The Cyber Chronicles Book III - The Core (34 page)

He nodded, and
the crewman released her.

Tassin rubbed
her wrist. "Couldn't you tell these... enforcers that he's
stationed here permanently?"

"No. This is a
restricted world. He was never supposed to be here."

"Why did you
bring him, then?"

"To help you,
of course."

"Why?"

Manutim
glanced around at the bitter landscape. "We're distant cousins, you
and I. My family left before the war. I wanted to help, that's
all."

Tassin tried
to think of something, anything that might persuade him to let
Sabre stay, but her mind was blank and a lump blocked her throat.
She gulped. At the very least, she had to say goodbye.

"Let me speak
to him alone, please."

Manutim
shrugged and signalled to the guard, following him back to the
ship. As they vanished inside, she fought an insane urge to order
her men to bring Sabre a horse. She did not doubt that Manutim
would kill them to reclaim his property, however, and Sabre would
not co-operate. He raised his head when she touched his chest, his
expression forlorn. His eyes glimmered, and he closed them as she
embraced him, holding her close. Snowflakes drifted around them
like frozen sorrow. She laid her cheek on his shoulder, the snorts
of her soldiers’ horses the only sounds in the cocoon of silence
that engulfed them.

"Go home.
You'll catch a cold," he whispered.

"I won't leave
you."

He sighed.
"Will you do something for me?"

"Anything."

"Kill me."

She recoiled, raising her eyes to his. "
No
!"

"Just put your
dagger against my eye and push."

"No! I will not. I
cannot
!"

"I can’t do
it. I tried, but the cyber stops me.” He gave a soft, bitter laugh.
“Apparently it doesn’t like the idea of a dead host. Don't let me
go back to that life. Please."

Tassin shook
her head, swallowing a lump.

"You'll never
see me again, anyway," he murmured.

"I can't!" she
wailed, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry."
His breath caught. "I had no right to ask."

"I would do
anything for you, except that."

Manutim
re-emerged from the ship, his man following.

Sabre met her
eyes. "Forget me. I'm just a broken killing machine. I’m riffraff,
remember?" His smile was forced, and only made it worse.

"Never. I'll
find you and free you, if it takes the rest of my life, I swear
it."

He glanced at
the approaching spacers. "Go now. Don't watch this."

"What are they
going to do?"

"They can't
risk a malfunctioning cyber on their ship. They'll fit a temporary
link to the control unit to put me into cold sleep so they can pack
me in a transport unit."

"There must be
a way to stop this!"

"No, there
isn't." His mouth twisted, and he looked away.

Manutim
approached with the black instrument and a smaller gadget. Sabre
shot him a hunted look, tearing her heart, and she hated Manutim
all the more for it. She gripped Sabre's jaw and turned his head
towards her.

"Don't look at him. Look at me. Let me be the last thing you
see until I free you. I
will
free you, I swear it."

Sabre shook
his head. "You can't, but I’ll dream about it."

Manutim pushed
the end of a thin cable into a tiny slot on the edge of Sabre’s
brow band and checked a glowing readout on his instrument, tapping
buttons on it.

Tassin met
Sabre’s eyes and forced a smile, hoping it did not look as
unconvincing and pathetic as his had. "I'll find you. I'll save
you."

“
Don’t try, it’s hopeless.”

Tenderness
shone in his eyes, mingled with helpless dread. Manutim glanced up
and pressed a button on his instrument. Sabre drew in a shuddering
gasp, and his face twisted. His hands flashed up to grip the brow
band as he had so many times during the early days of his freedom,
and had not for months. His eyes glazed and closed, and he sank to
his knees, then back onto his haunches. His head drooped, and he
slumped sideways. She knelt beside him, a black tide of sorrow and
pain swamping her. The brow band flashed erratically before the
lights settled into familiar red and green patterns. The seven
diagonal lights flashed three times and turned amber. Manutim
stepped closer and bent to examine the band. Apparently satisfied,
he straightened and tapped on the control box’s buttons again.
Tassin stifled a sob as the cyber band's lights turned red. Manutim
unplugged the cable, and the second guard emerged from the ship,
guiding the smooth grey casket Sabre had arrived in so long ago. It
floated several centimetres above the ground, gleaming in the dull
light. The crewman stopped it close by, and it sank to the ground
when he pressed a button on its side. The thin line appeared in its
smooth surface, and he lifted the lid with a faint hiss.

The other
crewman approached, and they lifted Sabre into the casket. As they
placed him within its silken confines, she scrambled up and ran to
its side, shoving a man aside to kneel beside it. The warrior
glanced at Manutim, who shrugged. Tassin leant into the casket to
clasp Sabre's face, his skin unnaturally cool. The brow band was
almost entirely black, save for a tiny amber light in the top right
hand corner, which flashed at two-second intervals. Her tears wet
his cheeks as she bent to kiss him, wishing she had thought to do
it earlier, when he had been awake. She should have told him how
she felt; now it was too late. Her heart drowned in a black sea of
sorrow.

"I love you,
Sabre," she whispered, hoping that somehow he could hear her in the
dark fog that trapped him, but she suspected that he was
unconscious. “I’ll find you, I promise.”

Forcing
herself to release him, Tassin rose to her feet with all the
dignity she could muster, and the man closed the lid. The casket
sealed with a click, and the lights on its side changed from orange
to red. The crewman touched the buttons once more, and it floated
up.

Tears ran down
her face as he guided the casket into the ship.

Manutim turned
to her. "I had hoped my help would strengthen our good relations.
In ten years' time the restrictions on Omega Five will be lifted,
and I intend to make it my base. As the first to set up -"

"I don't care
about your plans. I will find him and save him, if it takes the
rest of my life."

"That's
impossible."

"I'll find a
way. I won't let him live out his life in slavery. What would it
take to get him back? How much gold?"

"You can't
afford him. Cybers are worth more than half a million credits, even
second hand."

Her hand
cracked against his cheek, making him jerk back in shock. "Don't
talk about him as if he's a piece of equipment!" she shouted. "I
will get him back! Now get off my land! I never want to see you
again!"

He rubbed his
cheek and retreated, scowling. "You're a fool. He's just a killing
machine."

"He's worth a
hundred of you!" she bellowed. "Compared to him, you're a
toad!"

Manutim swung
away and marched into the ship. Her heart was a block of ice as she
mounted her warhorse, which a soldier led up, and her men gathered
around her. She closed her eyes and raised her face, letting the
snow settle on her skin and melt, mingling with her tears.

At the edge of
the forest, she stopped to gaze at the silver ship through the
shifting curtain of falling snow. The pain in her heart made it
hard to breathe, and she gasped clouds of steam in jerky
exhalations. Perhaps a part of her was dying. The part Sabre had
touched with his soft smiles and gentle teasing, shy glances and
comforting strength. The future without him loomed empty and
desolate, with nothing to comfort her but his memory.

The craft
drifted upwards and shot away, lost in the grey clouds. Her brave
words seemed foolish now, although she had meant them, and still
did. How would she find him when she was trapped on this world
while he was enslaved amongst the stars? Even if she found a way to
venture out there, where would she search? Even if she found him,
how would she free him from the brow band’s control? She clamped a
hand over her mouth to stifle a whimper. There was no hope of
finding him. He would die a cyber host. Sobs racked her as her
general took her horse's reins and led it into the woods.

****

The
Cyber Chronicles
saga continues in Book IV,
Cyborg
, Book V,
Overlord,
Book VI,
Warrior Breed
, Book
VII,
Sabre,
Book
VIII,
Scorpion Lord,
Book IX,
Precipice
, and many more as yet unwritten.

About the
author

T. C.
Southwell was born in Sri Lanka and her family moved to the
Seychelles when she was a baby. She spent her formative years
exploring the islands – mostly alone. Naturally, her imagination
flourished and she developed a keen love of other worlds. The
family travelled through Europe and Africa and, after the death of
her father, settled in South Africa. T. C. Southwell has written
over forty novels and five screenplays. Her hobbies include
motorcycling, horse riding and art, and she earns a living in the
IT industry.

All
illustrations and cover designs by the author.

Contact the
author at [email protected]

Acknowledgements

Mike Baum and
Janet Longman, former employers, for their support, encouragement,
and help. My mother, without whose financial support I could not
have dedicated myself to writing for ten years. Isabel Cooke,
former agent, whose encouragement and enthusiasm led to many more
books being written, including this one. Suzanne Stephan, former
agent, who has helped me so much over the past six years, and
Vanessa Finaughty, good friend and business partner, for her
support, encouragement and editing skills.