Remo watched the man come, gauged his speed and-at the last possible moment-slammed the cell door into the lunging creature's head.
Steel bars went clang, head went crack and the former investment counselor collapsed like a high-tech mutual fund after a lousy fourth-quarter-earnings report.
Instantly the five other creatures inside the cell surrounded the body. One kicked at the unconscious male with an experimental toe. When he didn't object, the five creatures began to nip and claw. As a pack, they began to tear off his clothes. They were growling and devouring chunks of flesh as Remo turned from the cell door.
"This might be easier than I thought," he said grimly to the Master of Sinanju.
His reply came not from Chiun but from farther up the cell block.
"Don't bet on it, kitten," purred a female voice. Remo glanced over.
Elizabeth Tiflis stood in shadow two cells away. Her arms were crossed lightly. A knowing smile toyed at the corners of her very red lips.
There was still a gleam of deep intelligence in the eyes of the Vaunted Press employee, unnerving since it was clear she was something far more savage than man.
A few feet away from where she stood, six more creatures paced back and forth. Their yellow eyes stared with a predator's malevolence at Remo and Chiun.
"Who ordered chink food?" one of the females asked, her voice a throaty purr. Her hungry gaze was locked on Chiun.
"Quiet," Elizabeth commanded.
She had seen Remo's speed with the cell door. Elizabeth understood they were dealing with something different here. The creature Elizabeth scolded fell silent.
"Okay, here's the deal," Remo said. "We've had experience with your kind before, and there might be something that can be done to help you. But that doesn't mean we won't stop you if we have to. Now, you're not getting out of here, so why don't you be a nice kitty and get back in your cage?"
The harshness of Elizabeth's features melted into a malevolent, Cheshire-cat grin.
"Who says we want help?" she said. "Besides..." Slowly Elizabeth raised her hand. Around her slender index finger jangled the ring of cell-block keys. "You're fast, sweetie," she said. "But I can let them out as quick as you can lock them up."
This time it was Remo who smiled. "Don't bet on it, kitten."
But even as he spoke he saw the slight nod from Elizabeth. The creatures behind her took the cue. A symphony of furious growls rolled up from six throats as the animals launched from the floor.
Unlike Elizabeth, they didn't view the two frail humans standing stock-still on the concrete floor as anything other than an easy meal. Humans were puny. Humans were weak.
Humans were also-apparently-missing.
The six pouncing creatures landed in the precise spot where dinner had stood only to find that the two men were no longer there. Curious growls rumbled up six throats.
When the nearby voice came, sounding like the voice of death itself, the creatures jumped in fear. "The Master of Sinanju is not a meal, lowly beasts."
The pack wheeled. Chiun was there, already moving.
The old Korean grabbed two creatures by the scruffs of their necks and hurled them deep into an open cell. They tumbled in a heap of limbs onto a bunk.
"Make that Masters," said Remo, who was suddenly among the pack. A pair of elbows found two soft bellies. With a violent expulsion of vile breath, two more creatures flew into the cell, knocking back the first pair, which had scurried to their feet and were heading back for the door.
"Score two for the great white hunter," Remo said. Panicked now, the final two attacked blindly. Jaws snapped viciously, teeth eager to tear flesh.
They chomped down on empty air.
And while their teeth clicked futilely and their bellies grumbled disappointment, the final two creatures felt a sudden jolting pressure to their chests.
They didn't see Remo's and Chiun's feet fly out. They only knew that one moment they had been charging; the next they were airborne.
Howling in rage, the last pair soared inside the cell, knocking over the first four, who were still in the process of scampering to their feet. Outside, Remo slammed the cage door shut. A paw tried to snatch at him through the bars.
"See?" Remo said, hopping clear of the swiping hand. "Only pantywaists use whips and chairs." Chiun was already moving swiftly away from Remo.
"Hurry up, Great White Lunkhead," the old Asian snapped.
He bounded from cell to cell, yanking doors shut. Remo raced along the other side of the block. Until then most of the creatures had remained in their cells, feeding hungrily on the unfortunate junkies, rapists and run-of-the mill murderers who'd had the misfortune of being arrested that day. None had been concerned with the two strangers, assuming they could be picked off easily at their leisure. But the clanging cage doors brought sudden realization. Roaring in anger, the beasts in human form abandoned gutted corpses, bounding across cells.
Too late. As the last of the creatures skidded to a frustrated stop, Remo and Chiun slammed the final two doors.
Snarls and howls of rage filled the cell block. Remo scanned the last few cells for one face in particular. As he feared, Elizabeth Tiflis was nowhere to be seen.
"Where'd the one with the keys go?" he asked. As he spoke, panicked shouting suddenly erupted from the far end of the lockup. Gunfire rattled through the station house.
"This way," Chiun insisted.
The two men flew toward the disturbance.
A second door was around a sharp corner at the far end of a row of empty cages. When they turned the corner, Remo found that he and Chiun had not been entirely successful.
The door had been wrenched open. While the keys worked for the cells, the doors to the outside could only be opened from without. While Remo and Chiun had fought the rest, others had apparently been jimmying open the lockup door.
When Remo and Chiun exploded through the cellblock door, a dozen guns aimed their way.
Sergeant Simon stood with a SWAT team. He was panting and red-faced from his sprint through the precinct house.
"Are they after you?" Simon yelled.
"They're locked up," Remo snapped. "How many escaped?"
Simon didn't hear him. By the look on his face, Sergeant Simon was certain Remo and Chiun wouldn't be alone. Anxious eyes awaited the creatures that had to be chasing down the two FBI men. But no one appeared behind them.
"Where are they?" Simon asked.
"I told you, locked up. How many- Hey, Gunther Toody, will you knock it off and listen?"
Sergeant Simon was listening. Angry howls came from inside the cell block. But they sounded far back. The SWAT team was already streaming past Remo, Chiun and Simon. They darted into the dank cell block.
"How many got out?" Remo pressed.
"Five," Simon panted. Numbly he holstered his gun.
The police had sustained casualties. Two men lay dead. A third was sprawled on the stairs, a row of vicious raking gashes across his chest. He groaned in pain as others tended his wounds, awaiting the arrival of paramedics.
"They could be anywhere by now," Remo said. "I guess we'll have to let the cops track them down again."
Beside him, the old Korean frowned somberly. "Perhaps," he said, stroking his thread of beard. "Do you not find it odd, Remo, that some chose to fill their bellies while others schemed to flee?"
"What am I now, the frigging Crocodile Hunter? Some eat, some run. It's what animals do. What?" He could see his teacher was giving him that look. The "Remo, you're an idiot" look. But try as he might, Remo could not see what he'd said to deserve that look. And the fact that he couldn't see why he was an idiot, and the fact that Chiun could plainly see that Remo couldn't see why he was an idiot, only acted to further cement the expression of irritation on the wizened Asian's face.