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

Tarl turned to watch
them. Kernan went over to the nearest tree and ripped off a chunk
of bark, which he ate with evident relish. Tarl wanted to tell him
not to, but lacked the strength. When he finished the bark, Kernan
climbed back into the pod.
    "Okay, I'm
officially freaked out."
    "What
about?"
    Kernan nodded
at the beasts outside. "I can understand them."
    "You what?"
Tarl scowled at him.
    "Those noises
they make, it's a language."
    "I think
you're delusional, and eating that bark won't do you any good."
    "They say it
will now. They say they've helped me, and now I can live here."
    "They?"
    "The beasts.
Particularly the grey birds."
    "They've
changed you," Sabre said. "The virus has changed your body
chemistry to be more like theirs."
    "Well that's
great." Kernan looked uncertain. "Isn't it?"
    "If you were
going to stay here, yeah, but the question is, can you live
anywhere else now?"
    A pregnant
silence fell. Tarl looked down at his hands, Kernan frowned at
Sabre.
    "How can we
tell?"
    "Keep eating
our rations and see how well you do, I suppose."
    "And if I
can't?"
    "Then you'll
either have to stay here, or find a way to make food like the local
variety."
    Kernan nodded,
clearly relieved. "That shouldn't be too hard, should it?"
    "It's mostly
cellulose, but it does contain alien chemicals, which are harmless
to us, but will be difficult to manufacture, and if they're what
your body's now using for nutrition, essential."
    "So you're
saying if I can't eat normal food anymore, I'm either stuck here,
or I might starve if I leave?"
    "Yeah, pretty
much."
    Kernan turned
to glare at the beasts outside. "Wonderful."
    "Sabre's
trying to make a serum for Tassin and me. Perhaps it will reverse
the changes in you," Tarl suggested.
    Sabre shook
his head. "It's too late for him."
    "There must be
something that can be done," Kernan said.
    "Your body has
been changed on a genetic level. Possibly a high technology lab
could reverse it, but it's doubtful."
    "So you're
saying I should stay here?"
    "I wouldn't
like to condemn any man to this hellhole, but if you can't survive
on our food now, and you need those chemicals, that might be your
only option."
    "No." Kernan
shook his head. "I'm going with you. I'll take my chances."
    Sabre sighed
and closed his eyes. "If I can't make a serum, we might all face
the same dilemma."
    "When will you
know?"
    "Soon, I
think." Sabre shifted, stroking Tassin's brow. "Tarl, put her on
the other couch, I'm getting too hot."
    Tarl obeyed,
then returned to his vigil beside Sabre's couch. The cyber groaned
and tossed.
    "What's your
temperature now?" Tarl asked, worried.
    "One hundred
and twenty-two."
    "Shit. We've
got to get it down. That's almost lethal for you, and it's like a
fridge in here."
    Kernan shot
him a disbelieving look. "What's lethal?"
    "Another
degree or two."
    "I need a
bucket," Sabre groaned.
    Tarl grabbed a
nearby container, and Sabre vomited into it.
    "This is bad,"
Tarl muttered. "I'm going to hook up another drip and see if I
can't make some ice."
    Sabre groaned
again, and his back arched in a convulsion.
    Tarl cursed.
"He's overheating."
    "We could use
the coolant from the pod's life support system to -"
    "Do it, and
hurry."
    Kernan went to
the back of the pod and unclipped a panel, exposing a row of silver
cylindrical containers. Selecting one, he unclipped it and came
back to Sabre's side. He found several strong plastic bags in a
locker and poured the pale liquid into them, then sealed them and
handed them to Tarl, who packed them around Sabre. When Tarl had
finished, he sat back and frowned at the cyber. Sabre's sweating
stopped and the flush faded with dramatic speed, yet he remained
conscious, staring at the roof.
    "How do you
feel now, bud?" Tarl enquired.
    "The fever's
broken, and my temperature's dropping rapidly."
    "You've beaten
it?"
    Sabre lifted
his arm and studied it. "No chemical changes. Yeah, it would seem
so."
    Tarl slumped
with relief. "I'll set up another transfusion for