Read Online The Cyber Chronicles IV - Cyborg by T C Southwell - Free Book Online Page B

plump young man listened to Kole and Trevare
raptly. Evidently he was an apprentice or something, learning from
a master, hence his subservient attitude and close attention to his
mentor’s words. Tassin yawned and glanced around, her eyes drooping
after the excitement of the chase on Ferrinon Four and the
seven-hour trip.
    “ Tassin!” Trevare said, making her jump. “Sorry, you must be
bored stiff listening to us ramble on about technical shit. Botham,
show her to a guest room. We dine at eight. Botham will show you
the dining room. We’re very informal around here.”
    Tassin smiled
and thanked him, following Botham to a comfortable room furnished
with a largish bed, two plain brown chairs and a bedside table with
a lamp on it. A bathroom led off it, and she showered, wishing she
had clean clothes. When she emerged, wrapped in a towel, Sabre
stood in a guard stance beside the bathroom door, his eyes closed.
He opened them when she passed him, but he probably needed to
sleep, she guessed, only the cyber would not let him. She cursed
her thoughtlessness in forgetting that the cyber would force him to
stand guard unless she ordered him to relax. The sword lay on the
bed, and she pushed it under it, out of sight.
    “ Sabre, you are off duty. Go and shower.”
    The cyber
vanished into the bathroom, and soon the hiss of running water came
from it. Tassin sat on the bed and brushed her hair, drying it. Ten
minutes later, he emerged clad only in his shorts, his clothes
draped over his arm, and proceeded to hang them up on the chair
backs. They appeared to be clean and damp, and she asked him how he
had washed them.
    “ There is an auto washer in the bathroom.”
    “ Show me.” She picked up her clothes and went into the
bathroom. Sabre followed and indicated a white, metre-square device
on the wall that she had assumed was a water heater. He opened the
door and took her clothes from her, hanging them up inside, then
turned a dial and pushed a button. The auto washer hummed, and she
turned to find herself nose to chin with him. He stared over her
head, and she gripped the brow band and pulled his head
down.
    “ Look at me,” she said. “I know you can hear me.”
    Sabre closed his eyes in a slow blink, and when he opened them
again, they were focussed on her face. She
gasped, and her heart pounded. Several of
the brow band’s lights flickered red, then turned green again, and
his eyes glazed. Only some of her joy ebbed away, however. It
proved he could hear her and was able to respond, even if only for
a split second. She took his hand and led him back into the
bedroom. Sitting on the bed, she patted the covers beside her, and
he sat down. Tassin leant closer, trying to gaze into his eyes, but
they stared through her.
    “ Sabre. I want you to try to get free. You hear me? You can get
free. You did it before and you can do it again. I crossed the void
to find you, just as I promised, and now you need to free yourself.
I never gave up, and you must not, either. Free yourself! I know
you can do it. Try!”
    As she spoke,
it seemed to her that the awareness in his eyes increased, as if he
could hear her calling from far away and sought to swim up from the
bottom of a dark pool. She stroked his cheek, hoping her touch
would help to stimulate his imprisoned psyche.
    “ Come on, Sabre, please try,” she said.
    “ Order not understood.”
    Tassin’s
breath caught as several of the brow band’s lights turned red,
including the seventh control light, which flashed. A few seconds
later, the sixth control light flashed, then turned red, and she
chewed her lip. The fifth control light flashed red, then turned
green again, and her heart sank. The control unit was fighting
back. The fifth control light flashed and turned red. Sabre’s brows
drew together and his hands snapped up to grip the brow band. She
recoiled as his spine arched and he keeled over backwards. He slid
to the floor, his lips drawn back in a grimace of pain