James Katt's Arc

Chapter 5 of 7

The jet dropped out of the dark and dove straight at them. Red light flashed off its nose. Thuldark's laser fire streaked past the canopy. James threw the helicopter sideways, but the small craft could not outrun the beams for long. He had no shield. He had no cover. He had four missiles. "He's lining up again," Telari said. Her hand gripped the seat. The tracker screen painted the jet as a hard bright line, closing fast. "James, he won't miss twice." James watched the jet fill the glass. His thumb found the fire switch on the stick. "Then I fire first." He held the nose steady and let the enemy come. Every part of him wanted to break away. He waited one more second. The jet flew into the center of the screen. He fired. The missile leapt off the rail with a white flash. It crossed the gap in a heartbeat. James yanked the helicopter hard left. The jet tried to climb clear. Too late. The missile struck the right engine and burst. Fire ripped down the wing. The jet rolled, black smoke pouring behind it. The laser fire stopped. "You hit him!" Telari shouted. She twisted to watch through the side glass. But the jet did not fall from the sky. Thuldark leveled the crippled plane. One engine still burned, yet the other held. The jet turned its damaged nose down and away, sinking toward the ground below. James leveled the helicopter and watched. "He's still flying." "Barely." Telari checked the tracker. The bright line crawled now, slow and low. "He can't stay up. He's going down somewhere close." James followed the trail of smoke. The jet dragged a dark line across the night sky. It was losing height with every second. He had knocked Thuldark out of the fight, but not out of the air. The dossier was still aboard that burning plane. And now Thuldark was heading for the ground on his own terms. "He'll try to land," James said. "Not the airstrip. Anywhere he can put it down." Telari nodded. Her eyes stayed on the screen. "If he crashes, the dossier could burn with him." James pushed the helicopter after the smoke. Below them, the dark land opened up. Somewhere down there Thuldark would set the wreck down, or bury it in a field. Either way, the chase had left the sky. "Then we get to it before the fire does," James said. He dropped the helicopter low and chased the falling jet toward the ground.