The Cyber Chronicles VII - Sabre (24 page)

"You didn't
break your fall with your arms?"

"Couldn't. I
hit the floor almost head first, and I was spinning."

"Right. Well
it's a good thing you asked Fairen to send this stuff, otherwise
you'd be permanently crippled."

Sabre closed
his eyes. "Just fix it."

Tarl pulled
the equipment trolley to the side of the bed and filled syringes,
laying them out in a row. "The ligaments are torn as well, so I'm
going to have to do two lots of regeneration agents, one for the
bones and one for the ligaments. You really need an operation; some
of those chips are floating."

"Check my neck
too, will you? It twinges."

Tarl moved the
disk-lens, frowning. "Yeah, you've cracked two vertebrae." He moved
the lens again. "And your collar bone. You did a good job."

Sabre sighed
as a wave of lethargy washed over him, from the sedative, he
assumed. Tarl picked up a syringe and pushed the needle into
Sabre's shoulder, peering through the lens as he guided it to the
damaged area.

Tarl watched
the dark fluid seep into Sabre's joint, amazed that the cyber did
not even flinch as he probed deeper with the needle, injecting two
more damaged areas. The syringe emptied, and he pulled the needle
out, picking up another full one. The regeneration drug would only
remain active for about five minutes, and the shocks had to be
given during that time. He pumped the drug into two more damaged
areas, then picked up a syringe containing the bone regeneration
drug and probed into the cracked areas, hoping the floating bits
would rejoin when he administered the shocks. Sabre appeared to
have fallen asleep, and he injected a second dose. He picked up the
tiny paddles and placed them against the cyber's shoulder, shocking
the joint.

When he had
given the requisite three shocks, he glanced at Sabre. The cyber's
eyes were open, and he stared at the ceiling again with a dull,
blank look. Tarl examined the joint with the lens, finding that
ninety per cent of the damage was repaired, then started on Sabre's
neck. He marvelled afresh at how the cyber lay there without a word
of complaint or any sign of pain while he stuck the big needles
deep into the cracks in his bones, then shocked the area again.
When he had fixed the broken collar bone, Tarl examined the rest of
his patient, who had hairline cracks in his hand and finger bones,
doubtless from punching armour-clad knights. More hairline
fractures ran through the bones of his feet, and one toe was
broken.

Tarl filled
another syringe and repaired the broken toe, then continued his
examination, finding a torn ligament in Sabre's hip and a ripped
tendon in his left elbow. Finally he inspected Sabre's skull and
repaired a cracked nasal bone. He sat back with a sigh, rubbing his
neck.

"All done.
Good as new, bud."

Tarl switched
off the drip, replaced the empty bag and realised that he had been
working on the cyber for four hours. Rolling his chair over to the
monitor, he checked the control unit's readouts. Sabre's bio-status
was fifty-six per cent, his heart rate had returned to the normal
resting rate of thirty beats per minute, and his blood pressure was
normal. Unplugging the access cable from the control unit, he
switched the monitor off and turned to his patient.

"How do you
feel now?"

A slight smile
tugged at Sabre's lips. "Like a piece of equipment."

"You know,
normal people get fixed in pretty much the same way, with
injections and drips and stitches."

"Normal
people."

"People with
no cybernetic enhancements."

"Ah." Sabre
sat up and swung his legs off the couch. "Or alien DNA."

"Yeah."

The cyber
flexed his right hand and rotated his arm, finding his shoulder's
mobility restored. "Good job, bud." He held out his hand.
"Thanks."

Tarl eyed the
proffered hand, then his eyes flicked up to meet Sabre's, trying to
fathom his mood. Knowing what a cyber could do, he was a little
wary of grasping a hand that could be held out in genuine
friendship, or, knowing Sabre, as punishment for all the needle
pricks.

Sabre smiled.
"You don't trust me."

"Look, I know
the injections hurt, but -"

"You don't
trust me."

Tarl sighed
and grasped the cyber's hand, which closed on his with only enough
force to grip his in a brief handclasp. Sabre snorted and chuckled
when he released Tarl's hand, then leant forward and thumped him on
the back hard enough to make him cough and groan.

"You had that
coming."

Tarl groaned
again, trying to rub his stinging back. "You're a bastard."

Sabre shrugged
and nodded. "Probably." He glanced at the full drip bag attached to
his arm. "I suppose you want me to lie here until this is finished
now, too?"

"Yeah, one
more bag will speed your recovery a lot."

The cyber lay
down again, closing his eyes.

Chapter Seventeen

Tassin walked
along a dim corridor, her heart fluttering. A servant had informed
her of Sabre's waking only minutes ago, while she was bent over a
pile of parchment, signing decrees and offers of alliance from
Arlin's lords. She had been apprised of his whereabouts, and wished
she could run to him. Servants stepped from her path, bowing, and
she turned into a passage that led to an unused area of the castle,
closed off many years ago. She had visited him every day while he
had been unconscious, sat beside him and held his hand, hoping he
would wake. Affairs of state took up most of her time, but whatever
free time she had she spent at his bedside. She pushed open the
third door along the passage and entered a bright room filled with
modern equipment.

Sabre lay on a
white, moulded plastic bed. Tarl removed a drip from his arm and
took down the empty bag. Arriving at Sabre's side, she gazed down
at him. His eyes glowed silver when they flicked up to meet hers.
Spots of blood flecked his right shoulder, along with small round
red areas. Her throat closed, and hot tears filled her eyes as she
slid her arms around his neck and laid her cheek on his
shoulder.

He tensed a
little, but held her, rubbing her back. "Hey, it's okay, I'm fine.
Tarl fixed me."

She gulped.
"I'm just so glad you're all right."

"I'm all
better, promise. Don't cry."

Tassin
straightened, blinking. "I'm not crying."

"Right. Of
course not; warrior queens don't cry."

"No, they
don't."

"Good. You
must have got dust in your eyes then."

She rubbed
them. "It's dusty in those corridors."

Sabre sat up
and studied her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, fine."
She hugged him again. "I was so worried about you."

"It was just a
broken shoulder."

"No, I meant
when you were fighting Dellon's men."

"Ah,
right."

"I wanted to
help you, but he wouldn't let me." Tassin drew back to glare at
Tarl.

"Really? What
did he do?"

"He manhandled
me, dragged me around, and pushed me up a tree."

"Manhandled
you?"

Tassin nodded,
frowning. "He was rude."

"Was he now?"
Sabre shot Tarl a narrow-eyed glance. "He pushed you up a
tree?"

"And he
dragged me around. I have bruises." She pushed up her sleeves, but
her arms were unmarked. "I had them."

"Really."
Sabre slid off the couch and turned to Tarl. "So why didn't you
have him flogged?"

"It doesn't
merit a flogging."

"It definitely
merits something, though, don't you agree?"

"Yes." Tassin
was a little uncertain now, glancing at Tarl, who looked from one
to the other, his mouth open.

Sabre
approached Tarl, his attitude menacing, and the luckless cyber tech
jumped up and backed away, raising his hands.

"Hey, hang on,
bud, I was keeping her safe, like you asked me to. She would have
come running in here and got herself killed!"

"By shoving
her around?"

"I didn't
shove her!"

Sabre closed
the gap when Tarl encountered the wall, and his hands shot out to
grip the tech's shoulders. Tarl flinched, shook his head and tried
to push Sabre away.

"Wait! Sabre,
don't, I..."

Sabre yanked
Tarl into a bear hug, and the tech’s air left him in a groan.
Tassin was sure his ribs must have creaked in protest.

"Thanks bud."
Sabre held him away and grinned, patting him on the shoulder, then
gripped his neck and gave him a little shake.

Tarl clasped
his ribs, looking confused and relieved.

Tassin's mouth
dropped open in astonishment. "'Thanks, bud'?"

Sabre turned
to her. "Absolutely. He kept you safe, like I asked him to."

"He gave me
bruises!"

"I don't see
any, and, even if he did, he must have had to, and I'll bet he had
more than you."

"I did," Tarl
agreed. "She slapped and scratched."

"I wanted to
help you," she said, glaring at Tarl.

Sabre sighed
and approached her. "All you'd have done was get in the middle of
everything and caused more problems. You might have been hurt."

She frowned at
him. “Do you have any idea how worried I was? I heard the laser
shots coming from the castle, and...”

“
Hey, hush.” Sabre drew her into his arms. “I know you were
worried, but you mustn’t try to come to my rescue, okay? No matter
how much you want to. If you do, I’ll just end up having to protect
you as well, which makes it more difficult for me. Killing… Combat
is what I’m designed for. I’m good at it.”

Tarl slipped
out and closed the door behind him.

She hugged
Sabre, shaking her head. “I can’t stop worrying about you, and
you’re not invincible. Dellon might have killed you if I hadn’t got
there when I did.”

"Not a chance.
He was already defeated, he just didn’t know it yet, and his
knights were finished. I relaxed when your men arrived; otherwise
I’d have kept going long enough to finish them off, too."

“
It looked to me a lot like he was trying to chop off your
head.”

“
He was, but I knew he couldn’t, and I knew when he tried, he’d
lose his sword and then he’d be easier to kill. I had everything
under control.”

Tassin held
him tighter. “You’re just trying to stop me worrying about you next
time, but there isn’t going to be a next time. I don’t ever want
you to have to fight again.”

“
That would be nice, but I don’t think Myon Two is going to
give up any time soon. Now they know I have something they want,
the gene sequence for fire-resistant skin, they’re going to come
after me even more. They want to use me as a prototype, to show
clients so they’ll place orders and pay deposits for the new cybers
that will be ready in twenty years’ time. Sooner, if they can retro
fit it with a gene-splicing virus.”

She leant back
to look up at him. “But you’re safe on Omega.”

“
Like I said before, I don’t think the fact that this is a
restricted world will stop them.”

“
Then you’ll be safe in the castle.”

He shook his
head. “Not if they send cybers.”

“
So what are you saying? That it’s hopeless? After all we’ve
been through to get you here, where I thought you’d be safe,
they’re going to come and take you away again?”

Sabre
hesitated, loath to alarm her further and ruin her triumph. “No.
Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Maybe they won’t. Maybe
Fairen’s order will prevent them. Let’s hope for that, okay?”

“
I will, but you had better not be thinking about leaving. You
promised to stay, and if you leave I’ll just hunt you down
again.”

He smiled. “I
know.”

“
Good.”

Tassin pulled
him closer and stood on tiptoe to kiss him, her lips soft and warm.
A sudden, powerful urge to lash out at her almost overwhelmed him,
and he drew back and released her, rubbed his brow and encountered
the cyber band. When she had hugged him earlier, he had discovered
that the flashing light in his mind had returned, only now it was a
red proximity warning, and much more intrusive. He had switched it
off, but now he had this new, alarming compulsion that could only
come from the control unit, and the fact that it was directed at
Tassin perturbed him.

She frowned at
him, clearly puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

"I don’t
know." He gripped the brow band, the longing to rip it off that so
often filled him stronger than ever.

“
It’s that damned thing, isn’t it?”

“
Yeah.”

Tassin sank
down on the exam couch. “Is there no end to that thing’s…
cruelties? What did it do to you now?”

“
Maybe it was just a malfunction.”

“
You’re not a damned machine.”

“
Part of me is,” he said, and she slumped, her attitude
despondent. Sabre sat beside her and enfolded her in his arms. “I’m
sorry.”

“
It’s not your fault.” She turned to him and hugged him. “I
just wish you weren’t…”

“
A cyborg?”

“
Yeah. Maybe Tarl can help?”

“
Maybe.”

Tassin drew
back and glared at the control unit. “Please switch it off.”

“
Why?”

She met his
eyes. “Just to see what happens.”

“
Nothing happens.” He looked away from her pleading gaze, and
the control unit’s virtual dashboard and scanner information
vanished as he turned it off.

“
How do you feel now?”

“
Empty.”