Seabourne had never run for an Orbital life pod before. He had been thrown unconscious into one for his only prior experience with the things. Of course, he had never run for his life from a wild creature, let alone one whose physical composure was best described as non-Newtonian, bordering on non-Euclidean. Seabourne doubted his ability to outrun the beast in front of him. Given Scotty's headstart, he also doubted his ability to outrun his partner. That left one option. The captain squared up his stance, took off the party hat, and blew defiantly.
"TOOOOOOOOOT!"
The party horn shot out its tongue-like protrusion. Deep inside the goose's brain, some primal evolutionary safeguard against Gaia's snake-like creatures triggered.
It snapped momentarily out of its charge. The head reared back and the beak closed for a second while the rest of the brain figured out which side of the fight or flight equation this encounter now landed on. A second was all Seabourne needed. His human brain worked in mysterious ways, but it worked damned quick when it had to.
The captain shoved the conical hat firmly over the bill of the goose. He winced as his injured wrist slipped the elastic band around the rooster like crest on top. He slid his hand out of the way as the band pulled tight around the head of the bird. The creature hissed and spat, but the ejected substance was caught by the cone at least for the time being. The cardboard smoldered as the bird thrashed about blindly, shooting more of the caustic spittle into its own face with each lunge.
Seabourne knew the hat would only hold for so long, but while he was doubtful about outrunning the goose in a fair race, he was confident he could outpace one that was blinded and gagged. He took off down the hallway after Scotty, breathing in through his nose and out through the kazoo still in his mouth.
