Sabre punched him in the ribs again; a blow she assumed was calculated to hurt without doing serious damage, allowing Gorag time to recover. Gorag renewed his attack, but his attempts to grab the cyber gleaned him only empty air, and his rage grew. Sabre landed blows on Gorag's torso and a few on his head, slowing him down without ending the fight too soon. Gorag grew more and more frustrated, but it did him no good. Sabre bloodied his opponent's nose and split his lip, blackened one eye and opened a cut above it, yet Gorag did not land a blow. When Sabre had evidently calculated that enough time had been spent and enough blood spilt to satisfy the crowd, he knocked Gorag down and pinned him with an arm lock until he submitted.
Officials hurried into the arena and made the announcement, and one raised Sabre's arm in victory, making the crowd cheer. The officials presented the cyber with a golden belt, then he was allowed to quit the arena. Tassin and Kole met him in the pits, where another official handed over four credit wafers in a transparent pouch, which he tucked into his jacket pocket as soon as he had donned it. To Tassin's dismay, a crowd had gathered to congratulate Sabre when he left the arena, but uniformed men helped them to escape, escorting them to their air-car.
Back on the ship, Sabre gave Kole half his winnings, and he left to organise the fuel. Sabre poured a flavoured drink and flung himself into the command seat, gazing out at the spaceport. Tassin settled on the other chair, studying him.
"Your reflexes seem to have improved."
He glanced at her. "Not really."
An awkward silence fell, and he finished his drink in a few gulps, then stood up. "I'm going to have a shower."
Three hours later Kole returned, and they left Rashid Four. As the ship moved towards the nearest corridor that would take them near their destination, Kole glanced at one of the instruments and cursed.
"Striker, full burn."
"Maximum burn in four seconds," the ship's honeyed voice replied.
Tassin glanced at him. "What is it?"
"We've got company. Four ships, probably pirates."
"What do we have worth stealing?"
"Two hundred thousand credits, and a ship, if they can hack her," he said.
"What are you going to do?"
"Try to outrun them."
The soft hum of the engines rose to a muted wail, and a few minutes later Sabre padded into the bridge, clad in his cyber's garb of camouflage trousers and grey vest, which looked freshly laundered.
"What's going on?"
"Pirates."
Sabre studied the instruments over Kole's shoulder. "How far to the corridor?"
"Too far, and once we're in it, they'll catch us. Two of them are bigger than Striker."
"Then you'd better lay down some mines."
Kole nodded. "Striker, deploy four star mines, full spread."
"Star mines, deployed."
Kole studied the various screens and readouts on the console, and Tassin wished she could understand the strange instruments with their moving amber lights and blue lines.
"They're taking evasive action,” Kole said. “Striker, detonate mines."
"Mines detonated."
A screen’s lights flashed, and Kole leant closer to peer at it, his expression intent. "One's breaking off. We must have damaged her."
"Entering corridor in two minutes," Striker announced.
Kole scowled at another screen as more dots, lines and words appeared on it. "Damn! There's another ship intercepting us. It's an ambush. Striker, get me a visual on that ship." The dots and lines on a monitor beside him changed to an image of a sleek black ship with a red emblem emblazoned on its side. "Shit. Enforcers."
Bolts of red light streaked past outside, and the ship shuddered. Kole swore. "They're firing at us."
"Who?" Tassin asked, alarmed.
"The pirates."
"Entering corridor," Striker murmured.
"Deploy solar wings to maximum."
The engines' wail died away, leaving an eerie silence as the scintillating wings of blue-shot electromagnetic power sprang from the ships flanks, and the stars ahead brightened. Kole studied the instruments, his face tense.
"The enforcers are firing on the pirates."
Bolts of red light streaked past again, further away, and Kole touched some keys, changing the image in the screen beside him. It showed three points of silver light emitting red flashes, which shot past at an angle.
"The pirates are firing back," Kole said.
"Maybe they'll kill each other," Tassin commented.
Sabre snorted. "The enforcer's an M-class battle cruiser; those ships will retreat or be destroyed."
Kole glanced up at him. "We don't stand a chance either."
"Not if you stay in the corridor. Turn back to Rashid now."
Kole hesitated, then nodded. "Striker, damage report."
"Auxiliary drive impaired; output at seventy per cent."
"Exit corridor, emergency burn."
"Emergency burn in two seconds, two minutes to exit corridor."
"New destination: Rashid Four."
Striker repeated the order in her sweet, calm voice, and the engines' muted wail broke the tense silence. The stars ahead swung to the right as the ship turned, and Tassin clung to her seat, fighting dizziness. The movement stopped, and the stars returned to tiny points of light.
"Retract solar wings," Kole ordered.
"Solar wings offline."
"If we go back to Rashid, we'll be trapped," Tassin pointed out.
"Not quite. The enforcers won't be stupid enough to follow us there, they'll be eaten alive. We just won't be able to leave Rashid Four with Striker. We'll have to buy passage on a freighter or passenger transport. Or we could try to get a ship clamp ride."
"What's that?"
"We find a big ship and ask them to clamp Striker to their hull. The enforcers won't be able to see her, but it will be expensive."
"How expensive?"
"We'll probably have just enough, if I do some creative bargaining." Kole frowned at the monitors. "Damn, the enforcer's driven off the pirates. They're coming after us."
The engines' wail died away. "Corridor exited," Striker announced. "Deceleration burn initiated."
The distant howl started again, lasted for a few minutes, then softened. "Zero velocity achieved," Striker said. "Course change burn imminent."
"This is awfully complicated," Tassin muttered.
"In space, inertia rules."
Tassin closed her eyes as the stars ahead drifted upwards as if they were diving into the darkness below, and the engines wailed again. When she opened them, the stars had steadied and a brilliant sun filled the screens, making her squint even though dark shields had slid across them. The ship accelerated towards the distant grey planet, then decelerated into a high orbit, drifting past other ships. Kole studied them as they passed below until he spotted a huge, space-scarred transport that looked like an elongated box covered with metal scaffolding and giant cranes.
Kole nodded. "We're in luck. That's a settlement ship."
"It won't be going to Charon," Sabre remarked.
"No, but it will get us away from Rashid. We can unclamp when we're far enough away."
"What's a settlement ship?" Tassin asked.
"It's full of people going to settle a new world. They probably stopped at Rashid to refuel."
Kole studied the pitted hulk, searching for its name, which appeared as they drifted past, painted on the bow. Striker slowed at his command, matching the settlement ship's orbit.
Kole pushed a button on the console beside him. "Hail, Ragman's Joy."
After a moment, a tinny voice replied, "What do you want, Striker?"
"Requesting ship clamp out of the Rashid solar system."
"Not a chance. But I recommend that you get the hell out of the way, because in about four seconds all hell's going to break loose around here."
Kole glanced at the monitor beside him. "Bloody hell! The enforcers have followed
us! Are they mad?"
"They're going to try to get a grappler on us," Sabre said. "If they do, they'll tow us away."
"Striker, manual override," Kole ordered.
A section of the console in front of Kole’s chair slid aside, and a peculiar, curved instrument, rather like a knife handle with buttons on it, rose through the hole. Kole grasped it, and the ship dived towards the planet, narrowly missing a protruding segment of scaffolding on the settlement ship. As they passed it, pulses of red light shot from it, and other well-disguised gun placements unleashed a barrage of ruby light. More lines of laser light came from behind them, flashing past in streams of deadly brilliance, some striking the settlement ship with flashes of fire. Striker shuddered as she turned towards the settlement ship, and an alarm beeped.
"Engine two has sustained damage. Shutting down," Striker crooned. "Proximity alert. Manoeuvrability compromised."
"Shit." Kole hauled back on the stick, and tongues of fire plumed from either side of Striker's nose.
"Manoeuvring thrusters will be insufficient to avoid collision," Striker said.
"Bring engine two online now!"
"Danger of explosion -"
"Just do it!"
The tinny voice shouted from the console, "Veer off, Striker!"
"I'm trying!" Kole bellowed back. "I've lost an engine!"
"Turn, or I'll blow you away myself!"
"Striker, full emergency reverse!"
Two more alarms joined the cacophony, and Tassin gripped her seat, her stomach churning. Sabre stood watching, a slight frown furrowing his brow. The engines' wail returned, rising to a scream that made Tassin want to clamp her hands over her ears. She was too busy hanging onto her seat, though. The looming hulk steadied and slowed its approach, even as one of the guns hidden amongst the scaffolding turned towards them. Strings of crimson pulses flashed past them, and Striker shuddered again.
"Engine one hit, shutting down."
"Bastards!" Kole bellowed. "Striker, target enforcer ship and fire aft laser!"
The settlement ship fired streams of searing light in a converging web of lines, proving itself to be extremely well armed. Other ships docked nearby also joined the battle, pouring deadly fire at the enemy. Striker's forward motion ceased, and they drifted past the settlement ship. The gun that pointed at them turned away, and Kole slumped.
"Shut down engines, Striker."
"Engines offline. Warning: fire in engine two, deploying extinguishers."
Tassin jumped as a metallic clang echoed through the ship, followed by a dull scraping that shivered the floor.
"They've got a grapple on us," Kole said. "Even if we had engines, we can't escape now."
Tassin glanced at Sabre. "What should we do?"
"Contact the settlement ship and ask for sanctuary, then use the escape pods."
Kole shook his head. "Their captain will never agree. The enforcers will follow us onto his ship."
"How is that enforcer ship able to withstand so much firepower?" Tassin stared at the light show outside.
"It's a battle cruiser. It has tyranium cobalt armour," Sabre explained.
Kole turned to him. "How many troops on that cruiser?"
"Twenty."
"How many cybers?"
"Two A-grades." Sabre glanced at the settlement ship. "Ask the captain, and if he refuses, tell him you have a cyber."
Kole's brows vanished into his mop of blond hair. "Look, I know cybers are great and all that, but is it going to make such a difference against twenty troops and two cybers?"
"Ask him."
Kole turned to the console beside him and touched a button. "Hail Ragman's Joy. Striker crew requesting sanctuary."
After a pause, the tinny voice replied, "Son, I know we're not supposed to refuse sanctuary, but you've got a lot of firepower on your tail, and I don't want it on my ship."
"We have a cyber. Grade A."
A long, pregnant pause ensued, and Tassin bit her lip, watching Sabre, who looked grim. Finally the voice said, "All right, sanctuary granted."
Kole looked up at Sabre. "I don't believe it."
"Let's go."
"Wait." Kole jumped up. "You've got to explain this. One cyber's no match for two, and twenty troops."
Sabre turned in the doorway. "Those guys would like nothing better than to kill some enforcers. They'll take care of the troops, and I'll deal with the cybers."
"It's two against one."
Tassin nodded, adding, "You told me two cybers would fight to the point of exhaustion without either winning."
"In unarmed combat, yes," Sabre said. "With weapons, it just depends on who gets in the fatal shot first."
"Your reflexes are slow."
"Do you want to surrender?"
She shook her head.
"Striker has three two-man escape pods. You should come with me."
Her heart swelled with joy that he wanted her company, then grew heavy as she realised that the cyber was probably urging him to stay close to her. Nevertheless, she jumped up and followed him as Kole said, "Striker, go into high orbit as soon as you're released and assume defensive mode four."
Chapter Eight
Tassin stopped at her room to collect the sword, strapping it on. She followed Sabre down the corridor past all the rooms she had explored, until it ended in a bank of three round doors with strange mechanisms on them. He pressed two keys on two keypads, and the door rotated, then cracked open with a hiss. Swinging it wide, he gestured for her to enter. She crawled into a tiny sphere with two seats and a panel filled with flashing lights. Sabre climbed in after her and pulled the door closed, then turned to the panel and tapped it several times. The lights flashed more energetically, a few remaining lighted. Kole's voice came from it.
"Ragman's Joy, we're in the escape pods and on our way."
The tinny voice replied, "Airlock three will be open when you arrive."
Sabre turned to Tassin. "Buckle in; the belt's next to you."
Another dull clang rang through the ship as Tassin found the belt and pulled it across her chest, her stomach a tight knot. Sabre strapped himself into the other seat and tapped the panel beside him again.
"Brace yourself."
Tassin gripped the armrests, and then a terrific jolt jerked her sideways, making her gasp.
Sabre shot her a wry smile. "Escape pods aren't equipped with inertia dampeners or artificial gravity."
She gulped as a strange floating sensation made her stomach heave, and, if not for the straps, she would have drifted right out of her seat. Gripping it harder, she said, "You're going to have to pretend to be a cyber."
He shrugged, looking away. "I'll be pretty good at it. Don't forget to give the orders."
"I - I'll try."
There were no windows in the pod, and Sabre watched the instrument panel, occasionally tapping in instructions. Tassin tried to imagine what was going on outside as they drifted towards an open door in the settlement ship through a web of laser fire. The walls seemed to close in, and she shut her eyes. A jolt jerked them open as weight returned. Sabre tapped the panel, watched it for a minute, then nodded and released his straps.
"Come on, we're on the settlement ship."
Tassin struggled with the clasp, and he unclipped it for her, then took her arm and supported her as she stumbled to the door. He opened it and climbed out, helping her through it. Tassin straightened and glanced around at a cavernous hold, its walls lined with catwalks and crowds of poorly dressed, but well-armed, tough looking men. Most had laser cannons slung across their backs; a few had side arms strapped to their thighs. Motley piles of boxes filled the corners, some partially covered with tarpaulins, some empty, and Striker’s other escape pod was closer to the centre of the hold. The two gleaming white pods looked out of place in the scarred, grubby surrounds.
Kole stood a few paces away, talking to a tall, bearded man with a paunch, who wore a ragtag collection of uniforms cobbled together into a facsimil
e of a captain's rig. He glanced over at them, and his pale brown eyes glinted.
"Ah, there he is." He approached and inspected Sabre, who assumed a guard pose behind her. Kole followed, shooting her a glazed-eyed look that she could not quite fathom.
The captain turned to her. "You're his owner?"
"That's right."
He stuck out a grimy hand. "Captain Ravel."
Tassin shook it gingerly, wincing at his crushing grip, and introduced herself.
Ravel returned to his perusal of Sabre. "They're so bloody small," he marvelled. "Amazing. He's not very well-equipped though; no armour."
"Thank you for helping us."
"I wouldn't miss this for anything. As you see, we have plenty of volunteers to deal with those scum enforcers."
"Miss what?"
"A cyber fight." He shot her an incredulous look. "You've never seen one?"
"No."
"You're in for a treat."
"It's two against one. I hope your men will also help."
He shrugged. "They'll do their best, I'm sure. I just hope we can tell 'em apart."
Tassin went cold. "Then perhaps -"
"Mark him," Kole interrupted.
Ravel nodded. "Good idea." He beckoned to one of the men who hovered closer than the rest. "Fetch me a can of spray paint."
"Paint?" Tassin demanded in horror.
Kole gripped her elbow. "Hush."
The man returned after a minute with a can of bright pink paint, and Ravel handed it to her. "You'll have to do it."
Tassin took the can, puzzled by it, and Kole took it away from her. "I'll do it."
Ravel raised his brows. "You've got command privilege?"
Kole glanced at Sabre. "Yes."
"Unless I override him," Tassin added.
The Cyber Chronicles 04: Cyborg Page 12