The Cyber Chronicles IX - Precipice

by T C Southwell

  Yet, even in his confused state, he had recognised Tarl and Tassin, which was a good sign. Martis' constant carping about brain damage was really irritating, and he longed to order the host researcher out. Martis might be an expert on host design, but he had no idea of their capabilities under duress. Tarl had seen more damaged cybers than he cared to remember, and he knew how resilient they were. Seeing Sabre in this state, however, was hard for him, and more so for Tassin, who wiped tears from her cheeks.

  "He's going to be all right," he assured her. "Normally a cyber wouldn't wake up in this state, because the control unit is shut down. I'm going to have to sedate him for a while."

  She nodded. "Whatever you think is best."

  Tarl pushed the drip needle back into Sabre's arm and injected the line with a powerful sedative, one of the few that worked on a cyber. The medics wandered off, muttering. Kole sank down on a chair with a sigh, and Martis frowned at the monitor. Tarl sat on one of the stools that had been placed around Sabre's bed for his visitors and massaged the back of his neck. Tassin perched on the edge of the bed and held Sabre's hand, her brow furrowed with worry.

  "Why do you think he attacked you?" she asked.

  Tarl shook his head. "God only knows. Considering how many fights he's been in, he could have been dreaming about anything from an alien beast to a war bot. He wasn't attacking me. He stopped when he heard my voice. I should have realised, and sedated him earlier on. I'd forgotten he has dreams. I'm still adjusting to his many differences."

  "But he's all right, isn't he? He's not brain damaged."

  Tarl hesitated, loath to lie to her. "I don't know, quite honestly. Martis could be right, much as I hate to admit it. If any part of his brain froze, there could be damage. If it did, it most likely happened around the implants, which would have damaged his motor and speech centres, but he was able to stand up, and speak, so I think he's fine."

  Tassin glanced at him. "But we won't know for sure until he wakes up."

  "No. I could do a brain scan, which might show damaged areas, but... Let's just wait, okay?"

  "If he is brain damaged, he's likely to be dangerous," Martis commented.

  Tarl swung around. "Piss off, Martis. You're not helping. Speculating is pointless."

  "I was just making an -"

  "Well don't."

  "Fine." Martis stalked out, clearly offended.

  Tarl ran a hand through his hair, wishing he was not quite so tired. Much as he longed to stay at Sabre's bedside, he needed to sleep or he would be useless when the cyber woke up. That was not going to happen for many more hours, however, and he left Tassin to her vigil to seek out the stateroom that had been provided for him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The beeping of Sabre's heart monitor woke Tassin from her doze in the chair beside his bed. She raised her head, wincing as her neck twinged, and rubbed it. Her aching ribs sent lances of pain through her at every breath, despite the painkiller Tarl had given her. Sabre appeared to be asleep, but the monitor showed that his heart rate was seventy-four. Two days had passed since his first, disastrous awakening, and Tarl had kept him sedated since then. The others were away sleeping or eating, and, since it was late evening according to ship's time, the hospital was dim and empty. Tarl had assured her that Sabre was too heavily sedated to wake up, so he must be dreaming again, she decided.

  Rising, she sat on the edge of the bed, leaning forward to stroke his cheek as she had done many times during the past two days. Somehow touching his warm skin helped to allay her fears, and holding his hand comforted her. She remembered the tide of cold despair that had threatened to overwhelm her when she had seen him lying on the floor, more dead than alive. Picking up his hand, she rubbed a bit of peeling skin from his fingers and held it to her cheek. She would never forget that brief moment of lucidity, when his hands had clasped her waist and thrust her into the life pod. He must have known then that he would not be able to follow her. She shied away from the memory of her ribs breaking with dull pops under the tremendous pressure of his hands.

  The heart monitor beeped faster, and she glanced up at it. Eighty-nine beats per minute. Her gaze dropped to his face, and her breath caught. His silver eyes were fixed upon her.

  "Sabre?"

  He blinked and swallowed. "I must be dead... there's an angel on my bed." His voice was a husky whisper.

  "You're all right." Hot tears flooded her eyes and overflowed.

  "Hey... don't cry."

  She shook her head, brushing at her eyes. "I'm just..." Her throat closed.

  His hand gripped hers and tugged her closer. "Come here."

  Tassin hugged him, pressing her cheek to his skin, uncaring of the pain that shot from her ribcage. Sobs racked her, and he enfolded her in a firm embrace, stroking her hair.

  "Hush. It's okay. I'm okay, you're okay... everything's okay," he murmured.

  "I must call Tarl."

  "No, not yet."

  The heart monitor's beeping grew faster still, then stopped, and she raised her head in alarm.

  Sabre smiled. "No, I'm not dead. I just switched it off. It's annoying." His eyes roamed over her face. "I thought I'd never see you again."

  She clasped his cheeks. "I thought I'd lost you too. I saw you... drifting..."

  "Yeah... that must have been awful."

  "I'm just so glad..."

  "Me too. Fairen, huh?"

  She nodded. "Did you call him?"

  "Yeah. I didn't think he'd make it in time, though."

  "You were... frozen." Her voice emerged as a strangled croak.

  Sabre pulled her close again and held her so tight she could hardly breathe, and her ribs twinged in protest. She clung to his solid warmth and wished the moment would never end. He held her in the way in which she had longed for him to hold her for three years. Minutes passed before her tears eased, and he loosened his hold when she raised her head. To her amazement, wet streaks ran down his cheeks, and she wiped them away.

  His smile was crooked and shy. "I'm just a big sissy."

  She giggled, her breath catching. "No. You're a beautiful, gentle man. And you're not that big."

  "True. I'm a small sissy."

  "I'm just so happy you're okay."

  "I thought I would die for sure this time. I'm glad I didn't."

  "Do you need anything? Are you thirsty? Hungry?"

  He shook his head, glancing at the tube attached to his arm. "Looks like Tarl's been pumping me full of fluids, and other crap."

  "He saved your life."

  He shifted. "Yeah, but he's shoved tubes into other parts of me too, and he's going to pay for that."

  "You don't mean that."

  "Oh, but I do." He chuckled. "Okay, I'm kidding."

  Tassin smiled and stroked his cheek. "You saved me."

  His smile faded, and he reached up to cup her face. "All I could think about while I was dying was that I never told you how much I love you. There are no words to express what I feel. When I heard you'd been taken, the wall in my mind broke. I know what it is to truly love you now. What I felt before was just a shadow of the truth, an overflow from behind that wall. I didn't mind dying, as long as I saved you."

  Tassin blinked as fresh tears spilt down her cheeks. A huge lump blocked her throat, and all she could do was gaze at him and shake her head.

  A wry smile tugged at his lips. "Don't cry."

  "I can't help it."

  "Hush." He pulled her into his arms once more, stroking her hair. "You'll make me cry again too if you keep this up."

  "I love you," she mumbled against his chest.

  His arms tightened. "I know."

  "But I do need to breathe."

  "Sorry." He loosened his hold.

  Several moments passed in silence, then he asked, "How many ribs did I break?"

  Her breath caught, and she swallowed. "Not that many."

  "How many?"

  She sighed, knowing he would scan her anyway. "Only two."


  "I'm sorry."

  Tassin sat up to gaze down at him with a tremulous smile. "I wouldn't have cared if you'd broken all of them."

  His eyes swept over her and came to rest on her midriff. "Show me."

  "No, Sabre..."

  "I want to see. Show me."

  "It's bandaged."

  Sabre tugged up the edge of her blouse and eyed the bandages that swaddled her ribs. "Please take them off."

  "It will hurt."

  His eyes rose to meet hers. "I must see."

  "Why?"

  "I need to."

  "It will only make you feel worse."

  Lowering his gaze to her waist again, he unclipped the bandage and tugged it loose, starting to unwrap it. Seeing that he was not going to be swayed, she unwound the strip of stretch fabric that supported her injured ribs. The brow band flashed, telling her that he was scanning her too. The last bandage fell away to reveal the dark purple handprints that clasped her waist, and he stared at them for several seconds, a frown furrowing his brow. Raising his hands, he placed them over the bruises, which were a perfect fit. His eyes flicked up to meet hers, filled with anguish, and she tugged her blouse down and leant forward to clasp his face.

  "It's all right. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. Please don't feel bad."

  "I had no choice," he murmured. "There was nothing else I could do; nowhere else I could hold you... I knew..."

  She sat back and shook her head. "I don't blame you. You saved my life."

  Sabre raised a hand and frowned at it, and she clasped it, raising it to kiss the back of it, then held it to her cheek.

  "It's okay," she whispered.

  "I swore an oath." Tears overflowed his eyes and ran down his face. "I said I'd never hurt you. Do you remember?"

  "Yes." Tassin leant closer to wipe his cheeks. "But if you'd let me die because you didn't want to hurt me, I'd be quite angry now. Thanks to you, I'm alive, and my ribs will heal."

  He met her eyes. "Hurting people is what I do. It comes with being a killing machine."

  "You're not a killing machine. I want you to stop calling yourself that, and stop thinking of yourself as that. Tarl's wrong. Killing machines don't cry."

  He smiled. "I guess they do if they grow a conscience."

  "Stop it. It would have made no difference if you'd been a normal man, except you wouldn't have had the strength to throw me into the pod, and I'd be dead now. I'm not angry with you for hurting me, but I will be angry if you keep beating yourself up about it."

  He averted his eyes to gaze across the room, and she wondered what was going on in his mind, wishing she could read it.

  Heavy footsteps hurried closer, and she sensed him tense. She rubbed her eyes and glanced around. Tarl trotted up, a grin creasing his face, his eyes bright.

  "Hey, bud. You're awake!"

  "Your powers of observation never cease to amaze me," Sabre said.

  "Well, that's no mean feat, without a pulse." Tarl glanced at the heart monitor.

  "It was annoying."

  "How are you feeling?"

  "Like I have a tube shoved up my..." Sabre's eyes flicked to Tassin, then back to Tarl. "Where I really don't want a tube."

  "Yeah, well, you've been out for two days."

  "And it looks like you've been having fun." Sabre glanced at all the monitoring equipment around the bed and pulled the data cable out of the brow band.

  Tarl's smile faded. "If you call watching you almost die 'fun', you've got a sick mind."

  The cyber considered him. "I seem to recall strangling you, and yet here you are, still alive."

  Tarl stepped closer to the bed. "Want to have another shot at it?"

  "Not right now. I'll wait until you've taken all these tubes out of me."

  Tassin snorted and shook her head. "You two! Why don't you just tell each other how you really feel?"

  "How's that?" Sabre enquired, raising his brows.

  "That you love each other."

  Tarl made a rude noise. "Yeah, right."

  Sabre shook his head. "You're kidding."

  "Well I know you do, and you both know you do, so all this chest thumping is just a load of hooey."

  The cyber chuckled. "Yeah, come here, bud, let me give you a big old hug."

  "No way." Tarl shook his head. "Try that on Martis. It might work."

  "I might just do that."

  "Good, because he was really pissing me off, going on the way he did."

  "About what?"

  "Brain damage. But I know you don't have a brain, so no chance of that."

  Sabre cocked his head. "I should have strangled you."

  Tassin sighed and folded her arms.

  Tarl studied Sabre. "Why are you awake? I gave you enough sedative to knock a horse out for a week."

  The cyber shrugged. "Metabolised it."

  "Right."

  "I'd like to see Fairen."

  Tarl nodded and went over to the com-link on the wall. When he returned, Sabre frowned at him.

  "Now you can take all these damned tubes out of me."

  "Sure, bud. I didn't actually put that one in. It was a nice little female medic."

  Sabre looked away, and Tarl chuckled, moving around the bed to remove the drip needle from the cyber's arm. Tassin turned her back while he removed the other tube and Sabre donned his shorts. A short while later, the door opened and Overlord Fairen came in. He approached the bed, his hands hidden in the sleeves of his jacket, then turned to her.

  "I would like a minute alone with Sabre, if you please."

  As the door shut behind Tassin and Tarl, Fairen pulled off the veiled hood, revealing a flushed, smiling countenance and tousled hair. He removed his gloves and perched on the edge of the bed.

  "I'm glad you're all right."

  The cyber smiled. "Thanks to you."

  "And Tarl. If not for him, I would not have been able to save you. How are you?"

  "Pretty good, considering."

  "Your emotions are strong now."

  "Do they bother you?"

  "Not too much. They're good ones."

  Sabre sought the peaceful emptiness he had owned before, consigning most of his feelings to the dark pits in his mind.

  Fairen tilted his head. "Don't do that. It's not necessary. It's corruption that sickens me. You fought for your feelings, keep them."

  "Only if you're still able to give me a hug."

  The boy smiled and leant forward to embrace his friend.

  Sabre gave him a good squeeze, patting his back. "Thank you."

  Fairen sat back. "If only you knew how good I feel to have been able to help you. You should have called me sooner. I was almost too late."

  "I thought I could handle it."

  "I still have Tarvin. What should I do with him?"

  Sabre shrugged. "That's up to you."

  "I want to punish him for what he did, or almost did, to Tassin, since she's your betrothed, but he's also your relative. I shall forbid him to keep cybers and order him to send the ones he has back to Myon Two." He stood up. "I'll let you be with Tassin now. When you're ready, I'll return you to Omega Five. Next time you get into trouble, call me sooner."

  "I shall."

  After Fairen left, Tassin and Tarl returned with Martis, Estrelle and Kole in tow. Sabre smiled at Tassin as she came to his side and took his hand. Sitting up, he swung his legs off the bed and glanced at Tarl.

  "You going to help me up, bud?"

  Tarl shook his head. "Not a chance. Martis will do it."

  "Ah, come on."

  Tassin said, "I'll help you."

  He shot her a smile. "Better if he does it. My legs are a bit rubbery."

  "Then you should stay in bed," Tarl remarked.

  "I'd really like to get up."

  "Why won't you help him?" Tassin looked puzzled.

  Tarl shook his head. "I don't think he really needs help. His bio-status is sixty-four per cent."

  "Well my legs are still weak. I migh
t fall."

  "You'll bounce."

  Martis stepped forward. "I'll give you a hand."

  "I want him." Sabre sighed. "Never mind." He rose to his feet.

  Tarl gestured. "You see? He -"

  Sabre lunged at the cyber tech, who yelped and tried to run, but took only two steps before Sabre caught him and yanked him into a bear hug. Tarl groaned as the air was squeezed from his lungs, and coughed when Sabre thumped him on the back. The cyber released him and held him at arm's length, grinning.

  Tarl grimaced, rubbing his back. "I think you cracked a rib, bud."

  "That'll teach you to run away. How far did you think you'd get, exactly? You didn't believe the bit about the rubbery legs, did you?"

  "Nope."

  Sabre clasped the side of Tarl's neck. "Thanks, bud."

  "You're welcome."

  "Tassin's right, you know. I don't hate you anymore."

  Tarl nodded, looking embarrassed. "Glad to hear it. You're still a little shit, though, and a bully."

  Sabre released him. "If anyone messes with you, let me know."

  "Aw, thanks, bud." Tarl thrust out his hand.

  Sabre glanced at it and grinned. "You're kidding, right?"

  "Nope."

  "Good for you." Sabre gripped Tarl's hand, but, instead of trying to crush it, as he expected, the cyber tech pulled him into a bear hug, using all his strength and pounding Sabre's back. The cyber chuckled when Tarl released him, shaking his head with a grin.

  "Pathetic. Is that the best you can do?"

  "Yeah well, I don't have bloody reinforced ribs."

  "Have another go."

  Tarl sighed. "It won't do me any good."

  "Go on."

  Tassin clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. "When you two have quite finished your pissing contest...?"

  "It's not a pissing contest," Sabre said. "Tarl's just trying to bully me back. He's not so good at it, though."

  "Agh, well, I don't want to hurt you."

  "Right," Sabre drawled.

  Tassin held out his trousers. "Perhaps you should get dressed."

  Sabre took them and pulled them on.

  Tarl clasped the side of his chest and grimaced. "I seriously think you cracked a rib."

  Martis said, "If he did, it was intentional, because a cyber knows, to the last micron, how much pressure is required to crack a normal man's ribs, and...." He trailed off as Sabre turned to stare at him.