Hunters of Dune - Brian Herbert [190]
In front of her, Teg shifted and blurred again, shooting forward like a bullet, his speed beyond human possibility. The two Handler guards turned, but they were too late. Teg’s blows hit them like lightning strikes. The Handlers snapped aside as if thrown by an invisible force.
Sheeana ran to catch up, her lungs on fire. Slowing enough to reappear, the Bashar kicked the stun-goads out of the way. Reeling with exhaustion, he keyed the entry code into the lighter’s main hatch controls. The hydraulics hummed, and the heavy door began to slide open.
“Inside, quickly!” He heaved great breaths. “We’ve got to take off.”
Sheeana had never seen a human look so utterly weary. Teg’s skin had gone gray, and he seemed to be on the verge of collapse. She grabbed his arm, fearing that he was in no condition to fly the lighter.
I might have to do it myself.
Handlers swarmed out of the towers carrying staffs and stun-goads. With nothing to hide anymore, most of them had reverted to their pug-nosed Face Dancer appearances. Sheeana feared that some might be armed with projectile throwers or long-distance stunners.
With a shout and a frantic rush behind them, two people bolted out of the dense aspen forest, running for all they were worth. Sheeana pushed Teg inside the ship and paused at the hatch, where she saw Thufir Hawat and the Rabbi running pell-mell toward her. More Handlers were hard on their heels, and she heard Futars crashing through the underbrush. Thufir and the Rabbi were both flushed, stumbling forward only seconds ahead of their pursuers. The young man grabbed the Rabbi and hauled him along. She did not think they would reach the lighter in time.
Finally, with selfless resolve, Thufir propelled the old man toward the still-distant lighter while he turned alone to face the Handlers. With balled fists he lunged toward the closest pursuer, surprising him with his turnabout. A sharp rabbit punch to the abdomen of the Handler and a chop to his throat caused the Face Dancer to reel and drop. Through his heroics, Thufir had given the Rabbi time to stagger ahead as fast as he could. Panting but refusing to rest, Thufir then ran after him, catching up to the old man as they closed in on the ship in the meadow.
As the first Futar bounded forward, another beast-man crashed in from the side, slamming into the ship. The pair rolled together, clawing and fighting. A second one of Hrrm’s Futars! The delay gained Sheeana and her companions a few more precious seconds.
She grabbed one of the stun-goads from the fallen guards. “Run! Run!” Over her shoulder she called into the open lighter, “Miles, start the engines!”
Thufir and the Rabbi ran with last bursts of adrenaline. “Face Dancers,” Thufir gasped. “We saw—”
“I know! Get inside the lighter.” The ship’s engines began to thrum. Somehow, Teg had found enough energy to drag himself to the pilot’s seat.
Sheeana planted her feet in the meadow grass and jabbed the stun-goad at the first oncoming Handler, then swung it to smash the side of another’s head.
The old Rabbi stumbled aboard, while the twelve-year-old ghola lurched after him. Three more Futars came bounding out of the trees, followed by another group of Handlers. She threw herself through the hatch, scrambling to activate the ramp controls. She dragged her feet out of the way just as the heavy hatch sealed shut. With a crash, the first Futar slammed into the hull.
“Fly, Miles!” She collapsed onto the deck. “Fly!”
Thufir Hawat was already in the copilot’s seat. Beside him, the Bashar looked as if he might lose consciousness at any moment, and Thufir reached for the copilot’s controls, ready to take charge. But Teg brushed the boy’s hands away. “I’ll do it.”
The lighter rose above the trees, accelerating into the sky. Heart pounding, Sheeana looked at the Rabbi on the floor beside her. His tear-streaked face was flushed with exertion, and she feared he might die of cardiac arrest now that he’d made it to the escape ship.
Then she remembered what Orak Tho had told her: The Handlers had their own spacecraft, and they