In a way yes, mostly no

Rick had seen plenty of martial arts films. Punching a guy in the throat should have ended the fight before it started and certainly before the shave-head could point his gun at Rick.

Somehow, despite Rick's confident approach and gas company gobbledygook, the shavehead ducked his chin just slightly as Rick punched. Which meant Rick punched him in the chin rather than the adam's apple he was aiming for.

Shavehead growled, then swung his weapon up toward Rick.

Well, hell. He grabbed the gun-hand and pushed it straight upward, then assayed a knee to shavehead's groin.

It turns out that kneeing someone in the groin is pretty difficult if they know it's coming. Which this guy apparently had figured out.

Thanks to bio-DNA, Rick was in better shape and had more muscle than he'd ever had in his life. Compared to this guy, he was the classic 97 pound weakling.

The guy swung back his free hand, balled his fist, and swung a slow but powerful blow straight for Rick's ribs.

Thanks to bio-DNA, he had plenty of time to consider his options. He could let go of the gun arm and fall back, taking power out of the punch by going with it. He could let go of the gun arm and block the punch. He could let go of the gun arm and try another punch of his own. Or he could desperately cling to the gun arm because he didn't want to get shot and get pummeled instead. While he had ample time to consider the alternatives, none of them jumped out at him as being inspired.

So he hung onto the gun arm, gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and took a punch to his ribs that probably didn't break any bones although it certainly felt like it should have.

The punch was accompanied by a sound like a two boards smashing into each other.

To his surprise, the gun arm he was clinging to went limp and shavehead drooped against Rick, pressing him toward the ground.

He opened his eyes to see Kat standing there, still naked, with rope burns on her ankles and wrists, holding a steel bar he suspected she'd torn out of the bed frame.

"Usha is pretty banged up," Kat said. "Come on, help me out here. While I appreciate being admired as much as the next girl, this is not the time to get distracted by my naked body."

He wasn't sure there was a time that wasn't right for being distracted by beautiful naked bodies but he did understand this wasn't the time to make a point of it. After what Kat and Usha had been through, suggesting a quick fuck was probably not the road to success.

He took off his belt and used it to tie the shavehead's hands behind his back, then freed the unconscious Usha from her bondage. There weren't any sheets on the bottom bunks where Usha and Kat had been bound, but he stripped a couple from the top bunks, tossing one to Kat and wrapping Usha in the other. Then he picked up Usha, which, thanks to his possibly not broken ribs wasn't easy even though she probably didn't weigh over a hundred pounds.

"There's a gas leak," he told Kat. The gas company detected it and has evacuated all the houses on this street. Apparently that guy passed out from breathing too much. Looks like this women here did also."

She nodded, picking up that he was apparently talking for any hidden microphones, then wrapped the sheet around herself.

"I'll send someone in for this man," Rick said. "Try to stay close to me and I'll carry this woman out."

He wanted to lecture her on putting herself in danger, grovel for not stopping her, and generally make the entire night go away but he did none of those things. Sending Kat and Usha to try to learn more about Black Hat had seemed a brilliant idea but they'd just dug the hole they were in even deeper.

"When we get out of here, keep walking," he murmured. "One of those guys recognized me."