can do that,” said Larry. He brought the AW101 around to the bearing Eddie had given him, then increased power to climb and gain speed. The desert rolled past below.
Eddie looked back. Through the open ramp, the pursuing cloud was visible, but it fell away as the helicopter ascended. Even as it retreated, though, the volcano’s roar still rattled the fuselage. “Christ! I know we’ve got away from some big bangs before, but that’s got to be the biggest. A fucking erupting volcano! Don’t know how we’re going to top that one.”
“I kinda hope we don’t have to,” said Nina earnestly. “We deserve a vacation.” She looked away from the frightening sight to Eddie’s leg. Though his jeans were covered with dark dust, the torn holes made by the trident’s prongs were glistening; he was still bleeding. “Eddie, sit down so I can clean you up. Those wounds might get infected.”
“In a minute—I’ll close the ramp first.” He limped down the aisle, using the seats for support.
“Don’t fall out,” she cautioned jokingly. The contents of the emergency case were strewn around the cockpit; she started to search for first-aid equipment.
“How far away is this town?” asked Larry.
Nina picked up various items from the foot well, putting a cylindrical flare down on the console between the two pilots’ seats before examining a package of sterile dressings and a tube of antibiotic ointment. “About seventy miles, maybe?”
He checked the airspeed indicator. “It shouldn’t take too long to get there, then. Although I’ll remind you that I don’t have a clue how to land this thing.”
“You did okay with the takeoff. I think you’ll manage the landing too.”
“I’ll try to keep it below terminal velocity.”
Nina smiled, then looked around. Eddie still hadn’t reached the rear of the cabin. “Hurry up, honey! There’s a draft!”
“You try walking with holes in your leg,” he called back.
“I have. It sucked!”
He grinned, then turned back to the ramp. Some of the equipment stowed behind the seats had been hurled out of the aircraft during its spin, one of the tarps flapping furiously in the wind. A couple of the parachutes had also gone, but there were still enough left to allow himself, Nina, and Larry to bail out if worse came to worst. Holding a ceiling strap, he peered at the ground. They were at about seven thousand feet, and still climbing. Nothing below but sand and rock.
He straightened, looking for the ramp controls. There was a control box mounted on one wall. He hobbled toward it—
Something smashed against the back of his head.
Eddie crashed to the deck, stars going supernova in his vision. An intense, sickening pain oozed through his body. He tried to get up, but his limbs refused to cooperate, as weak and limp as a baby’s.
“Hello, Eddie,” said Sophia with a triumphant snarl.
She had been hiding beneath the other tarpaulin. The Land Rover had been empty, set to roll away to deny anyone else its use for escape. She stood over her former husband, letting the large wrench she had used as a weapon clang to the floor as she pulled the Jericho out of his jacket. The tool slid down the ramp and spun away in the AW101’s slipstream.
Nina jumped from her seat, then froze as Sophia aimed the gun at her. “Well, look at this!” the Englishwoman shouted over the wind. “A family reunion. How sweet.”
“Let him go, Sophia!” Nina demanded, surreptitiously scanning the floor for the dead pilot’s gun—but where it had ended up, she had no idea.
“Oh, I absolutely intend to. But without one of these.” She revealed the pack of a parachute on her back. “I could just shoot him, but that seems like rather poor payback for everything he’s done to me.” She kicked the helpless man at her feet, producing a groan. “I’m going to shoot you, though. After you watch him die.”
“You fucking bitch,” Nina spat.
“Oh, come on, Nina. An educated woman like you can do better than that, surely?” Sophia braced herself against the seats and used a foot to shove Eddie closer to the ramp. “But then, as I’ve always said, one can’t expect class from an American.”
Larry whispered to Nina from the side of his mouth. “I could shake the controls, make her fall out.”
“Eddie’d fall out too,” she replied in kind, still desperately searching for a weapon. No gun. Was there anything else she could use?
Maybe—if she could reach it without being shot.
Twisting awkwardly to keep the gun trained on Nina,