Free The Cyber Chronicles Book III - The Core by T C Southwell Page B

she had only saved him because
of his usefulness, it meant a lot to him.
    “ It was clever of you to know that you needed a sonlar, and to
find one."
    "Dena found
it, and I learn from my mistakes."
    He inclined
his head. “Good.”
     
     
    Tassin studied
him, her eyes lingering on the lacerations around his arm, where
blood was crusted to his elbow. "I'll clean that wound for
you."
    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