“I’m watching them on radar. And they are definitely following us.”
“Can we outrun them?”
He felt the tension in his jaw as he shook his head hard once. “No, dammit. Our only hope is that they don’t shoot at us.”
He heard her audible gasp. Had she thought daddy would play nice? He was going to try to get his daughter back however he could. Surely, though, they wouldn’t try to shoot the plane down. Kai was certain her father wanted her returned to him alive. She would be no use to him dead.
Yet, in an instant, as a missile whistled over top of Kai’s plane, he realized Hollyn’s father didn’t mind taking risks with his daughter’s life.
“Get ready! Things are about to get twisty.”
He pulled back on the flight wheel, lifting the nose of the plane upward, finally breaking through the clouds. He climbed almost straight up, gritting his teeth against the forces trying to pull them back down.
The plane continued upward until Kai felt confident enough to level it back out slowly. He banked toward the left once more and headed back toward the clouds below.
“Do you know what you’re doing?”
“Wanna take over? If you know how to fly any better, I’m willing to hand over the controls.”
“Just try not to get us killed.”
“Oh, of course! That makes sense. I suppose my tactic of flying right into the path of their missiles was a bad idea.”
Yet, as the other plane came into sight in front of them once more, Kai pushed a button, and a loud thumping screech started as the feeling that the bottom of the plane had dropped out from under them made Hollyn cry out.
Kai pushed another button and the muffled sound of machine gun fire carried from below the aircraft.
“I thought you said this wasn’t a fighter plane.”
“It’s not, but it’s pilot doesn’t back down from a fight if he can help it.”
She gave a nervous laugh but seemed impressed with his ingenuity.
Hollyn watched as the right wing of the aircraft in front of them filled with holes and the engine in the wing caught fire. The plane dipped and tilted before righting itself. Too late, though, as Kai aimed for the other wing and engine. In an instant, the nose of the now powerless airplane tipped slightly forward, and the entire thing began falling toward the ocean below.
“Wow! Good shooting. Do you think we’re safe now?”
But Hollyn spoke too soon. In the next moment, something hit the left engine of Kai’s plane, setting it ablaze.
“What was that?”
“Not what we need right now.” Kai tried to bank to the right, but the plane was reluctant to cooperate with only one engine.
“What are we going to do?”
But Kai didn’t answer. His face tightened with determination as he maneuvered below the clouds once more. In the distance, a large cargo ship floated on the water. It was too far away to determine a name or a flag under which it sailed, but Kai seemed to aim the aircraft in its direction.
Before they closed the distance though, another missile zoomed by the plane.
“Go back into the cabin of the plane. Open the cabinet on the floor, right by the exit door. Grab the two parachutes in there and get them out. Put one on.”
“What? Are you crazy?”
“Just do it! We’re running out of options.”
