Free A Taste Of Despair (The Humal Sequence) by Robert Taylor Page B

ship that was the Ulysses had ignited its drives and was pulling clear of the dock. Hamilton winced as he saw the docking gantry and service umbilicals were still attached. The gantry broke free first, sending glittering shards of metal and plastic dancing through space. Then the umbilicals drew taught then pulled free of the ship. Unlike the gantry, the designer had thought about stupid pilots. They pulled free without damage to either themselves or the ship.
    Maybe Jones was right to be concerned . Hamilton thought. Too late to worry about it now.
    He turned back to Jones, who had remained by the jury-rigged door. “Go get the others, we’re leaving soon.”
    Jones nodded and disappeared, leaving Hamilton alone in the room, looking after him. It was then that Hamilton noticed the pulsing red light by the door panel.
    Tell-tale . He thought. I should expect company soon.
    He moved over to the door leading to the medical area. Just as he took up a position alongside it the door opened and the officious looking clerk strode in, accompanied by two guards, or orderlies, wielding stun batons.
    Their attention automatically moved to the right as they entered, staring at the open doorway to Q-section. Hamilton, standing to the other side of the door, went unnoticed.
    He stepped forward, grabbed the baton arm of the nearest guard and punched hard into the man’s left temple with his other hand. The man collapsed without fully realizing what was going on. Hamilton kept a hold on the unconscious man’s wrist as he fell. When the second guard turned to see what had happened, Hamilton jabbed at him with the baton, striking him in the solar plexus. The unconscious guard’s baton was not activated, fortunately for the other man, but the blow doubled him up anyway. Hamilton dropped the guard he held and finished off the second man with a knee to the face.
    The clerk had only just completed turning round by the time it was all over. He stared in surprise and fear at Hamilton.
    “Remember me?” Hamilton grinned, grabbing the frightened man by the collar. “You’re going to help me a little bit.”
    By the time Jones arrived with the rest of the crew the clerk had, under duress, deactivated the tell-tale and called back to the medical section to tell them it was a false alarm. Hamilton removed the man’s pass card and then thrust the little man at Carl.
    “Keep hold of him. He might come in useful.” Hamilton told the Enjun. If the clerk had been afraid of Hamilton, the big Enjun positively terrified him.
    Klane picked up the shock batons and passed one to Rames and the other to Grimes.
    “Don’t you want one?” Grimes asked.
    She shook her head. “Nah. Never liked ‘em much. They’re the refuge of people who don’t know how to do hand-to-hand combat. Not my style.”
    “Well, thanks.” Grimes said, not certain whether he was being insulted or not.
    Hamilton turned away from the conversation to hide his smile. Klane was trained in hand-to-hand combat, it was true. However, since she had acquired her cybernetic limbs her idea of physical combat involved more foot-to-face than hand-to-hand.
    He glanced around. “Is everyone here? Wait. Where’s Johnson?”
    The others looked around themselves, as if expecting to see her when Hamilton could not.
    “I think she was with us in the lounge area.” Charlton answered, frowning.
    Hamilton sighed. Nothing ever went smoothly. “Okay. Klane, Rames. Lead everyone on through the medical area. Aim for the airlock on the other side. I’ll go find Johnson and meet you there.” He handed the clerk’s pass-card to Jones. “You might find this useful.”
    Rames and Klane nodded and began herding the others towards the long corridor that led to the medical section. Hamilton turned and went back through the door Jones had opened.
    Johnson was not in the lounge area, nor did she appear to be in any of the facilities areas such as the gym, which left only the accommodation compartments.