"I ordered him to speak to you, and what he says is true."
"Travellers? In the Isigang Swamp, with a donkey cart and a... mutant?"
"That's right."
The man smiled. "May I ask where you're going?"
Tassin pointed ahead. "That way."
"Very clever. What's your destination?"
She shrugged. "We're just passing through."
The woman urged her lizard closer and said, "They're malsoes, we'll have to take them in."
"With a cyber?"
"Hired. But it will make things...."
Brown and green flickers shot through the land, and the woman's voice faded. Flux-reality Changed. They stood in a forest of leafless, branchless silver trunks growing straight up to a needle point many metres above. A layer of grey shale covered the ground, sliding under their feet with eel-like slipperiness. She heaved a sigh of relief as Sabre turned to face her.
"Who were those people?" she asked.
"They're from a world called Emareld, a hundred and seventy-five light years away. An unpleasant place, covered with marsh. Two cities have been built there, but it's unpopular, so there aren't many settlers. At least, not willing ones. Petty criminals are sent there to cultivate the land, but many go mad in the never-ending damp. They're called maladjusts, or malsoes, constantly trying to escape."
"That's what they thought we were. What would they have done with us?"
He shrugged. "Taken us to a detention centre. I'd have been deprogrammed and sold once they discovered I wasn't hired, you'd have been mind-wiped and sent back to the settlement, a clean slate, so to speak."
She shuddered. "How horrible."
"Yeah, I'm glad we weren't really there."
"But you could have shot them."
"Sure, but more would have come; they have scanners. Those two were a police patrol, looking for malsoes. If I'd fought them, they'd have killed me eventually."
Tassin frowned, shaking her head in bewilderment. "But if that whole world is a swamp, where are they trying to escape to?"
"They go mad; they just run. Some die; most are recaptured. No one escapes from Emareld."
Sabre tried to get the donkeys moving again, but soon discovered that the gaps between the trees were too narrow to allow the cart to pass. He gave the animals some fodder and settled down to eat. Dena tried to make piles of the slippery shale, then went to sleep under the cart when she tired of the sport.
Tassin gazed around at the eerie forest. The deep mauve sky glowed dimly, and was not the source of the illumination. That, she realised, came from the trees, which gave off a silvery radiance. The world was utterly silent, and this was no longer due to the semi-reality of Flux, which was now solid, and, as the last world had shown them, audible. The warm, dry air was still, and only the donkeys' munching broke the hush.
Sabre stretched out on the shale and closed his eyes. Tassin soon followed his example, and when she woke, the world had Changed. She lay in a crystal desert, barren save for an occasional intrusion of Real-reality. The rainbow-hued crystals chattered when she sat up, and she found Sabre surveying their new habitat gloomily. A dull grey sky glowered overhead, and a chill pervaded the air. Tassin knuckled sleep from her eyes while Sabre woke Dena, who exclaimed in delight at the crystals, running and sliding in them.
Sabre tugged on the donkey's halters, and the beasts plodded after him.
Tassin caught up to walk beside him. "Amazing, isn't it?"
"From a giant's nail bed to another's sugar bowl."
She laughed. "At least there should be no danger here."
"What makes you say that?"
She gestured. "Nothing could possibly live here."
"Don't bet on it."
They walked in silence for a while, apart from Dena's high-pitched shrieks as she capered amongst the crystals. Tassin noticed that the crystals fell far too slowly when Dena tossed them into the air. The child discovered that she could make prodigious leaps, and bounced around wildly. Tassin experimented, finding that she, too, could jump far higher than normal. Sabre watched them with a slight smile.
"Kids," he commented.
The novelty soon wore off for Tassin, but Dena continued to frolic. The Queen walked beside Sabre again, a bounce in her stride. Only the cyber and the donkeys seemed unimpressed by the new world, which summed up their characters nicely, she thought. About two hours later, they came across a Real-reality pool, and Sabre stopped to refill the water skins. As he knelt beside the pond, a scream rent the air, and he dropped the water skin and whirled, drawing a laser from the holster on his belt. Dena floundered in the crystal sand, a black, snake-like appendage wrapped around her legs, dragging her towards the place where it emerged from the crystals. Tassin dashed past Sabre towards the stricken child, but his hand flashed out and caught her jacket, jerking her back.
"Stay away from it!"
The cyber strode to Dena's side, aimed his weapon and fired. The blue beam burnt through the tentacle with a puff of grey smoke, and the severed limb vanished back into the sand. As he reached down to help the frightened child, another tentacle shot out, whipped around his legs and yanked them from under him. Again he fired, severing the tentacle, but another lashed out, and another. Sabre burnt through them as they appeared and latched onto him or Dena, trying to pull the girl away. More and more emerged from the crystal sand, gripping his legs, arms and torso, flashing out to whip around Dena.
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, stil
l 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.
The Cyber Chronicles 03: The Core Page 8