Myriad Universes 02_ Echoes and Refractions - Keith R. A. DeCandido [22]
“Then we have to hope to take him by surprise,” David said as he flung his pack to the ground, feigning confidence as he supposed a leader should. “It’s all we’ve got.”
“Your fortitude is admirable,” Saavik replied, perhaps not entirely with sarcasm, before settling into a hushed silence as the Klingon entered the clearing.
Still exhausted from the run, David struggled to keep his labored breathing under control as he held his body as still as possible. Huddled close together as they were, he felt the warmth of Saavik’s body next to his, and suddenly sensed a bit of awkwardness-they had shared something special the prior evening, and it seemed churlishly insensitive not to even have spoken of it the following morning. Granted, this was clearly not the most appropriate time to discuss the finer details of their personal relationship. Yet their untimely but propitious bond had deeply affected him, and as he gazed at her face peering out from their shelter, with her calm facade masking what he insightfully discerned to be tension and fear, he felt instinctively compelled to protect her.
From a distance, through the gaps in the tangle of branches and leaves, the Klingon didn’t appear all that formidable-small of stature, his disruptor holstered, his attention focused upon his own tricorder in his hands. He had slowed his pace, sweeping the device from side to side as he attempted to narrow down the location of his quarry. The beeping sounds emanating from the tricorder increased to a furious rate, until finally the Klingon stopped and raised his head, staring directly at the foliage that concealed the sources of the two life signs he had sought. He turned off the device and pulled out his disruptor as he slowly advanced toward his hidden prize.
“You, in there!” he shouted. “Come out with your hands where I can see them.”
David and Saavik remained silent and unmoving. The Klingon continued to approach.
“I said come out of there!”
David thought he could detect the slightest hesitancy-even apprehension-in the Klingon’s gruff voice, and it emboldened him. His adversary now stood just a meter or so from the brush and was seconds away from pushing the branches aside to peer within. At his side, David gripped the strap of his own tricorder, allowing the device to swing loosely from the end, and waited. Just a bit closer…
In a single blurred motion, David sprung up from his crouched position and swung the tricorder in a wide arc, forcefully connecting with the side of his assailant’s head.
Momentarily stunned, the Klingon stumbled backward with a muffled groan; David, his fear now conquered by the effects of adrenaline, sensed his opportunity and leaped forward, clearing the top of the bush and colliding with the Klingon, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
As he landed, straddled on the Klingon’s chest, David immediately grabbed the disruptor with both hands and attempted to pry apart the fingers that tightly held it. The weapon shook as the Klingon struggled to maintain his hold, and both he and David began to grunt with exertion. Despite the Klingon’s superior strength, David’s two hands slowly began to twist the disruptor out of his foe’s unyielding grip as if torquing a wrench on a stubborn bolt, until the Klingon suddenly thrust out his free left hand and grabbed David’s throat.
As the fingers constricted his windpipe and choked off his air, David shifted his right hand to his throat in an attempt to interpose his own fingers far enough to relieve the pressure. With a firm pulling motion, he created enough separation to allow a lungful of air before the grip was tightened even further. His left hand remained on the disruptor, no longer with any reasonable chance to snatch it away. He now hoped merely to prevent his opponent from using it at this close range.
Beneath him, he felt the Klingon’s chest expand