Michaels sectored to the inside, blocked the kick, and threw a snap kick of his own at Santos’s groin-
Santos twirled away, and Michaels’s heel hit him on the thigh. The glancing blow didn’t seem to hurt him, but at least it connected.
Santos whirled back around and did some kind of acrobatic twist, ending in a back fist at Michaels’s head-
Michaels stepped in, his right fist covering his face, and did a block hit-
Santos leaned away, slipping the punch, but not quite enough-Michaels got one knuckle solidly into the other man’s forehead.
Santos backed off, shook his head. “Good one,” he said.
He came back immediately, dropped into a one-legged squat, and swept with his other leg extended-
Michaels didn’t expect the sweep from mat angle-it caught his left ankle. He started to lose his balance, pushed off with his right foot, and managed to hop over the still-sweeping leg and come down without falling. He stepped forward and into a closed gate, right foot ready to kick or beset if Santos stepped in.
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Santos did another twisting aerial move away. He came down lightly ten feet from Michaels. “I like this stuff you do. It’s tight, no wasted moves. Come on, tell me what it is so I can learn it. It will make my game better. Tell me, in case you aren’t able to afterward.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Michaels said. But he was worried about it. He wished he had a knife. Might as well wish for a gun. A hand grenade or a tank would be useful, too.
Santos laughed. “You worried, BrancoT
“Nan, I just don’t want to be late for dinner. You’re the one who should be worried. See, I know what your dance is-it’s Capoeira. You don’t know what I’m gonna do.”
“Let’s see!”
Santos flew at him-
The wound was minor, the handgun bullet had punched a hole through Howard’s side exactly where the vest tab left a tiny gap between the front and side panels. The slug had caught mostly skin and fat, maybe three inches above his belt. Another inch to the inside, and the body armor would have stopped it. An inch farther out and it would have missed entirely. Bad luck. A freak shot. What you got for not using your own gear.
It hadn’t done any crucial damage, though, and while his shirt was ruined and the nick oozed some, he wasn’t going to bleed out from it. He would worry about it later.
The man who’d shot him had taken Howard’s return fire square in the middle of his chest. He hadn’t been wearing a vest, and the Medusa’s two .357 semijacketed hollowpoints had punched holes right through his sternum, no more than a couple inches apart.
Julio would like that. A nice group. And so much for not killing anybody. Well. The guy should have thought about that before he shot Howard.
“General?” Gridley said, “You okay?”
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“I’ve hurt myself worse shaving. I’ll put a Band-Aid on it when I get a minute.”
The voice on the LOSIR was Julio’s: “We have the ship secured, General.”
Howard laughed. He had never felt more alive. Risk was a part of life, he knew that now. And this was what he did, who he was. He was a man of war. A soldier. Death came to all, eventually, but he couldn’t stop living in the meanwhile. “Good work, Lieutenant. Where are you?”
“With the computers. Deck D, amidships.”
“We’ll see you in a few minutes. Discom.”
Gridley shook his head. “I’m gonna stop going out with you. Last time, I nearly got killed by some psycho drug fiend in California. This field work gets old fast.”
“You get a fix on the commander?”
Gridley looked at his virgil. “Yeah, his virgil is about a hundred and fifty feet that way.” He pointed. “But I can’t get an altitude on him-he could be on the top deck or down below.”
“Let’s go find him. Our squads will mop up the rest of these bozos. Stay behind me.”
“You don’t have to tell me that twice. Saji would never forgive me if I messed up the wedding by getting myself killed.”
Howard did a tactical reload, using a Bianchi speed strip to replace the two fired shells in the revolver. He snapped the cylinder shut, and headed past the row of slot machines and toward the blackjack tables. There was a corridor past those that led through a kitchen to a cafeteria. Michaels would have to be past that, according to Gridley’s GPS sig. He brought up the briefing map in his mind’s eye: past that, on this level, was a stairway leading up and down. Up was the main deck. Down was a gymnasium. There was an access to the locked-off computer deck that way, too.
Worry about it when you get there, John. Because if you aren’t more careful, you might not get there …
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“Just ahead,” Jay said.
Howard nodded. He looked at Jay. Try not to shoot me in the back.”
Jay laughed.
Til go through first.
Santos came in, fists and knees driving, but Michaels knew how to deal with that-he launched himself to meet the attack-
Santos disappeared. He dropped into a weird, crablike pose, feet extended out in front, hands in back, face up but almost lying on the ground. Stupid position, his crotch was wide open. Michaels stepped in to kick Santos’s balls for a field goal-
It was a trap!
Santos snapped one foot up and caught Michaels in the thigh, just missing his groin. The force was enough to spin Michaels around, and he nearly lost his balance. He stumbled, managed to get his feet back under him-
Santos came up, twirled in, and it was all Michaels could do to cover as a quick series of punches bounced off his arms, shoulders, and one against the side of his head that cracked him into a blinding flash of red-
The man had fists like rocks-!
Michaels felt for Santos, not using his eyes but his body. He threw his knee and right elbow, caught a hip with the knee, the side of the man’s neck with the elbow. Not pretty, but enough to back him off-
Santos shook his head, whirled around, stepped out of range. He nodded. “I thought I had you then, good recovery. Now we havin’ fun.”
Michaels knew this was psychological warfare. He’d connected with two solid shots, and Santos didn’t seem overly bothered by either. The neck hit had to hurt, but he was not going to let Michaels know that.
“Your head okay, BrancoT
Michaels was still rattled from the head punch, but he
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couldn’t let that show, either. “Why wouldn’t it be? Did you hit me? Is that the best you got?”
Santos managed a smile as he circled, spiraling slightly inward. “Best I got? I’m not even warmed up yet. Let me show you. I am younger, stronger, faster, and more skilled. You have enough of your game to see this, no?”
Damned straight about that. He was better than Michaels, and he knew it. He wasn’t going full out, he was playing, as if this was a friendly sparring match. Michaels felt it. He was in trouble here.
Well. Wasn’t that what silat was supposed to train you for? To stay with somebody who was stronger, faster, and as well-trained?
Yeah. But this guy was some kind of world-class fighter. He probably trained for hours every day. He had the edge. He knew it, and Michaels knew it, too. Silat would let you keep up with most people, but it didn’t make you invincible, certainly not at his level of ability.
But there was one thing he had going for him, and maybe he could stall the guy long enough for that to happen.
Michaels circled to his left, staying low. He said, “You want to hear a story?”
Santos flashed a smile. “Is it a funny story?”
“I think so.”
“Go ahead. I need a good laugh. Been a bad day.”
They circled, each to his left.
“Once upon a time, there was a gathering of animals in the woods. They talked about the rain, the sunshine, the state of the world. At one point, the talk turned to which creature was the most deadly in the forest, and Tiger proclaimed that he was the most dangerous animal.
” ‘Really,’ Dog said. ‘Why is that?’
‘Tiger laughed. ‘Just look at me! Compared to you, I am bigger, stronger, and faster! My teeth are longer, my claws are sharper! I could break your neck with a single swipe of one paw! Is this not true?’
” ‘It is true,’ Dog admitted.
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” ‘Then you agree that I am the deadliest animal in the forest.’
” ‘Maybe not,’ Dog said.
“This angered Tiger greatly, and he roared his displeasure.”