The Cyber Chronicles IX - Precipice (22 page)

"I suppose you
could be right, but I think you’re also experiencing another new
emotion. It's called pride, and most people call it foolish."

Sabre turned to
Thestan. "Are the men ready?"

"Yes, sir."

"Right, let's
go."

Sabre followed
the boarding party along plush corridors carpeted in royal blue,
with sleek grey walls and a glowing ceiling. Tarvin's ship reeked
of wealth and decadence, its décor almost as rich as an Overlord's,
but not in such good taste. The enforcers marched ahead in a tight
bunch, Thestan at the fore, guided by a liveried flunky. The cybers
brought up the rear with Tarl between them. Sabre had hoped to slip
away in the corridors, but the fifteen guards who had met them at
the docking gate and now followed at his heels had foiled that
plan.

They arrived
outside a pair of golden doors, where two cybers stood guard, and
the doors swung open at their approach. The flunky stepped aside,
and Thestan led the band into a vast, gloomy chamber, pausing to
glance back.

"Cybers, wait
here."

Sabre stopped,
but the officer in charge of their escort said, "No, everyone goes
in."

Tarl turned to
him. "Your king allows strange cybers in his presence?"

"Yes. Keep
going."

Thestan issued
the order, and Tarl shot Sabre a worried look. Sabre cursed
silently, his alarms jangling. The control unit flashed a warning
as he entered the room and the scanners detected twenty-two cybers
hidden in niches around it. That was not unexpected, but allowing
Pathos' cybers to enter Tarvin's inner sanctum was. A slender man
sat in a floating throne in the centre of the room, a warm yellow
spotlight above him. Dimmer spotlights illuminated the area in
front of him, where Thestan stopped and bowed.

"King
Tarvin."

Tarvin inclined
his head. "Greetings, Commander Thestan."

Sabre assumed a
resting pose at the back of the group, beside the Myon Two cyber,
and listened to the discussion between Thestan and Tarvin without
much interest. He had switched the brow band's lights to an
in-control configuration, and studied the scanners. Tassin's life
sign remained in the same position, but the ship's schematic told
him that she was in the hospital. That worried him, and he wished
Thestan would think of an excuse to get him out of the meeting
room. He stared through the back of the Tarl's neck, sensing his
intense anxiety.

The cyber
tech’s nervousness was well founded, given all the cybers in the
room. Sabre counted the ship's complement, which turned out to be
over six hundred. Thestan had better come up with a reason for him
to leave the meeting, because a cyber would not take the
initiative. Several life signs were gathered around Tassin, and
that worried him even more. What were they doing to her? Was she
ill? Injured? Despite the pills, concern gnawed at him. He became
aware that the conversation had taken on a new direction, and
focussed on Tarvin.

The young king
had unfolded his floater chair, and now it held him in a standing
position, his feet a few centimetres above the floor. He drifted
towards Tarl, and the enforcers stepped aside.

"So, you are
the cause of all this commotion." He stopped in front of the cyber
tech. "How did Endrovar come to own you?"

"Slavers
kidnapped me and sold me to him, sir… um, Sire."

"Hmmm. A rogue
cyber tech. You are indeed a rare commodity. I can understand why
Endrovar wants you back so badly, since he has cybers, and abuses
them so often. Now that the enforcers have you, what happens?"

Tarl shifted.
"I'll be taken to Myon Two and executed."

"What a waste."
Tarvin glanced at Thestan. "Could I persuade you to release him
into my custody, Commander? Commute his sentence to a life of
servitude, perhaps?"

Thestan looked
uncomfortable. "I don't have that authority, Sire."

"Right, of
course you don't. I shall contact Myon Two. They usually accede to
my requests." He turned back to Tarl. "How would you like
that?"

"It would be
good, Sire."

"Naturally."
Tarvin's eyes flicked past him to Sabre and the other cyber,
lingering on Sabre. "I suppose you brought these two to guard him,
Commander?"

"Yes, Sire,"
Thestan replied.

"A bit
overzealous, I would say. A cyber tech is hardly a warrior. And
yet, I wonder why you brought him along. Shouldn't he be in your
brig?"

Thestan said,
"I - I thought you would want to see him, since he's the reason for
Endrovar’s attack on you."

"Indeed?"
Tarvin glanced at the shadows. "An unlikely story. Shadow Five, was
that the truth?"

A cyber stepped
out of the gloom. "That was a lie, Majesty."

"I thought as
much." Tarvin turned to Thestan. "Why are you lying to me?"

Thestan drew
himself up. "The brig is in the area of the ship that's full of
gas, Sire."

"A lie," Shadow
Five stated.

Tarvin cocked
an eyebrow at Thestan. "Really, Commander, you should know better
than to lie in front of a cyber."

Tarl said,
"Your cyber is mistaken, sir, Commander Thestan isn't lying."

Tarvin swung to
face him. "And why would you defend him?"

The cyber tech
hesitated, clearly unable to think of a good response, then
shrugged. "It's just the way it is."

"A cyber is
never wrong, you should know that."

"Then how about
a second opinion?" Tarl turned to Sabre. "Cyber Two, was Commander
Thestan lying?"

Sabre cursed
silently, longing to wring Tarl's neck. Of all the dumb stupid
things to do. Tarl clearly had not thought the situation through,
or perhaps nervousness had addled his brain. He knew what Tarl
wanted, and perhaps there was a reason why he thought it would
work. There was no telling what was going on in the cyber tech's
devious mind, but he would go along with it and see what
happened.

He said, "No,
sir."

Tarvin's brows
rose. "How odd. How can a cyber lie?"

"He can't,"
Tarl said. "Yours must be malfunctioning."

"Truly?" The
young King glanced into the shadows again. "Shadow Four, did
Commander Thestan and Cyber Two lie?"

A second cyber
stepped out of the darkness. "Yes, Majesty. Both lied."

Tarvin turned
to Tarl. "So is he malfunctioning too? Perhaps you'd like to ask
your other cyber, and I'll ask another of mine... but I have more
than you do so..." He paused, and his eyes flicked back to Sabre.
"But a cyber can't lie. So how did yours?"

"He didn't,"
Tarl said.

"Oh, yes he
did. Both of mine confirm it."

"I meant, he
can't lie, so he must be the one who's malfunctioning. I recommend
that Commander Thestan sends him back to the ship."

"Ah." Tarvin
cocked his head. "Do you take me for a fool? You also said Thestan
was telling the truth, and called upon your cyber to confirm it,
which he did, except that he was malfunctioning, or lying, and so,
I suspect, are you."

"I don't really
know Commander Thestan's reasons. I just know that Myon Two
personnel, and in particular enforcers, are supposed to be
truthful, so I assumed -"

Tarvin raised a
hand. "Don't insult my intelligence. Shadow Four, is this man
lying?"

"Yes,
Majesty."

The young King
frowned. "So is anyone going to tell me the truth, or should I just
throw the lot of you in the brig? Two cybers won't stop me, you
know."

Sabre reached
Tarvin in a long stride, yanked a laser from his thigh holster and
pressed it to the side of the King's head in a smooth motion. "I
will."

Tarvin's mouth
dropped open, and his eyes widened. "What the -?"

"One move from
your cybers and you die. Order them to leave, now!"

"I..." Tarvin
gulped. "Shadows, return to quarters."

"Majesty, you
are threatened," Shadow Four protested.

"I order
you!"

The two cybers
swung away and headed for the door, and the others stepped from
their dim niches to follow. Sabre ground the laser muzzle into the
side of Tarvin's head and leant closer as the door slid shut.

"That took you
by surprise, huh?"

Tarvin's eyes
rolled towards him, white-ringed. "No one gave you an order!"

"Yeah, strange,
isn't it? That's what you relied upon when you allowed two strange
cybers into your meeting room. It takes a couple of seconds for a
man to issue an order, but only a split second for yours to react.
You thought you were safe."

Tarvin stared
at the brow band. "You're not a cyber."

"Oh, but I am.
Just a bit different from the ones you're used to." Sabre changed
the lights on the control unit.

"You're him.
You're the free cyber Tassin spoke of."

"Clever king. I
knew she'd mention me. Now, you're going to order her release, and
have her escorted here. Do it."

Tarvin nodded.
"Of course."

Sabre frowned,
becoming aware of a warning light deep in his brain, and turned his
attention to it. The flashing words said 'Myon Two elite'. He
turned to the Pathos cyber.

"Cyber Three,
return to the ship."

Tarl looked
puzzled as the cyber left, and still a little stunned by Sabre's
sudden action. "What is it?"

"He's Myon Two
elite," Sabre explained.

"Ah. So he
wasn't just relying on his cybers. He knew no cyber would attack
him. Except he didn't know about you."

"Well he did,
because Tassin told him, but I guess he didn't believe her. Big
mistake."

"It's
impossible," Tarvin said. "You're an anomaly... an
abomination."

"You have no
idea how much I dislike being called that." Sabre jabbed the laser
muzzle into Tarvin's temple.

Tarl frowned at
the King. "Why would Myon Two make him elite? He's not management,
or even related to management, as far as I know."

"Probably the
same reason they gave him forty-one A-grade cybers, and I don't
really care what it is." He glared at Tarvin. "Order the ship to
set course for the nearest corridor."

"You'll never
get away with this, you know," Tarvin said. "The moment you leave
I'll blow your ship to oblivion."

"Thanks for the
tip. I'll just keep you as a hostage until we're safely away, then
dump you in a life pod."

"I shall lodge
a complaint with Myon Two, and they'll hunt you down."

"I'm already on
their shit list, trust me. But they won't, so don't bother."

Tarvin scowled
at him. Clearly his shock had worn off, and now he was angry. "If
we try to leave, Endrovar will attack. He's already demanding to
see me, because of him." He jerked his chin at Tarl.

Sabre glowered
at Tarl. "He's right."

"What are you
going to do then?" the cyber tech asked.

"If we try to
leave in Pathos,” Sabre said, “Endrovar will attack us too."

Sabre pondered
the situation, disliking it. No matter what he did, someone would
attack them, and, although they stood a better chance in Shadow
Hawk, Endrovar would follow. Threats to Tarvin's life would mean
nothing to the Emperor, but they would to Tarvin’s crew. He turned
to the young King.

"This is what's
going to happen. We're leaving on Pathos, and you're going to tell
your men to keep Endrovar here. I hope they're loyal, because your
life will depend on it. Endrovar doesn't want to destroy Pathos,
because he wants Tarl back, but he'll do his best to blow up your
ship, so your men had better be prepared to die to keep you
safe."

"They will,"
Tarvin said. "But how do I know you won't kill me when you're
safe?"

"You'll just
have to take my word for it. You don't have a lot of choices.”
Sabre pulled Tarvin over to the com-station and keyed it. “Give the
order to your commander."

"Commander
Andon," Tarvin said, "I have been taken hostage. I will be leaving
on Pathos. Ensure that Endrovar does not fire on us, or
follow."

"Sire? Are you
unharmed?"

"For the
moment, yes. I have been assured that I will come to no harm, and
they will release me when you
take the girl hostage
!"

Sabre slapped
the coms-key and jabbed the laser into the side of the King's head.
"If anything happens to her, you will die."

"If anything
happens to me, so will she. Did you think I would just do as you
wanted?"

"You would
have, if you weren't so bloody stupid."

"You can do
nothing to me now. Release me, and I'll consider allowing you to
live. I might even let you go, so Endrovar can use you for target
practice. She called you her fiancé, so I think you won't endanger
her. She's the reason you came here, and tricked me into giving you
sanctuary. With the aid of enforcers, too, which is strange."

Rage and
despair made Sabre’s heart labour and his head pound. The situation
was at an impasse, since both sides now had a critically important
hostage. He had not thought the crippled King would have the
courage to defy him, but then, Tassin was mostly to blame, for if
Tarvin had not known how important she was he would not have taken
her hostage. Sabre would not have mentioned her at all, except that
Tarvin already knew about their relationship. Now she was in grave
danger, and the black tide of his emotions threatened to overwhelm
him again. He dug in his medical pouch and took two more yellow
pills, ignoring Tarl's alarmed look.

"So you had
best release me," Tarvin went on in a calm tone. "My commander will
also have summoned an Overlord. Threatening a planetary leader,
especially a high king, is a grave crime. If I'm killed, it will
plunge the Estron System into an interstellar war."

Tarl sidled
closer to Sabre and muttered, "Call him."

"Not yet. He
might be the one who comes, anyway."