The Cyber Chronicles IV - Cyborg (2 page)

Dena hurried
forward and embraced Tassin, her eyes filled with worry. The Queen
returned it, hampered by the weapon, and hot tears stung her eyes.
When Dena stepped back, Tassin lifted the sword and held it before
her. She was not sure this would even work, but she had to try. It
was her only chance. She smiled at the Princess.

“
Look after my kingdom.”

Dena nodded.
“I will. Be careful, and good luck. Bring Sabre home.”

“
I won’t rest until I find and free him.”

“
I know.”

Tassin nodded
and faced the sword. “Sword. Take me to where Sabre is.”

The weapon
gave a flat chime, which she interpreted as refusal.

She frowned.
After everything she had been through, she would not allow the
sword to cheat her of her quest. “If you don’t obey me, I’ll have
you melted down. I’ll send you to the blacksmith, you hear me? If
you want to be cherished, you must be useful. Take me to where
Sabre is, now!”

The sword
flashed to crystal, and Tassin held her breath. Its light flared,
shimmering with rainbow colours, and enveloped her in blinding
brilliance that forced her to shut her eyes. She experienced a
sensation of weightlessness and intense cold that chilled her skin
and filled her heart with dread, then the sensations vanished and
solid ground hit her feet. Tassin staggered and fell to her knees,
her head spinning. As the dizziness ebbed and the world slowed, she
opened her eyes. The lingering dregs of vertigo made her lean
sideways as she took in her extraordinary surroundings.

Tall glass
spires surrounded her, shining in early morning sunlight, and
streams of gleaming, multi-coloured vehicles swept past close by
and overhead. People wandered along the street, clad in bright,
finely made clothes, the men and most of the women wearing trouser
suits, with a few women in short skirts.

Tassin
remained on her knees, the sword lying beside her on the speckled
concrete, her fingers still gripping its hilt as she gaped at the
alien city, hardly able to believe it had worked. She cringed as a
man stopped beside her and bent to peer at her.

“
Are you all right?” he asked, his words heavily accented, but
understandable, to her surprise.

She nodded and
climbed to her feet, using the sword as a prop. “Yes, thank
you.”

The man smiled
and continued on his way, and she turned to take in the amazing
vista of buildings and streets as more people thronged them,
disembarking from flying vehicles that swooped down to drop them
off. Skyways spanned the gaps between many of the tall buildings,
and bright signs flashed alien messages. It resembled the ancient,
ruined city she had visited on Omega Five with Sabre, only this one
was intact and inhabited. The whizzing vehicles unnerved her, and
she moved closer to the nearest wall, wondering what she should do
now. There was no sign of Sabre, so she could only assume that the
sword had brought her to the right planet, but had not been able to
deposit her at his side. Remembering it, she sheathed it.

Now what? She
looked around and set off along the street, hoping to find
something that might give her a clue as to what she should do next.
How was she going to find Sabre in what was obviously a massive
metropolis? She did not think the sword could help her further, and
she was reluctant to use it again. Perhaps it could not pin point
him any better, but, then again, it might have taken her somewhere
far from him, where she would search fruitlessly. Sabre had not
trusted it, and neither did she. The chaos weapon was a malevolent
entity. She passed vast shops with windows full of amazing clothes,
jewellery and strange mechanical devices, towering businesses clad
in shining steel and glass, and massive inns with marble foyers
full of plants and well-dressed people.

By the
afternoon, she had walked for kilometres, she estimated, yet
nothing had changed. The city seemed endless and her quest doomed.
How was she supposed to find a cyber in such a crowded city? A man
who was clone, one of thousands, she guessed, and who did not even
have a proper name. Only the one she had given him. The streets had
become less populated and the buildings not so grand, and she
turned into an alley to quit the throngs of pedestrians, seeking
solitude. Now she wished she had brought some food, for her stomach
growled and her throat was dry. Sabre would have brought supplies.
He would have known what to do, too.

This was his
world, but to her it was a strange and frightening place filled
with uncaring people. She missed him more than ever, and she had
not thought that was possible. Tassin sank down beside a wall in
the dim alley, where scraps of paper scuttled along the pavement in
the wind, and rested her aching legs. Soon dusk would fall, and she
was lost in this vast, alien city. Despair made her eyes sting and
she rubbed them, determined not to give in to it. She was a warrior
queen, she would find a way. What she needed was someone who knew
how to locate a cyber in a city, she decided. After resting for
half an hour or so, she rose to her feet and went back to the busy
street. Just up the road, she approached the liveried flunky who
stood outside a gleaming inn, and he turned to smile at her.

“
Excuse me,” she said, “Do you know the best way to find a
person in this city?”

“
You could look up their name in the city database.”

She shook her
head. “I don’t know his name.”

The man’s
brows rose. “Okay, then you probably need an investigator. There’s
one just around the corner, in Limewell Street. There’s a sign
outside his building.”

“
Thank you.” She headed in the direction he
indicated.

Tassin found
the sign, which said ‘Private Investigator Horral Horwin’, and
followed the directions up to the fifth floor, which involved a lot
of stairs. She wondered how the people who lived or worked in the
tall buildings managed to climb up and down them. They must be
extremely fit. On the fifth floor she found another sign outside a
glass-paned door and entered a plush office where a pretty blonde
girl filed her nails behind a desk. When Tassin asked to see Mr
Horwin, the girl told her to sit in one of the sleek green chairs,
pushed a button on a device on her desk and spoke into it. A gruff
voice replied, and the girl turned to Tassin again.

“
You can go in.” She indicated a wooden door in the far
wall.

Tassin entered
a posh, yet somehow seedy office with a dull green carpet and a
dead plant in a pot by the door. A fat, balding man sat behind a
vast grey desk on the far side of the room, in front of a
floor-to-ceiling window with a city view. He wore a shiny brown
suit, his fingers heavy with gold rings, and his neck bulged around
a too-tight white collar. His beady brown eyes raked her and his
full lips curved in a false smile as he gestured to a blue and
white pinstriped chair in front of his desk. Papers and strange
devices cluttered it, and a black square stood in a corner, in
front of which was a board covered with keys, each bearing a
different letter or number.

Tassin sank
into the chair, her legs shaking after the stairs and the day of
trudging through the city, and he steepled his pudgy fingers.

“
So, how may I help you, little lady?” he enquired.

“
I’m looking for someone.”

“
Well, then, you’ve come to the right place.” He poised his
hands over the board with keys on it. “Name?”

“
I don’t know.”

“
How can you not know?”

“
I… He doesn’t have a proper name.”

“
So… he has an alias? That can work, too. What is
it?”

Tassin shook
her head. “No. He doesn’t have a name at all.”

“
Okay. A description, then? Less accurate, but if you can
identify him for a picture, we can find out what his name
is.”

“
That won’t help. He’s a clone.”

Horwin lowered
his hands, his brow furrowing. “A clone? Just exactly what are we
talking about here?”

“
He’s a cyber.”

His brows shot
up. “A cyber-bio combat unit? Well, I know where you can buy one of
those, or rent one. Easy.” He tapped some keys and peered at the
black square. “Let’s see…”

“
No. I don’t want any cyber. I’m looking for a particular
one.”

“
Ah.” Horwin lowered his hands again. “Okay. What’s his serial
number?”

“
I don’t know.” A growing despondency gripped her.

Horwin
frowned. “Let’s see if I have this right… You’re looking for a
particular cyber, but you don’t know his serial number?”

She
nodded.

“
Do you know his owner’s name?”

She hesitated.
“Manutim Alrade?”

He typed on
his keyboard and peered at the black square. “No such person in the
database. Could he have an alias?”

“
Probably, but I don’t know what it is.”

“
Look, lady, I can find most things at the drop of a hat –
special software, you know – but finding a particular cyber without
a serial number or his owner’s name? Impossible.”

“
Are there a lot of cybers here?”

“
In Mogalon, or on Ferrinon Four?”

She shook her
head in confusion. “What are those?”

“
Mogalon’s the city, Ferrinon Four’s the planet. You don’t even
know where you are? Are there men in white coats chasing you, by
any chance?”

“
What do you mean?”

He leant
forward, lacing his fingers. “I suppose you don’t have any money,
either, huh?”

“
I do.” Tassin dipped into her pouch and drew out a handful of
gold. “See?”

He eyed it.
“That’s not money, that’s… junk.”

“
It’s gold!”

“
It’s worthless. You’re wasting my time.”

“
Please help me.”

He sighed and
sat back, making his chair creak in protest. “Why do I always get
the nut jobs?”

“
Is there anyone who can help me?”

“
The short answer is no.” He studied her, shaking his head.
“But who knows? Look, I know a guy who might take you on. He likes
pretty girls, and he’s the best hacker on the planet. Bit of a nut
job himself. He might do it for payment in kind. Although even if
he finds this particular cyber for you, I don’t know what good it
will do you if you don’t have any money to buy him.” He pulled a
pad of paper towards him and scribbled on it with a silver pen.
“Here’s his address. His name’s Kole Arvan.”

“
Thank you.” She stood up and took the scrap of paper he held
out.

“
Yeah, great, I’m sure the two of you will have
fun.”

Tassin headed
for the door, eager to quit his irritated presence. On the way down
the five flights of stairs, she studied the address, wondering how
she was going to find it. Back in the street, she decided to try
the friendly flunky and went back to the giant, shiny inn. The
uniformed man was ushering patrons inside, bowing and smiling, and
she waited until he was not busy, then approached. He turned to
smile at her, and she explained her predicament, showing him the
piece of paper.

“
Wow, this is across town.”

“
It’s far?”

“
Very far. You’ll need to catch a taxi.”

She shook her
head in confusion. “Taxi?”

“
You’re really new at this, aren’t you? Have you got any
money?”

Tassin spirits
flagged. “No. I have gold, and some jewels. They’re junk,
apparently.”

“
Okay, show me some stones.” His smile was kindly and his brown
eyes gentle.

Tassin dug in
her pouch, pulling out two blood-red rubies and a flawless emerald
the size of doves’ eggs. He took them and tucked them into his
pocket, stepped closer to the stream of flying traffic and raised
an arm. Within moments a bright red vehicle with black stripes on
it stopped beside him, and he beckoned to her, opening the door.
She slid into the soft fawn interior, and he closed the door, then
leant in through the front window and spoke to the driver, handing
him a clear oblong wafer. The driver nodded and the vehicle zoomed
away as the flunky waved. Tassin clung to the seat as the city flew
past. The vehicle rose high above the street and shot along at an
alarming speed. She told herself that this mode of transport must
be safe, since the sky thronged with such vehicles, but bile stung
her throat for a while nonetheless. By the time the vehicle
stopped, she was just getting used to it. The driver turned his
head.

“
Here you are, lady. Fifteen Harwoll Street.”

Tassin hunted
for a door handle with shaking hands, found a button and pushed it.
The door opened, and she stumbled out onto the pavement. As soon as
she closed the door, the vehicle speeded away. She looked around
and spotted a sign with the same address that was written on the
piece of paper. It took her an hour to climb to the ninth floor and
find apartment forty-two, by which time she was exhausted. She
spent five minutes knocking on the door before it was wrenched open
by a tall, slim man with a shock of blond hair and bleary blue
eyes, who yawned and scratched his stomach. He wore baggy blue
trousers and a wrinkled collarless shirt, his feet in fluffy pink
slippers.

“
Yuh?”

“
Are you Kole Arvan?”

“
Yuh.” His eyes raked her, and a lopsided smile curved his
lips. “What can I do for you?”