altitude would already have alerted air traffic control that something was wrong, as would the lack of communication. If the plane failed to respond for more than a few minutes, the air force would be sent to intercept.
The plane had to be brought back to the ground before the military got involved. If she returned to Ravnsfjord, a private airport, then the events aboard could be covered up, blamed upon human error. A second attempt to release the Trident virus could be made with little delay.
She examined the autopilot controls, which luckily were undamaged. The A380’s computers were state of the art, and the runway at Ravnsfjord had been upgraded with the latest navigation aids; in an emergency, the plane could literally fly itself to a safe landing without any human intervention.
Which was fortunate, because there was no longer anybody aboard capable of piloting the enormous aircraft.
Suddenly sweating, Kari activated the emergency landing sequence.
Chase squeezed past containers until he reached Nina, who was waiting by Kari’s racing bike. He hugged her. “Jesus, you’re okay!”
“I thought you’d died!” Nina cried.
“Not me, love, I’m indestructible.” She kissed him. “Oh, hello! Where did that come from?”
“Just happy to see you!” The smile fell from her face. “Eddie, listen-somewhere on the plane there’s-”
“A virus, I know. Any idea where?”
“No, but it must be hooked to the outside of the plane. There’s nothing in the upper hold.”
“There wasn’t anything like that forward of here,” said Chase, “and I didn’t see anything in the lower hold.”
“Then there’s not much left to check! Come on!” Nina pulled him with her towards the rear of the hold. “You check the ones on the left side, I’ll go right.”
There were fewer containers on Chase’s side of the plane, and none were out of the ordinary. He reached the huge aft cargo door, stopping to check the controls. Maybe if he opened the door-or even ejected it entirely, as closer inspection revealed a warning notice and instructions about firing its explosive bolts-he could force the plane down…
“Eddie!” He looked around, the door already forgotten as he saw Nina waving frantically from the rear of the plane. “Over here, I’ve found it!”
Chase hurried to the back of the hold. Nina stood by a pair of steel hoses leading from the rearmost container to fittings in the aft bulkhead. “Here!” she said. “Any idea how to stop the virus from being released?”
He shook his head. “Normally when I deal with WMDs, I just blow up the whole fucking building!” There was a padlock on the container’s front panel, but a couple of blows with the butt of his Wildey took care of it.
“Oh my God,” Nina exclaimed as she looked inside. What Frost had shown her in the biolab had led her to expect small flasks of the virus; the three containers she saw here were more like oil drums. “Now what do we do?”
“Put this out of action,” said Chase, pointing at an electric pump at the base of one of the drums. There was a simple control panel beside it. One button would open the valves, and the other would pump the virus through the pipes and out into the open air.
“What if it’s booby-trapped?”
“Why would it be? They didn’t expect anyone else to be aboard!” He aimed his gun at the panel.
“Whoa, wait!” Nina yelled. “You can’t just
Chase gave her a look. “I could
The A380 banked, throwing them both off balance. “Shit!” said Chase. “What was that?”
Nina looked towards the front of the hold. “Kari. She must be in the cockpit! What’s she doing?”
“Turning us around,” Chase said grimly. “Taking us back to Ravnsfjord so they can have fifty guys surround us.”
“But-but she can’t fly this thing!”
“She doesn’t have to, the computer’ll do it all for her. Here.” He took out his Swiss Army knife and handed it to her. “There’s a screwdriver and some scissors in it. Take the front panel off, and then cut every wire you can find.”
“I’m an archaeologist, not an electrician! What are
“Take care of Kari.” He hefted the Wildey and pushed past Nina, heading forward.
Nina fumbled with the knife, trying to pry open the stiff blades. All she succeeded in doing was painfully snapping her thumbnail. “Shit!” She tried again, with no more luck. “Eddie, wait!” He didn’t hear her. Frustrated, she ran after him.
Chase reached the crew room, looking cautiously inside. The cockpit door was still open. No sign of Kari.
He raised his gun and entered the room. The two bodies still lay where they had fallen.
She hadn’t gotten past him in the hold, so she was still in the forward section. That meant she’d gone up the stairs to the upper deck, was hiding in the cockpit, or was in the utility room.
Watching the cockpit door, he advanced on the utility room, paused-then yanked the door open and aimed the Wildey inside.
Empty.
He closed the door and pressed his back against it, ready to whip around the corner and aim up the stairs.
Nobody there.
He relaxed… and Kari swung down from where she’d been hiding directly above, both her feet slamming into his face.
THIRTY
Chase staggered back, eyes watering from the resurgent pain in his broken nose. With the A380 still banking, he had to fight to keep his balance.
Another kick flew at him, Kari pivoting on one foot in a roundhouse move. Her boot heel crashed into his chest like a pickaxe blow. He gasped for breath.
Her foot snapped up again, smashing into his gun hand. Agony shot through him as his little finger broke. The Wildey spun away and hit the rear bulkhead.
He lashed out with his left fist, and Kari’s head snapped back as his punch caught her cheek. She yelled, as much in surprise as in pain, and dropped back a step with a poisonous expression.
Chase realized she had a gun tucked into the waistband of her leather jeans. Kari saw his eyes flick down to the gun. As she grabbed it, he plowed into her shoulder-first, smashing her against the door of the utility room and driving the breath from her lungs-
The gun went off.
Searing pain exploded in Chase’s left thigh. His leg immediately gave way, pitching him on to his side. He clutched the wound. The bullet had gone right through his thigh, missing the bone, but his clothing was wet with blood.
