Andy McDermott - The Hunt For Atlantis

Kari began to run down the corridor-only to be stopped in her tracks as Chase seized her arm. “Wait!” he ordered, pulling her back.

Nina was waving… with her thumb tucked against her hand.

Chase and Castille’s warning signal.

Chase ran, heading for the kink in the corridor. Just before he reached it, he threw himself into a twisting dive, raising his gun.

The bodyguard leapt out, aiming his MP-5-only to find that his target was on the floor, pointing a huge gun up at him!

Chase fired three shots.

The impact of the Magnum bullets blew the bodyguard backwards, the gun dropping from his hands. He smashed through the window, falling fifteen feet to land in a broken heap on the helipad. The noise of the Jet Ranger rushed into the fortress.

“Are you all right?” Chase asked.

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Nina cried.

Kari rushed up to her and, to Nina’s surprise, hugged her. “Thank God you’re safe!” She pulled back a little, nose wrinkling. “What’s that smell?”

“That’s his fault,” Nina said, scowling at Chase, who looked away innocently. The wind from the helicopter cut through her relief. “Hajjar! He’s got the artifact!”

“Shit!” Chase ran to the broken window. The aircraft rose from the pad. “Maybe I can shoot out the engine, force him to land-”

“No time,” said Kari. Letting go of Nina, she hefted her MP-5 and strode to the window, unleashing a stream of fire at the helicopter’s cockpit on full auto.

The window of the pilot’s door shattered under the onslaught. Inside the cockpit, the helicopter’s windscreen was showered with a vivid red. The pilot thrashed in his seat, the Jet Ranger going into a spin as he released the controls.

The chopper’s tail swerved towards the window, its vertical rotor like a giant circular saw.

“Down!” screamed Chase, grabbing Kari with one hand and Nina with the other as he hurled himself away from the window.

Castille was almost transfixed by the sight of the helicopter bearing down on him, snapping out of it and diving back down the corridor just as the rotor carved into the stone surround of the window and disintegrated. A foot-long piece of blade shot free and buried itself in the wall barely three inches above his head.

With its tail rotor gone, the helicopter swung around violently. Hajjar screamed and grabbed the duplicate controls in front of him, but even if the tail had been intact, he didn’t have enough hands to operate them.

The main rotor blades smashed into a million fragments as they hit unforgiving concrete and stone. The aircraft rolled onto its side and plunged downwards to hit the helipad with a colossal bang, its skids collapsing.

Chase had landed on top of Nina, trying to shield her with his own body. “Are you okay?”

“I think I’m dead,” moaned Nina.

“You’re okay. But God, you need a shower!” She hit him. “Ms. Frost? Are you all right?”

Kari jumped to her feet. “The artifact! We’ve got to get it!” She ran to the helipad stairs.

“It’s still dangerous!” Chase yelled, but too late. “Buggeration!”

“Mon dieu!” shrieked Castille, staring in dismay at the piece of rotor embedded in the wall. “Helicopters! Always it’s fucking helicopters ! I knew it!”

“You’re still alive, Hugo, so stop complaining! Come on!” Chase got up. Nina was about to do the same, but he shook his head. “It’s too dangerous. Wait here.” He set off after Kari, Castille following.

The helicopter hadn’t caught fire, to his relief, but there was a strong stench of fuel-and the engine was still running, the broken stubs of the rotor blades whirling around above the wrecked fuselage. The aircraft’s body was tilted at almost a forty-five-degree angle, its nose crushed like an eggshell. Kari was already at the wreck, ducking under the spinning blades to reach the door.

“Ms. Frost, wait!” Chase shouted again as he hurried down the stairs to the pad. “Kari! It’s not safe!”

“We have to get the artifact!” she answered, fumbling with the handle. Inside she could see Hajjar slumped in his seat, blood running from a cut on his forehead. The catch clicked, and she pulled the door open-

Hajjar burst into life, swinging his right hand at her and slicing right through the sleeve of her coat. She screamed as blood spattered the pure white material. Instinctively she clutched at the wound with her other hand.

In that moment Hajjar leapt from the cockpit and knocked her onto her back, pinning her to the ground as he pressed the tip of the serrated blade against her throat. The modified M11 was in his other hand.

“Drop your guns or she dies!” he yelled. “Now!”

Chase realized that even a head shot would be no use in this situation-if Hajjar fell, he would drive the blade through Kari’s neck with the weight of his own body. With no choice, he dropped the Wildey. Castille did the same with his rifle. They kicked the fallen guns away.

“Good,” said Hajjar. Still holding his knife-hand against Kari, he rose to a crouch and brought his gun around to cover Chase and Castille. “Her I still want alive. You? Not so-”

Blam!

A bullet smacked into the fuselage, punching a hole through the thin sheet metal. Everyone looked up to see Nina standing in the broken window, aiming the dead bodyguard’s MP-5 down at the helicopter.

“Let her go, Hajjar!” she yelled.

“Nina, don’t shoot him!” Chase warned. “If he falls, he’ll cut her throat!”

“Let her go!”

“You have never used a gun before, have you?” Hajjar called mockingly. “I can tell just from the way you are holding it! Do you really think you can hit me before I kill her?”

“I wasn’t aiming at you!” she answered.

Castille raised an eyebrow. “I hope you weren’t aiming at Ms. Frost!”

Hajjar’s voice was still filled with derision. “Then what?”

“I was aiming at the gas tank. Which is now on fire.”

All heads turned back to the crashed aircraft. Dirty black smoke rose from the engine cowling, whipped up by the spinning rotor.

Momentarily frightened by the new danger, Hajjar flinched, the pressure of the blade easing-

Giving Kari the chance to snatch up her left hand and force the weapon away from her neck.

She felt one of the serrations tear her skin, but it was just a scratch. The instant the cold metal was clear of her throat, she swept up her right hand to deliver a karate blow to Hajjar’s jaw. Her awkward position didn’t provide much leverage, but the heel of her palm still struck hard enough to drive his lower jaw against his upper with a sharp crack of snapping teeth. Spitting blood, he let out a gurgling scream and staggered backwards. Kari rolled away, and Chase leapt over her to tackle Hajjar.

“Get the thing!” he shouted at Kari as he struggled with the Iranian, grabbing his wrists. Hajjar was stronger than he looked, muscle beneath the fat. And he had a lethal weapon in each hand, while all Chase had were his two fists.

Kari scrambled to her feet, keeping her head low to avoid the rotor blades. She moved to the open cockpit door.

“No! Kari! It’s in his bag!” Nina yelled.

Chase looked down. Hajjar had a satchel over one shoulder-

The brief distraction was enough to give Hajjar an opportunity. Driven by pain and fury, he twisted his left wrist and squeezed the trigger of the Ingram. Flames exploded from the barrel of the evil little machine pistol, the fire close enough to burn Chase’s cheek and neck as the bullets seared past. Castille, running to help his partner, abruptly changed course and pulled Kari away as the shots raked along the helicopter’s side.