Free The Cyber Chronicles VI - Warrior Breed by T C Southwell

in here, Tarl, put on the
air conditioning."
    "I'll
reconnect the core."
    "You do that."
Sabre grimaced, clasping his brow, where the cyber band blazed
red.
    Tassin knelt
beside the couch and pulled off Sabre's boots, earning a grateful
smile. "Are you in any pain?"
    "My arm's on
fire."
    Tarl closed
the power core cover at the back of the pod and pushed a few
buttons on the panel. After a moment the lights came on, the soft
whine resumed, and the pod swayed as it drifted up. Cool air flowed
in through the vents in the roof, chilling Tassin's skin.
    Tarl returned
to Sabre's side. "What does the cyber say now?"
    Sabre sighed,
closing his eyes. "Core temperature at one hundred and ten degrees.
All immune systems active."
    "That's good."
Tarl glanced at Tassin. "Now we wait."
    "Can't you do
anything to help?"
    "Yeah." He
turned and opened a locker. "I'll set up a glucose drip to keep up
his strength."
     
     
    Commander
Shrain walked to the edge of the dais and saluted. "No sign of the
cyber's remains were found in the debris field, My Lord."
    Fairen
frowned. "That took long enough."
    "The debris
field is large, and -"
    "Spare me.
Where are the escape pods?"
    "We tracked
two, but they vanished."
    "Vanished?"
    "Yes, My Lord.
The ion trails ended abruptly, and we can find no further sign of
them."
    "They must
have been picked up by a passing ship, then."
    The commander
nodded. "Possibly, and a super light vessel leaves no trail to
follow."
    "Find
them."
    "Yes My Lord,
but it will take time." The commander hesitated. "And we received a
distress message five minutes ago. No other Overlord is available
to answer it."
    Fairen sighed.
"What is it?"
    "Rigal Nine
has declared a planetary emergency. A drought has caused crop
failure and famine. They're requesting aid."
    "People who
settle on a desert planet should expect to starve. They knew Rigal
Nine has a fifty-year cycle that causes ten years of drought when
it moves too close to its sun."
    "Yes, My
Lord."
    Fairen settled
back. "Let's go then."
     
    ****
     
    Tassin watched
Sabre, biting her lip. Two hours had passed, and he panted in
obvious distress, sweat pouring off him. Tarl kept adjusting the
drip, increasing the flow, his expression worried. Her midriff
tingled, and she fought the urge to pull up her blouse and examine
it. Outside, the alien beasts milled around, cooing and whickering,
and she wished they would go away.
    "Resources
needed," Sabre said. "Entrovine, duroxin and paril."
    Tarl dug in
the first aid kit. "I don't have any duroxin."
    "Substitute
vioxxin."
    "None."
    "Substitute
amerin."
    Tarl rummaged
in the box and held up a tube. "Only in a cream form."
    "That will
have to do, unless you have some formalon."
    "Nope."
    Tarl handed
the tube to Tassin. "Rub this on him." He filled two syringes and
injected the drugs into the drip while she massaged the oily salve
into Sabre's chest.
    "What do those
medicines do?"
    "Entrovine is
an immune booster, paril suppresses auto immune response, and
amerin is an allergen."
    "Which
means?"
    "His immune
system is in overdrive," Tarl said. "Basically they prevent it from
attacking him as well as the virus, and the allergen is to stop him
from becoming allergic to himself."
    A wave of
dizziness washed over her, and she swayed, grabbing the couch.
    Tarl turned to
her. "Are you okay?"
    "No, I feel...
awful."
    "It's the
virus. You'd better find a comfortable spot. Kernan's too big to
shift off the other couch."
    Tassin nodded
and crawled to the wall, leaning against it. Tarl took over her job
of rubbing the salve into Sabre's chest, shooting her worried
looks. Her vision grew blurred, and a cold invaded her blood, then
everything went dark.
     
     
    Tarl cursed as
Tassin slid down the wall and convulsed. He crawled over to her and
pushed a cloth into her mouth to prevent her biting her tongue.
Sabre opened his eyes and raised himself onto his elbows,
frowning.
    "She's
sick?"
    "Yeah, same as
Kernan. Lie down."
    "How's
Kernan?"
    Tarl