Andre clocked in, her bow held ready, only to find a fleeing cavalry soldier bearing down upon her. She threw herself to her left and the horse missed her by inches. Delaney clocked in a fraction of a second before a galloping horse would have crossed the same time-space and only his forward momentum saved him from being trampled. The horse caught him a glancing blow and he fell spinning to the ground, vanishing from sight the instant that he fell. Steiger clocked in two inches in front of a running archer, who slammed into him at full speed. Both men fell to the ground, stunned, but only one of them remained there.
The archer was not as badly stunned as Steiger and he started to get back to his feet almost at once, looking all about him to see what he had run into and seeing nothing. Thinking he had been felled by an invisible opponent, he drew his sword and swung it all around him, then promptly tripped and fell as Steiger's prone body materialized between his legs. The archer screamed, dropped his sword and came as close as a man could come to breaking light speed.
Hercules ran hard, heedless of the arrows raining down upon him. He reached the Argo, flung the golden fleece on board one-armed and then unceremoniously hoisted Medea up over his head and tossed her into the waiting arms of Argus. He tossed her a bit too hard and Argus suddenly found himself flat on his back upon the deck, pinned down by an hysterical female. He dislodged her and dragged her to her feet and shook her, but she kept right on screaming. Unable to think of what else to do, Argus gave her a stinging slap across the face. The screams stopped instantly and for a moment her eyes went out of focus, then they went wide with shock and outrage.
"How dare you!" she cried, forgetting everything else in her fury as she hauled off and smashed her right fist into the shipwright's face. Argus staggered backward, momentarily stunned, as Medea cried out with pain and clutched at her right hand, then she remembered where she was and what was happening and started screaming once again.
"If one needs any proof of the capricious nature of the gods," muttered Argus, "one need only look at women." He drew back his fist and slammed it right into her jaw. She fell to the deck like a stone. "Do something with her!" Argus said to Hylas, then ran back to the tiller as the boy started to drag her unconscious body across the deck, out of the way.
Having disposed of Medea and the golden fleece, Hercules ran back to join the battle. The corpse soldiers were not as quick in their movements as were the Argonauts, but they were relentless. The Argonauts ran them through again and again, but still they kept on coming. A number of the corpses were riddled with arrows shot by several of the Argonauts, but they were undeterred and they continued pressing their frightening assault, moving forward slowly in a jerking manner and slashing spasmodically with their swords. Several of the Argonauts had fallen. Even more of the corpses had fallen, but they still kept on, dragging themselves across the sand. Only those that had their skulls split or their heads knocked off lay still, but the Argonauts were steadily being pressed back toward the sea. Hercules didn't even bother to draw his sword. He plunged into the battle, swinging both fists like bludgeons and rallying the Argonauts as heads popped off the necks of corpses with each blow. Belatedly realizing the effectiveness of the technique, the Argonauts aimed for the heads of the dead bodies and the tide of the battle began to turn. The beach around them resembled an explosion in a pathology lab. Argus had succeeded in pushing the ship away from shore and he now shouted to the remaining Argonauts to get on board. A number of them felled their lifeless o
pponents and turned to sprint across the beach and into the water, striking out for the ship.
Steiger felt as if he had slammed into a tree. He shook his head and tried to get his eyes to focus. They focused on Kovalos, crouching over him, and on the business end of a plasma pistol pointed directly at his face. Still groggy, Steiger counted three seconds. When he didn't dematerialize, he realized the fugue program had run its course. He also realized that he was in serious trouble.
"Drop the bows or your partner's had it!" said Kovalos, speaking in English. "And keep your hands away from those bracelets!"
Andre and Finn hesitated, then dropped their bows down on the ground.
"The quivers, too," Kovalos said. "And then the swords."
"Special Operations Group, I take it," Steiger said.
"Just lie very still, friend," said Kovalos. "I've still got your two partners to deliver to Interrogation. I don't really need you. You so much as twitch an eyebrow and you're dead."
"And so are you," said Steiger.
"Like hell," Kovalos said. "If you people had any serious weapons, you would've used them. You got screwed by your own cover. You think your friends can pick up their bows and fit their arrows faster than I can squeeze this trigger?"
"Man's got a point," Delaney said. "Okay, Mister, it's your move. What's the deal?"
"Deal?" said Kovalos. "You have to be kidding. The only deal you people get is staying alive unless you try something stupid. You've got nothing to deal with."
"What makes you so sure?" Delaney said. "I thought your people were pretty anxious about Project Infiltrator and its director."
"The psych teams will get everything they need out of you," Kovalos said.
"I don't doubt that," Delaney said. "Only by then, it'll be too late for the information to do them any good. And it won't get you any points. What's your rank? Lieutenant? Captain? There'd be a nice promotion and a commendation in it for you if you turned up information that could lead your adjustment team to your missing Infiltrator Project."
"That's your offer?" said Kovalos. "You'd sell out your own people?"
"No," Delaney said. "My people haven't got it. It's probably right under your noses and you don't know to look in the right place. Believe me, I'd rather the Special Operations Group had it back than leave it in the hands of the man who's got it now."
"That's a poor stall, friend, and it won't work," said Kovalos.
"Pity," said Drakov, from behind him, "he's telling the truth, you know."
Kovalos spun around, but he wasn't quick enough. Drakov fired point-blank into his chest and Kovalos screamed as the plasma enveloped him in an aura of blue flame. Steiger scrambled for the weapon that Kovalos had dropped. "I wouldn't," Drakov said, aiming his pistol at Steiger. Steiger held Kovalos' pistol pointed at Drakov. "One of us won't make it," he said.
Both Finn and Andre had recovered their bows and they held them drawn, aimed directly at Drakov.
"Arrows are just as effective as a plasma pistol at this distance," said Delaney.
"True," said Drakov, "but before you demonstrate that point, you might wish to take a glance behind you."
"Give it up, Drakov," said Delaney. "That one's as old as-"
"Finn ..." said Steiger, his gaze fixed on a point behind and above them.