Kobayashi Maru - Michael A. Martin [113]
Letting out a sound of pain unlike any Archer had ever heard, Krell fell to the ground. Unfortunately he landed close enough to the entwined batleth s to wrap his good hand around one of them.
Archer stood, wincing at the pain in his side, his mind racing. Even injured, Krell would be unassailable if he managed to take up both weapons.
UnlessI dont use myself as the target, Archer thought. Crouching, he scooped up a double handful of the dust the broken stalagmite had scattered on the ground and flung it straight into Krells snarling face.
The debris cloud momentarily blinded the Klingon, long enough for Archer to slip behind him. With a roar, he tackled Krell, moving his arm smoothly around his foes neck in a chokehold.
Krell flailed with his good armpulling the batleth s apart and dropping one to the ground in the processas he tried to dislodge the human clinging to his back. His fractured leg refused to support him any further, however, and he crashed to the ground, with Archer clinging to his back all the way down.
Archer released the Klingon and rolled away from him, grasping for his weapon and finally connecting with it. He heard a whistle in the air as he rolled again, and Krells blade struck the ground where his leg had been half a heartbeat earlier.
Scrambling to his feet, Archer grasped the batleth by both grips, raising it as he turned to see that Krell had somehow managed to get up and now stood just a few meters away. Froth flecked the Klingons lips as he moved to close the gap between the combatants and prepared to deliver another deadly blow with his weapon.
Barely avoiding the batleth s impact, Archer sliced his own blade toward Krell, even as the Klingon fell toward him.
For a moment that seemed frozen in time, Archer felt resistance, then saw a violet-hued spray and heard a guttural scream.
Turning, he saw Krell on the ground, writhing in shock and spurting blood from the stump that terminated just below his left shoulder. Krells severed arm twitched in the dust, its hand still gripping the batleth .
Archer could feel his head swirling and his side aching as he knelt beside the Klingon. He quickly removed the belt from his pants and cinched it around his dazed foes stump, slowing the spurt of arterial blood significantly. Krell had fallen too far into a realm of pain and shock to notice, or to resist.
Archer looked up, for the first time in minutes noticing and hearing the screams and cheers and shouts coming from the gallery above. He focused his gaze on one particular section near the front, where he saw the chancellor and several High Council members standing. They didnt look at all pleased by the outcome of the combat.
At that moment, Archer couldnt have cared less about their reactions, their vanity, or their so-called “honor.
“I have defeated Admiral Krell in lawful combat, Archer yelled, aware that his voice sounded hoarse and ragged. “He fought honorably, as did I. But I came to QonoS to avoid spilling any more blood. Not Klingon blood, not Terangan blood.
He pointed to Krell. “This man is a credit to the Empire, and a fierce warrior. He deserves to continue aiding his people, to push the Empire ever forward. I will not kill him. My people would not consider such an act in any way honorable.
He stared directly at the chancellor as he spoke, hoping that his own waning strength and nearly blinding pain wouldnt overwhelm him entirely before he finished making his point. “ I have satisfied your challenge. I have fulfilled my promise. Now you must do the same.
Archer felt his legs suddenly go weak, as though they had in an instant turned to water. His vision grew hazy, and the chancellor appeared to be withdrawing into a dark tunnel, an inscrutable expression on his face as the crowd in the gallery roared incomprehensible things.
Then darkness came, followed immediately by silence.
TWENTY-NINE
Taugus III
T RIP CLOSED his eyes and wondered whether hed feel the disruptors searing heat before the weapon broiled his vital organs from the inside out. Or if, just before the end came,