The Cyber Chronicles Book III - The Core (5 page)

"Grovelling
fools," she commented, then studied Sabre with evident interest,
her gaze lingering on the brow band. "I am Jassine, high priestess
of the Nembari people. Have you a name?"

He inclined
his head. "Sabre."

"You're not of
our people, that's obvious. How did you pass the cursed land?"

"I avoided the
radiation."

The priestess
scowled, a mere puckering of the skin between her eyes. "You use
the ancient word, but the curse is invisible. How could you avoid
it?"

"Magic," he
snapped. "Let the girl go outside. The black glass will make her
sick."

Jassine
glanced at Tassin. "What about you?"

"I'm
immune."

"Who are you,
and why have you come here?"

"We're
travellers, and we were forced to come here by those grovelling
fools."

"Ah." The
priestess looked amused. "How do you know the words of the ancient
ones?"

Sabre glanced
at Tassin. "Let her go outside, and I'll answer your
questions."

"Oh, very
well." Jassine waved at Tassin, who hurried out, shooting him a
worried look. The priestess wandered over to the altar and stroked
the black glass.

"The curse is
our protector. We alone are not harmed by it. Any who come here
soon die once they've stood before the altar, while others perish
before they reach the city. The curse is our friend."

Sabre snorted.
"Some friend. Don't you know that that's why your people are
deformed? Even though you don't die from it, you condemn your
children to a life of suffering. As for scattering the black glass
all over the place; you've made the land sick, mutated the
creatures that live there, and spread the misery."

Jassine's eyes
glinted with anger. "It protects us, as it did the ancient ones. No
one dares to attack us; they would die."

"Who'd want to
attack you? You live in a ruined city, surrounded by a wasteland of
radioactivity and mutated flora and fauna. This evil didn't protect
the ancient ones; it destroyed them. All you're doing is killing
innocent wanderers and condemning your people to a life of mutated
misery."

"Blasphemy!
You dare to speak so of the ancient wise ones, who built the great
cities and travelled in magical machines? You are nothing! Even the
monsters dare not set foot here. While others fight wars and
destroy each other, we alone will survive, for none dare attack
us."

"Monsters from
the Death Zone?"

The bald woman
gestured in the general direction of the desert. "Yes, the monsters
from out there. Fearsome creatures that our warriors have seen in
the desert; that have attacked the people who dared to leave the
sacred city. They paid the price for their deceit. None may leave
this haven created for us by the ancient ones. It's forbidden, and
they make sure the law is upheld. We see the creatures pass by,
going to ravage the lands of those who don't have our
protection."

Sabre
considered the startling revelation that had led to this awful
situation. There was no radiation inside the Death Zone, but
apparently the creatures that came from there could detect it, and
had enough brains to avoid it. Those that did not soon perished.
The Death Zone spread its evil far and wide, and what came out of
it affected every tribe he had encountered in some way. In
addition, it was spreading, breeding more and more foulness to pour
out and ravage the land. As long as monsters prowled outside the
radioactive lands, these people would not change their ways,
fearing an influx of Death Zone creatures and attack by unknown
enemies. If the monsters stopped coming, they might leave this
terrible place and find somewhere better to live.

It was
pointless to try to change the priestess' beliefs, however. She had
clearly been brought up steeped in the paranoia of the people who
had survived the war and crawled out of the bomb shelters to try to
rebuild their lives. They must have been convinced they would be
attacked again, and had passed this terrible legacy on to their
children. Now they worshipped radiation, an invisible god-like
force that killed all but them, and the sense of invulnerability it
imparted made up for the mutations. The people who had survived the
bombs had apparently not known the holocaust had all but wiped out
the rest of civilisation, and built a religion around the
radioactive protection. Perhaps they would have ventured out, if
not for the monsters that had appeared from the desert and
effectively trapped them here. He was wasting words on her, but he
had to try.

"There are few
people left in the world, and those dwell in peace," he told her.
"The weapons of the past no longer exist, so you have nothing to
fear. At least move the radiation further from the city, so the
mutations will stop. It will still repel the monsters, and the
people outside won't attack you. Why should they?"

Her mouth
twisted. "You lie. Ours is a flourishing society. Our forebears
saved domestic animals, and we grow good crops from the seeds they
stored. Many would want what we have, and the monsters will cross
the radiation if it's not enough to kill them."

"I don't think
they would. They're obviously wary of it. Have any come
through?"

"No." She
hesitated. "But that's because the curse would kill them. If they
could cross the line without dying from it, they would."

They could,
though, Sabre knew. If he could find his way through with Tassin
and avoid the hot spots, so could the monsters. Just the presence
of radiation was enough to deter them. "I don't think so. Only
hapless wanderers who can't see the radiation will die from it. I
came through safely with a girl who's vulnerable to it, because I
can see it, like the monsters. No one will invade if you thin it
and move it away. The people outside have all the things you have,
and no one would want to have crippled children."

The priestess'
eyes narrowed. "Not all of us are affected, some are born perfect."
She clapped her hands, and a cowled man appeared from the shadows.
"Bring Leat!"

The man
vanished into the gloom, and the priestess paced around the altar,
a slight limp making her gait clumsy. Sabre wondered how many
people had suffered radiation sickness needlessly over the years.
The survivors had gradually become immune, and bore immune,
deformed children. After living for five hundred years in this
radiation level, it no longer sickened them, but the mutations
would never stop.

The priest
returned, leading a beautiful, empty-eyed girl clad in a scanty
gold satin top and a short skirt studded with sequins and fake
jewels. Sabre wondered how often she was trotted out before the
masses to prove that perfect people still existed in this sick
city. Jassine stroked the girl's long yellow hair, her strange eyes
glowing with pride.

"You see?
There's nothing wrong with her."

Sabre studied
the girl. "What happens when she goes out in the sun?"

"We don't
allow her to mar her perfection by exposing her to such
things."

"I'll bet.
She's an albino. She lacks melanin, which makes the skin brown and
protects against the sun. How clever is she?"

"She is...
normal."

Sabre knew the
priestess was lying even without the faint red light that flashed
deep in his brain as the cyber analysed her breathing and pulse and
deduced her duplicity. He stepped in front of the girl. "What's
your name, girl?"

Her eyes
focussed on him, and she smiled vacantly.

"She's
retarded," Sabre said.

"She's a
little simple," Jassine retorted.

"She has fewer
brains than those donkeys outside, and she's also deaf and half
blind. You call that perfect?"

The priestess
made an angry gesture, and the priest led the girl away.
"Physically, she's perfect. She'll breed perfect babies."

"No she won't.
Her children will be as deformed as anyone else's. You should leave
this place and breed with normal people, then perhaps one day your
people will have normal children."

"Enough of
this. Tell me how you came to be immune to the curse, but your
woman is not?"

Sabre sighed,
folding his arms. It was a long story, and there was nowhere to
sit.

Chapter Three

Tassin waited
on the cart, growing as impatient as the stamping, fidgeting
donkeys. What was happening inside? She chewed on a cooked root she
had peeled, to kill time. The five men stood at the corner of the
building beside her in a muttering group. None of them glanced in
her direction, and she wished Sabre would hurry up. She wanted to
leave this dreadful city as soon as possible. The sight of the
mutants made her ill with pity and horror.

A furtive
movement at the corner of a building further down the street caught
her eye. A child peeped around the edge, and, when Tassin looked in
her direction, beckoned. Tassin glanced at the men, who still
lounged against the wall, oblivious. Easing herself off the cart,
she wandered in the child's direction, trying to look
nonchalant.

The girl,
glancing past her at the guards, signalled her to be quick, and
Tassin slipped around the corner. The child took her wrist and
pulled her to a nearby hovel, ducking inside. Tassin had to bend
double to follow, stumbling over the rubbish on the floor. The girl
towed Tassin through the dwelling into a narrow passage, then
through another shack whose residents watched them pass
incuriously. Tassin stopped, forcing the child to halt.

"Wait! Where
are you taking me?" she asked.

"To safety!
Hurry!"

"But -" Tassin
gasped as the girl yanked her forward again with surprising
strength. The child appeared to be about twelve, with a hunched
back, short, patchy brown hair, and a twisted leg. Tassin followed
her through a warren of shacks, nodding embarrassedly to the people
who watched them pass, until at last the girl stopped and turned to
her.

"Now we're
safe," she stated.

"Safe from
whom?"

"The
priestess. She'll want to kill you."

Tassin's mouth
fell open. "Why?"

The girl
shrugged, settling on a pile of sacks. She wore a dirty knee-length
dress made from the same coarse home-spun material as everyone
else. "Because you're outsiders; they don't tolerate them."

"They?"

"The priests."
The imp sighed theatrically, folding her arms. "All those who make
it through the curse are killed at the altar."

Tassin leant
against the wall, weak-kneed. The low roof forced her to stoop.
"Why did you rescue me?"

The urchin's
face twisted with a mixture envy and admiration. "You're pretty. I
never saw someone so pretty before. I wish I looked like you
do."

"You poor
thing. Where's your mother?"

"Dead."

"Who takes
care of you?"

The girl
smiled. "No one. I look after myself."

Tassin eased
herself onto the floor, rubbing her neck to relieve the crick that
had developed in it. "What's your name?"

"Dena."

"I'm
Tassin."

Dena leant
forward. "Where are you from?"

Tassin related
an abbreviated tale of her journey, and what had started it all.
When she finished, Dena was rapt.

"I'm glad I
rescued you. Will you take me with you when you go back to your
land? It sounds so nice."

Tassin smiled.
"Of course we will."

A black look
came over the girl's face. "Will people stare and laugh at me?"

"No. You're
not that different, and there are people who are crippled in my
land too."

Dena beamed,
and Tassin hoped she was right. The girl's brown eyes were too
large, but that made her quite pretty when combined with her
pointed chin and gamin features.

A thought
struck the Queen. "Will they try to kill Sabre?"

Dena frowned.
"Who?"

"The man I
came with."

"Of course.
They'll make him touch the black glass, and he'll die."

"No, he
won't."

Dena looked
perplexed. "He's like us?"

"Sort of. He
comes from the stars; the curse won't harm him."

"From the
stars? Like the others!" Dena's eyes brightened.

Tassin cocked
her head. "Others?"

"Yes! My
mother told me; it happened long before I was born. A man came. He
was beautiful, perfect, like you. He said he was from the stars,
and he was taken to the temple, but he never came out; not even his
body. The curse wouldn't kill him, so the priests did it instead.
Then, months later, another man came; he had a light on his head.
He wasn't afraid of the glass, and he also vanished."

Tassin
frowned. Another cyber? How had they been able to kill him? Cold
fear crept through her. If they had already killed a cyber, they
might be able to kill Sabre too. She looked at Dena, who watched
her.

"Will you help
us? I must free Sabre."

The child
shrugged. "What can I do? He's already in the temple, and I can't
go in there."

Tassin
pondered. Somehow, she had to get into the temple and warn him
without being caught. "You're sure they'll kill him?"

"Oh yes. It's
the law. No outsiders may leave the city, or they'll give away its
location to our enemies. They're also not allowed to live amongst
us and flaunt their perfection. Only Leat is perfect, and she's one
of us. So they must die."

The Queen
chewed her lip. Maybe Sabre would become suspicious and escape
without her help. Perhaps she need only wait, and not risk falling
into the priests' hands. He would be furious if she got into
trouble again. Perhaps this time she should heed his advice. Surely
he would smell a trap?

Sabre smelt
incense. One of the hooded priests came in and threw it on the
brazier while he was talking to the priestess. It had a pleasant
aroma, relaxing. He had finished his tale, and now answered
Jassine's numerous questions, some of which seemed pointless, but
she was far friendlier. Tassin would probably be annoyed at being
made to wait for so long, he mused, but soon the priestess would
run out of questions and then they could leave. His long monologue
had dried his throat, and when a priest came in with two glasses of
red wine, he accepted one.