He hit the ground on his back, explosions of light and dark passing rapidly before his eyes as he gasped in pain, his head hitting soil that no longer seemed so moist and yielding.
The giant had also landed heavily, which bought Jak a little time. Expecting his sudden move to take out the small albino, the giant had been unprepared for the swift movement, and so had been unable to protect himself when he crashed into the ground. His size had worked against him, as his sheer weight hitting the ground winded him.
Jak winced, scrambling to his feet. This was no time for finesse. He had to chill the bastard and quick. He drew his .357 Magnum Colt Python and leveled the barrel, taking an easy and instinctive aim at the prone giant.
The man was floundering, trying to turn and rise quickly, his large frame uncomfortable on the ground.
His movements were slow in comparison to Jak’s, and the albino gently increased the pressure on the blaster’s trigger, squeezing in what seemed to be slow motion. The liquid flow of time slowed to a sluggish drip as Jak’s attention focused on his adversary, still clumsily struggling to regain an upright position.
Then time stopped altogether. It stopped with a sudden, heart-jerking brake.
Jak’s finger tightened all the way, the pressure squeezing the trigger of the Magnum blaster and firing it.
At least, that’s the way it should have been.
Instead, Jak was greeted with a dry click as the mechanism of the blaster failed to work.
He knew that the blaster was well maintained. It was a matter of simple survival to keep one’s weaponry in good condition. Besides which, J.B. had made it a matter of routine for everyone in the party to keep their blasters in good order. It was a matter of pride to the Armorer.
Had been a matter of pride. The Armorer was now dead, and lay somewhere behind him, with his head severed from his body.
That fraction of a second—the shock of the blaster failing and the sudden memory of J.B.—gave the giant all the time he needed. With a speed that could only be born of the knowledge that he had escaped being chilled by only the merest whim of fate, he was on his feet and across the veld to Jak with a lung-bursting roar.
Already the albino had slipped the blaster back into its secure holster and had palmed two of his knives, so that one sat easily in each hand, perfectly weighted for hand-to-hand combat.
The giant reached him in three long, loping strides. The fourth footfall brought him toe-to-toe with Jak, and his large arms encircled the albino, pinning the teen’s hands to his sides, the pressure of the bear hug causing his hands to close on the knives, the blades slicing into his own palms.
The pain was sharp and intense, of the kind that only a very minor injury, slicing the nerve endings that were close to the skin, could bring. It was the kind of pain that concentrated the mind. Jak switched off from the constriction he felt, the crushing weight that sought to expel all breath from his body, and let all his muscles contract and loosen. The vital inch he gained in space enabled him to wriggle down from the grip, sliding down against the shiny yellow material of the giant’s clothing, the lack of friction enabling him to ease himself from the grip before the giant had a chance to adjust and tighten his hold.
As he slipped down and away, Jak slashed with his left arm, the razored edge of the leaf-bladed knife slicing across the giant’s abdomen, cutting through the material of his bodysuit and scoring the skin. A thin line of blood appeared across his stomach, spreading out to stain the material.
The giant sprang away from Jak with a pained yell, clutching in surprise and shock at his stomach.
Jak was thrown off balance by the force of the spring, and he rocked on his heels. His head was still light from both his fall and the lack of oxygen where he had been the recipient of the bear hug. Ordinarily, the albino’s fighting instincts would have led him to finish off the giant with a well-aimed throw, as the big man was still standing stupidly, staring at his bleeding abdomen, his body completely open to attack. He made no attempt to cover the areas of his vital organs as he stood there.