The Cyber Chronicles Book II: Death Zone (9 page)

Tassin eyed
him, clearly irritated by his teasing. "It would be nice to get
back to civilisation."

"Yeah, I
thought you might like that."

She glanced at
the jungle and shuddered. "But I do not fancy going through
that."

"Why not? You
went through worse than that in the Death Zone."

Picking up a
pebble, she tossed it into the stream. "Well, I suppose there is no
choice, is there? We certainly cannot go back, so we have to carry
on."

Sabre smiled
at her martyred air, reflecting that she had endured a lot. "I hope
what you're looking for is on the other side."

She shook her
head. "It cannot be; we left it behind."

The next
morning, they crossed the grassland and entered the jungle's humid,
sullen beauty. Orchid-like plants clung to damp, lichen-covered
trees, trailing streamers of sweet scented flowers. Soft ferns grew
in the humus, and a host of tropical plants vied for supremacy,
carpeting the jungle floor with vibrant hues. Verdure reigned
supreme in a life and death struggle for light, water and soil,
where the strong flourished and the weak withered. Older trees fell
prey to parasitic plants, and when the giants fell they opened up
opportunities for their saplings. Vines linked the jungle behemoths
in an aerial web festooned with moss and hanging creepers. Brightly
feathered birds flew overhead, filling the air with raucous cries
and lilting, liquid songs. Fleeting glimpses of shy animals drew
Sabre's eyes to the colourful foliage in which they hid, and the
scanners thronged with so many life signs that the black field
resembled a starry sky.

For a while
the open jungle was easily traversed, but it grew denser as they
moved further in, and Tassin's leg hampered her. Hanging creepers
and vines clogged the way, forcing Sabre to hack a path with the
sword. Their progress slowed as the foliage grew thicker, and
insects attacked. Tassin swatted at the blood-sucking pests, which
left itching bites. Sabre was also assaulted until he came across a
bush the cyber's data banks identified as one that contained an
insect-repellent chemical. Once anointed with the pungent sap, the
insects left them alone.

Late in the
afternoon, Sabre came across a fallen forest giant whose spreading
roots formed a shelter in the hollow of its former foundation.
Sweat dripped from his chin and ran down his chest. Dust and bits
of leaf speckled him. Tassin settled on the soft humus and listened
to the jungle's din as she inhaled the fragrance of a flower she
had plucked earlier. Sabre left her to hunt a pig for their supper,
then collected wood and built a fire. After they had eaten, he
draped the petticoats over the roots to form a rude tent, then lay
down with his back to her and fell asleep.

The wolf
trotted into the jungle, its nose quivering over the ground, and
paused to glance back at Gearn, tongue lolling. The mage smiled and
nodded at it. The trail blazed into the jungle was fresh; the
wilting plants beside it were no more than two days old. The Queen
had stopped to rest after crossing the desert, which did not
surprise him. After they had encountered the butchered corpse of
the chestnut horse, the scuffed trail left by her stumbling steps
had revealed her exhaustion. When her prints had vanished into the
Death Zone, he surmised that she had been at the end of her
strength. Three days after they had picked up the trail on the far
side, the Queen's track had vanished and the warrior mage's
footprints had deepened. It amazed him that the man still had the
strength to carry her.

Murdor trudged
behind, stony-faced. His humour had dwindled on the journey, and,
although he did not appear to be particularly tired, he was
obviously bored. Gearn's hood had protected his pasty features from
the sun, but Murdor's were burnt a deep brown and his shaven pate
was peeling. As they followed the trail into the jungle, insects
assaulted them, and Gearn cast a simple spell to repel them as
Murdor swatted and growled at the irritant.

Chapter Six

The following
day, Sabre and Tassin pushed on. Sabre slashed at the undergrowth
with unnecessary savagery, she thought. They crossed several
streams, and refilled the water skins each time. Tassin picked
exotic blossoms and arranged them in her hair to amuse herself.
Sabre stopped to rest every so often, and eyed her girlish
adornments with a marked lack of enthusiasm. In the afternoon, they
came to a river, and Tassin stared at the expanse of brown water in
horror, then glanced at Sabre.

"What are we
going to do?"

"Cross
it."

"How? I cannot
swim."

He smiled
without humour. "Somehow I didn't think you could, in spite of
being a warrior queen." He wiped the sweat from his brow. "We'll
find a bridge, or a shallow spot."

Sabre led her
upstream along the riverbank, where the undergrowth was thinner.
Two hours later, they found a tree fallen across the spate. Sabre
climbed onto the broad trunk and walked across, then came back,
smiling.

"There you
are; a bridge."

Tassin stared
at the slippery-looking log. "What if I slip?"

Sabre's smile
faded as he jumped down and leant against the trunk. "You won't
slip. If you do, I'll just have to fish you out, won't I?"

"It's not
safe. There must be a better way."

"Maybe, maybe
not. But we have to cross the river, and this is a perfectly good
way to do it." He flashed her a mocking smile. "Don't be scared, I
won't let you drown if you fall in."

Tassin drew
herself up. "I am not afraid! There could be a bridge further
upstream. You said that there might be civilisation here."

"I said there
might be some on the other side of the jungle. This is the middle
of the jungle; no civilised person would live here."

She frowned at
the log. "But if I fall..."

He
straightened, easing his back. "Don't fall."

Goaded by his
mockery, she put aside her fears and climbed onto the log with his
help, clinging to it. Sabre dumped the pack and climbed up beside
her.

"Don't look
down. Pretend that there's solid ground under it." He walked out
over the river, then came back and held out his hand. "Here, take
my hand and look at me."

Tassin gripped
his hand and rose unsteadily to her feet, her gaze fixed on his
chest. Sabre edged across the log, his hand a solid support. The
tree had been there a long time, and lichen covered the aged wood.
Step by step, she moved out over the river, aware of its rushing,
sucking sound below her, just waiting for her to fall into its wet
clutches. She concentrated on easing her feet across the slick
surface, leaning on his hand.

Sabre moved
back as she advanced, not pulling her along, but her nervousness
increased as they moved out over the swirling brown torrent.
Although she did not look down, she could sense the river beneath
her like a cold, brooding presence. She longed to grab Sabre and
hang on, but controlled her panic with an effort. The lichen grew
wetter as they neared the middle of the log, and its squelching
undermined what little confidence she had in the safety of her
footing. As if her pessimism prompted fate, her foot slipped.
Tassin jerked in a panic-stricken bid to right herself as she lost
her balance, wrenching her hand from Sabre's grip with the
unexpected action. He made a grab for her, but the treacherous
footing prevented him from lunging after her, and he teetered. With
a scream, she plunged into the brown water.

Tassin shut
her eyes and mouth as the river closed over her head. It rushed
into her nose, and she thrashed in panic. Strong currents spun her
around, and sunken branches tore at her clothes. Her lungs, emptied
by her scream, burnt for the air above that she could not reach.
She clawed at the water, her panic increasing as she failed to find
purchase on the liquid. The cold river embraced her, pulling her
down, and her skirts tangled with her legs as the current buffeted
her. It dragged her along the rocky bottom, bruising her on
submerged trees whose slimy branches clawed at her. Icy terror
gripped her heart, and the overpowering urge to inhale hammered at
her brain. The rushing river's song became a roaring in her ears,
and she flailed.

Strong hands
gripped her dress and lifted her towards the surface. She grabbed
Sabre and pulled herself up his arms, desperate for air. Her head
broke the surface, and she gasped in a great lungful with a whoop.
The water lapped at her chin, threatening to engulf her again, and
she tried to climb onto Sabre's head. He sank, and the terrifying
water closed over her again. The cyber pulled free of her clutching
hands and turned her away from him, sliding an arm around her neck.
She fought him in a blind panic, thrashing. With a powerful surge,
they shot to the surface. Tassin gasped and spluttered. Her hair
was plastered to her face, adding to her hysteria. His arm was like
an iron bar across her throat, and she struggled to turn and grab
him, the only solid thing in this frightening liquid world.

"Relax, or
you'll drown us both," he said.

Tassin barely
registered his words. Terror overwhelmed her, and she thrashed,
splashing her face, which panicked her more. She twisted and
gripped his shoulders, pulling herself up. Once more he went under,
and she sank with a strangled scream as the water washed over her
again. Her hands found his head, and she pushed upwards, causing
him to sink further. He grabbed her wrists and surged past her to
the surface, then she was yanked upwards. Gasping, she struggled to
free her wrists from his vice-like grip.

"Stop it,
Tassin!"

Sabre pulled
her into the neck hold again. Still she splashed and struggled,
water going up her nose and into her eyes. He dragged her through
the swirling current, then released her throat and allowed her to
turn and grip his shoulders. His arm slid around her waist, and he
lifted her, using branches to pull himself up the bank with his
free hand. Tassin slipped and scrambled beside him, but it was his
arm that drew her up the bank.

When they
reached level ground, he stopped and let her to sink down with a
squelch of sopping skirts. Water streamed from her hair, and she
wiped it from her stinging eyes with shaking hands, her nose
burning. She looked up to find Sabre crouched next to her, looking
concerned.

"Are you all
right?"

Tassin nodded,
pushed back her hair and wrung the water out with studied
composure. How many times had he asked her that, she wondered.
Every time he had rescued her, which seemed like a lot, although
she could not recall how many, exactly. She shivered, her teeth
chattering. Sabre knelt within reach, and without thinking, she
turned and embraced him. He tensed in apparent surprise or unease,
then held her and patted her back.

"It's okay,
you're safe." He comforted her in an awkward, embarrassed fashion
for a few minutes, then disentangled himself and took her hands,
studying her. "Feeling better?"

Tassin longed
to tell him that she would feel a lot better if he held her for at
least an hour, but decided that he might find the idea repellent,
as he apparently found her embrace. At her nod, he rose and
vanished into the jungle, leaving her cold and forlorn. She gazed
after him with a mixture of longing and sadness. He returned with
the packs and draped a blanket around her shoulders. She wrapped
herself in it, rocking and shivering. Sabre gathered wood and built
a fire, which helped to warm her, but her sodden dress clung coldly
to her.

"You've got to
get out of those wet clothes," he said.

Again she
nodded, her teeth clenched to stop them chattering. Despite the
jungle's warmth, the river water had chilled her to the core, and
shock made it worse. Sabre shook out another blanket and held it up
between them.

"Take them off
and wrap yourself in the blanket."

Tassin's hands
shook as she unbuttoned the faded pink dress. It stuck to her, and
she had to peel it off, glancing at the blanket as parts of her
became exposed, but Sabre held it high. When the dress and her slip
were a soggy pile at her feet, she wrapped the blanket around
herself and sat down again.

"All right, I
have finished."

Sabre dropped
the blanket and picked up her clothes, wrung them out and hung them
over a branch. Tassin eyed him as he crouched by the fire again,
feeding it. Water still dripped from him, yet he was not shivering,
and she resented his immunity.

"Do you never
feel the cold at all?" she demanded.

He smiled at
the fire. "Not really. But I'm not suffering from shock either. The
water holds no fear for me, because I can swim, although you nearly
drowned me as well."

A twinge of
shame sharpened her tongue. "I thought you were the great cyber,
who can do anything."

"Not quite.
Cybers are not the greatest swimmers. Twelve kilos of extra weight
does tend to cramp our style in water. Your efforts to climb onto
my head didn't help, either."

"I was
drowning!"

"I know. I'm
not blaming you."

Tassin's shame
turned to self-righteousness. "I said I would slip."

"Yup, you sure
did." He shook his head in mild reproof. "You're a pessimistic
person. Pessimism breeds fatalism, and fatalism causes loss of
confidence, which creates nervousness, and that causes accidents. I
could walk up and down that log all day and not fall off, because
I'm confident, but you couldn't even cross it once."

Tassin stared
into the fire. "It was slippery."

"There you go
again. That log was easily half a metre wide. A herd of horses
could have crossed it, but you just had to slip, because you were
afraid of slipping, and convinced yourself that you would." He
prodded the fire with a stick. "It's cause and effect. If there
hadn't been a river under that log, you would have skipped along
it. But because there was danger under it, you got tense, scared,
and you made an error of judgement."