Episode 7-Free Fall

Episode 7

Free Fall

Karl knew his window was small, incredibly small.  He had one clean shot and that was it.  If he screwed it up, he had a long fall to think about it.

He let go of E.  At the same time, he also let go of his brother’s foot.

“NO!” Sam screamed as Karl watched the fear in his eyes grow like an unchecked infection.

He had no time to reassure his brother, he just had to act.

In the second that he was sucked out the air lock, Karl reached out both hands and grabbed the female assassin by the strap of the parachute and clamped his fingers down.

The force lurched the woman forward suddenly and in that instant Karl, the assassin and E were in a free fall.

Karl knew he had little more than seconds to save himself and E.  He was expecting a fight from the assassin but he quickly realized she was not moving.  The sudden inertia of him grabbing her and jerking her out of the plane had snapped her neck.

Karl put it out of his mind and went to work grabbing the center buckle that held the parachute onto the assassin.  The free fall was insane.  The wind forced E to rush past his head and Karl forced himself to stay calm and not to panic.  He had done jumps before, part of his training from a life that seemed far away, now.

Although he had never jumped out of a plane not wearing a chute, he had also never had to try to save a woman in mid air either.

Details.

****

“Karl!” Sam was still screaming as he watched his brother sacrifice himself and another woman to save him.

He had done it to save Sam.

Sam felt the tears stream down his face as he was whipped back and forth by the air pressure.  He wanted to let go, to follow his brother.  He didn’t want to be the one to make it through.  He didn’t deserve to make it through.

What was he going to do without Karl?

The plane dipped below the pressure line and the air equalized.  Sam dropped to the floor, the suction relinquishing its hold on him and there he laid, the wind still whipping through the cabin of the plane.

Tears ran down his face.

What the hell was Sam going to do?

****

Karl managed to pull the chute away from the lifeless female assassin and kicked her body away sending it rag dolling into the wind.

Karl immediately went about the task of getting the parachute around his shoulders and fastened, which was easier said than done while free falling at terminal velocity.

Karl tried to force himself to focus on the job at hand and not on the ground rushing up at him.  He knew that he was on the clock and that clock was ticking fast.  The need to know how long he had until he hit the ground was overwhelming but he willed himself to see only the task at hand.

Don’t look down.

He felt the buckle clasp latch around his mid section and breathed a quick sigh of relief. The job wasn’t done yet and he turned, spinning in mid-air, trying to find E.

There!

He caught his eye on her and found hope.  She hadn’t drifted too far from him.  He clasped his hand to his side and made himself into an arrow, increasing his fall velocity to catch up to the screaming flailing translator.

Hold on!

He got close to her and opened his arms and halted his speed reaching out to grab her.

Come on…

He grabbed her hand and dragged her toward him, the shock stopped her screaming and she stared at him mystified as to what was happening.

“Hold on to me!” Karl yelled it as loud as he could but the words seemed to die on his lips.  They were swallowed up by the wind.

Nonetheless, she seemed to comprehend and nodded, wrapping her arm around his chest under the chute, then her legs around his waist.  She held on so tight Karl could barely breathe.

Karl wasn’t sure this would work.  The force of the parachute stopping their fall might have been to great for them to hold on.  He might not have tightened the buckle enough.  It didn’t matter, he was out of time.

Karl pulled the rip-cord.

The harness system tightened as the chute opened and caught the wind.  The force of gravity was mighty.  Karl felt his own grip give at the same time E’s did and he struggled desperately to stop it from happening by reaching out.  She did the same as the pull threatened to claim her.

Karl caught her wrist and took the rest of the force onto himself, his arm nearly tearing off.

He held fast, straining with everything he had.  She latched onto his wrist with the same hand, digging herself in so tight that her nails broke his flesh.

Suddenly, there was silence.  The wind had stopped and all that could be heard was their panting and the far off echo of the plane that they had once occupied.

Karl knew they weren’t out of the fire yet.  The parachute held but they had at least ten minutes before they touched down.  He could see the land now, past the struggling E. Although he held her, he only had one of his hands on her.  Soon his arm would give out and instinct would take over, releasing the woman to fall to her death.

Her weight pulled his one side forward too much and he couldn’t get his other hand in a good enough position to help.  To make matters worse, she was panicked and flailing like a lunatic.

“STOP MOVING!” Karl tried to yell and ended up half growling, half groaning the words.

She froze like a person in a car that teetered on the edge of a cliff.  He could tell she was even holding her breath.

“Don’t let go.”  She whispered, pleading.

Karl shook his head.  “I can’t hang on for much longer.  You have to pull yourself up.”

E shook her head, tears streaming down her face.  Karl felt a ping of sorrow.  The poor thing was probably in shock, it was a wonder she held on this long.

The worst part was that it was his fault.

“Listen to me.  If you don’t do anything, I’m going to drop you, not because I want you but because I can’t keep this up.  You have to pull yourself up.”

“What if you let go when I pull?”  She asked, trying to bring herself back from a fear and shock-addled brain.

“If you try, I’ll hold on.” Karl said, staring at the woman in the eyes.

He watched her resolve change and a strength came over her that he had seen on her before when she helped with the Mongolian in New York.  He welled with a deep respect born out of a shared experience with death and flexed as she pulled with her arm.

Every muscle in his arm screamed in pain but he willed himself to hold on.  He would not let her go.  Not today.

She pulled herself up straining and finally reaching with her other hand to catch Karl’s free hand.

With the new position it was easier for him to pull her up and she latched onto him again.

Karl started laughing.  “Holy shit.  I can’t believe we did that!”

****

Sam just sat on the floor, back against the couch with no sense of guidance or direction, only the absolute and utter emptiness.

What was the point of anything?

He felt the plane touchdown, having completely ignored the fasten seat belt warnings or the oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling.

The plane taxied to a stop and then a ladder was wheeled to the opening where the door would have been.

Sam continued to sit there in silence, not noticing the men who walked up and into the cabin.

“Hello Sam.”  Sam recognized the voice and looked up to see the broken rotting teeth of Hoi’s toothy grin.

Sam took a deep breath as he realized that Hoi was behind it all.  He was behind the murder of his brother, which made it Sam’s fault.

Then a new figure entered the cabin.  The well-dressed and good looking Egyptian thief.

“Mr. Bier.  I believe you can help me with this.” He held up the Ankh.  “I want the cup of Osiris.”

TO BE CONTINUED…