The Cyber Chronicles Book III - The Core (11 page)

Sabre fired
again and again, cutting away an apparently endless supply of
tentacles, until they piled up around him. In spite of his order,
Tassin ran to Dena, being careful to stay beyond the creature’s
range. Gripping the child's arms, she pulled her away when Sabre
cut the tentacles, then hugged the terrified girl while he
continued to battle the predator. He inched his way clear, cutting
tentacles as they snapped out to bind him. When at last he was able
to stand up, the monster under the sand gave up, and no more
tentacles emerged. He checked the laser's charge indicator.

"Well, I would
have run out of power, but that thing seemed to have plenty of
tentacles."

"It has a few
less now," she said.

"Yeah." He
measured the mounds of black flesh with his eyes. "Quite a
few."

After filling
the water skins, Sabre pushed on, evidently determined to make good
progress while the terrain permitted. Dena huddled on the cart, and
Tassin stayed close to the cyber, watching the crystal desert with
deep misgivings now. The Flux-reality remained unchanged for
several hours, and they saw some monsters in the distance, which
had to be Real-reality, for they looked out of place.

Chapter Seven

Another jungle
shimmered into being, different from the previous ones, but
unpleasant all the same. Giant trees towered into the sky, their
blood-red bark festooned with creepers and fungi. Myriad strange
creatures inhabited the canopy, filling the jungle with raucous
cries, and flitting, brightly coloured shapes skipped about the
trees, swinging through the dense foliage with gravity-defying
ease. The donkeys feasted on anything within reach, and Sabre hoped
they knew what was poisonous. He had to clear a path with his
sword, which made their progress slow and torturous.

After two
hours of sweaty, insect-bitten slogging, they emerged into a
strange clearing just big enough to allow some light to filter
through the branches of the trees around it. Mist covered the
ground, and the glade was filled with fine silken strands strung
from the ground to high amongst the trees. Jewels of moisture
beaded the white silk, which shone in the dappled sunlight like
diamond lace. Tassin and Dena gazed at it in awe, their eyes wide,
and even Sabre was struck by its beauty. Although loath to destroy
something so lovely, he did not wish to make the arduous detour
around the clearing, and prodded it with his sword. The weapon
became trapped in the sticky strands, and he yanked it free,
sending a ripple through the web. Realising his mistake, he swung
around and waved Tassin away as he pushed the donkeys
backwards.

"Get back!
Go!"

Her eyes
widened at his urgent tone. "What is it?"

"Go back!"

Tassin's eyes
focussed on something behind him, and she yelled. He whirled,
sheathing the sword as he snatched the laser from his hip. Hundreds
of crimson, hand-sized, spider-like creatures dropped through the
web, relinquishing their camouflaged niches on the tree trunks to
descend upon their prey. They moved with amazing speed, spinning
web as they went. Sabre fired a sweeping laser blast that burnt
dozens to ash and cut a swathe through the silken nest. Hundreds
survived, however, and the first of them dropped onto his
shoulders.

Tassin dragged
the donkeys backwards, and Dena already stood further down the
path, her eyes wide, her lower lip caught between her teeth.
Spiders fell onto the donkeys, which reversed with alacrity,
braying in distress. Sabre's skin prickled as the spiders bit him,
and he brushed off the arachnids, but more dropped onto him.
Backing after the donkeys, he razed the huge web-nest with laser
fire, burning the silk away in tattered streamers that fell with
ghost-like stealth into the mists below. Spiders clung to him,
biting again and again, their silk sticking to him in a fine
veil.

The ground at
his feet teemed with the ones he had brushed off, already intent on
crawling back up his legs. He gyrated like a madman, scraped
against tree trunks and smeared spiders to yellow ooze while he
retreated, leaving a trail of writhing or squashed arachnids behind
him. Tassin slapped at the spiders on the donkeys as the beasts
lashed their tails and kicked out in irritation.

Several metres
from the nest, the spiders stopped attacking, and the ones on the
ground headed back towards their wrecked web-nest. Sabre halted
beside the donkeys and looked back at the yellow-smeared trail and
the tattered web still visible through the trees. He wiped the goo
off, putting away the laser.

"I thought it
would be one big one, not a whole army of little buggers."

"Are you all
right?"

"I seem to be.
Perhaps their poison only works on indigenous creatures." Even as
he spoke, a creeping numbness invaded his limbs. "Let's find
somewhere to rest."

Sabre glanced
inwards at the cyber’s information, which indicated a slowing
heartbeat and neural deficiency, but, since the spider poison was
from the flux, could not detect the reason for it. The control unit
countered the symptoms with adrenalin and elevated his temperature,
and he hoped the next Change came soon.

They cleared a
small area and sat beside the cart while the donkeys tore at the
available foliage. Two spiders had bitten Tassin on her arm before
she brushed them off, but the bites were not painful, just tiny
pricks that smarted for a moment. Tassin examined the bites, which
were no more than red spots. Sabre rested against a cartwheel, his
eyes closed. The cyber band sparkled with a lot of red lights, and
she frowned at him.

"Are you sure
you're all right?"

He sighed. "I
seem to be going a bit numb, but it will pass. Those spiders
probably like to feed on their prey while it's still alive, so
chances are their bites aren't deadly. If a Change comes soon, I'll
be fine." He turned to her. "I think we're heading in the wrong
direction. The Changes are coming slower and slower. We're not
crossing the Zone, like last time, I think we must be moving away
from the Core, parallel to the desert outside."

"We could
wander in here forever, with no way to navigate. Each world's sun
is in a different place."

Sabre nodded,
closing his eyes again as if fatigued. "Of course, we could be
heading towards the Core. Changes would slow in either direction,
as long as we're not crossing it. The way I see it, it's like a
spiral, sections of worlds radiating from the Core. When we're
crossing them, the Changes are quite quick, but when we're heading
towards or away from the Core, they slow down."

"So why do you
think we're heading away from it?"

He shrugged.
"The Changes are slowing more and more. If we were heading towards
it, they would be starting to speed up."

"They would if
we started to cross it, too."

"I know."

"So how do we
know where we’re going?"

Sabre opened
his eyes and glanced at her. "We don't. That's one of the dangers
of the Zone, I reckon, getting lost. Even if we had a compass, it
would probably point to the north of each new world."

"A what?"

"Never
mind."

"We need a
guide."

He smiled. "If
you see one, let me know."

"Surely there
might be other friendly creatures like Purr?"

"Maybe, but he
did say that he was unique. Even if there are, the chances of
finding one are slim to nil."

"So what do we
do?" she asked.

"We turn
around and see if the Changes speed up slowly. If they suddenly
speed up, we're crossing it."

"But we could
be angling across it, which would also make them speed up
slowly."

He sighed.
"Yeah, I know. It's a chance we'll have to take. Any better
suggestions?"

Tassin shook
her head, and Sabre closed his eyes again, looking tired. Dena
seemed to have recovered from her shock, and was catching
butterflies the size of her head with gentle hands, admiring their
iridescent colours, then releasing them to hunt others. Tassin
watched her, marvelling at the resilience of youth, which so
quickly shrugged off horrors. She waited for Sabre to wake, slapped
at insects and kept a wary eye on the web-nest.

After several
hours had passed to the tune of Sabre's soft snores, she decided to
wake him. Instead of starting awake like he usually did, as if
someone had poured a bucket of ice down his shorts, he merely
grunted and rolled over, shrugging her off. She shook him harder,
but only a snort rewarded her efforts. The control unit still
sparkled with a lot of red lights, and she experienced a twinge of
fear.

The spiders'
bites had done something to him, for, although she was all right,
she had only two bites while he had dozens. She tried to rouse him
again, but he muttered and brushed her off, settling more
comfortably. The spiders were certainly humane, she reflected.
Their victims fell into a deep slumber while the arachnids feasted,
never to wake. Sabre was not in danger of being drained of blood,
but would the poison wear off, and if so, when?

Dena must have
noticed her worried look, for the child came over and peered at the
cyber. "Is Sabre sick?"

Tassin shook
her head, but then admitted, "The spiders made him sleep. I can't
wake him up."

The child
squatted with the loose-jointed ease of the young. "But he will
wake up?"

"When the
Change comes, I think."

"How long till
then?"

"I don't
know."

Dena sighed.
"I don't like this place much, it's hot and sticky."

"I agree. I
hope the next one is better."

Dena shot
Sabre a disappointed look, then went back to insect hunting while
Tassin sat and fanned herself with a large leaf. Several hours
passed before the brown and green flickers shot through the
land.

Sabre woke
underwater, his lungs burning for air. Shaking off the last of the
spider venom's effects, he kicked for the surface, erupting into a
world of raging sea and grey, windy skies. Tassin clung to the
cart, her face twisted with terror.

Spotting him,
she cried, "Dena! Get Dena!"

The cart
floated despite its load, and the donkeys swam towards a distant
rock. Tassin was safe for now, but there was no sign of Dena.
Cursing the scanners' failure to work in the Death Zone, he swam in
the direction of Tassin's frantic pointing. Diving, he opened his
eyes to search for a small, struggling child. A movement caught his
eye, and he turned. Dena sank slowly, her eyes wide, a stream of
bubbles issuing from her mouth. He closed the gap with powerful
strokes and took hold of her arm, hauling her to the surface.

The cold wind
chilled him, and spume-capped waves rolled by, lashing salt spray
into his face. Dena was not breathing, and the cart moved towards
the rock, too far to swim to in time. He turned the limp child in
his arms and put his mouth over hers, blowing air into her lungs.
Her lips were tinged with blue and her skin was pale and cold. He
blew air into her again, and she gave a retching cough. Foam oozed
from her mouth, then she took a wheezing breath and coughed again.
She wound her arms around his neck, still coughing, her breathing a
painful rasp.

"Hang on,
kid," he murmured.

Sabre
supported her with one arm and struck out for the rock. The thought
of the depths below made him shiver, and the barrinium plating
weighed him down, forcing him to swim strongly to stay afloat. The
extra weight destroyed a cyber's buoyancy, and reaching the rock
would be a feat of strength, nothing less. Dena clung to him, small
enough to be of little hindrance, but the waves reared up to slap
him in the face, usually just as he was taking a breath, making him
splutter and cough. The troughs swallowed him, trying to pull him
into the ocean's icy embrace, and wind-driven spray stung his eyes.
He hoped nothing lurked in the dark water beneath him. Each swell
was a hill to climb, fighting to stay afloat and propel himself
forwards.

When he
reached the rock, Tassin pulled Dena from him and hugged the
shivering child while he crawled onto dry land. The donkeys had
been unable to haul themselves from the water due to the weight of
the cart, which tugged at them as it surged in the swells. They
clung to the island with flinty fore hooves, their hind legs braced
against it underwater. The cart threatened to drag them away from
the safety of the tiny island, yet they remained calm, fighting the
waves.

Sabre surveyed
the raging sea with a shudder. This was the worst Flux-reality
world yet. Some distance away, he spied another rock, and something
swam close to it. A shaggy Real-reality monster climbed onto the
rock, roaring rage and defiance at the elements. Lucky it had not
chosen their rock, he mused. A small, cold hand crept into his, and
he looked down into Dena's salt-reddened eyes.

"Thank you,
Sabre," she croaked.

He crouched
and rubbed her hands, trying to share his warmth. "It's nothing,
little one; you'd do the same for me."

"I would." She
nodded solemnly.

Sabre pulled
her onto his lap and hugged her, and she snuggled up to him with a
smile. Tassin stomped her feet and rubbed her arms, striving to
warm herself in the freezing wind and wishing Sabre's arms were big
enough for two. Spray cascaded over the rocks as waves broke
against them, hurling sheets of water onto her. Fortunately the
donkeys had landed on the more gently sloping leeward side, so the
huge waves did not batter them.

Tassin gave up
flapping her arms and squatted with her back to the spray, hugging
herself to try to preserve her warmth. The wind plucked at her
clothes, slicing through the leather dress as if it was cotton.
Sabre looked around and beckoned her over, and she noted as she
approached him that the cyber's lights were normal once more. Dena
was curled in his lap, but he put an arm around Tassin and drew her
close. She smiled at him, meeting grey eyes that sparkled with
humour.