Surely he should want to fight to stay with her, and be free, if he felt something for her too? Gathering up her skirts, she ran after him, brushing aside the ladies-in-waiting who had come in search of her. He had vanished, however, and she retreated to her room to nurse her wounded heart, dispatching servants to find him. She had to talk to him, to heal the rift, but also to ensure that he did not slip away forever.
Sabre eluded Tassin for the rest of the day, finding a peaceful eerie atop the castle's highest battlements, where he watched the servants hunting for him below. He stayed there until long after dusk, when the search was abandoned and most of the servants retired. Then he returned to his room and dressed in his old clothes, taking a warm jacket to ward off the winter chill.
On silent feet, he traversed the hallway to Dena's room. He bent over the sleeping child, kissed her brow and whispered a sad farewell. Going to Tassin’s rooms, he stood for some time in the darkness outside her doors, where two yawning guards leant on their spears. He longed to see her one more time and say goodbye while she slept, but that would be risky. Making his way to a side door that led into the courtyard, he slipped through the gates and loped into the forest.
Chapter Twenty
Tassin stared blindly at the maps spread on the table, a flickering oil lamp throwing leaping light across them. Her eyes drooped with fatigue and her bones ached from weeks of hard travel. She had lost track of how long she had been searching for Sabre. It seemed like an eternity. Rain lashed the tent and freezing wind crept in through every chink in the heavy leather. She shivered and pulled her thick fur coat closer, blinking tears from her gritty eyes. When she had found that Sabre had left during the night after the fateful encounter, she had been frantic.
On that day, she had started the largest manhunt in Arlin's history. She had dispatched her soldiers in squads of ten and ordered her lords and knights to send out their men. The huge reward she had offered for any information as to Sabre's whereabouts had drawn commoners and mercenaries into the hunt, and Tassin led a squad of twenty men. She dressed in sturdy black trousers and studded leather armour, a slender sword at her side. Her advisors' disapproval had fallen on deaf ears, and she had denied Dena's clamouring to join the search.
Tassin had become more despondent with each empty, fruitless day. Her heart had grown heavy with desolation and her temper was short. Only when she was alone did she vent her misery in hopeless tears that brought no comfort.
Sabre had vanished.
Three weeks ago, her squad had skirted close to the mountains, and she had detoured to collect her war stallion. The mare with him had a grey colt at foot, and finding them had brought a little joy to lighten her load of misery. She had returned to the heart of her land, ignoring her general's pleas to end the search. Her men were tired and cold, as was she, entering her tent each night exhausted and saddle sore.
The maps blurred as fresh tears flooded her eyes, and she rubbed them away, a lump blocking her throat. She would never stop searching for him. She would find him or die trying. A warrior queen never gave up. A wry smile tugged at her lips as she recalled his teasing mockery of her grand assertion. His smiling image filled her mind, and she covered her face and wept.
Sabre sat in an abandoned cabin, warming his hands on the fire he had kindled with damp wood. Odd jobs on remote farms had earned him a little food, but he had lost weight, and sorrow haunted him. He made the most of his empty days, enjoying the simple pleasures of a normal life for as long as it lasted. He sensed his time ticking away like a malignant, unstoppable clock. His heart ached with loneliness, and he filled his dwindling time with memories of Tassin, fighting the overwhelming urge to spend his remaining days or weeks with her.
His attempts to find the locator hidden somewhere in his body had proven futile, and his last hope of avoiding his fate had died with that failure. The cyber's anatomical analysis did not reveal its site, nor did the memories he had sifted through. Outside, the grim land froze under a bitter grey sky, reflecting his mood, and what was happening to his heart. The first snows had yet to fall, but the trees were bare and the woodland silent, awaiting winter's icy grip.
A soft green light that he had not seen before awoke in his mind's dim recess. He closed his eyes to study its benign glow, and scanned the black field that held the cyber's information. The three inconspicuous words were not intended for his attention.
‘Locator beacon activated’.
Sabre's chest tightened, stopping his breath, and he bowed his head. This was it then. This was the end.
Tassin sensed a presence above her and looked up. Her soldiers searched a belt of woodland for what seemed like the tenth time. The afternoon sun slanted through the trees in golden beams, gilding the clouds of steam that weary horses and men breathed. Her mouth swung open in astonishment as a silver ship passed overhead in utter silence. Lights twinkled around the ovoid craft's perimeter, and sunlight gleamed on polished metal. Her heart flip-flopped and grew leaden.
Turning to the general beside her, she yelled, "Follow me!"
Tassin kicked Falcon into a gallop in the direction the ship had taken, for its speed had already left her far behind. The stallion thundered through the woods, clods of earth flying up behind him. Trunks whipped past and branches lashed her. The soldiers raced in pursuit, spurring their mounts to keep up with the warhorse. The ship had vanished, but she kept going in a straight line, hoping it would bring her to it, and Sabre.
The woodland passed in a blur. Falcon splashed through streams and thundered up and down hills and vales. She ignored the worried shouts from her men and leant low over his neck, trying to avoid the lashing branches while urging the stallion to greater speed. He responded gamely, racing over the fallen leaves, sweat streaking his neck and flanks. As they hurdled moss-covered logs, she prayed that she would reach Sabre in time. How long would it take Manutim to subdue him? Would he go willingly or attempt to evade capture? She must not be too late.
Sabre stood up and went to open the cabin door. An unarmed merchant vessel floated down in the meadow several hundred metres away, swaying on its antigravity. The cyber's scrolling information informed him that it was a J-Class Durapod, a small, fast shuttle smugglers often used to sneak into restricted airspace and evade guardian patrols. The interstellar ship it came from would be in orbit. Landing legs unfolded, skids flipping open when they touched the ground, and the craft settled onto them.
The freezing wind tugged at him when he stepped out into it. Grey clouds blotted out the last of the sunset's fading radiance, plunging the world into twilight. He shed his jacket, dropping it as he walked towards the ship. The cyber automatically boosted his metabolism, and warmth suffused him. Flight was futile. The spacer would hunt him down with the override. A door slid open in the ship's flank and a ramp extended to the ground. Three men descended it, two of them armed with lasers.
Tassin burst into a rolling meadow. The flying vessel sat upon the frosty ground like a giant silver egg, and Sabre walked towards it from a shabby cabin on the far side of the field. Three men stood next to the craft, two dressed in silver uniforms, the third clad in a hooded white suit with a silver belt. Although the clothes were not his usual wizard's robe, she was sure the man in white was Manutim. The trio turned to face her as she galloped up, and Tassin brought Falcon to a sliding, propping halt close to Manutim, who pulled his hood lower. Steam jetted from the stallion's nostrils and billowed up from his heaving flanks.
Manutim bowed. "Your Majesty. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"You will not take him, Manutim."
He hesitated, evidently disconcerted by her outburst and its content. "I'm afraid I must. He belongs to me."
"No! He wishes to stay with me."
"He is just a weapon, Majesty, he has no wishes."
"The thing on his head is broken. He's a free man."
“Impossible. Cyber hosts are just biological tools, incapable of independent thought. Without the controller -”
“He’s not the same as he was when he arrived. He is no longer controlled by the machine.”
Manutim glanced at the approaching cyber. “If that’s true, Myon Two will be very interested in studying him.” He turned to his men. "Bring the override."
As one man trotted into the ship, Tassin said, "Please, let him stay with me."
"I'm sorry, I can't allow that."
"I need him. You cannot take him!"
She hoped Sabre was still out of earshot. The warrior hurried back to Manutim and handed him a black instrument.
She leant closer. "I care for him."
He shot her a sideways glance. "That is unfortunate."
Manutim’s unfeeling attitude angered her. He no longer affected a respectful manner, as if he had forgotten who she was and that he wanted to be her friend, whatever his reasons for that were. The matter at hand, however, was too pressing for her to be distracted by his change in demeanour.
"I will fight you, if that’s what it takes."
Manutim looked up in surprise, allowing her a glimpse of a sallow, bearded face before he lowered his head again. Tassin eyed the shaven, tattooed warriors at his side. They held their weapons loosely, their gaunt, sharp-featured faces expressionless. Her men emerged from the woods and stopped behind her on lathered, blowing mounts to gape at the strange vehicle. The huge, glossy warhorses, caparisoned in black and silver livery, snorted clouds of steam and cavorted. Flowing manes streamed from the destriers' arched necks, and their tails flew like banners. Finely crafted silver face guards and breast plates, decorated with gold designs, protected them. The chargers reared with soft squeals, pawing the ground as they sensed their riders' tension. The soldiers, clad in the gold-edged black livery and silver armour of the Alrade Kings, controlled the mettlesome animals with skilful ease.
Sabre was still some distance away, and Tassin cantered over to him, her men following. He gripped her stirrup when she stopped beside him.
"Don't do this," he said. "You can't win."
She snorted. "There are three of them and twenty of us."
"They have lasers."
"So do we, at the castle. If only you had stayed..."
"You don't understand." He shook his head. "How could you? Sure, I could have killed him with the lasers, but Myon Two checks the location of all cybers annually. We're fitted with locator beacons, like any piece of expensive equipment, so I can't hide, and no, I can't find it or deactivate it. I tried. If they find me on a restricted world, and are unable to contact my owner, they'll send enforcers to bring me back. They'll use cybers, who will kill anyone who gets in their way, and I won't be able to stop them. This way, there won't be any bloodshed. I won't put you in danger."
"I will not let him take you away!"
"You can't stop him, any more than I can."
Despair clogged her throat when she met his bleak gaze. She knew he was probably right; he usually was, but she could not give up without a fight. Time seemed to stand still as the chill air nipped her skin and steam rose between them.
"We shall see," she murmured.
"No, Tassin..."
The Queen drew her sword and raised it, turning to her soldiers. They unsheathed their weapons with a slither of steel that would have struck fear into the bravest heart. A strong arm clamped around her waist and dragged her off the stallion. Sabre dumped her on her back on the ground, hard enough to make her gasp in shock. He wrenched the sword from her fist and flung it away, then loomed over her, his brows knotted.
“You listen to me, you pea-brained idiot. He will kill you! Do you hear me? He will kill you! He can’t let me stay here, even if he wanted to, which he doesn’t! If I can’t stop him, what the hell do you think you can do, even with twenty men?”
She gaped at him, stunned by his intensity, and he bowed his head. His arms bracketed her head, his hands resting on the ground, and she knew any attempt to escape would be futile. His voice dropped to a broken whisper.
“I’m sorry. Do you think I want to go with him? Really? Don’t you think I’d fight him if I could?”
“Then why -?”
“He has an override. My override, coded to my control unit. It doesn’t matter what you do, or how many of your men you get killed, all he has to do is push a button and I fall unconscious, understand? He controls me… utterly.”
She frowned. “Well my men don’t have control units –”
“Tassin, don’t argue with me. Not now.” He glanced in the direction of the spaceship. “We don’t have much time. Please, you have to let me go. I’m begging you, don’t do anything.”
“How can I?”
“Because I asked you to! Begged you! I don’t want you to get hurt, and if you try this, you will. It’s not worth it. I’m not worth it. I’m just a broken cyborg.”
“You are not a -”
He gave an inarticulate growl and pulled her into his arms, making her squeak in surprise. Tassin clung to him, marvelling that he had chosen this moment, when all was apparently lost, to finally display the feelings she had suspected him of having for so long.
“Hey!” Manutim’s shout rang across the meadow, and she knew their time was running out.
“Promise me,” Sabre whispered into her hair. “Promise me you’ll let me go. Please, Tassin.”
She gulped, her heart torn between an immense urge to save him somehow, and an almost equally strong certainty that he was right, and nothing she could do would stop Manutim taking him away. Sabre tightened his hold until she squeaked again.
“Promise me!”
“All right! But -”
“No ‘buts’. No arguments. Not now.” He held her away and stroked the hair from her brow. “Let me remember you smiling, not angry and frowning, okay?”
She gulped, her throat closing. “I just don’t know how -”
“If there was any other choice I’d take it. There is no choice.” He gazed in the direction of the silver vessel, and she turned her head. Her men milled in confusion, clearly not knowing what to do. Sabre was her champion, so his unexpected attack had evidently shocked them, and, as far as they knew, he was invincible. She looked back at him as he stroked her hair again, his touch gentle.
“I’ll cherish the memory of our time together,” he said.
“I will find you and free you.”
He snorted and smiled. “The warrior queen… That’s impossible, I’m afraid.”
“You’ll see. One day I’ll come for you.”
“No, I don’t mean that. While the odds against it are astronomical, you might even succeed in that quest, because you’re so damned stubborn, but you’ll never be able to free me from the control unit again. Myon Two will repair it.”
“I’ll find a way, I swear it.”
Manutim’s shout intruded. “Cyber! Get away from her, now!”
Sabre glanced in the direction of the shout, and she followed his gaze. Her men had moved off, apparently unnerved by the approaching strangers and their silver weapons.
Sabre released her and sat back, but she refused to let him go.
“Stand up, Cyber Four,” Manutim ordered.
Sabre obeyed, lifting Tassin to her feet. The alien warriors had herded her men further away, and one guarded them. The second crewman pointed his weapon at Sabre, but they kept their distance. Sabre looked at Manutim, his eyes cold. Manutim jerked his head at the second guard, who darted in and grabbed Tassin's arm.
She kicked him. "Let me go, you lout!"
The crewman hauled her away, his weapon trained on the cyber.
“Cyber Four, report,” Manutim commanded.
Sabre hesitated, and Tassin wondered if Manutim still did not believe her, in which case, perhaps Sabre could pretend to be under cyber control and avoid being taken to Myon Two for repairs. Even Sabre’s momentary hesitation should have given him away, yet Manutim seemed to be having a great deal of trouble accepting that Sabre was free of cyber control. The extreme caution with which he a
nd his men had approached the cyber, however, indicated that he was unsure. Why was the concept so outlandish? If Sabre could fool Manutim, he might be able to escape, steal a ship and return to Omega Five. Her heart quickened with hope. She wished she had thought to suggest the idea to him earlier, and cursed herself. Even more, she cursed herself for telling Manutim that Sabre was free. She had thought it would persuade him to leave Sabre with her.
Sabre said, “Mission completed successfully.”
Tassin stifled a sob of relief. A modicum of hope remained, and she clung to it.
Manutim asked, “Is the area known as the Death Zone destroyed?”
“Yes.”
“Is the threat to the primary command subject eliminated?”
“No. Weapons have been installed in the fortified structure where the primary subject resides, but the enemy remains a possible threat.”
“Are you damaged?”
“This unit is functional. Bio status at seventy-nine per cent.”
Manutim turned to Tassin. “You see, there’s nothing wrong with him.”
“Oh,” she choked out, her throat tight. “I thought he was damaged.”
“Sir.” The guard peered at Sabre, frowning. “There are too many red lights on his control unit.”
Manutim also studied the brow band. “Yes, I see what you mean.”
“Maybe she’s right.”
“If he’s malfunctioning, Cybercorp owes me a refund, or a replacement. A free cyber!” He snorted. “Yeah, right. That would be a first, but I’m not taking any chances.” Manutim raised the black instrument, and Sabre froze. Tassin's heart filled with despair as he bowed his head, his hands clenched. Manutim turned to the crewman who guarded the soldiers.
"Bring the transport unit."
The Cyber Chronicles 03: The Core Page 24
