The Cyber Chronicles 02: Death Zone Read online

  "Real-reality. Hide."

  The mosscat dived behind a grey boulder, and Sabre bundled Tassin after him. He pushed her down behind the rock and peered over it. A three-metre tall, ape-like creature came into view, stomping between the trees. Tusks curled up from its undershot lower jaw, and its beady red eyes glared around. It radiated hostility, and its vast knuckles almost dragged on the ground. Sabre breathed a sigh of relief as it tramped past, sniffing the air. The brown and green flickers of Change shot through the landscape, and the world warped into rolling, open grassland, leaving the three of them huddled behind nothing.

  Purr rasped, "Keep still!"

  The monster roared and shook its fists at the Flux-reality, apparently angered by its fickleness, but luckily it did not look back. When it vanished over a distant hill, they stood up, and Sabre turned to Purr.

  "That's what happens when you hide behind Flux-reality and a Change comes along."

  Purr sneezed and shrugged, smoothing his bottle-brush fur. "There isn't always a convenient bit of Real-reality about when you need it, you know. You have to take your chances. I told you it would be dangerous here. What did you think I meant?"

  Sabre could find no fault with his argument, and turned away with a snort. They walked on, the grassland stretching away around them like undulating green velvet, dotted with a few out of place rocks, which Purr said were Real-reality. After several hours, they came across a Real-reality stream, and Purr waded in to fish.

  Sabre watched him. "How do you know this is Real-reality?"

  "Have you ever seen a stream running through grassland before? You never get one that runs over hills like this, they're always in rocky gorges."

  Sabre had to admit that he had a point, the stream looked quite odd, as if it had come into being just recently, flowing along a winding, bankless course that bore no relation to the contours of the visible land. He glanced at Tassin, who was stretched out on the grass, indulging in a much-needed rest. After a rather tasteless meal of raw fish, they discussed the problem of where to sleep.

  "We know the stream is Real-reality, but we can't sleep in it," Sabre pointed out.

  "We'll have to keep watch," Purr said. "When the Change comes, we stand in the stream."

  Purr took first watch, and when he roused Sabre, the grasslands remained. Sabre stood guard for four hours, then woke Tassin. When he woke again, the grasslands persisted, and Purr did not think it wise to move on, since the next Change had to be imminent. They waited by the stream, and Sabre joined Purr in a bit of fish tickling, without much success. An hour or so later, the brown and green flickers shot through the terrain, and they all waded into the knee-deep water.

  Flux-reality transformed into a scene from Hell. The stream wound through a burning landscape of black rock, recent lava flows congealed into weird patterns of flowing stone. In the distance, a volcano belched clouds of ash and noxious smoke into the dirty brown sky. The putrid stench of sulphur stung their noses, and Tassin coughed. Faint rumbles shuddered the ground, and faraway lava rivers oozed between melting rocks and plopped down banks in sluggish falls.

  Sabre looked at Purr. "It's getting very real."

  The mosscat nodded. "It will get more so."

  Deciding to leave the safety of the stream and press on despite the daunting terrain, they picked their way through the tortured stone, tripping on the uneven ground. Sabre was forced to help Tassin through deep rifts and over steep ridges, in places as slippery as glass. The going was hard, and when they came across a normal-looking grey boulder in the sea of twisted, solidified lava, they sat on it and waited for Change.

  It seemed like hours later that the flickers of brown and green heralded the Change. Flux-reality warped, and an alien landscape appeared around them. Leafless blue trees held cup-shaped branches up to the sun, and what looked like giant red asparaguses thrust from the stony ground. Vines of all colours festooned trees of amazing variety and obscure function. Smells of singular sweetness and putridity wafted by, and an astonishing cacophony of hoots, whistles, hisses, croaks, roars, booms, rattles and screams echoed forth. Tassin quailed from the strange sights and sudden uproar, which, although still muted, seemed loud after the eerie silence that had plagued them for so long. The previous world had only vented a few soft rumbles, but this one was noisy, and the din was a shock. Tassin drew her dagger and glared into the undergrowth.

  "Oh dear," Purr murmured. "This is a nasty one."

  "No worse than the one before." Sabre stood up and looked around. "Should we move or stay?"

  Purr shrugged. "The next one could be worse. Not many are nice."

  "But we have to get nasty ones just when things are getting really real," Tassin grumbled.

  Sabre pulled the sword from his pack. "This might come in handy to hack through the vines."

  Tassin scowled. "That is a good sword, not a bush knife."

  Purr ambled away, and Sabre followed. "As long as it's sharp."

  Small, unseen creatures rustled in the fleshy undergrowth, making the Queen hurry after them with her dagger at the ready. They had not gone far when a yellow vine snaked out and coiled around Tassin's ankles, bringing her down with an astonished grunt. Sabre whirled and slashed through it with the sword, and it spurted orange fluid as it coiled away into the undergrowth like an injured snake. When he tried to help her to her feet, she jerked away and glared at him.

  "This is something I can deal with."

  He bowed. "As you wish, Your Highness."

  The next vine snagged Purr, but the mosscat changed his aspect with astounding speed, sprouting razor-sharp claws with which he shredded the vegetable predator. They skirted pot-shaped plants that emitted a putrid stench, and massive silken webs strung between the trees, whose owners doubtless hid close by. Purr avoided tangles of thorny vines that lay in wait for the unwary and barriers of thick roots that oozed sticky sap. After several hours, they emerged from the alien jungle onto the shore of a black lake.

  Tassin gave a glad cry and trotted down the grey beach towards it, not heeding Purr's warning yell. Sabre sprang after the Queen and grabbed the back of her dress, yanking her away from the lake. A ripping sound rewarded his efforts as Tassin fell backwards with a yelp. He caught her before she hit the ground and helped her back to her feet. She glared up at him and wrenched free, her dagger pointed at him. He backed away, raising his hands, one of which, he found, held a hank of pink material.

  "Just what the hell do you think you are doing?" she demanded.

  "Purr doesn't like the lake."

  "Well I want to wash! First the water was unreal, now Purr doesn't like it. Purr probably never takes a bath!"

  "Yes I do." Purr emerged from the shrubbery. "But I wouldn't bathe in that if I was you. It's not water, it's acid."

  She paled, turning to look at the lake. "How do you know?"

  "Look at the shore."

  Tassin studied the grey shore, obviously noting, as Sabre did, the wilted plants and pale gleam of bones. Sabre held out the scrap of pink material, and she snatched it from him, but her ire faded when he threw a stick into the lake and it dissolved with a vicious hiss. She looked ill, and they gave the black lake a wide berth.

  Gearn stared at the huge corpse, holding his handkerchief over his nose to mask the nauseating stench of the rotting sand dragon. Murdor kicked it, then turned away in disgust when his boot sank into the putrid flesh, releasing a fresh wave of foetor. Gearn guided his horse up wind, circling the carcass. The wolf waited there, its sensitive nose clearly unable to stand the terrible stink.

  Gearn had not been surprised to encounter the corpse of one of the two horses, but this was a shock. The enormous sand dragon had been a fearsome creature, yet the warrior mage had slain it. Murdor eyed the corpse.

  "'E must be a great warrior, mage. I look forward even more to the encounter."

  The mage wiped his mouth, queasy at the smell, then turned his horse away, eager to leave the horrible cadaver behind. Murdor's he
avy footsteps followed him.

  Chapter Three

  After an hour of slogging through the treacherous undergrowth, Purr found a clearing with a pool in it. A spring fed it, and silver fish lurked in its depths.

  Purr licked his lips. "Real-reality."

  Sabre collected Flux-reality wood and built a fire, over which they roasted the fish Purr caught. When Sabre had refilled the water skins, Tassin washed without removing her dress. Sabre bathed in his underwear, and scrubbed the dirt from his clothes as well. They rested for a while, then set off once more, keeping a wary eye on the carnivorous vegetation.

  Trouble struck with unexpected ferocity. One of the annoying yellow vines snagged Tassin's ankles again, and they stopped while she hacked at it with the dagger. Two monstrous grey shapes erupted from the undergrowth with deep-throated roars, and Purr sprouted claws, fangs and spines with a huge sneeze. Sabre found himself eyeball-to-eyeball with a tusked, green-eyed monster. A massive arm tipped with dagger-like claws swung at him, and he ducked, slashing with the sword. The blade shaved off a clump of coarse hair, and the monster howled. It sprang at him, its tusks goring his chest as he flung himself backwards to avoid it.

  Tassin yelled in alarm, hacking at the tough vine as Sabre vanished into the undergrowth with the monster on top of him. The second beast tried to pry Purr off its face, which he clung to with razor-sharp, five-centimetre claws. The beast encountered needle-sharp spines wherever it tried to grab him, and howled with pain as he slashed its face with long fangs. Bright red stripes streaked the mosscat's fur, and his yellow eyes blazed with fury. Tassin sawed at the vine, glancing at the bush where Sabre battled the other monster, the roaring and thrashing that came from it chilling her blood.

  Severing the vine, Tassin jumped up and ran to the thrashing bushes, her dagger aimed at the beast's hairy back. The monster flew backwards out of the undergrowth, propelled by Sabre's powerful kick. It struck her a glancing blow that sent her spinning into the brush, then it turned and attacked her as she jumped up. Tassin raised the dagger and slammed it into the creature's chest. The monster roared and smashed her aside with a brawny arm.

  Tassin flew backwards, the air leaving her lungs in a rush. The world darkened, then she drew in a whooping breath and everything sprang back into focus. The monster leapt after her, its foam-flecked jaws reaching for her throat. Gripping the dagger in both hands, she stabbed it into its belly. An arm snaked around the creature's throat, and it was lifted off her with a savage jerk that should have broken its neck. Blood splattered her as a blade emerged from its belly, driven through it from behind. Sabre flung the corpse aside and grasped Tassin's arm, hauling her upright.

  "Are you all right?"

  She nodded, staring at the blood that ran down his chest. He shifted his grip to her shoulders and shook her until her teeth rattled.

  "Don't ever do that again!" he said. "Do you hear me? Never! You stay out of the way! Climb a tree, hide in a bush, anything. The next time you try to join in, I'll put you over my knee! Do you understand?"

  Again she nodded, but frowned. "I stabbed it! Twice!"

  "You bloody little idiot, it was a millimetre from killing you!"

  "I am not some helpless cringing woman, I'm a -"

  "Warrior queen!" he finished for her in an angry bellow. "I know! A pint-sized, pea-brained warrior bloody queen, and nearly a dead one!"

  Sabre looked ready to deliver a scathing tirade that would blister her ears and dissuade her from any acts he disapproved of in the future, but a pig-like squealing distracted him. The second monster, still burdened with Purr, crashed through the brush in a blind, pain-crazed death dance. The mosscat had reduced its face to a bloody, eyeless ruin, and still carried on slashing. His spines had shredded the creature's paws, and it beat ineffectually at the clinging mosscat in a futile bid to dislodge its tormentor. Sabre stared at it in amazement, then released Tassin and picked up his sword. With a swift stab, he ended the monster's squealing agony, and it crashed into the brush as Purr leapt free. For a moment he remained a clawed, fanged, spiny horror, then he gave a huge sneeze and reverted to his chubby form.

  Sabre gazed at him. "Why do you always sneeze?"

  Purr snorted and washed his face with chubby paws, like a cat. "I'm allergic to shifting, it always makes me sneeze. The more the shift, the bigger the honk."

  The tension drained away, leaving Tassin light-headed and slightly hysterical. Her knees turned to jelly, and she sank down in a giggling heap. Sabre eyed her as he wiped the sword on the monster's coarse hair.

  "What's the matter with you?"

  She wiped her eyes. "After all that, you... you ask him..." She relapsed into another fit of giggles, and Sabre traded a puzzled glance with the mosscat. Tassin struggled for control. "You ask him why... he sneezes!" She shrieked with laughter, and Sabre smiled.

  "I 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 already alert, as was Purr, who prowled about, peering into the trees. The watchers emerged and approached with hesitant steps. Sabre tensed, but the creatures that advanced on them appeared to be singularly innocuous.

  They looked like chubby toddlers with plump bandy legs, enormous brown eyes, button noses and rosebud mouths set in alabaster skin. They were naked and apparently sexless, and wore angelic expressions of smiling friendliness. They chittered amongst themselves, and gave Purr a wide berth, but converged on Tassin and Sabre. Tassin wondered if they were in fact children, and whether adults would follow. Purr watched them with narrowed eyes.

  About a dozen of them came within touching distance of Tassin, while more stood back and watched. Small, hot hands brushed her ankle, examining her contact with the tree. They chittered excitedly as they clustered around Sabre, reaching out to touch him with a remarkable lack of fear. The cyber scowled at them, but Tassin smiled, which caused them to draw back, twittering. Then she yelled as pain shot from her ankle, and turned to find that a toddler had sunk sharp fangs into her leg.