He glanced at it. "I can do it."
"It will be easier for me."
Sabre shook his head, turning away to contemplate the scrubland. "Everything bad in this world comes from the Death Zone."
She blinked, surprised by the change of subject. "I know."
"Your father wanted me to destroy the Death Zone, and the more I see the damage it's doing, the more I see that it must be destroyed."
"But how?" she asked.
"I'm not sure yet, but the man who brought me here must have thought a cyber could do it. Something is creating it, and whatever it is, it's growing stronger. More monsters are coming out of it, and eventually they'll destroy this world. I don't know how it creates those creatures, but there's no food for them in there, so they're forced to cross the desert and attack the people and animals outside." He looked down at her. "I can't leave something like that on your doorstep." Raising a hand, he brushed a lock of hair from her cheek. "I'll try to destroy it; fulfil my mission."
"But that will be very dangerous. You could be killed."
He smiled, his eyes sad. "Does it matter?"
"Yes! It does! I..." She hesitated, adrift in a quagmire of conflicting emotions. The only thing she wanted more than an end to the monsters that ravaged Arlin was for him to stay with her, and she could not bear the thought of him dying. "You mustn't throw your life away."
"My life is worth nothing. It doesn’t belong to me. I'll be turned back into a zombie when that man comes back for me. I'm not looking forward to it. Freedom is sweet, and, having tasted it, I have no wish to return to a half-life."
She made a helpless gesture. "But surely there must be a way out of that? We could hide you; tell him you're dead."
Sabre shook his head even as she spoke. "It won't work. He'll find me no matter where I hide. Even if I was somehow able to leave this planet, I wouldn't last long."
"Perhaps he'll let you stay?"
"He'll never do that."
"Why not?"
He sighed. "We've been through this. For one thing, I'm too valuable, and for another, a damaged cyber would be considered dangerous. If there was the slightest hope of remaining free, believe me, I'd grab it. As it is, there's little difference between the half-life I'll have as a cyber and death; except perhaps death will be less painful."
Tears stung her eyes. "I don't want you to die!"
"Nor do I, but it's inevitable, one way or the other."
"We'll find a way. I won’t let him take you away."
"You can't stop him," he said.
"There must be a way! You can fight, kill him!"
"No, I can't. You don't understand the power he has. There's nothing either of us can do."
She hesitated, refusing to abandon her stubborn hope. "We will find a way."
"There's no way; forget it."
Tassin glared at him, angry that he had already given up on any possibility of avoiding the horrible fate he seemed to think was so inevitable. There was always something that could be done, even if it was only to try. She would never give up so easily; it was not in her nature, and she could not bear the thought of losing him; it filled her with intense desolation. She swung away and marched to her tent, flung back the flap and jerked it into place behind her.
Sabre sat down and stared across the scrubby vista. She had no idea how much he wished he was not a cyber, and could change the course of his life. His fate had been mapped out the day he had been conceived in the cold, artificial world of technology.
Tassin would never understand his world, or why he would be forced to return to it. He threw a stone into the gathering darkness. He was not even a real man, just a clone created from someone else's DNA, grown in a machine and modified for use as a weapon. He ran his fingers along the control unit, hating it. The crystals' red glow lighted his hand, indicating its malfunction. It was part of him. He was a malfunctioning cyborg, and there was not a damn thing he could do about it.
Chapter Six
A week later, the trio reached the scrubland bordering the desert, where the heat became almost unbearable. The donkeys were turned out to graze while Tassin sewed more water bags from the skins of the animals Sabre killed for food. He hunted more often, and, using a laser, brought back far more than they could eat. He cut excess into strips and dried it, using salt Dena had brought in her bundle of belongings. The mutant child proved to be an eager and able helper, collected fodder and even cleaned the animal carcasses, something Tassin still could not bring herself to do.
Dena constantly reminded Sabre of Tassin's queenly status, much to Tassin's amusement and his chagrin. Whenever he asked Tassin to do something, Dena would leap to her defence. The girl also developed a huge crush on him, which he seemed to find amusing, and embarrassing at times. He removed Tassin's stitches with brisk efficiency, avoiding her eyes. The fate that awaited him at the end of the journey did not affect his good nature, yet his calm acceptance of it irritated her. When she suggested ways in which it could be avoided, he merely gazed at her with sad eyes until she looked away.
Anticipation mounted as supplies filled the cart. Tassin wished they could dump the weapons, but without them there was no point in returning to Arlin. Then the day arrived when Sabre decided the cart could carry no more. Dena danced with glee when he announced that they would start the journey that evening. Tassin remembered the last, almost disastrous trip across the burning sands and through the Death Zone with a shiver. Sabre smiled at her, and she returned it weakly, then laughed when Dena grabbed him and forced him to join her wild dance. Tassin marvelled at how strange it was for a warrior like him to allow a crippled girl to bully him. Yet it only served to remind her of his gentle nature, so at odds with his lethal skills.
Tassin giggled when he pretended to trip and rolled in the sand. Dena pounced on him, laughing, and he joined in her game with wholehearted enjoyment. Leaping to his feet, he swept up the girl and hurled her high with consummate ease. Tassin gasped and Dena yelped, but he caught her easily, cushioned her fall and hurled her high again. Dena shrieked with delight and yelled for more when he stopped, tugging at his arm.
When Sabre got Dena to calm down, they tried to sleep, but he only succeeding in dozing for the rest of the day. Late in the afternoon, he went in search of the donkeys while Tassin and Dena struck camp. As the sun sank in a welter of crimson and gold clouds, they headed into the desert on foot, since Sabre was sure the cart would collapse if any more weight was put on it. When Dena grew tired, her lame leg troubling her, he put her on a donkey. This delighted her, keeping her awake and happy for the rest of the night.
During the day, the donkeys ate fodder while the trio took refuge in the cart's shade, or the tents. There was no room in the cart for firewood, so they ate the dried meat raw.
At night, Tassin walked beside Sabre, able to keep up with him now. Her hair hung down her back in a long plait and her skin had acquired a healthy glow. She had changed a lot in the time he had known her, he reflected. She pulled her weight now when there was work to do, and she no longer tried to boss anyone around. His heart grew heavier as the journey's end drew nearer. She would return to her noble society, where her ego would, in all likelihood, bloat to unbearable proportions again. It was better that he slipped quietly from her life when the time came. Being near her only caused him pain, yet he longed for her company.
On the tenth night, they came to the Death Zone barrier. The eerie white wall stretched away over the horizon, rising into the moonlit sky. Dena bombarded them with questions, and, when she ran to poke at the edge of the mist, Tassin turned to Sabre.
"Are you going to destroy it?"
"Not with you and Dena in tow."
"Then what will you do? Are you going to leave it?"
The barrier's eerie glow made his eyes gleam like quicksilver. "No. When you're safely in your castle, I'll return and complete my mission.
"No! If you're going in there to destroy that thing, I'm coming with you."
"No, you're not." He shook his head. "It will be dangerous, and you'll only hinder me."
"No I won’t. This time I’ll be able to help you."
"How? All you succeeded in doing last time was to almost get yourself killed. You got stuck in a Flux-reality tree and bitten by something poisonous, remember?"
She glared at him. "You got stuck in a tree too. You were just lucky it was not as solid as mine. I'm coming with you. This is my land, and I saved your life back there. I'm not stupid and helpless like I was when we set out."
His voice softened. "Tassin, I have to do this alone. No ordinary person can do it. Maybe even I can't, but I have a far better chance of surviving, alone. If you come with me, you'll only endanger us."
She folded her arms. "I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not."
"Not if I don't let you. I'm taking you back to Arlin, and that's that."
"No it's not. If you take me back to Arlin, I'll follow you into the Zone."
"Why?" he asked, incredulous. "Do you want to be killed?"
"I want to come with you."
"You're being a silly, childish, mule-headed, pea-brained idiot."
She shrugged. "Maybe so, but you can't stop me."
"Then maybe I'll leave it here to swallow your land."
"Fine. We can fight the monsters. We're not savages like the Oroka, or fanatics like that last bunch. We can deal with it."
"You'd really do that? You'd condemn your people to a hopeless war with savage unnatural beasts, in which ultimately they’ll all die, just to satisfy a silly selfish whim?"
"It's you who would condemn us to that if you don't destroy it. All I want is to share the adventure."
"Adventure?” He snorted. “It will be horrific. You had a taste of it already. Did you enjoy it?"
"In a way. It was certainly different.”
"You almost died."
"But I didn't,” she said. “It's not that bad. Hell, Purr lives in there; it's his home."
"Purr's adapted to living in there."
"You can argue until you're blue in the face. I'm going with you."
"You want me to take you to the Core, with a donkey cart and a crippled child. What about Dena?"
"I think Dena is quite capable of surviving it," she said.
"She's a child!"
"She’s fended for herself since she was six, and she had an arsenal for a playground."
"You’re nuts, you know that?" He stared at the barrier with despairing eyes.
"Remember what Purr said. Flux-reality tends to avoid Real-reality, up to a point."
"So?"
"The cart will be an island of Real-reality and make travelling through the Zone easier, if we stay on it."
He grunted. "You assume. What if you're wrong?"
"Then Purr's wrong, which I doubt. After all, he should know."
"And how do you hide a bloody great cart and two belly-aching donkeys?" he demanded. "The monsters will be on us in droves."
"But we have the magical weapons you got from the dead city."
Sabre faced her again. "You've got it all figured out, haven't you? All right, Your Majesty, have it your way. If you follow me into the Zone alone, you won't last five minutes, so I guess I'll have to take you with me and try to protect you as well as destroy the Core, which means we'll probably all be killed. It'll be your epitaph, although no one will erect a stone over your mouldering remains once the monsters have finished chewing them. She had to have her own way!" He marched back to the cart.
A qualm of apprehension coiled in her gut, but it did nothing to lessen her determination. She was going to stay with him, no matter what, and make him notice her. Only when he felt something for her would he make an effort to stay with her, instead of blithely accepting that Manutim would come and take him away one day. Manutim was just a man, even if he was a wizard. Sabre had already defeated a mage; he could do it again if he really wanted to, and it puzzled her that he was so defeatist about it.
Dena came back full of childish observations, which Tassin listened to rather absently, with a stiff smile.
As the sun's first rays gilded the dunes, Sabre led the donkeys into the mist wall, Dena aboard one, Tassin following him. The rainbow-shot mist closed behind them in a solid white wall. Once again, they walked through the wet grey rocks, the cart rattling over stony ground. The cool dampness was a great relief after the dry heat outside, and Tassin licked the dew off her lips. Dena gazed around in awe at the strange new world.
After half an hour of mist and damp rocks, the brown and green flickers shot through the landscape and a new Flux-reality shimmered into being. Dena clapped her hands in delight. A park-like world surrounded them, by far the loveliest Tassin had seen. Huge fragrant blossoms budded dew-fresh from lush foliage, moss-like grass gave under her feet, and spreading trees were vivid green against a cobalt sky. Tassin looked up and frowned. The sun was at midday, whereas outside dawn had just broken. Without Purr, how would they find their way through?
There was no sound or smell, and Dena skipped beside the cart, poking her finger into the semi-solid Flux-reality with cries of glee and gales of giggles. The donkeys snatched at the vegetation, but found little in their mouths to chew, despite the leaves they tore off. Sabre strode ahead, apparently still angered by Tassin's stubborn insistence on coming to the Core.
They had been walking for about four hours when he stopped, allowing the donkeys to attack the nearest bush. Tassin opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when she noticed the dark shapes flitting through the trees. She flung a look at Dena, signalling her to be quiet, then watched the creatures. About a dozen of them moved through the bush, hard to see, but they seemed big, and she could make out glinting tusks or teeth and gleaming green eyes. A faint padding and scratching accompanied the wraith-like forms, indicating that they were Real-reality.
The beasts headed in the direction whence the trio had come, and Tassin guessed that these monsters were leaving the Zone in search of better pickings outside. She shuddered at the thought of the havoc such fearsome beasts would wreak. They did not notice the cart or the three people, and ran on at a mile-eating lope, leaving a putrid stench in their wake. As soon as they vanished into the Flux-reality, Sabre led the donkeys forward once more.
By the time they stopped to rest, they had passed through three Flux-reality worlds, none horrible, but none as nice as the first. The sun shone at mid-afternoon in a world of dense thorny brush and soft, sandy soil. After eating, they took turns standing watch while the others slept and the donkeys munched fodder. When Tassin woke, Flux-reality had changed, and they had to wend their way through a world of petrified trees. Dena ran about collecting pretty stones and pieces of petrified wood, showing them to Tassin and Sabre before storing them in her pockets. Flux-reality was becoming more solid, and she enjoyed pushing her fingers into the dead trees.
When the green and brown flickers warned of the next Change, they stood close to the cart and waited for the new world to materialise. It turned out to be a swamp, and Tassin's feet sank into the spongy ground, as did the cart's wheels. Tracts of waving marsh reeds rolled away under a dull grey sky, and white birds hovered and dived into the reeds, hunting insects. A bitter, briny wind swept past, carrying a faint mist. Sabre hauled the donkeys along as they struggled with the heavy load, the thin wheels sliding on the wet ground. Dena found a nest with fledglings in it and crowed with delight while the adult birds tried to chase her away.
Sabre stopped, his eyes riveted to the horizon, and the donkeys lowered their heads to graze. Tassin followed his gaze, unable to make out anything at first, then she spotted two dots in the distance. They swelled rapidly into two-metre tall, upright lizards of a bright emerald green hue. Powerful hind legs propelled them along at a bouncing run, kicking up spray. Sabre rested his hand on his laser. When the beasts drew closer, Tassin made out the forms clinging to their backs.
"What are they?" she asked.
He glanced at h
er, frowning. "Large lizards with riders, apparently human."
Returning his scowl, she watched the approaching lizards. The riders wore shiny black suits that appeared to have no seams or joins. They stopped close by, allowing the hissing lizards to sidle closer. The saurians had tiny forelimbs, which they kept tucked close to their chests, the hand-like paws tipped with red claws. Their eyes gleamed red under ridges of armoured hide, and white wattles hung from their necks. The riders sat in bucket seats held on by broad girths, and guided the creatures with thin black reins that ended in metal rings that pierced the lizards' lips. The creatures appeared to have four nostrils, but two of the openings were attached to venom sacks that hung beneath their jaws. A damp, muddy smell wafted from them. Dena abandoned her bird's nest and climbed onto the cart, staring wide-eyed at the newcomers.
The nearest, a black-haired man, shouted, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Sabre called back, "We're travellers, passing through."
The man looked surprised, glancing at his companion, a red-haired woman wearing garish make up. "I wasn't addressing you, cyber."
Tassin cast Sabre a shocked look, but his face had become blank. This must be a civilised world, one in which they had cybers.
The stranger said, "I asked you a question, stranger. Why does your cyber answer?"
Tassin gathered her wits and glared up at him. She had no idea how to behave with these strange people, and Sabre could do nothing to help her without revealing his freedom.
"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."
The Cyber Chronicles Book III - The Core Page 7