The Cyber Chronicles Book III - The Core Read Online Free Page A

and entered a low, pillar-filled tunnel that
soon opened out into a larger cavern with a pool and beautiful rock
formations. Hurrying on, he reached a steep incline, and a faint
scuffling came from ahead.
    "Tassin!"
    A muffled cry
answered him, and he raced down the slope, dancing through the
forest of stalagmites at its base. Again he faced a dead end, but
the ground-penetrating scanners showed him that the tunnel
continued. He ran through it, bouncing off smooth, damp walls, and
a faint blue light appeared ahead, bobbing and flitting through yet
another forest of pillars in the next cave. It vanished into a
tunnel at the far end of the cavern, and he pursued it, slipping on
the wet floor as he dodged the pillars.
    Entering an
upward-sloping tunnel, Sabre sprinted up it with a speed no normal
man could hope to match. Rocky protrusions and a slippery floor
made it treacherous. Bursting into sunlight, he shaded his eyes,
squinting. A black-robed figure raced away across the sand, a
flapping robe exposing thin legs. Tassin stumbled behind, held by a
powerful grip on her wrist that she clearly could not break. Sabre
sprinted after them, kicking up puffs of sand.
    "Mage!" he
bellowed.
    The figure
stopped and turned to face him, gripping the Queen's arm. She
looked pale and furious.
    "No closer, or
she suffers!" Gearn shouted.
    Sabre took a
few more steps, and the mage jerked Tassin's arm, making her bite
her lip. He thrust her in front of him as Sabre reached for his
laser.
    "Leave now, or
I'll make her suffer until you do."
    "Release her,
and I might let you live."
    Tassin cried,
"Kill him, Sabre! He doesn't dare harm me!"
    The mage
twisted her arm, making her yelp, and snarled in her ear, "Think
again, Queen Tassin. Without you I'm dead anyway, so I don't mind
taking you with me, if it comes to that."
    Sabre held up
his hands. "It doesn't have to come to that. If you release her,
I'll let you go. You can make a life for yourself here and never
have to answer to Torrian."
    "Why should I
make a deal with you when I have the upper hand?" the wizard
sneered. "I will not live in this barbaric land. You're beaten; go
now before I hurt her."
    Sabre glanced
around, seeking something he could use to defeat the mage. If Sabre
attacked, he might be able to free Tassin before Gearn could harm
her, but it was a risk he was unwilling to take unless there was no
other way. He did not doubt the magician would kill her if pushed
too far. The man's eyes glittered with madness. Sabre's wandering
gaze found an eagle perched high in a dead tree behind the
sorcerer, and he consulted the scanners.
    The bird was
four hundred and ninety-three metres away, almost at the limit of
the cyber's range, but it might work. His thoughts communicated his
need to the control unit, and it responded with a series of
flashing statistics that calculated the chances of success, which
were fair to middling, apparently. Gearn twisted Tassin's arm when
the brow band lighted, making her grimace.
    "I warn you,
if you try anything I will kill her! Walk away, now!" the wizard
shouted.
    Sabre made a
soothing gesture. "I'm just trying to think of a solution that will
benefit us all. It always does that when I think."
    "The only
solution is for you to leave!"
    Sabre
shrugged, watching the eagle. Its head turned, and its fierce
golden eyes locked onto the brow band. "Maybe you're right, but I
wish there was another way. Perhaps if you came back to Arlin as
Tassin's mage? I've found a way for her to stop Torrian. She'll be
invincible."
    "How can you
make her invincible? Torrian has a far larger army now. Hers was
almost wiped out by the war."
    The eagle
stared at the cyber band. Sabre smiled. "Old weapons, mage. I have
a whole pile of them in that donkey cart. Once they're installed at
the Queen's castle, she'll be able to send Torrian running with his
pants on fire."
    Gearn
chuckled. "An interesting picture you paint. I'm sure Torrian will
reward me well for that