Sabre stopped, causing Tassin to bump into him, and turned his head. "Everyone get down!"
The women threw themselves down, and Tassin released her hold on his belt to drop to the floor. Tarl fell to his knees beside her and drew his weapon. A moment later, three creatures bounded out of a door down the corridor and raced towards them with soft snarls. They moved so fast that Tassin could hardly make out their shapes, but they were bipedal, clad in bright orange clothes and had long tails. They carried stumpy black weapons that made soft pops when they fired them. Sabre leapt sideways as the projectiles flew past, firing back. Two of the aliens died with keening shrieks, black holes appearing in their chests. The third ran up the wall with amazing agility and leapt at Sabre, firing its weapon. He flung himself sideways again, spun at the same time and shot the alien from the side. It collapsed, a hole burnt through its head.
Sabre swung around. "Let's go!"
Tassin scrambled up, shaking with shock. The women followed more slowly, clinging to each other and sobbing. Sabre holstered a laser and grabbed her hand, dragging her down the corridor. She stared at the dead aliens as she passed them, glimpsing round faces with short snouts and split-lipped mouths, wide blue eyes staring in death. Golden fur covered them and pointed ears were flattened against the sides of their heads. Sabre raced down the corridor, the women falling behind and Tassin barely able to keep up. She was glad when he slowed and turned into a side corridor, descending a stairwell three steps at a time.
"I thought the life pods were on this deck?" she asked, holding onto his shoulder.
"They are, but the aliens are guarding them. We can't reach them."
"So where are we going?"
"There are two shuttles docked in the cargo hold, and no aliens there yet."
"You knew we couldn't reach the life pods, didn't you?"
He glanced back at her and nodded. "Since a few minutes ago. They're taking over all the vital areas of the ship, but the cargo hold isn't high on their list of priorities."
Sabre slowed to allow the exhausted women to catch up, then led them deep into the ship's bowels. At the bottom of the stairwell, he thrust open the door and entered a vast room stacked with boxes, crates and bags, loping along a broad aisle towards the back of the hold. Tassin's heart leapt with relief when two docking ports came into view, open to reveal the interiors of the shuttles attached to them. A group of men carried boxes into them, and she recognised the paunchy figure of Captain Brodal directing them. Sabre stopped a few metres away, and they ceased their activity to stare at him and the passengers bunched at his heels.
The captain stepped forward. "What are you doing here? Go to the life pods!"
"The life pods are guarded by aliens," Sabre informed him.
"Well there's no room on the shuttles for any more people. These are for the crew."
"If you unload your loot there will be."
The captain's florid face hardened. "Those are vital supplies, which we'll need to reach an inhabited planet."
"Those boxes are full of prederax, and the closest inhabited world is Atron Four, two days away under standard impulsion when we pass it in three days’ time."
"What's prederax?" Tassin asked Tarl.
"A very expensive drug."
"The passengers should have got into the life pods while they could," the captain said, clearly annoyed that all his lies had been exposed in one curt sentence.
Sabre shook his head. "The order to abandon ship was given too late, and you know it. And the Corsairs will kill most of the people in the life pods before help arrives. That's why you're here."
"I followed protocol. The alarm was sounded. It's not my fault they didn't have time."
Sabre released Tassin's hand and stepped closer. "The passengers are supposed to be evacuated first."
"Not on my ship. My crew is more important." Brodal gestured, and several of his men drew their lasers. "Come any closer, and I'll kill them myself, cyber. Especially that one." He nodded at Tassin, then turned his head to address his men. "She's his owner, guys. He won't do anything to jeopardise her, so keep her covered. She might have ordered him to help the others, but she's the only one he'll protect."
The crewmen aimed their weapons at the passengers and Tassin, and the captain smiled. "I know better than to try to kill you, cyber. Go find a life pod, or fight the Corsairs, I don't care, but you're not coming aboard a shuttle."
Sabre glanced at Tassin. "Go."
"No!" Brodal barked, realising his mistake. "Nobody move! The first one who does dies. You can find a pod after we're gone."
Sabre dropped into a forward roll and leapt up beside the captain, pressed a laser to his head and addressed the crew. "Throw down your weapons or your captain dies."
Brodal grimaced. "Bloody cybers! I should never have allowed one on my ship. Nothing but bloody trouble!"
The crewmen hesitated, eyeing Sabre, then some shrugged and holstered their weapons, returning to their task. Three continued to aim at Tassin, however, and her stomach churned.
Sabre frowned at the captain. "What, they don’t give a shit about you?"
"They're not exactly a loyal crew, no, so I'm useless as a hostage."
"Or they're bluffing."
Brodal shrugged. "The only way you're going to find out is to kill me, isn't it? Does your owner have the stomach to order that, I wonder?"
Sabre drew his other laser and fired at a box a crewman carried. It burst into flames, and the man dropped it with a curse, rubbing his singed hands. Several of his comrades paused to glare at the cyber before continuing with their task.
The captain smirked. "Try that again, and your owner dies."
Sabre glanced at the three men who still aimed their weapons at Tassin, then lowered his laser and stepped back, turning towards her.
"Stop!" Brodal yelled. "Get any closer to her, and she dies."
The cyber halted, turning to face the captain once more.
Brodal sniggered. "Foiled again, hey? I wasn't born yesterday, you know. Move and she dies."
Sabre considered the situation, frustrated to find that he had walked into a predicament from which there was no escape, since he had made the mistake of assuming, first of all, that the crew was friendly, and then that it valued its captain. Both should have been safe assumptions on a luxury passenger liner, but perhaps he should have realised that men who would steal their ship’s cargo while it was under attack were not the sort to be loyal to their captain, although that was not a certainty, either. Now Tassin was exposed, and, although he could still protect her, some of the passengers would die before they could reach cover. Worse, it would be in vain, for there were at least twenty crewmen loading the shuttles, and even if he killed some, the rest would escape. Holstering his lasers, he folded his arms and watched the crew work, considering other ways to escape the ship. Tarl cursed behind him as he came to the same conclusion Sabre had.
Brodal looked smug, apparently unfazed by the fact that Sabre’s plan had failed because his crew was prepared to let the cyber kill him. "Where are the Corsairs?" He asked Sabre, who ignored him, and the captain drew his laser and pointed it at Tassin. "Tell him to answer me."
She glanced at Sabre. "Answer him."
"Fifty per cent are guarding the life pods, thirty per cent are in the engine room, the rest are scattered throughout the ship, hunting."
"So none are headed this way?"
"No."
"Good." Brodal turned to his men. "We have time to load the dramex too."
The crew continued to load the shuttles with expensive cargo, and Sabre waited. When the last box had been carried aboard, the captain entered one of the shuttles. The crewmen followed, keeping Tassin in their sights until the inner airlock doors slid shut.
She approached Sabre. "What are we going to do now?"
"Hide."
"Hide?" Her brows rose.
"Yes. Twelve people have survived Corsair attacks by hiding until they left."
Tarl glanced at the frightened women. "There are fifteen of us. Where the hell are we all going to hide?"
"Not together. Some will probably be found, but some won't. It's a calculated risk. What other option do we have?"
"Let's call Ravian," Tassin said.
"He won't come."
"You don't know that,” Tarl pointed out.
"It's worth a try," Tassin added.
Sabre shrugged. "Fine. The nearest access point is by the door."
Tarl headed back towards the portal, and Sabre looked around at the ring of expectant, frightened faces. "You must find hiding places and wait for the Corsairs to leave. It's your only chance now."
The women looked despairing, but dispersed, quieting their weeping children. Sabre strode to the door, where the ex-technician had removed the cover from the access panel beside it and poked around inside.
"Stop that before you electrocute yourself," Sabre advised.
"If we could lock this door, it might keep the Corsairs out."
"For about ten minutes, and then they'll know someone's hiding in here."
Tarl sighed. "Fine, do your thing. I think you can use the intercom."
Sabre nodded. "Yes, I just need to order the computer to patch it into the interstellar transmitter. What's the Overlord frequency?"
"348.44."
"Won't the computer ask for passwords or codes or something?" Tassin asked.
"Not from a cyber. It communicates in machine code. The ship's computer won't be able to distinguish between a cyber's commands and its own programmes. It was designed that way."
"I see," Tassin murmured, but he could tell she did not really understand.
Chapter Ten
Sabre squatted in front of the access panel, and the brow band blazed electric blue, but without the drone. A few seconds later the control unit went dark again, and he stood up.
"It's done. Our co-ordinates are 749-238-QDX.”
Tarl turned to Tassin. "Okay, do your thing." He pressed the intercom button.
"Overlord Ravian, this is Premier Tassin Alrade. We urgently need your assistance. Corsairs have attacked our ship. We are at co-ordinates 749-238-QDX."
Tarl took his finger off the button, and a faint hiss came from the panel. After a minute, Tarl shook his head. "He's not coming, I guess."
"It was a long shot," Sabre said. "Let's find somewhere to hide."
"Where are the Corsairs?"
"They haven't moved, except for the hunters, who are still roaming the corridors."
Tarl glanced around. "Where would be a good place to hide?"
Sabre unclipped his helmet and pulled it off, ran a hand through his cropped hair and rubbed his face. His eyes roved the room before wandering upwards, becoming intent, and Tassin followed his gaze, a qualm running through her. Huge beams ran across the hold's roof where the ship's skeleton was exposed, but they were at least seven metres above them.
"You're not thinking of hiding up there, are you?"
"It's the best place in here."
"There are better places elsewhere?"
He nodded, studying the beams. "There are some good crawl spaces in the engine room, but that's full of Corsairs."
"How the hell are we going to get up there?" Tarl demanded.
Sabre's gaze swept down the smooth walls, and he nodded towards a stack of crates on one side, which was about three metres high. "There."
"We'll still need a rope or something."
"Those beams are very narrow," Tassin said. "It's hardly a hiding place."
"It is if we knock out the lights," Sabre said. "Corsairs see well in the dark, but not that well. And it's not an obvious place. People rarely look up."
"I don't like it."
Tarl said, "If Sabre says it's the best place, you'd better believe it."
"It may be perfect for him, but I'm good at falling off things like that."
Sabre smiled. "This time I won't let you fall."
"If they do see us, we'll be sitting ducks."
"If they find us, it won't matter where we are, we'll have a problem."
"So let's find a rope," Tarl said, glancing around.
It took ten minutes to establish that there was no rope in the hold. Tarl swore, and Sabre looked up at the conduits that ran around the hold, carrying various cables. Going over to the nearest, he leapt up and grabbed it, ripping it off the wall. It took him only a couple of minutes to strip off the conduit, exposing the wires within, select one and pull it out with a swift yank.
Sabre scaled the sloping stack, helping Tassin up after him. Throwing the cable over a beam, he climbed up it and stood on the narrow beam with the ease of an acrobat. Tarl tied the cable loosely around Tassin's chest under her arms, then gave Sabre a thumbs up. Sabre hauled her up and helped her onto the beam, where she lay down and clung to it with arms and legs, trying not to look down. The cyber untied the cable and slid his arms under her shoulders.
"Let go. We're going to the other bulkhead, away from the stack."
"No! I... this is bad enough!"
"Let go, Tassin. Trust me."
"I do... It's just..."
"Let go."
Gritting her teeth, she released her grip, and Sabre picked her up. She clung to his neck, burying her face in the side of it.
"If you drop me..."
"I won't drop you."
Tassin kept her eyes closed, but Sabre strode along without so much as a wobble.
"How do you do this?" she muttered.
"I'm part machine, remember?"
"Were you trained –?"
"Yeah, I was trained."
His curt tone made her wonder what manner of painful exercise was used to train cybers to balance on narrow beams. It seemed as if just about everything he did had some traumatic association. He stopped and lowered her onto the beam so she was seated on it with her back to the bulkhead. Once she had a firm grip on the beam, he released her, and she wobbled.
"All right?" he enquired.
Tassin's stomach did its best to crawl into her mouth while her heart did a fandango in her throat. She swallowed and opened her eyes a slit, only to discover that she was now seven metres above the ground. Sabre squatted in front of her, his eyes full of concern and a hint of impatience. She longed to grab him and hang on to his reassuring solidity, but nodded.
"I suppose so. What about the lights?"
"I'll fix that as soon as Tarl's up here."
Sabre rose and walked away along the beam as if he was out on a stroll in the park, stopping at the cable to look down at Tarl, who had tied it around his chest. To Tassin's amazement, Sabre took hold of the cable and hauled Tarl up with little effort, even though the ex-technician was a big man. Tarl clambered onto the beam with Sabre's help and stood up, wobbling precariously until Sabre gripped his shoulders and steadied him as they walked back to Tassin. When Tarl was settled on the beam in front of her, Sabre returned to the cable and pulled it up, coiled it and fastened it to the beam. He walked further along the beam, drew a laser and shot the access panel beside the door. A flash of sparks shot from it with a hissing crackle, and the hold plunged into darkness.
Tassin held onto Tarl, his presence a comfort, his back pressing her to the bulkhead. She peered into the gloom while her eyes adjusted, spying Sabre's twinkling brow band far out on the beam, the rest of him an indistinct shape. He walked back to her and Tarl, squatting down.
"Now we wait."
Ravian turned as Fairen strode into her private rooms, a frown wrinkling her brow. "Much as it pleases me to see you again, Fairen, I have to wonder at the reason for your visit."
"You received the message from Tassin Alrade?"
"Of course. Did you come to make sure I didn't answer it?"
"Did you intend to?"
She shrugged. "I was considering it."
"Your feelings for the cyber are improper."
"Contrary to popular opinion, we're allowed to have feelings."
"Natural
ly, when we find a suitable, and willing partner. But to intervene in a Corsair attack to save a man who does not return your feelings is foolish."
Ravian turned to the refreshment counter and poured a drink. "He might have returned them in time, if you hadn't interfered."
"No, he wouldn't. I've read him, and you would have been disappointed."
"Ah, of course, you're the ultimate empath."
Fairen shrugged and helped himself to a fruit juice. "Yes, I am. His love for the girl is unshakeable, even though he doesn't know it yet."
"But you told him."
"Of course." Fairen added ice to his glass.
"He's still worth saving."
"I agree, but he's a bone of contention, setting you against Ramadaus, which is not good."
"You set yourself against Ramadaus, too."
Fairen sipped his drink. "I informed him of my judgement, that's all."
"You as good as ordered him not to execute the cyber."
"I see Ramadaus has already aired his displeasure to you."
Ravian turned and sank down on the couch. "He thought I had involved you in our little dispute. I disabused him of that idea."
"Good. I wouldn't want him to think I was available for second opinions."
"If you think the cyber's worth saving, why don't you do it?"
"One man's life does not warrant the intervention of an Overlord."
Ravian snorted. "Draloy rescued Vanesh from execution when she was captured by the Antari."
"They loved each other."
"It doesn't matter. Overlords have intervened for the sake of one person. Travelan saved Pretan from -"
Fairen held up a hand. "I know history as well as you do. Pretan was Travelan's son. I can't prevent you from saving him, and you know it."
"As I said, I'm considering it."
"Don't consider it too long, or it will be too late."
"You want me to save him, don't you?" she asked.
"I'm impartial."
Ravian patted the couch beside her. "Come and sit, you're making the place look untidy." He joined her on the couch, keeping a safe distance, and she leant closer. "What did you see when you read him?"
The Cyber Chronicles V - Overlord Page 11
