The Cyber Chronicles - Book I: Queen of Arlin

by T C Southwell

Tassin recoiled as Sabre convulsed and clutched the brow band. Red lights flashed in it, more than before, and brighter. She resisted the urge to try to prise his hands from it, knowing how he might react. Now that she knew he could not harm himself, she did not worry too much when blood oozed from around the struts once more. She longed to help him, for he seemed to be in a great deal of pain. The battle lasted only about fifteen minutes this time, and she relaxed when the lights went off and he opened his eyes.

  “That was a bad one.” He looked even gaunter, but that might have been due more to the deprivation he had suffered, worsened by the exertion of his struggle to rip off the brow band. Digging in his pouch, he swallowed more of the white things, then sagged back on the blankets.

  “Will it stop?” she asked.

  “I hope so. It’ll accept defeat, or take over again. Either way, it will stop, I suppose.”

  She leant forward to wipe away the fresh blood with a cloth. “I hope you win.”

  He smiled. “Thanks.”

  “Is there anything I can do to help, when it happens?”

  He shook his head and winced. “No. Stay away from me.”

  Sabre closed his eyes, lines of fatigue bracketing his mouth, his pallor unhealthy. A massive bruise covered his forehead, and red flesh ringed the brow band’s struts. The rest of him must be just as badly bruised, she reflected. After a few minutes, she realised that he had fallen asleep again, exhausted by his battle with the cyber. Shifting away a little, she pulled together all the packs and took stock of the remaining dried rations. With two of them eating now, there was only enough food left for another two days, maybe. They would have to leave soon, but Sabre was still too weak.

  That night, the temperature dropped, and Tassin woke shivering. She knew she would be unable to go back to sleep, and in desperation she crawled over to Sabre. He woke as soon as she moved, his head jerking up.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  “I am freezing,” she said, somewhat peevishly. She had to grit her teeth to stop their chattering.

  “Uh.” Sabre’s head thudded back. “You want some more blankets?”

  “You are warm.”

  He chuckled. “Oh yeah, the cyber was your heater, wasn’t it?”

  “I do not think I can warm up on my own, and I did give you most of the blankets because you were sick.”