Page 257 of The Redemption
“What?” she scowls.
“You shouldn’t have kicked him that hard. He’s not waking up for at least a week.”
The man groans again. Then, just to annoy me, Trisha kicks him once more. The groaning immediately stops.
I gape at the monitor. “You did not just do that.”
“I did.”
I laugh despite the bullets flying everywhere. Meanwhile, the GLEN agents systematically begin taking control of the airstrip. One sniper nest falls. Then another. The perimeter security collapses. Within minutes, most of Samarjeet’s backup force is either dead or unconscious.
The path to the aircraft is finally open.
“Jet is clear,” I tell her.
Without wasting a second, Trisha sprints towards it. The aircraft is already powered and on standby. Ready and waiting for Samarjeet.
Trisha climbs the stairs and immediately ducks as a shot explodes through the cabin.
“Contact inside!” she snaps.
I immediately switch to the aircraft’s internal cameras. The stewardess is armed. She fires again. Trisha drops behind a seat. The bullet tears through the cabin wall. Two GLEN operatives rush in behind her, and this time, the woman barely lasts ten seconds. By the time the shooting stops, she’s unconscious on the floor.
“Clear.”
“Not yet,” I say.
I can already see movement. “Forward cockpit. Two heat signatures.”
Samarjeet’s pilots aren’t ordinary pilots either. The man doesn’t trust ordinary anything. The co-pilot comes first. He bursts out of the cockpit holding a pistol. Wrong decision.Trisha fires once and he crashes backwards into the control panel. The other pilot is out too and is about get a shot off before Trisha closes the distance and slams the stock of her rifle into his face with full force. His head snaps back from the impact, and he collapses to the floor. One final shot from Trisha, and he’s finished.
The cockpit is finally secured. I exhale. Now comes the important part. Making sure this jet never leaves the ground. I scan the aircraft systems and frown. This isn’t the aircraft model I was expecting. The configuration is completely different. I quickly compare schematics. Different avionics and control systems. Damn it.
“Trisha.”
“What?”
“This isn’t the aircraft we prepared for.”
“That’s not reassuring, Krish.”
I continue typing furiously, trying to find an alternative to disable remotely. But every solution I come up with takes time.
“Give me ten minutes.”
“We don’t have ten minutes.”
She’s right. If Samarjeet reaches the airstrip before I find a solution, we’re doomed. Then I realise Trisha has gone completely quiet, which usually means she’s about to do something reckless or brilliant. Sometimes both.
I’m still trying to force my way through the aircraft’s systems when Trisha suddenly disappears from the cockpit cameras. A second later, I spot her on another feed. She’s sprinting across the airstrip, straight towards the storage area.
“What the hell are you doing?” I ask through the comms.
She ignores me, which is never a good sign. Because every time Trisha ignores instructions, somebody else usually ends up regretting it. I switch cameras and track her movements. Then I see it. Several crates of military-grade ammunition andexplosives are stacked inside. And suddenly... I know exactly what’s going through her mind.
A grin slowly pulls at my lips. “No...” I mutter.
Trisha crouches beside the crates, checks the contents, and immediately starts dragging them towards the jet.
