The Sky's the Limit - Marco Palmieri [164]
The Tellarite turned and started to point his gun at the onrushing human, but Riker was already upon him. Riker swung the branch at his enemy’s head, but the Tellarite moved quickly and brought up his cargo gun to block the branch’s path. Still, the force of Riker’s blow knocked the cargo gun out of the alien’s hands and drove him backward. Gravity and the Tellarite’s backpack did the rest, and he fell onto the ground.
Riker charged, cocking his arms back by his head so that he could swing the branch full force. The Tellarite kicked upward with his left leg, aiming his blow at the large hole in Riker’s chest. Riker twisted his body, moving his wound away from the kick, but the Tellarite’s hooflike foot caught Riker on the right arm. He cried out in pain and dropped the branch. He could see the alien trying to retrieve his cargo gun by pulling on the wire that connected it to the backpack, and Riker knew he had to act quickly. Almost by instinct, he dived on top of the Tellarite, letting every iota of frustration pour out of him and into his fists.
Fueled by his own anger, Riker pummeled the scavenger over and over. He wasn’t sure how much his murderer’s natural padding was protecting him, so he kept pounding away. Riker lost himself in the moment. He continued to punch, kick, and elbow the Tellarite with all of his heart…if he had still had one. The Tellarite blocked several of Riker’s blows, even landed a few of his own, but the human didn’t let up. The scavenger still wore his cargo gun and Riker had to keep the Tellarite’s attention directed at him and away from Beverly as she ran to the shuttlecraft.
This is for taking me from Deanna! Riker thought and rained more blows on the scavenger. You’re not going to beat me! You’re not going to win!
And just then, as if sensing Riker’s hubris, the indicator light on the Fabrini Lifesaver went dark.
Searing hot pain exploded in Riker’s chest. He gasped in agony and the Tellarite took advantage of the moment to kick Riker off of him.
The scavenger got to his feet. Riker was expecting him to say something, some sort of confident boast or explanation of how he couldn’t allow Riker to compromise his salvage operation. The Tellarite, though, much like Riker, was a creature of few words. He said nothing. Instead, he merely reclaimed the cargo gun that dangled from his backpack and pointed it at Riker once again.
A rumble filled Riker’s ears. His world was starting to go dark. The Tellarite smiled a snaggletoothed grin when Riker noticed, just over the gunman’s shoulder, a flash of blue and red. It was Beverly. She hadn’t gone to the shuttle. She was right behind the Tellarite.
Riker’s last thought was, Dammit, Beverly, I told you to run!
Then all was black.
Riker opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of the Enterprise’s sickbay. He’d seen it a number of times before, and it was comfortably familiar. He squinted at the light and counted the ceiling tiles in an effort to guess which diagnostic bed he was in. Number three, he thought.
Then he realized that he was thirsty.
Riker felt a pressure on his hand, and he looked at it to find another hand squeezing it. Riker knew whose hand it would be.
Tears were rolling down Deanna Troi’s cheek. Riker looked up at his imzadi’s face and thought, Either I’m not dead or heaven is going to be a pretty good place.
“Sorry,” Riker rasped, returning her squeeze. The warmth of Deanna’s hand in his own told him he was, indeed, alive. “You’re going to have to go through with the wedding anyway.”
Deanna started to sob harder and kissed him. Her tears fell upon his face.
“What happened?” he asked, noticing that his voice was husky and his throat hurt as much as it had when his tonsils were removed.
Beverly walked into Riker’s field of vision. He was pretty sure she had always been there but had stayed back to give Deanna her moment. “How are you feeling, Will?”
“Like hell.”
“Believe it or not, that’s a good sign.”
“Don’t take this as a complaint, but why aren’t I dead?”
“Because I am a very good doctor and a very quick study.