“But that’s right at the back of the shuttle,” the man protested.
“Just get it; I’m not letting him aboard until he’s packed.”
“It’ll take a while,” the crewman grumbled.
Tassin’s captor turned his weapon on her soldiers while the other crewman trotted into the ship.
Manutim approached her, and she glared at him, shaking tangled hair from her face. He pushed back his hood to reveal a bearded visage with hard, dark blue eyes. His short black hair was shaved in swirling patterns above his ears, and his beard was trimmed with inhuman precision. A line of blue tattoos crossed his brow and vanished into his hair at his temples. Although not handsome, he had a certain presence; an aura of power. She wondered what had prompted him to finally reveal his face, and decided it was probably because she knew so much now, about his spaceship, and cyborgs, so he had dropped the magician act.
"What will you do to him?" she asked.
"I'll have to take him back to Myon Two for diagnostics and repairs."
"Please don't."
He glanced down at the black tool. "What happened to him?"
"He fell off a mountain. He explained what was done to him, and it's cruel and barbaric."
"Cyber hosts don’t feel pain. He does seem to be malfunctioning, though, so he could be dangerous, but I can’t afford to just write him off. Besides, Myon Two will track him down, and enforcers are an unforgiving bunch."
Tassin tried to jerk her arm from the warrior's grip, and scowled at Manutim. "Tell him to take his hands off me!"
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.
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