Read Online The Cyber Chronicles VII - Sabre by T C Southwell - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: T C Southwell
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Why did they do this?"
"To test my
new immunity to fire. He found it quite fascinating, and gave
demonstrations. I'm surprised he didn't sell tickets."
"Why don't you
ask Fairen if you can decide his punishment?"
"I think
Fairen is probably better at meting out justice."
Tarl examined
the burns. "Clearly you're not immune to fire. Two of these are
third degree."
"It took six
seconds for a full power laser beam to do that." Sabre pointed to
one of the red marks. "This was three seconds. This one was
five."
"What were you
doing while this was happening?"
"Pretending to
be under cyber control."
Tarl grimaced.
"So that's why the lights on the brow band indicate that it's in
control again."
"Do they? I
guess I forgot to tell it to return to the correct
configuration."
Sabre glanced
inwards at the cyber's information and commanded it. From Tarl's
expression, he knew that the lights on the control unit flashed and
turned red, save for a few green ones, as it had been before.
Tarl nodded.
"I'll fetch ointment and dressings for those." He swung away and
headed for the door.
"Tarl."
The technician
stopped, his shoulders hunched, and turned. "Yeah?"
"Did you ever
do anything like this?"
"God, no. I
was in repairs, not research and development." He hesitated,
frowning at the floor. "The things I did were bad enough, but they
were done to heal injured cybers, and I didn't know it hurt
them."
"Do you know a
man called Grundel?"
"Yeah, he was
in research and development. Rude bastard. I never liked him. Was
he...?"
"Yeah."
Tarl headed
for the door again. "I'll get the ointment."
Sabre donned
his cyber issue trousers and boots while he was alone, then settled
on the couch in the lounge to wait for Tarl to return. The
technician dumped his bag on the coffee table and took out a tube
of ointment and two dressings he had evidently made for the worst
burns. Sabre stood up so he could smear the ointment on, and Tarl
concentrated on the task, avoiding the cyber's gaze.
"Do you want a
painkiller?" he enquired.
"No." Sabre
cocked his head. “I could do this perfectly well myself, you
know.”
Tarl nodded.
“I know. I want to be useful, okay?”
“ Performing a task I can do myself isn’t being useful. More
like desperate for something to do.”
“ Yeah, well, I’ve made it my mission to look after you. This
time it’s just burns, next time it could be something you can’t do
yourself, and there might not be medics around. I’m sure you don’t
want Tassin to have to do it, do you?”
“ No. She didn’t enjoy it when she had to do it on Omega
Five.”
A short
silence fell, and then Tarl asked, "Why do you still wear these
clothes? I would have thought you'd hate them."
Sabre
shrugged. "They're comfortable, tough and functional."
"Don't they
remind you of what you were?"
"No more so
than the scars, or the brow band. It's not something that's easily
forgotten."
"No, but I'd
have thought you'd want less reminders, not more."
"When I can
get rid of the scars and the brow band, I'll stop wearing the
clothes."
Tarl stuck a
dressing onto one of the third-degree burns. "I think Tassin will
want you to wear something different when you get back to Omega
Five."
"The last time
she dressed me up in fancy clothes, I split the trousers."
"That must
have been fun." Tarl chuckled.
"It was fairly
embarrassing."
Tarl stuck the
second dressing on. "What else did Grundel do to you?"
"Why do you
want to know?"
"I want to pay
him a visit, and I'd like to know how badly to beat him."
Sabre smiled
and raised his brows. "I'd like to see that."
"You're
invited."
Sabre looked
down and fingered the dressings. "He was trying to figure out how
the shiny girls gave me control of the cyber unit. He ran a bunch
of tests while I was paralysed, then he boosted the control unit's
power and tried to shock me into submission so the cyber could take
control again."
Tarl sprayed a
layer of plastic skin over the second-degree burns and
"To test my
new immunity to fire. He found it quite fascinating, and gave
demonstrations. I'm surprised he didn't sell tickets."
"Why don't you
ask Fairen if you can decide his punishment?"
"I think
Fairen is probably better at meting out justice."
Tarl examined
the burns. "Clearly you're not immune to fire. Two of these are
third degree."
"It took six
seconds for a full power laser beam to do that." Sabre pointed to
one of the red marks. "This was three seconds. This one was
five."
"What were you
doing while this was happening?"
"Pretending to
be under cyber control."
Tarl grimaced.
"So that's why the lights on the brow band indicate that it's in
control again."
"Do they? I
guess I forgot to tell it to return to the correct
configuration."
Sabre glanced
inwards at the cyber's information and commanded it. From Tarl's
expression, he knew that the lights on the control unit flashed and
turned red, save for a few green ones, as it had been before.
Tarl nodded.
"I'll fetch ointment and dressings for those." He swung away and
headed for the door.
"Tarl."
The technician
stopped, his shoulders hunched, and turned. "Yeah?"
"Did you ever
do anything like this?"
"God, no. I
was in repairs, not research and development." He hesitated,
frowning at the floor. "The things I did were bad enough, but they
were done to heal injured cybers, and I didn't know it hurt
them."
"Do you know a
man called Grundel?"
"Yeah, he was
in research and development. Rude bastard. I never liked him. Was
he...?"
"Yeah."
Tarl headed
for the door again. "I'll get the ointment."
Sabre donned
his cyber issue trousers and boots while he was alone, then settled
on the couch in the lounge to wait for Tarl to return. The
technician dumped his bag on the coffee table and took out a tube
of ointment and two dressings he had evidently made for the worst
burns. Sabre stood up so he could smear the ointment on, and Tarl
concentrated on the task, avoiding the cyber's gaze.
"Do you want a
painkiller?" he enquired.
"No." Sabre
cocked his head. “I could do this perfectly well myself, you
know.”
Tarl nodded.
“I know. I want to be useful, okay?”
“ Performing a task I can do myself isn’t being useful. More
like desperate for something to do.”
“ Yeah, well, I’ve made it my mission to look after you. This
time it’s just burns, next time it could be something you can’t do
yourself, and there might not be medics around. I’m sure you don’t
want Tassin to have to do it, do you?”
“ No. She didn’t enjoy it when she had to do it on Omega
Five.”
A short
silence fell, and then Tarl asked, "Why do you still wear these
clothes? I would have thought you'd hate them."
Sabre
shrugged. "They're comfortable, tough and functional."
"Don't they
remind you of what you were?"
"No more so
than the scars, or the brow band. It's not something that's easily
forgotten."
"No, but I'd
have thought you'd want less reminders, not more."
"When I can
get rid of the scars and the brow band, I'll stop wearing the
clothes."
Tarl stuck a
dressing onto one of the third-degree burns. "I think Tassin will
want you to wear something different when you get back to Omega
Five."
"The last time
she dressed me up in fancy clothes, I split the trousers."
"That must
have been fun." Tarl chuckled.
"It was fairly
embarrassing."
Tarl stuck the
second dressing on. "What else did Grundel do to you?"
"Why do you
want to know?"
"I want to pay
him a visit, and I'd like to know how badly to beat him."
Sabre smiled
and raised his brows. "I'd like to see that."
"You're
invited."
Sabre looked
down and fingered the dressings. "He was trying to figure out how
the shiny girls gave me control of the cyber unit. He ran a bunch
of tests while I was paralysed, then he boosted the control unit's
power and tried to shock me into submission so the cyber could take
control again."
Tarl sprayed a
layer of plastic skin over the second-degree burns and
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