Taking Wing - Michael A. Martin [97]
Already having downed three of the Remans with his hands, Keru was grabbed from behind by another of them. Unable to break the Reman’s grip, Keru pushed backward with his feet, slamming his attacker into a wall. As the blow loosened the bear hug, Keru stamped down hard on the upper arch of the Reman’s foot, causing the bone within to crack loudly.
The Reman released him momentarily, but Keru had to duck to avoid the swinging roundhouse blow of another club-wielding thug. He heard the club connect with flesh above him, then a bellow of rage as he sprinted to one side. He turned to see the larger of his attackers now pummeling the other Reman who had just accidentally struck him.
Keru looked around for the phasers they had dropped, and wasn’t surprised when he failed to find them. Then he noticed that a smallish Reman prisoner had scooped them up, and was, at that moment, attempting to fire at him. He moved quickly toward the Reman—who couldn’t have been more than a preteen—unconcerned. The phasers were specially tuned to the circuitry in the gloves of the stealth suits they were wearing. No one who wasn’t wearing the gloves could fire them.
Another Reman charged him. He crouched, using a martial arts technique that he had learned from one of the older Guardians in the caves of Mak’ala back on Trill. Keru struck two fingers up toward the Reman’s throat, sweeping one leg out at the same time. The Reman tumbled over his shoulder, carried by the kick and his own momentum, a strangled gurgle of pain replacing his guttural attack cry.
Keru stood and walked toward the Reman youth, who was now quaking with fright. “Boo!” he said, putting his gloved hands up. Panicked, the youth dropped the weapons and ran for the outer corridor from which the Remans had entered the room.
Quickly retrieving the phasers, Keru palmed one and whirled to face their remaining Reman attackers. Double-checking his helmet’s panoramic sensor display, he confirmed that none were left standing. Rriarr was crouched on all fours, breathing heavily, but in far better shape than any of the escaped prisoners who lay sprawled about the floor.
“Are you all right?” Keru asked.
“Just winded,” Rriarr said, his esses rendered slightly sibilant by his prominent canines. The Caitian’s helmet visor was raised, revealing golden, vertical-pupiled eyes that probably rivaled the night-vision system built into the stealth suits. “But if my tail weren’t tucked into this damned suit, I suspect there’d be another big chunk missing from it after that little dustup. Give me a second to catch my breath.”
Keru spoke into the mouthpiece in his helmet. “Commander Vale, how goes it?”
“Not good,” came the exec’s response. “We got ambushed in one of the corridors. They sliced Denken up pretty badly. I’m putting a field dressing on him now, but if we don’t get him back to Titan soon, I’m afraid he’s going to lose the arm.”
Stifling a curse, Keru let out his breath in a whoosh. “Sortollo, report.”
“We’re holding steady up here, but the Romulan skimmers have definitely arrived. Right now, they’re under heavy fire from escapees in the prison’s outer perimeter. But it’s only a matter of time before one or more of the skimmers makes for the roof you used to get inside.”
“I’m getting intel from Titan that confirms this,” Bolaji said, breaking in. “I’d say we’ve got five minutes, maybe less.” She paused for a moment, then came back on, her voice sounding strained. “Commander Keru, you’re positioned closest to Tuvok. My scans show he’s located two chambers past you, but something strange is going on there. We’ve got a group of life signs approaching him, heavily armed.” She paused again, and Keru thought he heard a moan. “They’re coming up from underground. I’m feeding you the data now.”
Keru saw a rough electronic