Karmlyn and Lexxon, the visors in their flight suit helmets now raised, were led to the base, where Nastrum was waiting for them. Jinx was still being held by the fifth gunman. The clothes Lexxon had given her, already torn and dirty, seemed to have a couple extra tears.
"Well, well, Lexxon Kessler." Nastrum tsked the mymars' human partner, "You're about as stubborn to kill as a cockroach." He paused, "It's ironic that you managed to meet up with these other pests, two cats and a rat."
"And you, Nastrum, will one day be a jailbird." Lexxon retorted.
"Enough." Nastrum turned to Karmlyn, "The disk, now."
"Release Jinx, as you promised." Karmlyn demanded.
Nastrum gave the gunman next to him a look, and nodded. Jinx was let go, and she ran next to Karmlyn. Nastrum then placed the disk into his own datapad and began checking it out.
"(You should have kept the disk.)" Jinx told Karmlyn.
"(You should have kept from getting captured.)" Karmlyn retorted.
"Quiet." one of the gunmen ordered them.
The women then fell silent. Jinx held her hand to her forehead, as if having a headache. Karmlyn glanced over, and saw the tips of her middle and forefinger were at her temple. It was obvious, at least to her, she was concentrating on something.
"(What are you doing?)" Karmlyn asked her, in a whisper.
"(A little insurance,)" Jinx answered, "(if we have enough time.)"
"(I have a little trick of my own if we don't.)"
Nastrum then put his datapad away, "So this really is the disk."
"Yeah, it is." Karmlyn told him, "As we agreed, you go your way, we'll go ours."
"Men, over here." The group of four gunmen joined the fifth next to Nastrum. Karmlyn started to turn to walk away. Nastrum interrupted her, "Wait." Karmlyn stopped, and Nastrum turned to his men:
"Give them a five second start, then shoot them."
Karmlyn looked at Nastrum coldly, "We had a deal."
"I do not make deals with alien vermin. If you want to argue technicalities, I'll be letting you go. I didn't say anything about letting you live."
"Nastrum," Jinx spoke, "Listen to me. You already have the disk. There is nothing more for you to gain. You will accomplish nothing by taking our lives except give the authorities three new murder prosecutions to charge you with when they come here. Nothing will change their arrival, it is done. Since you have the disk, your best option would be to release us. You now have all the evidence. Our destruction would itself be evidence against you."
"Only if they find the bodies." Nastrum grinned evilly, "Nice try cat." He paused, "After what you did at the compound, I did a little research on the two if you. It seems you both have a way of sticking your noses where they don't belong. You've managed to pull off a lot, I'll give you that, but it ends here and now.
"You have five seconds before I order my men to aim and fire, so start running, four seconds, - "
Behind her back, Karmlyn was reaching in her sleeve for something. Jinx spoke up, "Wait! Are we not entitled to a last word?"
Nastrum grumbled, "Oh, all right, but make it quick."
Karmlyn's first clue something was up was a slight rustling noise, like something moving through undergrowth, then she saw just what it was that Jinx had been talking about earlier.
Karmlyn looked at Nastrum and grinned, "You might want to look behind you."
Nastrum looked at her contemptuously, "You expect me to fall for that one?" He then glanced at his men, "Ready, aim - "
An animal growl was Nastrum's first sign something was wrong. The next second came a snarl, and then a yell from one of the gunmen. He turned, and the gunman next to him was knocked down as one of the canine-like creatures from the woods landed on him.
Besides the first, three other canines were also charging. They each reached a gunman before they could train their blasters on them, leaping on them and biting down on their arms. The fifth began to take aim at one, but Jinx saw him and changed her focus of concentration. The gunman suddenly found the blaster rifle jerked out of his hands. It landed on the ground several feet away. He went for it, but Jinx once again switched her focus. As the gunman was just about to get the rifle, he found his ankle gripped by a canine's jaws and was yanked back.
Karmlyn looked at the scene. The same kind of animal that had so recently been trying to kill them had now just saved their lives. Both the irony and the mobsters' situation brought a smile to her lips, "Well I'll be doggoned."
"Great move Islyne." Lexxon told Jinx, "When can we get their blasters?"
"In a moment. I'm having to concentrate on alerting them to any trouble and keeping them from going for killing moves."
Nastrum, stunned, saw the situation before him. In just seconds, his triumph had dissolved like water thrown on a sand sculpture. So far, the canine-like beasts had ignored him. He reached in the inside of his shirt, and drew a tiny holdout blaster, carried in case of a tight spot such as this.
But as he was still taking it out, one of the canines looked his way, and charged. Instead of firing, Nastrum lost his nerve and fled. But it only took seconds for the dog to catch up to him, and grabbed hold of him in his rear end.
" Ahhhh!! " Nastrum tried to turn to shoot the dog, but tripped and fell over, a riiip noise sounding that the dog's grip had proven stronger than the pants. The holdout blaster fell from his hands. Clearly in panic, Nastrum got up and trotted off, forgetting all about his weapon. The canine, influenced by Jinx, did not pursue.
Nastrum continued running into the woods, not looking back.
By now, the fight was practicaly over. The gunmen were getting the worst of it, and one cried out, "I give up! Just get them off me!" Jinx then gave a mental signal, and the canines stopped their attack. They still looked at the gunmen menacingly, growling.
Lexxon then walked over, stopping to grab a blaster rifle, "Allright, nobody move!" He then showed a badge, "Interstellar Criminal Task Force. You're all under arrest."
Jinx walked over, still influencing the canines. Karmlyn ran over to the dropped holdout blaster, and then continued running.
Jinx looked at her, "What are you doing?"
"That pig's getting away!" Karmlyn yelled, "I'm going to get that rat!"
Jinx began to go after her, but Lexxon held her back, "Wait."
Jinx turned to Lexxon, "But she'll kill him."
"This is her fight. If that is her decision, it's her choice."
Nastrum continued running. He was so fearful and afraid, he didn't notice the increasing pain in his side. Before long, he was also starting to cough. His sedentary life had caught up with him. He finally began to slow down.
Then a blaster bolt struck a tree next to him. He turned, and saw a very furious Karmlyn aiming his own holdout blaster at him. The expression of anger on her face made her look more than ever like a vicious predator to him.
"Give it up Nastrum!" she yelled, "There's nowhere for you to go!"
Nastrum turned and fled. Karmlyn fired another blast at him, missed, then began chasing him again. Nastrum truly looked pathetic, his clothes dirty, his pants torn, notably in the backside, and now he was starting to cough and wheeze.
She was slowly catching up to him, getting just feet away ...
Then she tripped over a root, landing with an "Oof!" hard onto the ground. The blaster tumbled from her hands. She began to get up, a bit dirty in places, covered with plant sap from crushed weeds in others. She then saw Nastrum before her, still coughing and wheezing, but holding the blaster and pointing it at her.
"It would (cough) appear (cough-cough) the tables have turned again (cough)."
Karmlyn refused to flinch, "It"s over Nastrum. We've caught all your men, your ride back to the base is in our hands, and in just hours, the cops will be here to take you away. There's nothing you can do."
"Then I'll just have to take you with me." Nastrum coughed a few more times, "I will not be brought down by some beast!" He coughed again, the aim of the gun wavering a bit.
Karmlyn carefully reached in the inside of her sleeve, her left hand covering what her right was doing.
"Something wrong Nastrum? Lack of exercise finally getting to you? Like some spoiled overfed housepet, you've gotten out of shape big-time."
That remark made Nastrum furious, "You little bit- " then his excitement then got him coughing hard, several times. He couldn't help but take his eyes off her for a moment, and when he looked back at her, she was pointing something at him, and her eyes closed.
She pulled the trigger, and some pellet hit him right in the face, exploding in a blinding brilliant flash of light.
" YAAAAAHHHHH!! " His eyes feeling like they were set on fire, Nastrum fell to the ground, his clenched hands up to them.
Karmlyn slowly got up, "Those pocket flare guns certainly come in handy. The makers made the charges so bright, they could be seen for miles. Looks like they have more uses than just sending signals, dont'cha think?Ó She reached down, and got the holdout blaster.
Nastrum sat up, "I'm blind! I can't see a thing! I'm blind!"
"Oh don't worry," Karmlyn's voice began to develop a cool tone, "I heard the effects are only temporary, lasting just a few days." She paused, "That is, if you can survive the next few days out here in the jungle, alone, with all the predators."
Nastrum's face took on a look of sheer terror, "No!"
"Oh yes, Nastrum." Karmlyn's expression and tone once again showed her anger, "You wanted to get away, well fine, here you are. It should be several hours before the cops can scan for your lifesigns from orbit." She turned away, "They should find you a few hours after nightfall," she paused, "That is, unless something finds you first. Those dogs back there aren't the only ones around here.
She paused, giving Nastrum a moment to realize his situation, "And what else is around here. I heard the swamps, like that one not too far from here, are home to a rather loathsome carnivorous amphibian, a huge slimy thing that lies in wait for it's prey, then lashes out and grabs it with it's sucker-lined tentacles." She could see Nastrum was clearly terrified, "It doesn't kill right away, it takes several hours for it to suck enough of it's victim's blood before it's weak enough for the thing to start eating it, alive and fully conscious."
Karmlyn had made up that last one, but Nastrum was so frightened he fell for the trick, and the grisly description of his hinted demise sent him over the edge, " NOOOOOoooooooo!! You can't leave me out here!" He began crawling toward the sound of her voice, "You can't leave me to die like that!"
In her coldest tone, she answered, "I thought you said you wouldn't be brought down by some 'beast.' "
"Anything!! I'll do anything!" Nastrum began to choke, "Just get m-me out of h-here." He collapsed, coughing and sobbing.
Karmlyn looked back at him. The once powerful mobster, with men and money at his command, her nemesis whom had devoted his power to her destruction, now lay before her, utterly helpless in body and soul.
She looked at the holdout blaster. It had more than enough energy for a shot that would finish him for certain. She turned it to maximum charge, and aimed it at Nastrum's head.
Unaware what was going on, Nastrum just continued to choke and sob.
Her finger came to rest against the trigger. Just one small move, and her enemy would be gone forever. Images flowed through her mind of his actions, his constantly sending his gunmen after him, the humiliation of being thrown in a cage like some animal, which was just the start of what he wanted to do.
And now, the situation was completely reversed.
She had every reason to fire,
Yet, her finger was not pressing the trigger.
He had no qualms at all about killing you, the only reason he didn't was to humiliate you further. Why are you stopping? She began to steel herself, Just one shot, and he'll be out of your hair for good.
"Karmlyn!" came a familiar voice.
Karmlyn turned, and saw Jinx running up. Jinx saw what was happening as she caught sight of her comrade, "Karmlyn, (wait! Don't do it!)"
"(And why not?)" she turned back to Nastrum, "(This son of a .... , after everything he's done to us, deserves to die out here as dog food.)"
"Karmlyn, (you can't.)"
"(Watch me.)" Karmlyn aimed the blaster once again.
"Go ahead." Nastrum choked, seeming to know what she was planning, "Get it over with."
Karmlyn aimed the blaster at his head, readying herself to fire. She once again thought of what he had put her through.
But then her thoughts went to the previous night, when she confessed her fears to her comrade and friend. Jinx's words once again went through her mind, as if she was speaking to her,
Yes, he deserves our contempt. I will not argue that. But we cannot give into such hatred ourselves. We cannot afford to let it cloud our judgment, as it has clouded his, warping it. We cannot allow ourselves to become like him.
Karmlyn once again looked at the prostrate mobster before her, defenseless.
Am I really becoming just like him?
For a few more moments, she stood there, thinking,
Then she lowered her blaster.
For a moment, the pair just stood there. Then Jinx came over and placed her hand on Karmlyn's shoulder reassuringly, "(It's over.)"
Slowly, the anger in Karmlyn began to fade away.
"(Yeah,)" she paused, "(looks like it is.)"
Nastrum glanced up at Karmlyn, with a confused expression. It was as if he expected to die, and was baffled by her not firing the gun.
Karmlyn had an answer for him, "You're not worth it."
Jinx looked at Karmlyn, with a hint of a smile, "(I take it our talk earlier had something to do with it?)"
"(Maybe,)" Karmlyn looked back at Jinx with a grin, switching briefly to Standard, "Or maybe I'm not a complete 'rhymes-with-witch' after all."
Jinx then gave a few soft snickers.
Karmlyn was a little surprised, this being the first time she had seen her friend do this, "Jinx? (You're actually laughing?)"
Still smiling, Jinx responded, "(It struck me as so amusing, your words and the timing of it all.)"
Karmlyn responded with a few giggles, "(Amusing? You want to hear amusing? How come you were so willing to swap outfits with Lexxon so quickly? You got a thing for the human or something?)"
"(Now Karmlyn!)" Jinx's smile vanished, "(You know that with them thinking he was dead, it was the best plan to make them think we were both attacking the base. Besides, nobody saw anything. All the undressing was done behind bushes.)"
"Uh, huh." Karmlyn's grin seemed to get a little wider, "(And aren't you now a mess. Those clothes have been dragged through who-knows-what before we ran into him. And I'll bet those armpits smell like -)"
"(Oh really? Well what about yourself?)" Jinx, unusually aggressive, pointed at Karmlyn's flight suit, "(You, the rich and pampered Sen-Tiago, wearing the same uniform for three days without a bath,)" she grinned as she pointed to the suit's soiled areas, "(and your suit's gotten much more dirty and roughed up than the one I was wearing. Just what have you been rolling around in?)"
Karmlyn looked at Jinx, momentarily stunned, then shot back, "(Why you little -)" her words then dissolved away in a round of laughter. Jinx then began laughing too, caught up in the moment.
Still laughing, the girls hugged each other.
Nastrum, of course, couldn't understand the girls' words in Aglir, but he could understand the laughter.
"I really, really , hate cats!"