The Cyber Chronicles Book II: Death Zone Read Online Free PDF Page B

always
wondered."
    Purr snorted
again and went back to washing his face. Sabre sat on a log and
mopped the blood off his chest with a torn petticoat while Tassin's
giggles subsided. Taking a tube from his pouch, he smeared cream
onto the shallow scratches, which had already stopped bleeding. By
the time he was finished, Purr's face was clean, and they resumed
their journey.
    A short while
later, the flickers of brown and green shot through the landscape,
and Purr yelled, "Run!"
    A grey boulder
lay ahead, and they sprinted for it. A yellow vine caught Tassin's
foot, and she smashed face first into the ground, momentarily
stunned by the impact. Flux-reality Changed, and stunted woodland
appeared around them as she struggled to rise. Something gripped
her foot, and she turned, dagger ready, to face a tree. The gnarled
trunk swallowed her foot to the ankle, toes down. Sabre leapt off
the rock and crouched beside her.
    "Shit!" He
scowled at the tree. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"
    Tassin groaned
and probed her throbbing face. Blood oozed from her nose, and her
lips had started to swell.
    Sabre eased
her onto her side, wary of twisting her leg too much. "Don't try to
move."
    "I'm not going
anywhere."
    Purr examined
the tree trunk. "Solid. Flux-reality is as real as Real-reality
here. We'll have to wait for the next Change."
    Sabre said,
"That could be hours."
    "Perhaps you'd
like to cut down the tree and carry it with you?"
    Sabre dug in
the pack and took out a petticoat, which he dampened and used to
wipe the blood off Tassin's face. She lay curled on her side, and
he wadded a dry petticoat and pushed it under her cheek.
    "We'll just
have to use this time to rest, and hope nothing nasty comes
along."
    Purr nodded,
glancing around. "It looks like quite a safe world."
    The landscape
was rock-strewn and rough, dotted with stunted, twisted trees whose
roots snaked across the hard ground in search of sustenance. Clumps
of yellow, spiky grass sprouted between the stones. A creature
flapped across the pale sky on webbed wings, giving a harsh
croak.
    Sabre examined
Tassin's swollen nose and pronounced it unbroken, then settled down
beside her to wait. Purr started another session of grooming, which
he indulged in at every opportunity.
    Hours dragged
by, and the ground seemed to grow harder with every passing minute
as the stones abused the Queen's bruised flesh. She shifted and
squirmed to try to ease the discomfort, while Sabre was apparently
determined to remain aloof. Purr watched him with eyes that
twinkled whenever Sabre glanced at him. When the cyber lifted
Tassin onto his lap and pillowed her cheek on his forearm, Purr
chuckled and vanished into the scrubby trees.
    Sabre's
presence was a great comfort and source of security, albeit that he
was clearly only trying to alleviate her discomfort, and had done
so somewhat reluctantly. Tiredness overtook her, and, despite her
painful face, she dozed off.
    Sabre's
movement woke her as he took a bunch of pink, grape-like fruit from
Purr and examined it with a frown.
    "They're quite
nice," Purr informed them. "Flux-reality, but safe to eat."
    "How do you
know?" Sabre asked.
    "I tried some.
My stomach will immediately reject anything poisonous. It comes
straight up again. These don't, so they're okay."
    "But surely as
soon as there's a Change it will vanish?"
    "Yes,
nutritionally they're useless, but they taste nice and it will help
to pass the time. I couldn't find any Real-reality food, so this
will have to do for now."
    Tassin munched
the sweet, tart fruit Sabre gave her, which left her mouth fresh
and clean. After they had eaten, Purr curled up in a hollow and
Sabre relaxed against the rock behind him, closing his eyes. The
late afternoon sun warmed them, and the world seemed tranquil and
balmy. A breeze stirred the air, and only an occasional, distant
croak broke the hush.
    The sun had
almost reached the horizon when Tassin sensed someone watching her
and raised her head to look at Sabre. He was