EPISODE CLXII - "I RAGU": THE RISE AND FALL OF CARMINE RAGUZZA
Stauch continued to struggle, though DANA barely notice, his enhanced strength easily dragging the sergeant along. The vaporizer was still pressed against his head, but it didn't
seem as though the android had any intention of using it at the moment, providing he wasn't provoked. He could no longer hear Proteau and the others, now several turns and hundreds of feet behind his present
location. Either they'd gotten his subtle hint at the need for assistance, or they were now out of his range of hearing. Either way, Stauch was becoming more and more skeptical about his chances.
DANA stopped abruptly, drawing the sergeant from his reveries. He craned his neck to see around the android, and noted that they'd come to a drop off, where the system descended to the lower levels of the
ship.
Trapped, Stauch thought, not sure how to read the situation. On one hand, having no escape, DANA might decide to give up. On the other, he could opt to make a stand where he was, fighting to the death,
his and Stauch's alike. In the end, however, neither possibility proved to be correct.
DANA pulled the sergeant in front of him, one arm wrapped around his chest, the other pressing the matter vaporizer against his skull. Sensing the end, Stauch involuntarily closed his eyes, awaiting the brief
but intense pain that would mark his departure from this existence.
When DANA hopped over the edge of the drop off, taking the sergeant with him, Stauch was quite surprised, and not pleasantly so. His eyes flew open absorbing the vision of metal walls speeding past, and a
very un-commando-like scream escaped his lips. Looking down, he noted to with some concern, that the bottom of the chasm was rushing up to meet them.
He braced for impact, closing his eyes again, though this time of his own accord. The abrupt halt in their descent was not exactly what he'd expected, and he opened one eye reluctantly out of curiosity.
They hovered several feet above the floor of the ventilation system, blue tinted flames escaping forcefully from the bottom of DANA's feet.
"Thrusters", Stauch breathed, amazed at the technological advances that had been installed in this one entity. "That's pretty impressive", he observed.
"Thank you, sir", DANA replied amiably, loosening his hold on the sergeant fractionally.
The android cocked his head to the side, listening. "The others are far behind us now", he remarked, letting go altogether, "I believe it is safe to release you now, sergeant."
"Oh, yeah", Stauch agreed, attempting to hide his confusion, "I think you're in the clear." He took in his surroundings, looking up to where they'd begun their plummet. "I'll just go
and find another way out", he suggested eagerly. He turned back toward DANA in time to see one of the android's mechanical fists racing toward his head.
Super, he thought as the blow struck his jaw, knocking him into the metallic wall. Stauch caught a brief glance of the android, already proceeding down the duct, before he slid to the floor, unconscious.
