Chapter Six

 

Martis looked up when the door slid open to admit Kole, who strolled over to the padded table where Sabre lay and gazed down at him. The two cybers who guarded the door remained immobile. They would only keep out the enforcers if ordered to do so, since all of them had command privileges.

Kole frowned at Sabre. "No change?"

"As you can see,” Martis said. “Trust me, if he woke up, I'd let you know, or he would. Coming in here every few hours to ask that question isn't going to wake him up any faster."

"I just thought he might have farted or something, just to let us know he's still alive."

"Nope. Any luck with your Net contacts?"

Kole settled on a stool beside the table. "No nibbles yet, but it's only been a few days. The word has to spread."

"The longer we wait, the further away Tassin is likely to get, if she was ever here."

"Yeah, now you know why Sabre was so pessimistic about finding her. It's like looking for a grain of sand on a beach. How's your project coming along then? Have you found a way to wake him up yet?"

Martis shook his head. "I don't think there's a way to force him to wake up. He'll do it when he's ready, or not at all."

"Bloody cop out." Kole leant closer to Sabre. "You hear that, you damned wimp? You're a cop out. When the going gets tough, you run away and hide in your own private hellhole."

Martis typed on his keypad. "He can't hear you, which might be a good thing if you're fond of having your head attached to your neck."

Estrelle looked up from her screen. "That's not true."

"Yeah, I know," the host tech said. "I hate this waiting. It's getting on my nerves."

Kole nodded. "The enforcers aren't enjoying it much either, judging by the glares I get every time I go out there."

"They just don't like you, and I don't blame them."

"Ah, there’s so much friendship in this room. You know, I bet if I offered a Myon Two host tech for sale, the lowlifes would come crawling out of the woodwork pretty damned fast."

"And now you know why nobody likes you," Martis said.

"That's actually not a bad idea," Estrelle remarked. "We don't have to actually sell you, but it might get us some leads."

"Great, let's put you on the market then."

"Fine, if it'll get us some action, but a control unit tech's not much good to anyone, really. It's the hosts that get damaged."

"That's true,” the hacker agreed. “So it'll have to be your bony arse on the auction block, Martis."

"Very funny. Put it out there if you think it'll help, but no one's being auctioned."

Estrelle looked pensive. "The only problem is, whoever's got Tarl already has a host tech, so he's the only one who won't be interested, and he's the one we want."

"Yeah,” Kole said, “but someone's got to know who already has a cyber tech, and that's our lead."

"It's a long shot."

"They're all long shots. Find me a short shot, and I'll take it." Kole glanced at the door and pulled a face. "Now I have to run the gauntlet of black stares out there to get back to Striker."

"Why not do it from here?" Estrelle asked.

"I prefer my own equipment." The com-link on Kole’s belt buzzed, and he unhooked it and read the tiny screen. "Ah, a bite. Someone's enquiring about getting a cyber repaired. You guys better get ready for some action."

Martis swung around, frowning. "He'll have to be brought in here, and we can't let the enforcers see Sabre."

"Better put him in a cupboard or something then."

Estrelle looked at the two caskets stacked at the back of the room. "He'll have to go in a casket."

"Good idea,” Martis said. “Open one. Give me a hand, Kole."

The hacker raised his brows. "He's just a little guy."

"Well he's heavy, and I don't want a hernia." Martis pulled the drip needle out of Sabre's arm. "Take his legs."

Martis hooked his hands under Sabre's armpits, lifting his torso, and Kole gripped the cyber's ankles. Between them, they carried Sabre over to the casket Estrelle opened and placed him inside, folding his hands on his chest. Martis gazed down at him for a moment, then closed the lid.

"We can't leave him in there for too long."

"I thought cybers could stay in caskets for years?" Kole enquired.

"He's not in a proper cold sleep; his metabolism is still too high. He'll be okay for now, but we have to put him back on the drip as soon as we can."

Kole headed for the door. "I'll go and answer the message."

When the door closed behind the hacker, Martis turned to Estrelle. "I hope this unit's not too badly damaged. We don't have any spare parts."

"Yeah, but we can still do more for him than anyone else in this quadrant."

Three hours later, a shuttle docked with Pathos, and two shoddily dressed men escorted a cyber into the hospital, eyeing the two cybers who guarded the door. Thestan followed, glancing around. Martis went over to examine the injured cyber, whose arms looked like they had been pushed into a meat grinder up to the elbows.

"How did this happen?"

One of the men said, "None of yer business."

"Right. Get him on the table and give me access."

The man turned to the cyber. "Booter Four, lie on the table and let this man touch you."

The cyber obeyed, and Martis filled syringes from a selection of bottles. Kole, who had been standing by the door, walked over to the men.

"First you have to pay. Fifty thousand, as agreed."

The man glared at him, but dug in a pocket and pulled out a credit wafer, handing it over. "This had better be worth it. We've seen too many damned conmen pretending to be cyber techs around here."

Kole pocketed the money. "Really? We're the real deal, I assure you. Have you heard of any real cyber techs around recently?"

"Nah, just the usual crooks. You lot are a new bunch, though."

"Yeah, we just came to this quadrant, heard there was a lot of work here."

The man sneered, "Yer in the wrong place. There's lots of work for you at Hades Eleven right now."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"The games, dumbass. All the rich arseholes go there to enter their cybers against the beasts."

Kole pursed his lips and nodded. "Thanks for the tip. We'll head over there as soon as your unit's fixed. How long, Martis?"

The host tech looked up from his examination. "Two or three hours to stitch up all this damage."

The man glared. "Any fool can stitch 'im up. What about them drugs you use if yer real techs?"

"He'll get the drugs too, but the wounds still have to be stitched first. And if it isn't done properly, he'll have permanent nerve damage."

"Better be a good job for fifty thousand."

Kole gestured to a couple of chairs by the wall. "You can wait there."

The men went over and flopped down on the chairs, scowling, and Thestan stepped closer to Kole.

"Where's Sabre?"

The hacker shrugged. "Around."

"I thought he was in here?"

"He comes and goes."

"No one's seen him for four days."

Kole smiled. "We didn't know you were looking for him. I can find him for you if you want."

"No, no, I just wondered where he was, that's all."

"Just be glad he isn't tearing up your exercise room," Estrelle said, handing Martis cotton swabs from the tray beside the table.

"I am," Thestan averred. "I'll leave you to it, then."

The sub-commander left, and Kole breathed a sigh of relief, wandering over to watch the techs work. Martis hooked up a drip and administered a painkiller. Estrelle studied the brow band, which was full of red lights, many of which went off when the drug took effect. Martis settled on a stool and got to work, examining the cyber's arm with an analyser before starting to stitch it, to assure himself that nothing was embedded in the wounds.

Two hours later, he bandaged the cyber's arms, disconnected the drip and rose to his feet. "That's it. Keep the bandages dry, and no combat for a week."

The men stood up, stretched and yawned, and the cyber followed them out. As soon as the door shut behind them, Martis turned to Kole.

"Hades Eleven?"

"Sounds like a reasonable bet. If whoever has Tarl has cybers, he might be there, and we have to assume he does, because Tarl's not much use to anyone else." He headed for the door. "I'll tell Thestan."

 

****

 

Two days passed before Tassin was invited to dine with Tarvin. She spent the time trying to relax in her cabin or wandering around the ship in search of a transmitter. Although she appeared to have been given the run of the vessel, technical areas were sealed off by locked doors with security keypads. Judging by the view from an observation room screen, they had left Forge Prime, and she wondered where she was being taken. Erron had shown her to a dining hall where she could order food and drink, but remained taciturn. The ship seemed to be large, as yet she had not even explored all the accessible parts of it, and she was sure vast areas were sealed off behind the secure doors.

When Erron brought her the invitation with his usual glum stoicism, she rummaged through the voluminous wardrobe and found a subdued, spinsterish outfit of dark green velvet with a high collar and long sleeves, its waistline too wide for her slender figure. While tasteful and expensive, it was anything but alluring, which was the look she wanted. She scraped back her hair into a severe bun and donned a pair of flat shoes to complete the outfit. Erron escorted her along several corridors to a tastefully furnished, dimly lighted room, where Tarvin waited at a four-place table in a dining alcove, reading a vidbook. Gossamer draperies of blue silk hung on the walls, and golden lights shone from recesses near the ceiling. He looked up when she entered and put down the book, gesturing to a cushioned, high-backed dark blue velvet chair trimmed with gold on one side of the table, close to where he sat.

He studied her outfit. "Not what I was expecting you to wear, but nice."

"What were you expecting?"

"Something a little prettier, perhaps?"

"Why would I want to be pretty?" she enquired.

"Most women do."

"I'm not most women."

"That's true." He smiled, and Erron filled their glasses with ruby wine. "You're a queen."

"Yes, I am. Do you doubt it?"

"I am more and more convinced of it."

"Good. Then you'll show me the proper respect for my rank and return me to my kingdom."

"Right. The one on Omega Five." He nodded. "A backwater planet. Post holocaust, isn't it?"

"Yes, but it's my home."

"Of course, you miss your family, I expect. Brothers and sisters?"

"No, I'm an only child. I have an uncle and a cousin, and my fiancé, Sabre, of course."

Tarvin leant back, looking down at his glass. "You love him?"

"Yes.”

“Unfortunate.”

“He will find me, and when he does..."

"I'll be sorry?"

Tassin nodded. "More than you could ever know."

"So he's a powerful man?"

"He’s an Overlord's friend."

Tarvin frowned at his wine. "An easy claim to make; but even so, the chances of his finding you are slim to none, and his Overlord friend won't help him."

"He will find me," she repeated, and wondered if that was true. Sabre might be a prisoner of Myon Two, trapped and helpless, and he might never get free. She had to find a transmitter.

"You don't look very certain of that," Tarvin remarked. “Hardly surprising, since he’s vanished and, for all you know, he could be dead.”

"He’s not dead, and he’ll overcome whatever has befallen him and return to Omega, then he’ll find out that I’m gone. I know it will be difficult, so it may take a while, but he’ll come for me one day."

"I’m sure he will search for you, but when he doesn’t find you he will eventually give up."

She sipped her wine. "I find it odd that a high king would choose to dine with a slave. Is it because I’m a queen? Don't you have any friends or courtiers? If I'm kept here against my will, I won't be good company, you know."

"That will be a shame. I have enjoyed your company thus far."

"Be assured, that won’t continue, so you’d be well advised to let me go."

He shook his head. "That's not going to happen."

"Will you buy Tarl, then? I'd feel a lot better if he was here."

"We are on our way to my home world, so I'm afraid not."

Tassin fingered the selection of cutlery on the table, which included some fairly blunt knives. "What would happen if I held one of these to your throat? I think perhaps I would be taken home if I did, don't you?"

"No, I wouldn't recommend it. You would be hurt, perhaps even killed."

She glanced around. "Cybers?"

"I am never without them. For a man in my position, with my disability, I have to ensure my security." He smiled. "Although I would be able to cope with you on my own, even without the benefit of legs."

"On Omega Five, royalty are trained in the art of combat, and war."

"Naturally, but I somehow doubt you could overpower me."

Tassin raised her chin. "I have sparred with a cyber."

Tarvin chuckled, his eyes sparkling. "Did you win?"

"No more than you did, of course, but I have skills. Perhaps more than you credit me with. At least I didn’t end up with a broken back."

"No need to be unpleasant. And it's not your skills I doubt. I'm sure they're considerable. It's your strength. You are a little on the small size to be threatening anyone, especially a trained fighter like myself." He sipped his wine. "But how did you come to spar with a cyber?"

Again she toyed with the idea of telling him about Sabre, but discarded it. "I have one, of course. Why do you think I had a cyber tech in my employ?"

"Ah, and I suppose he'll be searching for you now, but he won't find you, and even if he does, he's a bit outnumbered. But if you have a cyber, how were you abducted?"

"He wasn't there, obviously."

"Of course," Tarvin said, smiling. "You are full of surprises." He touched a keypad on the table beside his hand. "Now, let's eat, shall we?"