—Chapter 16—
Two Happa led four Orions out onto the roof, leaving one Happa and two Orions on the floors below in case this was a ruse. The roof seemed deserted, but they wouldn't know, until they searched the roof.
"Comm units on," said the smaller of the Happa. "Call out if you make contact."
The Orions affirmed their orders and spread out, while the Happa stayed together, all moving cautiously forward. Klaran Ur, a hired Orion goon, had the misfortune to be the first to make contact with his prey, for as he peered cautiously into some shadows, Malcolm dropped on his shoulders from above, the human's weight forcing Klaran to the ground, as Malcolm drove a screwdriver into the side of the Orion's neck several times. The Orion died soundlessly, and Malcolm relieved the goon of his phaser rifle. Set on kill, he noted. These people weren't trying to capture them any longer. They just wanted them dead. He moved off, in search of his next target.
T'Pol got to him first. As Malcolm drew a bead on another Orion, something thrown from thirty feet or so hit the man in the chest. From the thump it made when it hit the ground it must have weighed twenty pounds or more. The man dropped like a sack of potatoes, only barely conscious. Looking at the missle through the rifle's scope, Malcolm made out what appeared to be a round plate of steel. Probably some discarded part from one of these generators. T'Pol. No human could have thrown something that heavy, that fast, and that accurately. That Orion was out of the game with a busted ribcage at the least.
One of the other Orions heard the man go down, and called out, to be joined a moment later by one of the Happas and two Orions. Malcolm was tempted to shoot the Happa, but they needed him alive, so he shot an Orion and tried to get the other, but that one was too fast. Three down, three to go, thought Malcolm, then he heard the Happa calling his friends, in the building below.
"They're here. Come quickly."
Ok, three down, six to go, thought Malcolm as he scrambled to move to a different location. Come on Travis!
The other Happa, accompanied by one Orion ignored the ruckus on the other side, for they'd heard a slight sound coming from their side. Silently motioning for the Orion to take the left side, the Happa moved on the right, phaser pistol in hand. The rapid sound of automatic phaser fire coming from the other side drew the Happa's attention for a moment from his current situation. He turned back swiftly at a shouted warning from his Orion partner just in time to see the human throwing some viscous liquid at his faceshield and blot out the light. The Happa shot blindly at the human's last location. He was rewarded with a scream, then his hand went numb as a steel pipe made contact with his wrist, knocking his phaser pistol from his grasp.
"Evrin," said the Happa's Orion partner as he drew closer. "It's me, Ker. Stop moving."
"Why the fuck didn't you shoot that human?"
"You were too close together, Evrin," said the Orion as he wiped the Happa's face shield with his sleeve. "If you'd jumped the wrong way, or if he'd used your body to shield himself I'd have cut you in two."
"I heard him scream."
"Yeah, you got him, but he got your phaser," said the Orion while looking in the direction in which Trip had vanished. He drew a phaser pistol from his side holster and held it out to Evrin. "Let's finish him off."
Reinforcements finally came as the last Happa and his two Orion enforcers reached the roof, and headed for the sound of phaser fire on the left, where Malcolm was playing a deadly game of hide and seek in order to buy Trip and T'Pol some time.
Evrin and his sidekick returned their attention to their prey and moved cautiously in pursuit of him. The Orion hissed to draw the Happa's attention and pointed to a bloody hand print on the wall. Evrin nodded and they continued on to come upon a curious sight. The Vulcan female was cradling the head of a fair-haired human in her lap. Evrin recognized him as the man he hit with his wild phaser shot, and looking at the man it was clear that he was in pain and medical distress, though conscious. Evrin was ecstatic. They'd thought it safest to kill them all, but he'd managed to catch them alive, and now he could find out who they were, and who sent them.
"Don't move," said Evrin, while his partner, Ker, kept his weapon trained on the two aliens.
"I'll give you something of value," said the Vulcan, "if you let us go."
"What's that?" said Evrin, neglecting to mention that there was nothing valuable enough for him to let them go.
"A data file with all the information we've got on your people," said the Vulcan, "and information on who hired us and why."
Oh, that data would be of interest to my superiors, thought Evrin.
"Give it to me, Vulcan."
The Vulcan moved her hands slowly to a fanny pack laying next to her on the ground, then unexpectedly, flipped it quickly towards Evrin.
The next few seconds felt like a slow motion ballet. The Vulcan bent her torso to cover and protect the human's face with her body, just as Evrin recognized the sudden hum of an overcharged phaser. Ker's hearing was not as sharp, but he was as wary as an old rat and he dived for cover as soon as he saw Evrin fall to the ground. The power cell exploded in mid-air several feet above the Happa and his ally, and the small ball of super-heated plasma set Ker's clothes on fire and singed his hair and skin quite badly. The Happa had been protected by his environmental suit and furiously, Evrin crawled over to pick up Ker's phaser rifle and slowly stood.
"Kill those fuckers, Evrin," said Ker, turning to watch the aliens die, despite the pain moving caused him.
Instead, Ker saw the tell tale glitter and sparkle as a transporter beam grabbed the aliens as well as his comrade, Evrin. A few seconds later, the firing stopped on the other side of the roof as well, and Ker knew their prey had escaped, and with that the Orion lost consciousness.