The Cyber Chronicles V
Overlord
T C Southwell
Published by T C Southwell at Smashwords
Copyright © 2011 by T C Southwell
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter One
"We're not going to make it." Tarl stared at the screen beside him, his expression grim.
Kole turned his chair, raising a brow. "Do we need to refuel?"
Tarl shook his head. Tassin looked up, dragged from her daydream. They sat on the well-worn, but spacious bridge of Tarl’s old ship, Blue Sun, surrounded by banks of consoles and monitors. Like a few other areas of the ship, the bridge had benefited from a refurbishment a decade or so ago, and some of the wall panelling and consoles were fairly new, while others were original, and ancient. Dull blue carpet covered the floor, and the bulkheads between the silver-grey consoles were off-white. The dimmed brilliance of super-light travel filled the massive front screen. The journey to Omega Five had proven to be far longer than Tassin had thought possible, and they had been travelling for five days. It made the sword's feat of finding Sabre and transporting her to him all the more astonishing, because, according to Kole and Tarl, Omega Five was on the far edge of the galactic rim. They had entered and exited seven corridors so far, each one taking them a little closer, but none headed in quite the right direction.
Navigation had proven difficult, and Kole had helped, yet they were not quite halfway there. They had stopped to refuel four times, since each entry and exit required fuel for acceleration and deceleration. Sabre had slept most of the time, even though his injuries did not warrant it; Tarl had kept him sedated. Tassin's injuries were half healed, and no longer hurt, while his were almost completely gone. Tarl had cited the need for relaxation time, so Sabre could adjust to his recovered memories and his co-ordination and reflexes could return to normal, along with bolstering his strength with rest and extra nutrition, as the reason for the cyber's enforced slumber, but he had not objected. Tassin longed to spend time with him, but, since Sabre seemed to need to be left alone to sort out whatever was bothering him, she would give him space.
She cast Tarl a puzzled glance. "What is it then?"
"The scanners have just picked up four enforcer battleships behind us, catching up fast."
Her heart sank. "How did they find us?"
"Gaylor," Kole and Tarl said in unison.
"But he didn't know where we were going."
"He probably had a talk to Manutim," Tarl said.
"We should have dropped him off somewhere else," Tassin muttered, scowling.
"Yeah, like a nice cosy ice planet," Kole said.
Tarl nodded. "Or an asteroid."
"Even better."
"What are we going to do?" she asked.
Kole snorted. "In an unarmed freighter, against four battleships? Absolutely nothing."
"Can't we escape them somehow?"
"How?"
"I don't know."
Kole shook his head, glancing at Tarl. "Neither do I."
"We need a miracle," Tarl agreed.
Tassin's heart turned cold as the implications sank in. "What will they do to us?"
Kole shrugged. "We're going to jail, unless they’ve found out that we killed Malatar. Tarl’s going to be executed, and Sabre... Who knows? Either they'll fix him again, or kill him."
Tassin jumped up. "We can't just sit here and do nothing."
"What do you suggest?"
"There must be something!"
Kole shook his head. "No, there isn't. Even if this ship was armed we wouldn't stand a chance."
"If only I still had the sword."
"Yeah, that might have helped. But you don't."
The console in front of Tarl crackled, and a tinny voice said, "Blue Sun, exit this corridor at once and surrender."
Kole leant forward and touched the ‘send’ key. "Bite me."
Tarl chuckled, and Tassin was confused. "What can they do to us if we don't stop?"
"We have to stop sometime, and they know it. Of course, they can overtake and lay mines, or come alongside and use magnetic grapples, although that will be difficult with the solar wings deployed."
"They can do that from behind if they get close enough," Kole said.
"True," Tarl agreed.
"So what are we going to do?" Tassin demanded.
"Well, I'm inclined to make them wait, that's for sure."
"We should wake Sabre up. He'll know what to do."
Tarl shook his head. "Marvellous though cybers are, in this situation he can't do any more than we can. I'd rather let him sleep. I don't want him doing anything foolish."
"Like what?"
He frowned. "He's borderline suicidal. This is enough to push him over the edge."
Tassin turned away, fighting a rising tide of despair.
Tarl stood up and touched her arm, looking concerned. "What is it?"
She faced him, her eyes stinging. "It's just... I... Last time, when Manutim came for him... He asked me to kill him."
"That doesn't surprise me."
Tears escaped and ran down her cheeks. "But I won't just hand him over like he is."
"No. I wouldn't do that to him. He has a right to choose his fate."
"Even if he chooses to die?"
"There's no escape."
"I want to talk to him."
Tarl hesitated, then nodded. "Of course you do. I'll wake him up."
She detained him with a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry... that it came to this. You should have left us on Vygon Four."
He shrugged, casting her a wry smile. "This was always my fate. It was only a matter of time."
"But I think we shortened it."
"It was worth the risk. We might have made it."
Tarl walked away down the corridor, and she glanced at Kole, who sat with his head bowed, studying the worn carpet. She followed Tarl, who injected the drip that was still attached to Sabre's arm. According to Tarl, Sabre was now in peak condition, thanks to his care. He nodded to her and left. Tassin sat on the edge of the bunk, brushing tears from her cheeks. Several minutes passed, then Sabre sighed, and his eyes flicked open. She forced a wan smile.
He studied her. "What's wrong?"
She shook her head. "Nothing."
"There must be something wrong for you to wake me up."
"You've slept a long time."
"Okay, what is it? You can't hide it from me. It's written all over your face. Something terrible has happened."
She bowed her head, and fresh tears coursed down her cheeks.
Sabre sa
t up, frowning. "The enforcers have found us, haven't they?"
Miserably, she nodded.
"So what's the plan?"
"There is no plan. It's four battleships, and we're still in a corridor."
His brows drew together. "How long did you wait before you woke me up?"
"Not long. Ten minutes, perhaps. I wanted to talk to you."
Sabre swung his legs off the bed and stood up. "Not now. We can still escape if we find a friendly planet, an outlaw world or a habitable planet."
Joy flooded Tassin's heart. "I knew you'd know what to do."
"Yeah, when the going gets tough, wake up the weapon."
"It's not like that, I..."
Sabre brushed past her and strode out, leaving her to hurry after him. Tarl and Kole cast him startled glances when he entered the bridge. Sabre gripped Tarl's arm and dragged him out of the command seat, then sat in his place, running his hands over the console.
Tarl looked puzzled. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for somewhere to land. If we can get off the ship, we've got a chance to escape on foot."
"As soon as we exit the corridor, they'll attack."
"I didn't say it wasn't risky. We just have to find a world that's close to the corridor, and we might make it." He touched the panel, and a field of stars sprang into being in the air before him. Tarl studied it, shaking his head when Sabre pointed at a speck of light close to the curving green lines that depicted the corridor they were in.
"That's seventeen light hours away. We'll never make it."
"It's a chance. It's a desert world, pretty hostile, but it will have to do."
"If they don't catch us, we'll starve," Tarl said.
"Not necessarily. There's animal life on it."
"Alien beasts. We can't eat them."
Sabre glanced up at him. "Where there's life, there's usually something edible. Would you rather surrender?"
Kole said, "I say we try it."
Tarl shrugged. "Makes no difference I suppose."
The console hissed. "Blue Sun, exit the corridor and surrender, or we will board you."
Sabre ran his hands over the board, laying in a course for the distant planet. The new course appeared as a glowing red line in the field of stars, veering towards the edge of the corridor. Sabre tapped some more keys, and the soft hum of the engines died away.
Tarl looked alarmed. "You're taking the solar wings offline?"
Sabre nodded. "Amongst other things." He ran his hands over the board again, and the engine noise returned, rising to a scream.
"We should be trying to outrun them, not decelerating," Tarl pointed out.
"We can't outrun them, but if they're ahead of us we have a better chance of giving them the slip."
"They'll have seen our change of course."
Sabre nodded again. "But they won't expect this."
"I guess you're the expert."
"This is what I'm designed for."
A lump of mingled pride and sorrow blocked Tassin’s throat. The only time Sabre ever really came to life, she now realised, was when there was a dangerous situation to deal with. Then he became super-efficient, gave orders and took charge. His fingers flew over the board, coaxing every last ounce of power out of the old freighter. After a few minutes a shadow appeared in the swirling brightness ahead, fingers of darkness spreading from it.
"One enforcer has overshot us, the other three are alongside," Sabre said. "They're using cyber pilots."
"If they're alongside and our solar wings are offline, they can get grapplers on us," Tarl said with a frown.
Sabre said, "Our lack of wings has made them come close to do just that. Too close."
The cyber's fingers tapped the sparkling panel, and the engines' scream died away, to be replaced by the soft hum.
Tarl made a strangled sound, his eyes wide. "You can't deploy the solar wings now! You'll set up a conflict -"
"Of electromagnetic resonance," Sabre finished for him. "I'm aware of that."
"It will destroy our wings!"
"No. It might do some damage, but when solar wings are deployed -"
"They use a surge of power," Tarl finished this time. "You'll destroy their wings..."
"Exactly."
The ship rocked and the hum wavered. Sabre's hands raced over the console, causing lights to flash erratically. Tarl gripped the back of Sabre's chair, staring at the wildly fluctuating instruments.
"My god; you're using the ship as a weapon."
"Solar wings are now offline, damage minimal,” Sabre said. “Two of the enforcers have lost one of theirs, I would guess."
Tarl glanced at Tassin. "To Sabre, everything is a potential weapon; even a rusty old tub of a ship."
"Can we escape them?" she asked, mingled fear and hope making her heart pound.
Sabre shrugged. "Perhaps. We're only ten light hours from the planet now."
The console hissed. "Cyber, surrender to us, and your companions will go free. We only -"
Tarl tapped the console, cutting off the voice. "Don't listen to them. They're liars."
Sabre turned to look up at him with a slight frown. "I can make up my own mind."
"Of course you can! I just..."
"Wanted to make it up for me?"
"No..." He looked away. "You're right."
Sabre touched the panel, and the voice continued, "...We would be willing to grant complete amnesty to your friends if you hand yourself over peacefully, and we guarantee that you'll be treated well."
"What do you want with me?"
A short pause followed, during which Tassin could imagine the commander's confusion as he came to terms with the fact that he was speaking to a cyber host and tried to think of a believable answer.
"The techs just want to question you, to find out how you got free."
"To make sure it doesn't happen again."
"I wouldn't know. I just do as I'm ordered."
Sabre laced his fingers. "Then contact your masters and ask them what happens to me when they're finished."
"They would be willing to allow you to remain free, as long as it doesn't become public."
Tarl snorted. "Yeah, right."
"Commander Averly," the tinny voice said, "it's in your best interest to help us to persuade him to comply. If he doesn't, your fate and that of his companions is grim. We won't hesitate to destroy your ship and all aboard if he tries another stunt like the one he just pulled."
"Damaged your ships badly, didn't he?"
"Let's just say he would be wise not to try it again. You're outnumbered and outgunned."
Tarl chortled. "I'd say you're the one who's coming off worse at the moment."
"Only because we've chosen not to strike back, but that will change. Bear in mind, he doesn't really care if he dies."
"We're all in this together," Tarl said. "And I trust him. He wouldn't let any harm come to us, and right now, he's in charge."
"Of course he is. There's nothing you can do to stop him, is there?"
Sabre cocked an eyebrow at Tarl.
Tarl looked away. "He would hand back control if I asked him to."
Sabre gave an imperceptible nod of appreciation and agreement.
"Then I strongly recommend that you do that," the enforcer commander said, "and hand him over to us. He won't be harmed, and you'll all go free. You have my word."
"No."
"Come now, Commander, how far do you think you'll get on that desert planet ahead? If we don't catch you, you'll die a slow and painful death from thirst and hunger. And if we do catch you, the sentence of death will be carried out. His companions will be imprisoned for life, and he'll be returned to Myon Two for experiments."
"If we fall into your hands, that's going to happen anyway. Don't think for one moment that I believe any of your lies, Commander."
After a pause, the tinny voice said, "Very well. Then the decision is yours, cyber."
"I'll consider it." Sabre touched the cons
ole, cutting the connection.
"Why did you tell him that?" Tarl asked. "Surely you're not -"
"To buy some time."
"Oh. Right."
Sabre ran his hands over the console. "We're approaching an exit vector, starting deceleration."
The engine noise rose to a scream again, and the swirling light in the screens faded away, shrinking back into the pin points of stars as they left the corridor and slowed below light speed. The process took quite some time, and Tassin caught herself chewing her nails, wondering if and when the battleships would attack.
The light shields slid up, revealing battleships all around them. A flash of light came from one, followed by the reverberating clang of a magnetic grapple attaching to Blue Sun's hull. Tassin glanced at Sabre, expecting him to look angry or worried, but he merely ran his hands over the board again. The engines' scream died away, and a grating sound ended in another clang.
"They'll soon learn the folly of that tactic," he muttered.
"Then they'll shoot out our engines," Tarl said.
Sabre nodded. "Then we leave in the life pods."
A flashing light on the console drew his attention, and he tapped it. The panel hissed. "This is your last chance, cyber. Hand yourself over now. If you land on that planet, the deal is off."
Sabre touched the panel again, and new lights appeared on it, making Tarl frown.
"All systems, all vectors, all ships," Sabre said. "This is a universal distress message from the cargo ship Blue Sun. We are under attack at co-ordinates beta gamma 79-53-11. Imperative one, imperative one, imperative one, we require urgent assistance."
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