The Cyber Chronicles VI - Warrior Breed Read Online Free Page B

he might be unconscious
by the time they landed, she shook him.
    "Sabre, how do
I open the pod?"
    His eyelids
flickered. "Check... the atmosphere first. You... don't want to die
from a lungful of toxic gas... most unpleasant."
    "How? How do I
do that?"
    "The... panel.
Readout... words."
    Tassin turned
to the panel and studied the screen in it, which contained strange
words.
    "It says E
class, prozene additive... two unidentified gasses. What does that
mean?"
    "It's... good.
Probably."
    "So I should
open the door?"
    He nodded.
    Tassin gasped
as she was crushed to the floor with bruising force. Pain flared
from her ribs, forcing a groan from her as she gritted her teeth.
"What's happening now?"
    "Antigravity... unit's kicked in."
    "How do I open
the pod?" She shook him. "Sabre? Sabre!"
    Cursing,
Tassin struggled to breathe as the extra gravity crushed her lungs.
It had been the last straw for Sabre, robbing him of consciousness.
The crushing force went on and on, and a red haze obscured her
vision, making her fear that she would pass out too, and they would
die within reach of safety. She concentrated on clinging to
consciousness, noticing that the red light was flashing in her
helmet again.
    At last the
crushing eased, and she drew in a deep breath, her ribs aching. She
waited for the thud or bump that would indicate that they had
touched down on solid ground. The pod whirred and clicked, beeping,
and she crawled towards the door. An alarm buzzed, and green lights
flashed on the panel. The pod whirred again, then the hatch handle
turned of its own volition and the door swung open.
    Tassin
unclipped her helmet and pulled it off, drawing in a deep lungful
of warm, moist air scented with flowers and musk. She turned to
Sabre, whose skin had regained its colour, his lips a healthy shade
once more. She shook him, alarmed. He appeared to have stopped
breathing. She felt for a pulse on the side of his neck, finding a
slow one just as he drew in a shallow breath. Relieved, she sat
back on her haunches and glanced out of the door at a strange
orange sky and grey-blue foliage.
    The landscape
moved slowly past, as if they drifted in the wind. Gently
undulating meadows of pale yellowish-grey, grass-like vegetation
stretched between belts of spreading trees with drooping branches.
Long, grey-blue leaves hung from them, relieved by an occasional
pinkish flower or fruit, she could not tell which. The tree trunks
were a deep burnt umber, and a few taller trees had black trunks
and darker leaves, with white flowers or fruit. A third species had
pale yellow leaves and striped silver trunks. A few bushes with
greyish-green leaves and yellowish puffballs grew at the edge of
the copses.
    A distant
hooting made her shiver, wondering what manner of beast made it.
Her stomach growled. She had been unable to eat for twelve hours.
She dug in the food locker and consumed the sweet ration bars she
found. Sabre remained unconscious, his breathing gradually speeding
up, and she decided that he needed the rest now that the crisis was
over. The open door made her nervous, and after she had eaten she
pulled it closed, leaving a narrow gap for ventilation, then
settled down on the couch.
    Something
jerked her from her uneasy doze, and she sat up. Sabre crouched
beside the hatch, gazing out at the alien landscape.
    He looked at
her and smiled. "We made it."
    She nodded.
"Only just."
    "But we did."
He held out his hand, and she took it, embraced him and kissed his
cheek.
    "Do you know
where we are?"
    He gazed at
the alien landscape again. "No idea."
    "Why are we
still moving?"
    "The pod's
antigravity keeps us a metre above the ground, so the wind's
blowing us along. I could set an anchor, but we might as well drift
for now."
    "I like this
little pod. It saved us."
    "Well, that's
good, because we're going to be living in it for a while. It's
designed to serve as a shelter, and I've opened the vents and
started the fans that blow air in. Unfortunately, it has