Part 22 (1/2)

Riker could envision the finger of the sniper, poised over the trigger. He wanted to give the order to cut loose, and he could feel Tang's gaze upon him. But there was no way that he could give the clearance... not when the ninth raider was still unaccounted for.

Then there was more movement, and the final member of the Sindareen raiding party made his appearance.

In his right hand, he was cradling a blaster. His head was turning slowly, clearly trying to spot whatever Federation people might be trying to target him. His left arm was curled around the throat of a woman.

”Deanna,” breathed Riker.

He zoomed in on her face. Her jaw was set, her eyes unblinking. If she was afraid, she was making a great show of keeping her feelings to herself.

”That's nine,” said Tang. ”Lieutenant-?”

”They have a hostage,” Riker said tonelessly.

”I know that, sir.”

Riker was silent. ”Who's your best marksman?”

Tang antic.i.p.ated the request and tapped his comm unit. ”Sommers. s.h.i.+ft target to the Sindareen in the rear. Lorie, pick up Gamma's target.”

”Acquired,” came Lorie's voice from Alpha Point.

This was immediately followed by Sommers saying, ”Got him in my sights.”

”Clear shot?”

”Negative,” replied Sommers, ”repeat, that's a negative. Target's moving too much.”

Riker saw immediately that Sommers was correct. Maror was too experienced at this. He kept s.h.i.+fting his position, swinging Deanna around so that she was constantly in the way.

Riker pressed the binos so hard against his eyes that he thought they were going to come out the back of his head. He knew what he should do. The vast majority of the hostages were already in the clear. Only one was left... one who might still survive if everything fell fight. But if they made no move, then the raiders would escape, and more people would pay down the line.

Deanna, he thought bleakly.

At that moment, Deanna was swung directly into Riker's sight line...

And she looked straight at him. Straight and proud and unafraid.

Two words rang in his head.

I understand.

”Take them,” said Riker.

”Take 'em,” Tang ordered. ”Take 'em.”

Deanna flinched.

From all around, phasers blasted outward, enveloping the surprised Sindareen in coronas of energy. Several staggered and went down. One of them managed to survive the blasts and tumbled into the s.h.i.+p.

Sommers missed Maror. Deanna's instinctive, uncontrollable s.h.i.+ver, antic.i.p.ating the barrage that was about to occur, had been enough to warn the Sindareen leader that something was about to happen. As a result he'd dropped to a crouch, dragging Deanna down with him. Sommers had been aiming high anyway, banking on Maror's exposing his head for the brief moment that Sommers would need. But it didn't happen, and now Maror dashed for the s.h.i.+p, dragging Deanna with him. The marksmen shot around him, steering clear of the trapped Betazoid.

For a split instant, Maror's back was exposed, and Sommers fired. The high-power phaser beam, which would have severely burned and possibly even crushed Deanna Troi, staggered Maror. It caused him to stumble forward, almost failing atop his prisoner, but then he recovered and reached the inside of the s.h.i.+p, shoving Deanna inside ahead of him. The hatch rampway closed, with several crates of Betazoid art treasures-along with five of the Sindareen-left lying on the rooftop.

”Dammit!” shouted Riker. ”Dammit!” It was a totally un-Starfleet response. It was also understandable.

With a roar of impulse engines, the Spider swayed into the air. Obviously whoever was piloting the s.h.i.+p was doing so in a G.o.d-awful hurry, not taking time to engage in proper navigational procedures, but instead concentrating only on getting the h.e.l.l out of there.

Riker didn't even have to look behind him to know what Tang was doing. The hard-bitten sergeant had swung the phaser cannon onto his shoulder and activated it. ”Can you bring them down?” said Riker without turning.

”I can blow them out of the sky. Quick and fast.”

”Can you cripple them?”

”Trickier. Not as sure. And,” Tang added quietly, ”there's no guarantee she'll survive the crash. You may not be doing her any favors.”

”I know.”

The Spider had now gained the skies and was heading west, angling upward. In a moment it would pick up even greater speed and hurl itself far, far away from Betazed.

”Cripple them,” said Riker.

Tang made an adjustment on the power and fired.

The intensity of the phaser blast was beyond anything Riker had ever experienced directly. The air crackled around him, and he thought he was going to choke.

The blast took out the starboard engine and the navigational instrumentation of the Spider. The s.h.i.+p lurched wildly, tried to regain control, and failed. It spiraled downward, leaving a trail of thick black smoke behind it miles long.

”Where's it going to come down?” said Riker tonelessly.

”Judging from the speed and trajectory,” Tang replied, ”somewhere in the region known as the Jalara Jungle.”

There was silence for a moment, and then Gart Xerx said, ”If she makes it through the crash, she has a good chance. The jungle has its dangers... mud pits and such... but there are few really dangerous animals to contend with.”

Riker turned and stared at him. ”You're forgetting the most dangerous animals. They're the ones steering the s.h.i.+p.”

CHAPTER 25.

Maror didn't know what he was running from, or what he was running to.

No. That wasn't precisely right. He knew what he was running to. He was running straight to h.e.l.l. But if there was one thing of which he was resolved, it was that he was going to take the d.a.m.ned Betazoid woman with him.

She sat on a rock nearby, and to his frustration she looked exactly as she had the day before, and the day before that. Even though her clothes were ripped and dirty, her face filthy, her hair hanging in stringy ringlets that had lost all their bounce in the moisture of the jungle. Even with her shoes gone, her prospects slim.

Still, she had composure.

He couldn't take it anymore. He wanted her to be like other women he had captured. He wanted her to beg or plead. He wanted her to whimper or moan. He wanted her to... to something.