The Cyber Chronicles VI - Warrior Breed (38 page)

"It's
true."

"They're
ugly."

"I disagree.
They're nice... the hands of an artist." She looked up and
smiled.

He frowned at
his hands again, a little embarrassed by her praise. "They're
mutilated."

"No, they're
not. The scars are barely visible. I didn't notice them for several
days after I met you. I had to look closely to see them. They're
beautiful, just like the rest of you."

This time he
did check the scanners, and cursed himself. She was telling the
truth, even though it was hard to believe, but then, there had to
be something about him that she found attractive. Still, her words
rankled. "I guess you like scars, then."

"Not
particularly, but yours aren't ugly. The ones from when the
scientists put the metal on your bones are so faint, and there's no
sign of stitches. How did they do that?"

"They glued
them together."

She looked
puzzled. "Glued?"

"Yeah. They
use sticky tape, stick it to one side of the incision, then pull it
across so it holds the wound closed. No stitches."

She leant
forward and touched his chest, probing for the mesh under his skin.
"I can't feel the armour, can you?"

"Sometimes it
twinges. You can feel it here." He guided her hand to his flank,
where the mesh could be felt over his ribs.

Tassin
explored the area, looking enthralled, then raised her eyes to his
face. "At least they made the brow band attractive."

He fought
another urge to check the scanners. "Attractive."

"Yes. It's
quite ornamental, with the gold metal and black crystals. And the
flashing lights are pretty."

Sabre snorted,
finally amused. "You think it's pretty?"

"It looks a
bit like a crown. Perhaps I should put some flashing lights on mine
when we get home. My consort can't have a better crown than
mine."

Sabre smiled
and shook his head. "You're kidding, right?"

"Not at all.
My crown gives me a headache if I wear it for too long. At least
you don't have that problem."

"Your crown is
a symbol of rank. This is a badge of slavery."

"Not anymore.
It's your slave now."

He inclined
his head, wondering what had brought on this sudden spate of
admiration. "I know I've asked you this before, but do you really
think you could tell me apart from one of my clones?"

She made a
disparaging noise. "How do you think I found you? I knew you
straight away."

"The scars
from my battle with the Core."

"No. They only
confirmed what I knew the moment I saw you."

"How did you
know it was me?"

"I don't know,
exactly. I just did. I looked at quite a few cybers before I found
you." She glanced away. "I was afraid I wouldn't know you, so I was
checking for the crack in the brow band, but I didn't need to check
it when I saw you. There's something different about you, something
unique."

"I'm glad you
think so. But don't you wish I didn't have this?" He tapped the
brow band.

"Not really. I
hated what it did to you, but now that it's just a tool, no, I'm
glad you have it. It's useful and pretty."

Sabre studied
her, wondering if she was trying to boost his ego. It was working,
at any rate. He did feel better about himself. "Do you really mean
all that?"

She shrugged.
"Why don't you check your scanners and find out?"

"Why don't you
just tell me?"

"If you think
I'm lying, it could just be another one."

He nodded.
"I'm trying to believe you; it's just a bit hard to."

"Do you really
think I have such bad taste in men?"

"It could just
be my character you like."

She smiled. "I
do, but I like the rest of you as well. I consider myself lucky.
Some girls fall in love with ugly men with great characters, or
handsome men with bad characters. But I got the best of both, a
handsome man with a wonderful character."

"Handsome." He
nodded, eyeing her. "Now I know you're kidding."

"No I'm not.
I'm pretty fussy in that department."

"What did you
think of me when I first stepped out of the casket?"

"I thought you
were a handsome dolt, but that was because I hadn't met the real
you, only that stupid machine."

"And when you
met the real me, you didn't like me much, did you?"

"I thought you
were rude, but I liked you."

Sabre looked
down, wondering if he should ask the question that was burning in
his mind, afraid of the answer, yet longing to hear the right one.
"What about my ability to fight? How much do you like that?"

"That's a
bonus. It's great, but it's not why I love you."

"So it doesn't
impress you."

"Of course it
does, but if you were ugly and a bastard, or handsome and a
bastard, I wouldn't love you no matter how well you could
fight."

"And if I was
ugly but likeable, and couldn't fight?"

"That would be
okay."

Sabre studied
her again, puzzled. "I'm surprised. I thought my abilities were a
large part of the attraction."

"Why would
they be? How much less would you love me if I wasn't a queen?"

"None. But...
my abilities are surely the most impressive thing about me."

She leant
forward and took his hands. "Your abilities are very impressive,
but I love you because you're a wonderful, gentle person who also
happens to be very handsome. I do also love the fact that you can
beat anyone who dares to challenge you, but if you were crippled
tomorrow I wouldn't love you any less."

He gazed down
at his hands, not hating them for the first time. He was almost
glad he owned them, especially when she was holding them. "And I
wouldn't care if you were a pauper, or ugly. I fell in love with
you first, you know."

"I wouldn't
count on that. I was too naive and stupid back then to know what I
was feeling, and I had this silly notion that it was impossible
because you weren't noble, but you're far nobler than any of the
primping lords on Omega Five."

He smiled,
absently caressing her hands. "Thank you."

"When I was
searching for you, I was so afraid you would be killed before I
found you. I don't know what I would have done if that had
happened. I had these terrible images of you being torn apart by
monstrous alien beasts or killed in some stupid battle. I never
imagined you wouldn't remember me. Were you aware that I was there,
before we freed you?"

"Not really.
After I was sent back to Myon Two I buried myself so far in the
darkness I was hardly aware of anything."

"Yet when I
called your name, you reacted."

He shrugged.
"Your voice did sound familiar. It did kind of wake me up a bit,
and then I heard you telling me to free myself, which I thought was
really dumb, since I had no memory of ever being free."

Her hands
tightened on his. "But you did try."

"Yeah."

"At least that
can never happen again."

He pulled a
wry face. "If Myon Two ever get hold of me, I reckon they'll figure
out a way, and if they can't, they'll kill me."

"They can't,
two Overlords have forbidden it."

"What the
Overlords don't know won't hurt Myon Two, and they have a lot of
power."

"Without that
tracking thing, they'll never find you."

"Unless I'm
betrayed."

She frowned.
"Who would do that? Not the Trykons. They don't even know who you
are."

"No, not them,
but possibly Ramadaus, or, more likely, Manutim."

Her eyes took
on a distant look. "And he knows about Omega Five."

"Yeah."

"We could be
heading for a trap."

"We could, but
now I have Fairen's distress beacon, and they don't know about
that."

"Would they
dare?"

He nodded. "Oh
yeah; Myon Two don't like the Overlords. They could never stand up
to one of them, but they'd definitely sneak around behind their
backs."

Tassin yawned
and knuckled her eyes. "I think we should get some more sleep."

He rose. "I'll
get another mattress. You can have the bed. I'll sleep on the
floor."

"You're not
going to have another dream tonight."

"We can't be
sure of that. Go to sleep. I'll be right back."

Tassin climbed
into the bed, shooting him a mournful look. His unusual show of
affection had surprised and delighted her, and she wished he would
do it more often. It was worth almost being strangled, although she
had to admit that his hands had barely tightened on her throat.
Still, it had been frightening, especially after Tarl's lecture on
killing machines. That fact did come to bear when the killing
machine in question had his hands around her throat.

The
conversation seemed to have calmed him, as she had intended,
although the earlier event had clearly rattled him. It had driven
yet another wedge into their fragile relationship, making his
struggle to become normal even more difficult, and she cursed the
torturers who had crippled him so badly while making him into a
weapon. She would have happily traded all his fighting abilities
for a chance at a life without the fetters of his conditioning and
training, and the trauma of his monstrous past. Their arrival at
Omega Five seemed certain at last, and, although the wild
roller-coaster ride of Sabre's development had taken a bad turn,
she hoped things would improve with time. He was undergoing a lot
of difficult adjustments to his new life, but they deserved to find
happiness at the end of this long and torturous journey after all
they had been through. Closing her eyes, she allowed the gentle
tide of sleep to rise and wash her away into its dark ocean of
slumber.

****

The
Cyber Chronicles
saga continues in Book VII,
Sabre,
Book VIII,
Scorpion Lord,
Book IX,
Precipice
, and many more
as yet unwritten.

About the
author

T. C.
Southwell was born in Sri Lanka and her family moved to the
Seychelles when she was a baby. She spent her formative years
exploring the islands – mostly alone. Naturally, her imagination
flourished and she developed a keen love of other worlds. The
family travelled through Europe and Africa and, after the death of
her father, settled in South Africa. T. C. Southwell has written
over forty novels and five screenplays. Her hobbies include
motorcycling, horse riding and art, and she earns a living in the
IT industry.

All
illustrations and cover designs by the author.

Contact the
author at [email protected]

Acknowledgements

Mike Baum and
Janet Longman, former employers, for their support, encouragement,
and help. My mother, without whose financial support I could not
have dedicated myself to writing for ten years. Isabel Cooke,
former agent, whose encouragement and enthusiasm led to many more
books being written, including this one. Suzanne Stephan, former
agent, who has helped me so much over the past six years, and
Vanessa Finaughty, good friend and business partner, for her
support, encouragement and editing skills.