After several uneventful seconds, she heard Sacheen, her voice measured.
“Your battle is finished.” Another pause. “Let it go.”
“Easy enough for you to say,” Danya replied. “What’s the plan now? Pick another metropolis and kill thousands of innocent civilians?”
“I didn’t start this war.”
“Too much blood has been shed already. There are other ways. Think about your child.”
“My people—my sisters and brothers—have always been called upon to sacrifice. Why should I be any different?”
“Whatever historical justification you conjure up, it won’t change anything. You’ll still be judged a terrorist, a mass murderer.”
Sacheen looked back over her shoulder. “In an hour, I’ll make a call. The tribal police will cruise by and free you.”
After kicking aside the wheel chocks, she planted her feet and pushed the Malibu Mirage out of the open hangar door. Once free of the steel building, she climbed into the cabin, took her seat behind the controls, and started the engine.
Chapter 34
The hangar was located at the midpoint of the runway, and the Mirage would have to taxi to one end before starting its takeoff roll. Once the plane was out of the hangar and rolling toward the end of the runway, Agent Flynn gunned the ancient Ford Explorer he’d confiscated, and skidded to a stop in front of the open doorway.
Danya was already on her feet, her back against the workbench, and her fingers fumbling across the surface for the wire cutters. Flynn jumped out and darted to the workbench. He grabbed the cutters and snipped the wire binding her hands.
“Go.” She snatched the tool from his hands. “Stop that aircraft before it takes off.”
“Why? She can’t hide for long. Agents will find her and pick her up within a few days. A week, at the most.”
Danya rolled her eyes at the boast. She’d managed to elude the FBI and Mossad for nearly two years. And even now, the SAC had no idea he was face to face with a wanted fugitive.
“She’s planning an attack on another city. You have to stop her. Now, go!”
Flynn dashed back to the vehicle and stomped the accelerator, sending gravel flying as he raced toward the Mirage while it taxied toward the end of the dirt strip.
She freed Toby of her bindings and helped her up.
“Las Vegas,” Toby said. “She’s going to attack Las Vegas.”
“How do you know?”
“I overheard them talking when they left us in the office. Their voices were faint, and I didn’t get all the details. I don’t think Flynn got it. Leonard hit him pretty hard.”
“But they lost all their drones on Alcatraz. I shot them up myself, and there aren’t any more here.”
“No, not drones. She’s going to fly there. That’s why they were filling up the airplane with aviation fuel.”
“But what can she hope to do? Fly the plane into a casino? How is that going to help their cause? They left the radioactive material on the drones I destroyed. They didn’t have time to remove the capsules before they flew off with you and Flynn in the helicopter.”
Toby stared back with a blank expression.
“Unless…” Danya thought of what she’d found in the garage at Leonard’s house. “They were making small lead sheets.”
Realization dawned on Toby. “And we saw two of the men loading small, heavy boxes onto the plane.”
Danya’s eyes opened wide. “She’s going to irradiate The Strip.”
“But how? Someone has to fly the plane.”
“I imagine the original plan was just that. Sacheen would fly the aircraft, while Leonard would dispense the powder. But one person can still do it. Sacheen can fly low and slow, and then turn on the autopilot. That will free her to open the hatch and drop the radioactive dust over the city.”
“We have to stop her,” Toby said, but Danya was already sprinting for the hangar entrance.
As she watched the Explorer race down the dirt strip, a new plan was coalescing in her mind.
Flynn was closing on the Malibu Mirage, the SUV nearly obscured behind a dust cloud. The prop wash was also kicking up a dense fog of sand and dust. As Flynn got closer, he found it hard to see exactly where he was speeding. He was closing quickly on the slower aircraft. The tail was even with his windshield. When he judged that he was just about to ram into the rear of the plane, he cut the wheel to the right, trying clip the rudder. But his aim was off, and the edge of the roof just grazed the tail, not sufficient to cause any problem with flying the airplane.
Now, Flynn found himself racing toward the edge of the runway. Beyond, lay sage brush, rocks, and mounds of soft sand. Not the terrain he should be entering at a high rate of speed. He slammed on the brakes and cut the wheel to the left, slewing the heavy Ford into a sideways skid.
Meanwhile, Sacheen reached the end of the runway. Knowing that she was being pursued, she spun the aircraft, pointing the nose down the strip. She pushed the engine to maximum power, and the Lycoming engine responded with a throaty roar as the Mirage accelerated. A little over a thousand feet is what she needed to become airborne, and the sporty airplane would cover that quickly.
The SUV halted as the rear wheel skidded sideways into a mound of sage. Flynn stomped on the gas, but only succeeded in launching a rooster tail of dirt and gravel as the rear wheel burrowed into the soft earth. He let up on the accelerator and allowed the engine to drop to idle before shifting into four-wheel drive. After easing the vehicle forward until he was on solid ground again, he jammed the pedal to the floor and took off in pursuit once more.
Sacheen had a good head start. At first, the SUV was gaining. But then the Mirage started to pull away. Flynn’s hope sank with the realization
