Chapter Seven

 

The bald, pugnacious man in charge of the arena fight entries raked Sabre with a hard glance, then hawked and spat. "He looks like a damned cyber. Only real men can compete."

"He's not a cyber," Kole said. "He's had a few cosmetic changes made, that's all."

"He don't talk much, does he?"

Kole turned to Sabre, who stood staring into space. He wore his combat clothes again, since he would require their stretch properties in a fight, and a strip of black cloth hid the band, this time tied in place to prevent it being pulled off.

"Tell the man you're not a cyber," Kole said.

"I'm not a cyber."

The official grunted. "Okay. You're number eleven, go and wait in the pits."

Kole led the way to the edge of the brightly lighted indoor arena, a circular area with a beige pliafoam floor surrounded by tiers of black and red seats. The floor was designed to mimic sand, hard yet pliable, preventing scrapes without getting the combatants dirty. Its surface was pitted with shallow footprints and dents from previous fights. Vast lights shone down from a high ceiling, and bright advertisements scrolled across billboards around the edge of the arena, above the top tier of seats. A crowd of several thousand, mainly men, filled most of the seating, murmured and bought drinks and snacks from circulating vendors. Several brawny men waited in a walled-off area, some doing warm up exercises. A lot of them were battered and scarred, veterans of the arena, Tassin assumed, and a few were fresh-faced youths.

Most had tattoos, and many had shaved heads. Another official took Sabre's number and opened the gate, allowing him to join the rest of the fighters, who cast him measuring looks before returning to their exercises. Kole found seats for himself and Tassin in a tier above the pits, and they sat down to watch the torpid, grunting wrestling match in the arena. Tassin hated asking Sabre to fight, but each victory would earn him fifty thousand credits, and the overall winner got two hundred thousand.

Only three days had passed since they had gone to Shasen's lab, and Sabre's thigh wound was only partially healed. The drugs Shasen had given him seemed to have done little good, but the rest had helped. Even so, she was worried about him. Kole had been distant but polite since their last conversation, and she missed his easy camaraderie. Sabre seemed to be avoiding her, too, and she wondered why.

The fight in the arena ended when one man admitted defeat, and another pair was summoned. Tassin sat through four more fights, and listened to the conversations of the men around her, which proved to be more entertaining. She had never enjoyed the sight of half-naked, sweaty men indulging in grunting duels of brute strength. The other spectators seemed to agree with her; they mourned the lack of skill shown by fighters who merely grappled until one managed to choke or force the other into submission through the application of pain. They were soon in for a treat, she mused.

The fourth fight ended, and the announcer called out the numbers of the next two fighters, one of whom was Sabre. He wandered into the arena accompanied by a large, well-muscled man who swaggered and cracked his knuckles, raising his fists to incite applause from the crowd.

"This should be better," the man behind Tassin commented. "Torban's good. Who's his opponent?"

"Never seen him before," the other man said.

"He looks like a bloody cyber."

Sabre had stripped to the waist, revealing the hard-edged musculature of his broad-shouldered, slim-hipped physique, and the red scars of the laser wounds he had had when she bought him were clearly visible. In the centre of the arena, he turned to face his opponent, and she hoped he would not be hurt in his attempt to appear to be a normal man. Torban, who was a good ten centimetres taller than him, and probably weighed half again as much, sneered as he performed the perfunctory bow required before the fight began. He straightened and circled, Sabre mirroring him in the opposite direction. After two complete turns, Torban lunged at Sabre, trying to grab him. The cyber skipped aside and landed a lightning-fast blow on the side of Torban's head. The big man grunted and staggered. If not for the need to hide what he really was, Sabre could have won the fight with that blow, she knew. Torban sidled closer and made a clumsy attempt to kick Sabre, which he easily avoided.

Torban charged, and Sabre dived aside, snapped into a forward roll and sprang to his feet with a smooth motion that seemed to defy gravity. Torban swung around and came at Sabre again. This time he stood his ground, stepped aside at the last moment and punched Torban in the ribs as he galloped past. The big man staggered again, then turned with a roar of rage and lunged. Sabre performed a graceful backflip, one of his feet hitting Torban in the chin. The big man collapsed, and an official ran into the arena to check on him, then went over to Sabre and raised his arm in victory. The crowd applauded with more enthusiasm as Sabre left the arena.

"He fights like a damned cyber, too," the man behind Tassin muttered. "Torban never had a chance."

Another two sluggish brawls took place before Sabre entered the arena again, this time with a slender, youthful opponent who seemed too young to be a threat. The men behind Tassin had other ideas, however.

"It's Terin! Now we're going to see some action at last."

Tassin studied the young man, whose physique rivalled Sabre's, tattoos adorning his arms. The crowd cheered and applauded as he walked around the arena with his arms raised. Sabre waited for him in the middle of the arena, and, when Terin finished his premature victory lap, he bowed to his opponent. As Sabre straightened, Terin kicked him on the chin, sending him staggering back.

Tassin sat up with a gasp of dismay as Terin followed that up with a spinning kick. Sabre ducked and launched himself at Terin as he landed off balance. His kick sent Terin sprawling, but the young fighter rolled to his feet with remarkable agility, backing away. Sabre wiped blood off his lips and scowled at the youth. Terin launched himself again, trying to catch Sabre in a scissor neck hold. The cyber flung himself into a backflip, and his feet hit Terin's leg and sent him into a spin. He fell heavily, rolling to his feet.

"That guy's good," the man behind Tassin said.

The fighters exchanged several glancing blows, their skill and agility bringing roars of approval from the crowd. Sabre matched his opponent, appearing only slightly better than him, and Tassin marvelled at his self-control. When Terin made the mistake of straying within the cyber's grasp, however, Sabre pulled him into a choke hold until he signalled his submission. As they left the arena, Tassin turned to Kole.

"I'm going to see if he's all right. Couldn't you take what he's won and use it to make more gambling?"

"I could, but I might lose it."

"Only two more fights then."

"Then he'll only have one more to win the grand prize." He glanced at the arena as two more men strode out to do battle. "I'll need to refuel on Charon Six to get home."

She nodded. "All right. It's the least we can do."

Tassin made her way to the pits, where Sabre leant against the wall, sipping water. A medic moved amongst the fighters, examined their injuries and applied first aid to those who needed it. Only a few men remained in the pits; evidently the losers had left. Sabre approached her, raising his brows.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Of course."

"You were bleeding."

"It's nothing. I wasn't paying attention."

"Kole wants you to win the main prize so he can refuel again on Charon Six."

Sabre cocked his head. "Once you've repaid him, he'll have plenty of money."

"That's true. Maybe he forgot. I did."

He smiled, making her heart flutter. "Yes, I suppose he must have."

Tassin knew from his tone that he did not believe it for a moment, and returned to her seat beside Kole, who glanced at her.

"How is he?"

"Fine. But he doesn't have to win the main fight. You'll have plenty of money when I sell the sword on Charon Six."

"Ah. Yeah, well, he doesn't have to win it, but he has to fight, because by then there will only be two fighters, so he can't withdraw."

She frowned. "Even if he forfeits?"

"Not allowed. The crowd will want a final match between the two best fighters. The only way he can get out of it is if he's too badly injured. If he withdraws, he'll lose all his winnings."

"Why didn't you tell us this before?"

"It didn't come up, and I didn't think it was important, since it wouldn't have made any difference. He'd still have had to fight."

"He could pretend to be injured."

"No one's hit him."

"That young man hit him in the face."

Kole snorted. "Even if he pretended to have a sudden bout of appendicitis, you don't want the doctors examining him."

Tassin nodded and turned to watch the next contest, finding it hard to concentrate on the show. The fight proved to be a particularly violent and bloody one, and the loser was carried off unconscious. Sabre toyed with two more opponents before beating them, giving a good impression of a normal, but skilled fighter, even though he had yet to break a sweat. After the second fight, she went down to the pits again to break the news about the final, which he accepted with a philosophical shrug. The only other man in the pits was the brutal looking individual who had beaten his opponent unconscious. He glared at Sabre's back, and the savage glint in his eyes made her shiver.

Tassin returned to her seat, only to find that they had to wait fifteen minutes before the last match, to allow Sabre, who had been the last of the two to fight, to rest. The crowd murmured, and money changed hands as bets were laid. Tassin wished she had some to wager on Sabre to make his effort more worthwhile. When at last the two men entered the arena, Sabre looked relaxed, while his opponent shouted insults at the crowd, which roared and threw paper cups.

"Bloody Gorag," the man behind Tassin muttered. "He's a bastard, but he can fight."

"He's never been beaten," the other man replied. "My money's on him."

"I don't know. That little chap's done pretty well for himself."

"He'll have his work cut out. I don't think he'll win this one. The odds are twenty to one against him."

"Yeah, but I'd sure like to see Gorag lose."

In the arena, Gorag tired of goading the crowd and turned to face Sabre, a nasty smirk on his brutal countenance. He towered over the cyber, flexing his muscles in an attempt at intimidation that made the crowd boo and Sabre smile. Tassin found that she was holding her breath and let it out as the men bowed. Gorag lunged at Sabre, who skipped back. Gorag scowled and mouthed obscenities, following Sabre around the arena. He lunged again, trying to punch Sabre in the throat. The cyber swayed aside, allowing the blow to skim past his neck, and punched Gorag in the solar plexus. The big man doubled over, and the crowd roared its approval.

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."

The Cyber Chronicles IV - Cyborg
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