to be with him, not have him as a hostage?"
"No. The cybers will have raised the alarm."
Tassin frowned while he strapped her into the armour, then he gripped Gaylor's collar and marched him to the doors. She tucked the translucent wafers away and followed. Sabre caught her arm and pulled her to his side.
"Stay close and use me as a shield if they shoot."
"No!"
"We don't have time to argue about it now, so let's do it when we're safe, okay? For now, just do as I say, and hold onto me. We mustn't become separated, understand?"
She nodded, looking unhappy, but took hold of his vest. Sabre released Gaylor's collar and shifted his grip to the roll of fat around the tycoon's waist, squeezing it until he squeaked.
"Now, you do anything stupid, and I hurt you. Your men shoot, and I kill you, got it?" Sabre drew a laser and pressed it to the side of Gaylor's head. "Let's go."
As the doors opened, Gaylor raised his hands and shouted, "Don't shoot! Stand down! Return to your barracks!"
Dozens of armed guards hid around the corners, lasers aimed at the trio. Myriad red lines overlaid Sabre's vision as the cyber calculated the possible trajectory of each weapon. The four cybers who were at the small army's forefront holstered their weapons and left.
The men looked uncertain, and Gaylor bellowed, "Are you deaf? Do it now!"
They retreated, and Sabre marched Gaylor down the corridor. "Remember, I have scanners, and if any of those idiots try to get behind us, you'll pay with your life."
"Back to your barracks!" Gaylor yelled. "Don't try anything!"
The men holstered their weapons and moved away, not bothering to seek cover. Tassin hooked her fingers into Sabre's belt and pressed herself to his back, hoping, he realised, to share the protection of the armour she wore. They traversed polished marble halls, Gaylor's men retreating. Sabre started to think that things were going to go smoothly, then two flashing red lights appeared in his mind, and he glanced sideways. Two men hid behind a potted plant around a corner.
Sabre removed the laser from Gaylor's head just long enough to snap off two shots. The men crumpled, but one fired back, hitting Sabre in the side. The pain burnt through him, and he twisted the handful of tycoon blubber he held. Gaylor shrieked curses, speeding his men's retreat. Sabre also increased his pace, shoving the whining tycoon along. They had almost reached the outer doors when a flashing red light in Sabre's mind warned him again. He swung around, dragging Gaylor and almost twisting free of Tassin's grip.
A soldier hid around a corner, his presence detected by the cyber’s scanners because of his need to peer from his hiding place, and the laser cannon he held already fired pulses of light. Tassin gasped, and Gaylor screamed orders as Sabre fired back. His shots hit the edge of the wall and forced the man to duck behind it. A burning in his shoulder blade told him that he had been hit again. He hated being a sitting target, unable to move whilst burdened with Gaylor and Tassin. He twisted Gaylor's blubber until he shrieked and sobbed.
"If he fires again, I shoot off a few of your toes," he said in the tycoon's ear.
"Ambrey, get the hell out of here! You're fired!" Gaylor yelled.
Sabre swung back towards the doors and pushed him forward, becoming aware that Tassin clung to him now. "Are you all right?"
"You're hurting me!" Gaylor sobbed.
"Not you! Tassin?"
"I'm all right," she said, but her voice was strained.
Cursing, Sabre sent Gaylor stumbling out of the front doors and down the steps. "Tell them to bring an air-car, and make it snappy."
The tycoon bellowed the orders while Sabre moved over to a fluted pillar, using it as cover so he could turn to Tassin. "Are you hit?"
She nodded, grimacing.
"How bad?"
She glanced down at a dark stain on the side of her thigh. "Not too bad, I think."
"Just hang onto me."
An air-car whined to a stop not far away and a soldier got out, backing away with his hands raised. Sabre shoved Gaylor towards it, Tassin clinging to his belt. The control unit warned Sabre again, and he swung around. The man who hid behind one of the pillars opened fire, red light pulsing from his weapon. Sabre staggered as a bolt hit the side of his neck and snapped off a single shot, and the soldier collapsed with a coughing grunt. Tassin crumpled behind him, releasing his belt.
Sabre shoved Gaylor into the car and scooped her up, dumped her onto the back seat and leapt in beside the tycoon. "Drive!"
Gaylor gunned the engine as more laser bolts flashed from nearby buildings, strafing the vehicle. The air-car shot away, swaying and veering as Gaylor hauled ineptly on the steering toggle.
"You'll never get away with this!"
"Shut up!" Sabre turned to Tassin and clamped a hand over the deep laser burn in her upper arm, just under her armour. With a curse, he twisted and ripped the ruffles off the front of the mogul’s shirt, making him squeak, and used it to bandage the wound. The air-car flew over dense, dark forest, leaving Gaylor's palace far behind. He patted Tassin's cheek to try to rouse her.
Gaylor said, "Your little whore might die, thanks to you idiocy. If you -"
Sabre slapped him, making him grunt and the car swerve. "One more word out of you and I'll rip your ears off."
Sabre consulted the scanners. Three cars followed at extreme range, packed with armed men. Undoubtedly they were supposed to be out of range, but had strayed within it. "Why are they following us? Do they want you dead? Tell them to leave."
The tycoon activated the comscon and gave the orders, and the lights vanished from Sabre's scanners a minute later. He knew they had only retreated beyond his range, but at least that bought him a little more distance and time. He patted Tassin's cheek again, cursing. The flight back to Tarl's ship seemed interminable.
When Gaylor landed next to the ship, the shimmer around the rusty freighter's belly told Sabre that she was ready to lift off. Kole ran out to meet him, his eyes widening when he spotted Gaylor.
"Get Tassin on board," Sabre said.
Kole opened the air-car's door and pulled her out, lifted her and ran back into the ship. Sabre dragged Gaylor out, ignored his protests and hauled him into the ship. The door slid shut as three air-cars appeared over the trees and swooped down to land in the clearing. Men boiled from them to fire at the ship, but gravity increased as she lifted off. Sabre shoved Gaylor into the nearest cabin and locked him in, then ran to the room with the couch, where Kole bent over Tassin, unclipping the armour.
"How is she?"
"Alive." He frowned at Sabre. "I told you that you needed me."
"You'd just have been another burden. Where's Tarl?"
"Flying the ship, of course. This isn't an AI."
Sabre went to the other side of the couch and removed the bandage from Tassin's arm, ripping open her sleeve to expose the wound.
"You're hurt too," Kole said.
"I noticed." Sabre put a dressing on Tassin's arm and strapped it up again before cutting open her trousers to examine her thigh wound. Kole fetched a blanket and put it over her while Sabre bandaged the wound. He checked her pulse, which was strong, then took stock of himself. Blood ran down his chest from the wound in his neck and oozed from the one in his flank. The warm wetness on his back told him that the wound there bled too. He pulled off his vest while Kole tugged the blanket over Tassin's legs.
"What the hell happened?"
"We had to fight our way out." Sabre injected coagulant into his neck.
"You were expecting that, I assume?"
"No, I was hoping to avoid a fight."
The ship shuddered, making Kole stagger. "Shit, we're under attack."
Tarl hurried in, his expression grim, and took in the situation with a glance. "Are you okay?"
Sabre nodded, injecting himself in the flank. Tarl went over to check on Tassin, then turned to the cyber and picked up another ampoule, injecting the wound in Sabre's back. "Two frigat
es are attacking us."
"So why aren't you flying the ship?"
"She's not armed. I've plotted a course into the nearest corridor and put the autopilot on. There's nothing else I can do. She's old and built like a brick, so she can take a pounding."
The ship shuddered again, rattling. "Maybe if I threaten to shoot Gaylor they'll leave us alone."
Tarl shook his head. "They're planetary protection. You can't blackmail them." He took a bandage out of a cabinet and bound Sabre's neck. "You've stirred up quite a hornet's nest. The Overlords will hear about this."
"We'll release Gaylor on the next planet. He's not harmed."
"Kidnapping one of the elite is a serious offense."
"What will the Overlords do?"
Tarl shrugged, tying off the bandage. "I don't know. They're a mysterious bunch, and they rarely intervene in petty matters. You should go and lie down."
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not. You've lost a lot of blood. Let me give a drip, it will help."
"Give it to Tassin; she's lost a lot of blood too."
"You’ve lost more, and I have enough for both of you."
Sabre clasped the wound in his flank. "Why is she unconscious?"
"Shock, probably."
"She just went down. I thought she was badly hurt."
Tarl shook his head. "It is quite serious, but she'll be fine. She's just not as tough as you." He turned and picked up a syringe. "I'll give you a painkiller."
The ship shuddered again as Tarl injected Sabre, then he set up a drip for Tassin and gave her a sedative. Rummaging in the cabinet again, he took out two adhesive dressings and stuck them on Sabre's wounds. He found another drip, gripped Sabre's arm and dragged him towards the door.
"You need to rest. She'll be fine. You should also eat."
Sabre allowed Tarl to lead him to the nearest empty cabin, and stretched out on the bunk with a sigh. Tarl set up the drip, and then brought him a sealed package of cyber rations.
Sabre frowned at him. "I had some at Gaylor's place, while I was waiting."
"Have some more, you need to build up your strength. Sit up."
Sabre obeyed, taking the package. "Why do you have cyber rations?"
"For Alpha."
"Right. I can't believe I still have to eat this crap."
"I'll try to make something more palatable for you."
"Thanks." Sabre tore open the package and frowned at the brown, gruel-like food. "I failed."
"You what?"
"I failed. Tassin's wounded."
"And just how exactly do you think you could have prevented that, surrounded by armed men taking pot shots at you?"
Sabre shook his head. "I don't know."
"Neither do I. You saved her."
"A cyber is supposed to protect his owner."
Tarl sat on the end of the bunk. "Let's get something straight, Sabre. You're free, and she's not your owner."
"I'll always be a cyber, and she does own me, she paid... a lot of money for me." He frowned. "I'm not sure exactly how much."
"She paid to free you; that's not the same."
"No, she bought me; then she freed me."
Tarl sighed. "You've still got a problem with this, even with your memories back, don't you?"
"I always did. You can't deny that I'm a cyborg."
Tarl hesitated. "No, technically, you are a combination of man and machine. But that makes you superior to the rest of us, not inferior."
Sabre snorted. "I'm a manufactured man, made in a machine; one of thousands of clones, with no rights. Until Tassin gave me one, I didn't even have a name."
"What was done to you and all the others is criminal, and none of us had names until someone gave us one."
"But your parents named you, not... a stranger."
"Actually they didn't,” Tarl said. “I was an orphan, and I don't even know who named me. Probably some clerk at the orphanage."
"But you had parents. And you got your name when you were just a baby, not when you were twenty-seven years old."
"You had parents too, a long time ago. Okay, your DNA was changed, improved, but the base code came from a normal man. And a name is not that important. People change their names all the time, at all ages."
Sabre toyed with his food. "It's not just that. Those things bother me, but they're not the real problem."
"Then what is?"
"I'm a freak."
"You're not a bloody freak. You're just different. Better. Hell, most guys would give their right arm to be able to do what you can do."
"And I would give mine to be normal."
Tarl nodded. "I understand; I really do. But you can't change what you are. The best you can do is learn to live with it, make the most of it, and try to live a normal life. At least you have that chance now, thanks to that little girl."
"I know." Sabre put down the half-eaten rations. "She's another problem I don't know how to deal with."
"How could she possibly be a problem?"
Sabre hesitated. "She's... grown attached to me."
"Ah." Tarl looked confused. "And this is a problem because... You haven't... grown attached to her?"
"No. I have, but how can I be sure if I feel the same way she does? I don't really know what she feels, or whether... But that's not the issue. It's going to get her killed. Already she's almost died twice."
"Don't count this time. She's in no danger of dying."
"But she could have been killed. She was hurt because of me."
"Really? I could have sworn she was hurt because that prick Gaylor kidnapped her."
Sabre shot him a frown. "If not for me, she'd be safe on her home world, happily married by now."
"No, from the story I heard, she'd be married to a bastard of a king, and probably being beaten and abused now."
"Okay, but..."
"Stop blaming yourself for everything," Tarl said. "How is any of this your fault? You saved Tassin from a terrible fate. She freed you from the cyber, and if she put herself in danger to do it, or because of it, that was her choice. The best you can do is to keep her alive, and I know you can do that."
"I'm not so sure."
"All you can do is your best. Chances are, if you two get into a really bad situation, you'll get yourself killed before her."
"How is that supposed to comfort me?"
"It's not. You just won't be able to blame yourself for it." Tarl stood up and turned to the cyber, placing his hands on Sabre's shoulders. "She's doing this because she loves you. It's what she wants. You can't stop her, so... just do your best."
"I don't want her to be hurt, or killed, because of me. I wish...."
"What? That she hadn't freed you? I know you don't wish that."
Sabre bowed his head, and Tarl pushed him back, forcing him to lie down. "Get some rest. I'll take care of Tassin."
Sabre sighed and closed his eyes.
Tarl left him to sleep, checking on Tassin on his way to the bridge, where Kole sat gazing out at the swirling light. Tarl flopped down in the command seat, adjusting a few instruments.
Kole turned to him. "The frigates have given up."
"I thought they would once we got into the corridor. It’s hard to shoot at something when you're going faster than your ammunition."
Kole chuckled. "Yeah. You were with Sabre for a long time. Is he all right?"
"He'll be fine, once he gets over his killer inferiority complex and acute guilt syndrome."
"He's pretty messed up, huh?"
Tarl nodded. "So would anyone who's been through what he has."
"What's he got to be guilty about?"
"Tassin, rescuing him."
"That's one gutsy girl. But I don't get it."
Tarl adjusted a knob. "He can't understand why she cares for him. He still thinks of himself as a killing machine. Tassin put herself in danger to save him, and to him that's just plain wrong, because he's the killing machine, and she's just a girl, whom he loves."
<
br /> "Does he? Is a cyber capable of love?"
"Well, he calls it 'grown attached', but he's a man, so why shouldn't he be?"
"He’s a cyborg,” Kole said. “But that’s why he can keep her safe better than anyone."
"That’s exactly his problem. A cyber is a killing machine, and he hates killing, but that’s what he was designed to do. So, he hates himself. He doesn't really know how to do anything except fight, strategize, and kill. His brain is full of combat information, without a single scrap of data on how to deal with girls. He has a warped self-image, so he’s only really comfortable doing what he knows. He doesn’t understand why she loves him, or why she risks her life to save him."
"And that's where the inferiority complex kicks in."
"Exactly."
"He should be counting his blessings, not questioning them," Kole said.
"Try telling him that."
****
Tassin drifted up from the soft, dark arms of sleep, becoming aware that her shoulder and thigh throbbed in unison and her mouth had a bad taste in it. Sensing a presence close by, she opened her eyes and turned her head, expecting to find Sabre there. Tarl sat in a chair, reading something on a silver device similar to the one Kole used to have.
He smiled at her. "Welcome back. You gave us a bit of a fright."
"Where's Sabre?"
"Resting, as you should be," he remonstrated when she tried to sit up.
"I want to see him."
"He's fine. There's nothing to worry about."
Tassin gasped as fresh pain lanced from her shoulder and thigh, sagging back. Tarl injected something into a tube beside the couch, which she discovered, to her horror, was attached to a needle in her arm.
"What's that?"
"Painkiller. You should try to get some more sleep."
"I must see Sabre."
Tarl shook his head, adjusting the drip. "I sedated him."
"Why?"
"So he'll rest, and if you're not careful I'll do the same to you."
"Where are we?"
"In orbit around Vygon Four."
She smiled. "We made it."
"Yeah."
"Now we just have to buy a ship and go home."
The Cyber Chronicles 04: Cyborg Page 23
