Page 98 of Red Zone Awakened

CHAPTER41

Shuttle outside CommTECH’s research facility

Houston, Northern Territory

“She did it,”Ignacio shouted.“Holy crap, she did it.”

He sat in the back of the shuttle, the side door wide open.Sandi watched the falling bodies: Keiko wrapped around her brother.She’d turned the shuttle, keeping it close to the building, angling it so that—God willing—they fell through the open door.

“Forward a little bit!”Ignacio shouted.

She moved the shuttle, careful to keep its stubby wing from scraping the building.

There was a thud, and the craft shook.Sandi fought to keep it in place.

She glanced over her shoulder through the glass partition that separated the driver from the back.Keiko and Mace had landed on the wing.

Ignacio lunged toward them.

Sandi angled the craft to help them slide inside.

Ignacio grabbed Mace’s flailing arm and tugged.It should have been impossible, as they were heavy and sliding off the craft.But Ignacio had the strength of his other half to call on.He pulled hard, and the three of them jerked inside, landing with a crash on the opposite door of the shuttle.

“Got them!”Ignacio shouted.“Now get us out of here.”

With great effort, Sandi fought to get the shuttle back on an even keel.It veered to the right—just as a drone appeared beside them.

“Brace yourselves,” she shouted.“We’ve got an Enforcement attack drone on us.”

There was a blast as the drone opened fire.The shuttle shuddered and wavered in the sky.

“Striker,” Sandi barked into her comm, “we’re taking fire.”

“I see it.I’m on it,” came the calm reply.

There were more blasts as Striker opened fire from the helicopter, and an explosion shook the shuttle as the drone went up in smoke.Sandi turned them away from the CommTECH building.They had to get out of there fast.Mace needed urgent medical attention, and that wouldn’t be the last drone Enforcement sent after them.

A blast hit their left side.

Every light on the dash in front of her blinked out.

Ignoring the firefight beside her as Striker attacked the second drone, Sandi tried to bring the controls back online.

It was pointless.The shuttle shuddered, and the engine died.

They were going down.

“Ignacio, we’ve lost electrics,” she shouted.“I can’t get it back online.I’ll coast as far as I can, but then we’ll need to evac.”

A barrage of Spanish curses was the reply.

“I’m heading for Buffalo Bayou Park,” Sandi told him.

“Can you land this thing on the grass over there?”Ignacio called back.

“No.”The craft wasn’t built for emergency landings.There’d be no gliding in for a long ride over soft grass.As soon as they touched the ground, they’d roll, and the shuttle would crumple like a cheap tin can.“We’ll have to jump into the water.Prepare Mace as best you can.I’ll come back to help when it’s time.”

In the meantime, she had to steer a craft that was dead in the air, using only the manual controls that utilized the directional flaps on the wings.And hope like hell they didn’t hit any of the buildings between the research facility and the park.