Immortal Coil - Jeffrey Lang [57]
Data was thrown back, his phaser flying out of his hand. The giants started forward, and Data spared only a second to turn toward the away team, revealing a tear in the artificial skin of his face that exposed the blinking hardware beneath. Riker thought his friend’s eyes were actually blazing with anger as he spoke.
“Run.”
Chapter Fifteen
SPARKS FLEW AS DATA RIPPED a long console from its mount in the wall, lifted it over his head and flung it at his assailants. The console slammed into the humanoids and knocked them back, but it didn’t stop them.
Once more on his feet, Riker took aim and tried to fire, only to find his phaser wasn’t working either. Some kind of dampening field, he guessed, and began to see the logic of Data’s urgent order to withdraw. Their weapons were useless, and judging from what he was seeing, hand-to-hand combat wasn’t an option. He grabbed Barclay’s arm and called out, “McAdams! Retreat!”
Then he saw that the security officer had other ideas.
McAdams ran alongside one of their foes, placed her hands on his forearm and shoulder in preparation for what Riker recognized as a vicious mok’bara hold. She shifted her legs in the prescribed manner, pivoted her hips … and utterly failed to move her opponent. Her expression, Riker saw, betrayed not fear, but surprise. She somehow sidestepped the giant’s attempt to grab her, and before Riker could formulate his next move, Data was there, interposing himself between McAdams and her attacker. Data grabbed both of the aliens’ wrists and twisted them so sharply that Riker flinched, expecting a spray of blood and howl of pain. But instead, he saw a shower of blinding white sparks as a shriek of metal cut through the air.
That explains the lack of life signs, Riker thought. Androids!
Data tossed the hands away, then leapt into the air and dealt the creature a savage kick in the chest, sending him flying backward against a bank of instruments. The arc of the android’s fall left brilliant afterimages on Riker’s eyes. The second attacker ignored his companion and attempted to catch Data in a bear hug, but missed. Again, Data shouted, “Run!” and this time, McAdams complied.
She clamped a hand around Riker’s wrist and led him around the curve of the lab. “We have to find a door to the bay—the escape pods.”
Riker slowed and grabbed hold of a metal chair. “The hell with finding a door,” he muttered, and threw the chair with all his strength at the nearest viewport. Dark glass exploded into the bay and Riker herded Barclay and McAdams through the opening. Their rapid footfalls rang loudly as they ran across the cavernous space toward the launch tubes.
When they reached the first pod, Riker saw that it was Starfleet-standard, though a little dated, and ushered in Barclay first, who quickly found the preset switch and slapped it. The pod’s systems hummed to life. Riker turned to McAdams. “You next, Lieutenant. As soon as you clear the ocean, get a fix on our position and raise the Enterprise. They may be able to beam down help.”
The pod’s onboard computer intoned, “Lift-off in fifteen seconds.”
“What about you?” McAdams asked.
“I’m going back for Data. Get in.”
McAdams hesitated, ready to argue, until her training seemed to take hold and she nodded. But instead of climbing into the seat, McAdams grabbed Riker’s arm and, with no apparent effort, pitched him through the hatch. He heard her say, “Sorry, Commander,” as the automatic door closed.
Riker barely had time to strap himself in before the engines fired.
Stepping away from the launch cradle, McAdams watched as the escape pod disappeared up the tube. She watched it go and, almost wistfully, McAdams whispered, “It’s been fun.”
She turned just in time to see Data come crashing through another of the viewports. He sailed a good twenty meters into the bay, landing hard on his side. He tried to rise, but couldn’t seem to find his footing. One leg was twisted in the wrong direction and his left arm hung uselessly.