Mosaic - Jeri Taylor [80]
Something was hauling her upward, out of the ooze. She scrambled to get her balance, eyes still covered with mud. She heard Justin's voice. "We have to go now."
She spat out the reed and dug at her face with mudcovered fingers, managed to scrape away enough to open her eyes slightly, peering at the woods through gritencrusted eyelids.
"We might have bought ourselves enough time to get to the transport site."
"Can you walk?"
"No, but I can hop."
And he did, bounding through the woods on his good leg, gritting his teeth against the pain that seared through his broken ankle each time he landed. Alter a few minutes, Kathryn saw a clearing, and knew they had reached the transport site.
But so had a Cardassian trooper. He stood in the clearing, holding a Toskanar on a chain. It was a powerful, sinewy animal that looked like a cross between a mountain lion and a bear, with muscular legs and a great, shaggy head. It was silent now, but straining on the chain, eager to get at them.
"Stay where you are," ordered the Cardassian. Kathryn surmised they were still within the transgenic field; unless they were completely into the clearing, they couldn't contact the Icarus to transport them. "Lie down on the ground with your arms above your heads."
Kathryn kneeled to comply, but Justin gestured toward his bad leg, still dangling off the ground. "My ankle is broken," he said. "Lie down on the ground with your arms above your heads." Justin nodded and put one hand down on the ground as though to help himself to get off his feet, lost his balance and tumbled to his side-then came up with his phaser drawn, and fired.
Nothing happened. Kathryn stared at the weapon; it was covered with muck from the swamp and must have lost its charge. She looked up at the Cardassian, who was smiling at them through the darkness, and saw him unleash the huge dog. Instantly, it bounded across the clearing right toward her.
She saw it as though in slow motion: the beast opened its jaws, baring a double row of pointed teeth, frothy slaver falling from its tongue. Small, round eyes glittered like lasers in the darkness; it uttered a guttural growl of anticipation.
Suddenly Justin had thrown himself in its path, taking the impact of the animal's charge. Kathryn's hand snaked out for the thick tree limb she had spotted to her side; wielding it like a bat, she hammered at the animal until it unloosed Justin and started toward her. She gripped the branch and twisted to her left-and an old familiar power rippled through her. The target was a tennis ball. She eyed it carefully, timing the backhand, shoulders turned and pointed toward the target, back leg bent, ready to drive: and then she set her body in motion, hips uncoiling and pushing forward, arms swinging as the power of her legs drove them, the weapon on a flat plane level with the target, eyes never losing contact until-
The branch slammed into the face of the Toskanar with a sickening crunch; it didn't even yelp before toppling over, skull crushed. The Cardassian was standing in shock, losing precious seconds in his astonishment at the dispatch of his vicious animal. Justin had crawled a few feet closer and was trying to get his phaser operative; without even thinking about it, Kathryn, bat still in hand, charged the Cardassian. The rest happened quickly: the Cardassian regained his senses