The Cyber Chronicles 04: Cyborg

by T C Southwell

  “How would you get his cyber’s code?”

  “From his override?”

  Trevare chuckled. “I suppose it’s possible, in theory, but anyone who doesn’t keep his override locked up in a super-secure place is an idiot. A lot of people give their override to the cyber it controls for safekeeping.”

  “But if he malfunctions…”

  “As I said, that’s never happened.”

  “I heard an override will self-destruct if you try to tamper with it,” Kole said.

  “That would make sense.” Trevare nodded. “That would eliminate any risk at all.”

  “The guys at Myon Two have thought of everything, I reckon.”

  “Couldn’t you capture the code, somehow?” Tassin asked. “I mean, if you had a receiver? Wouldn’t that tell you the code without tampering with the override?”

  Trevare grinned. “She’s a smart girl, this one. Beauty and brains! I love it.” He sobered. “Again, in theory, that would work, but you’d need to know the frequency in order to get the code, and that’s highly classified. To find the frequency through trial and error would take… years, probably. There are a massive number of frequencies to search, and you’d have to change your receiver’s frequency by a micro-wavelength each time. And even if you found it, you’d still have the huge problem of getting your hands on the other guy’s override. Nah, no one’s ever tried it. If you want to kill a guy who owns a cyber, the best way is to get your own, or hire an assassin. I mean, even a guy who has cyber protection isn’t completely invulnerable.”

  “Pretty close, though,” Kole remarked.

  Tassin sighed. “This is all very interesting, but it’s not helping with my problem.”

  “You only have one option, the way I see it,” Trevare said. “You’ve got to go to Dojan Five and kidnap a high-level control unit tech and make him remove the patch.”

  She nodded. “That sounds like an excellent idea.”

  “Sure, why not?” Kole looked a bit sour. “I’m deep in the shit with Myon Two now, anyway. Why not add kidnapping to the list?”

  “I’d be really grateful,” Tassin said.

  Trevare shot Kole an unreadable smile. “She’d be really grateful.”

  “I heard.” The hacker turned to face his screen again. “I’ll see who’s on holiday right now.”

  “How did your identity change go?” she asked.

  “All done. Transferred my funds and even made a profit.” He typed on his keyboard. “Let’s see… Well, there’s one bigwig on Dojan right now. A guy called Previd Malatar. He’s a department head… Yup, head of control unit research. Maybe not ideal, because he’s such a bigwig he’ll be missed soon and searched for diligently, but there isn’t another contech going on holiday on Dojan for another month.”

  “I can’t wait that long.”

  “Yeah, didn’t think so. Still, we have a cyber, I guess, and that makes stuff like this so much easier.”

  “We’re going to use Sabre to grab him?”

  “That’s the idea. We might as well use him. We’re doing it for him, after all.”

  She nodded. “I guess so. When can we go?”

  “Not just yet. I want the furore to die down a bit, and besides, I still have stuff to do here.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  He shot her an amused look. “Maybe.”

  “Please?”

  “Pretty please with a cherry on top?”

  “Two cherries.”

  “How can I say no to that?”

  She smiled. “I hope you won’t.”

  “I wouldn’t,” Trevare said.

  ****

  Tassin followed Kole out of the ship and onto the spaceport apron on the resort world of Dojan Five. Numerous shiny leisure craft were parked around the edge of the spaceport, and Striker did not look out of place amongst them, being an expensive leisure craft herself, although armed, unlike most of the others. Her armaments were well concealed, however. Sabre walked a pace behind Tassin, and they passed through the port without a problem, due to Kole’s new false identity. He hired an air-car, and they headed for the resort where the Myon Two department head, Previd Malatar, was staying. Tassin was glad she had found and befriended the hacker; she would have been lost without him. He was not quite so pleased with their association, due to the trouble it had caused him, she knew. She wondered why he continued to help her.

  Kole parked the air-car outside a plush resort and they passed through a glamorous black marble foyer where a giant golden palm tree seemed to uphold the ceiling and uniformed employees tended to the needs of well-dressed guests. They crossed a massive, bright lounge full of tinkling water features, lush tropical plants and soft blue couches around low wooden coffee tables. They exited through sliding doors in a glass wall into the gardens at the back, where palm trees shaded loungers and waiters served drinks to the people who splashed in the pool and lay under the umbrellas around it. Kole had hacked into the hotel’s database, and, according to that, Previd was not currently in his room. The hacker had an image of him, which he had shown to Tassin. The technician was a short, wiry man with a receding hairline and a bulbous nose, and she gazed around in search of him as they wandered amongst the hotel’s patrons.

  “There he is,” Kole muttered, pointing.

  Tassin looked in the direction he indicated and spotted the scrawny executive sprawled on a lounger, shirtless, a bright blue drink in one hand. Kole led the way back to the hotel’s glass-walled rear entrance, which Previd would have to pass through to return to his room.

  “Now we wait.”

  About an hour later, Previd finished his drink, rose and donned a loud pink shirt, then headed for the hotel, and Tassin turned to the cyber.

  “Cyber, when that man passes us, I want you to take him prisoner, and prevent him from making an outcry. Understand?”

  His blank eyes stared through her. “Understood.”

  Tassin chewed her lip as Previd approached. He smiled and winked at a couple of bikini-clad girls, who giggled. She tensed as the technician drew close to where she, Kole and Sabre stood. Kole pretended to read a brochure he had picked up off the reception desk earlier, and she hoped the three of them did not look too conspicuous, being fully dressed in a tropical leisure resort, with an armed cyber, to boot. As the senior technician was about to pass through the doors beside them, Sabre stepped forward. Previd gaped at him in the instant before the cyber pulled him into a throat hold, clamping a hand over his mouth. Previd mumbled and flailed, but Sabre dragged him to her side. Kole turned and led the way around the side of the hotel, since they could not pass through it while dragging the struggling Myon Two department head.

  They piled into the air-car in the parking lot and the hacker guided it into a skyway, heading for the spaceport. Previd sat quietly beside Sabre, which, she assumed, meant he knew the futility of trying to fight. Most people did in this modern society, but Myon Two techs probably more than most. He did not look all that scared, though, which bothered her.

  In the ship, Sabre pushed Previd onto a sofa in the lounge and Kole ordered Striker to take off.

  The tech frowned at Tassin. “What do you want?”

  “My cyber had a software patch installed three years ago. You’re going to remove it.”

  Previd studied Sabre, who had assumed a guard stance beside her. “And if I don’t?”

  “We start blowing bits off you.”

  “I see. What does the patch do?”

  “That’s none of your business. Just remove it.”

  He shrugged. “All right, whatever you say. I’ll need his serial number to update his software.”

  Tassin looked at Kole. Previd’s agreement seemed too easy, but then, perhaps he was just exceptionally cowardly. He still did not look all that scared, though, and she was unable to shake off her disquiet. She wished Sabre was able to tell her what to do. He would know the dangers of this plan, if any. “That doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

  T
he hacker shook his head. “No, I don’t like it either. We don’t know what he’ll be able to do once you give him access. He could disable Sabre for all we know.”

  “I can’t, I swear,” Previd said, “but I can’t update his software without his serial number.”

  Kole held out his hand to Tassin. “Give me one of Sabre’s lasers.”

  She drew one and gave it to him, and he stepped closer to press it to the side of Previd’s head. “Okay, let’s get something straight; if you don’t do what we want, or try to do anything to the cyber other than what we told you, your brains end up all over my nice clean bulkhead, which I’d hate to happen, so no funny business, got it?”

  The technician raised his hands. “Okay. I’m not going to take on a cyber, am I?”

  “Maybe you think you can mess with him, but I’m a programmer so I’ll know if you try anything, and then I blow you away. Do as you’re told, and we’ll let you go afterwards.”

  “I’ll only do what you want, I swear. I don’t have a death wish.”

  “Good.” Kole nodded at Tassin. “All right. Go ahead.”

  “Where did you put that code sheet?” she asked.

  “In the drawer in my cabin.”

  “Just ask the cyber,” Previd said. “He’ll only tell his owner or someone with command privilege.”

  “Right.” She turned to Sabre. “What’s your serial number?”

  "This unit's serial number is XCA-6352-JY9019."

  Previd winced as Kole jammed the laser harder against the side of his head. “Cyber XCA-6352-JY9019, initiate software update, authorisation code Myon Two ZZ416.”

  “Code accepted. Authorisation for Senior Control Unit Technician and Department Head Previd Malatar. Access granted,” Sabre intoned.

  “Enquiry: name of update patch installed three years ago.”

  “Core update patch file name: MC201.”

  Previd hesitated, frowning. Evidently something about what Sabre had said bothered him. “Erase core update file: MC201, control alpha priority one.”

  “Erasure forbidden.”

  "Override code, Myon Two, ZZ416. Erase, erase, erase," Previd said.

  “Input security access code XZ384.”

  “Code XZ384 security access PM499. Erase, erase, erase.”

  "File erased."

  Previd glanced up at Kole. “There, it’s done.”

  The hacker frowned at Sabre, who stared into space.

  “That’s it?” Tassin asked.

  The tech nodded. “Yes.”

  She studied Sabre. “How do we know you did the right thing?”

  “Sounded right,” Kole said.

  “I removed the patch,” Previd glanced up at Kole again. “So you don’t need to hold a laser to my head anymore.”

  Kole lowered the weapon and looked at Tassin. “It doesn’t seem to have made a difference.”

  “He has to free himself.” She turned to the cyber. “Sabre, you can free yourself now. Please try. The patch that prevented you is gone.”

  Previd snorted and chuckled. “Free himself from the control unit? Are you from La-la-land? A cyber host can’t free himself.”

  Tassin eyed the man. He looked smug, as if he had won the round, and she wondered why. Then again, perhaps it was just because he did not believe Sabre could free himself, in which case he was in for a nasty shock. She wished Sabre would try to get free, but he did not seem to have heard her. “I guess you weren’t around when Sabre was taken back to Myon Two three years ago, then.”

  “I was at Cybercorp three years ago, and I’d remember something like that. One came in with a damaged control circuit, but there’s never been a cyber who got free.”

  Tassin glanced at Sabre. “Maybe he didn’t reveal his ability.”

  Kole nodded. “That would have been wise.”

  “You two are complete morons,” Previd said. “Cyber, disable and disarm the male individual.”

  Sabre strode towards Kole, whose eyes widened. He backed away, raising his hands. “Shit! Tassin, do something!”

  As she opened her mouth, Sabre gripped Kole’s throat and his hands tightened. The hacker’s eyes rolled up, and the cyber took the laser from his lax hand as he folded over and went down. Tassin stared at him, stunned. Sabre returned the weapon to its holster, and she shook her head in horrified disbelief.

  Previd rose to his feet, his expression triumphant. “You didn’t really think you could get away with this, did you?” He smirked. “I’ve never heard of such an idiotic plan. Of course, you weren’t to know that as soon as you gave me his serial number, you granted me full access. I’m a Myon Two technician. He obeys me now. Meddling with a cyber is illegal, you know. I need your cohort to fly the ship, since it’s an AI, but I don’t need you. Of course, I could order the cyber to hack it, but that’s Kole Arvan, isn’t it?”

  She nodded, her mouth dry.

  “I thought so. Several major corporations have bounties on his head, but they want him alive. So this little venture of yours will even make me a nice profit. Cyber, kill her.”

  “No!” Her blood chilled as Sabre drew a laser and aimed it at her forehead. She stepped back, shaking her head. “Sabre… no… please.”

  Previd scowled. “Kill her!”

  The cyber’s finger tightened on the trigger, and his hand trembled. She gulped, glancing at the brow band. Several lights had turned red, including the seventh control light, which flashed.

  “Sabre… please! Help me!”

  Previd said, “I’ll have to do it myself then.” He reached for the laser in Sabre’s holster, but the cyber’s hand clamped over it, preventing him from drawing it. The sixth control light flashed and turned red. Sabre stood like a statue, and Previd’s scowl deepened. He yanked the big knife from the cyber’s webbing and turned to Tassin, who fled. He pursued her towards the bridge, but there was nowhere to run or hide. She turned to face him, and he grinned, feinting at her with the knife. She raised her hands and backed away.

  “Sabre!”

  The cyber lowered his arm and turned his head towards her, the brow band ablaze with red lights.

  Tassin tripped and fell backwards with a grunt, banging her head on the floor. Stars danced in her eyes.

  Previd giggled. “Actually, this is more fun.”

  The technician straddled her and bent to slash at her face. Tassin shrieked and threw up her hands. The weapon sliced into her palm, making her snatch her hand away with a yelp of pain. Previd sniggered and tried again, but she imposed her hands, glanced around for a weapon and cursed the fact that she did not carry a laser. Then again, Previd would have just ordered the cyber to disarm her. Now that the technician had control of Sabre, her fate was sealed unless he could get free in time.

  “Sabre!” she shouted. “Help me!”

  “He won’t help you, stupid girl!” Previd sneered. “I’m a Myon Two department head. No cyber will harm me. Did you really think this would work?”

  A thud came from beyond Previd, and she raised her head to glance past him. Sabre writhed on the floor, gripping the brow band.

  “Sabre!” she yelled again.

  Previd grinned and feinted with the knife, obviously enjoying her fear and pain. She yelped, trying to fend him off and keep her hands out of harm’s way at the same time. He glanced around, but Sabre still lay on the floor, his back arched in a convulsion. Previd turned back to her and lowered himself to his knees, pinned her legs and loomed over her. She flailed at him, sprinkling him with drops of blood, but he caught her right wrist and forced it to the floor. He stabbed at her throat, and she grabbed the blade, which grated on bone as she twisted it away. He growled, yanked it free and lunged, the razor edge barely missing her throat when she flung up her arm to deflect the blow. A red haze clouded her vision as panic squeezed her heart and terror clogged her throat. Blood ran down her arms and her strength dwindled. The pain made her gasp and whimper, her eyes locked with single-minded intensity on the weapon that menaced her,
her heart racing with panic. She shrieked as Previd stabbed at her face.

  A strong arm snaked around Previd’s throat and lifted him off her. Sabre placed his other hand on the side of the Previd’s head and twisted. The technician’s neck broke with a dull pop, and the cyber dropped the corpse, staggered back and fell to his knees, gripping the brow band again. Tassin raised her head to stare at him in amazement, concern and relief, her breath coming in harsh gasps. The control unit sparkled with waves of flashing red lights, and thin trickles of blood ran down his brow from the battle he had just won. He keeled over backwards, his spine arched in a powerful spasm that raised his entire torso off the floor, his teeth bared in a snarl of agony.

  Tassin’s heart ached with horror and anguish as Sabre rolled onto his side, the muscles on his arms and chest bulging as he hauled on the brow band. He breathed in shuddering gasps, his eyes rolled back to expose the whites. She levered herself to her feet, cradling her hands against her chest. Blood oozed from her lacerated palms and trickled down her arms to drip off her elbows. She stepped over Previd’s corpse on shaking legs, jumping back as Sabre thrashed, his boot barely missing her leg.

  Reaching Kole’s huddled form, she nudged him with her toe. “Kole!” Her voice emerged as a croak.

  After two more nudges, the hacker groaned and opened his eyes to frown up at her. “What the hell happened?”

  “Sabre knocked you out somehow.”

  Kole sat up and glanced around, rubbing his throat. “Shit! What happened?”

  “Previd tried to kill me. Sabre got free to save me, but now the cyber’s… trying to kill him, I think.”

  The hacker stared at Sabre for a moment, then shook his head. “I’m pretty sure it can’t do that.” He turned to her, and his eyes widened. “What happened to your hands?”

  “Previd got hold of Sabre’s knife.”

  “Bloody hell. You need a hospital. We have to stop the bleeding, or you’ll be in trouble just now.”

  “I’m okay.” She clenched her hands and gritted her teeth, watching Sabre.

  Kole followed her gaze. “The unit can’t keep that up for too long. It’s obviously trying to shock him into submission, but soon it’s going to run out of power.”