Oblivion - Michael Jan Friedman [75]
And depressed the trigger.
Picard had just enough time to wonder if Demmix’s dampening field extended into the vent. Then he got his answer as the aperture pulsed with a wild, blue light, the disruptor beam wreaking havoc with the conduit beyond and eliciting a backwash of dense, black smoke.
It roiled through the captives’ portion of the compartment like a hellish surf, mixing with their air and making it impossible to draw a clean breath. They all started to choke—Guinan, Picard, and the Cardassians as well.
“Damn you,” Tain rasped, as he wrestled Guinan for the disruptor, “what have you done?”
Picard knew exactly what she had done.
She had put everyone on her side of the barrier in a position to asphyxiate. But if Demmix wanted to, he could save them from that less-than-pleasant fate—simply by lowering the forcefield for a second or two.
Then some of the smoke could escape, and clean air could take its place. It would be enough for his captives to survive. And letting in the smoke wouldn’t be a problem for the Zartani, who was a carbon-dioxide breather anyway.
The captain turned to Demmix, who was still visible through the billowing fumes. He could see the panic in the traitor’s expression, the indecision. Clearly, Demmix had begun to see what Picard had seen.
But if he was going to drop the barrier, he had to move quickly. Otherwise, his meal tickets would be dead and he would be left without anything to give the Ubarrak.
Part of the captain wanted to drag Tain off Guinan and teach him the finer points of gallantry. But his more prudent part knew he had to be ready if Demmix dropped the barrier, because he wouldn’t get a second chance.
However, the Zartani was still hesitating, still weighing his options. For a moment, it looked as though he wasn’t going to deactivate the forcefield after all.
Then, as if on impulse, Demmix took out his remote-control device and pressed a stud—probably the one that had activated the field in the first place. Instantly, the lion’s share of the smoke was sucked out of the captives’ area.
Picard didn’t wait to see the Zartani press the stud a second time. Instead, he took an aggressive step forward and launched himself through the smoke-filled air.
Intent on his remote-control device, Demmix didn’t seem to see the human coming. Picard plowed into him and bore him to the deck, the device clattering free in the process.
Unfortunately, as fragile as the Zartani could be in certain ways, they were also quite strong. No sooner had Demmix landed on his back than he grabbed Picard by his jacket and sent him flying into the bulkhead behind them.
The captain protected himself from the impact with his forearm, but was jarred when he dropped to the floor. By the time he regrouped, Demmix was coming at him with a vengeance.
And Picard could see that the barrier had closed again. He was the only captive who had made it through.
Rolling to his right, he was able to avoid Demmix’s headlong rush. However, they were trapped in a relatively small space. The captain wasn’t confident that he could elude the Zartani much longer.
Fortunately, Picard had another option. But to exercise it, he would have to find Demmix’s remote-control device among the floating tendrils of smoke he had brought in with him.
Again the Zartani charged him. This time, Picard threw himself to his left—and only narrowly missed being pinned to the bulkhead.
Scrambling to his feet, he took a moment to scan the floor for Demmix’s device. It must be here somewhere, he told himself. All I need to do is—
Then he saw it. It was on the other side of the room, barely visible between trails of smoke.
Demmix was closer to the device, but he seemed neither to have spotted it nor to care. His efforts were focused solely on getting hold of the captain.
And to that end, he had changed his tactics. He was advancing slowly now rather than rushing his attack, trying to back Picard into a corner.
It made the captain’s job more difficult. But not insurmountable, he added silently.
“Come,” said Demmix,