His hand barely touched the grip of his tranquilizer pistol when the oncoming figure accelerated with bewildering speed. Unable to even sidestep, Doc felt the air rush out of his lungs as the man slammed a massive shoulder into his midsection, then he was lifted and carried backward as the monster continued to drive forward, paying no more attention to the stuntman’s weight than a bull would give notice to a towel dropped across its horns. Something smashed into Doc’s back, and he thankfully lost consciousness.
Tiffany watched in horror, her orders to run forgotten, as the attacker stepped back from the wall, still carrying Doc’s now-limp body then flung it to the ground. Breathing heavily in what could only be described as animal growls, the man stared at her fallen companion for a moment, then kicked the still form savagely in the side.
That broke her trance.
Snatching her own tranquilizer pistol from its holster, the actress fired at the hulking menace.
There was a soft pfutt of compressed air when she pulled the trigger, but aside from that there was no indication that she had done anything at all.
She fired again … and again …
No effect.
In frustration, she hurled the weapon away and launched herself at the man’s back.
He turned at the sound of her approach, then backhanded her lazily out of the air like a troublesome insect.
Tiffany hit the ground in a boneless heap and lay still.
“Big bad soldier boys, huh?” one of the men who had been trailing the twosome said, stepping out of the shadows where he had been waiting. “They aren’t so tough.”