Wonder Woman: Warbringer (DC Icons #1)(74)

Whatever spell had been woven in the sleepy cocoon of the jet had been broken.

Jason shifted, his expression shuttering. “Not long now.”

Alia and the others stretched and yawned. Nim hardly looked like herself in her Keralis Labs sweatsuit, her face scrubbed free of makeup. Theo smacked his lips and ran a hand over his crest of dark hair. He still wore his shiny suit trousers, but he’d abandoned the jacket and tie for a Keralis T-shirt.

“Are we there?” Alia asked, voice muzzy with sleep.

“Almost,” said Jason.

“What happens when we land?” asked Theo, abandoning the banquette to plunk himself down in a seat and strap a seat belt across his lap.

“Ben will put us down near Araxos. We’ll have to find someone to drive us south, but from there it’s only about four hours by car to Therapne. It would have been faster to set down in Kalamata, but I was worried about landing at such a busy airport.”

“Still,” said Alia, “we’ll be at the spring in a matter of hours.” Her gaze met Diana’s, and Diana felt a spark of excitement pass between them.

She stretched and wiggled her jaw, trying to ease the uncomfortable pressure in her ears.

“Never been on a plane before?” asked Jason.

“No. I—”

Suddenly, an alarm blared through the cabin.

Nim clutched Alia’s arm. “What is that?”

“Get in your seats, both of you. Now,” Jason ordered.

“What’s happening?” said Nim as they threw themselves into the row behind Theo.

“We have a problem,” Ben said over the speaker, an edge to his measured voice.

“The jet is equipped with an early-warning system,” said Jason.

“Someone’s firing on us?” Theo said incredulously.

“I don’t suppose we can fire back?” asked Alia.

Jason gripped the armrests. “We don’t have that particular upgrade.”

“Deploying flares,” Ben said.

Diana shoved up the window shade. She heard a thunk, and in the glare of the afternoon sky she saw two bright bursts of light followed by trails of white smoke. She glimpsed something shooting toward the flare on the left, and then boom.

The little jet shook and tilted wildly.

Theo swore. Alia shouted. The jet righted itself. The flare had drawn off the missile, but the alarm was still sounding.

Jason tore his seat belt from his lap and lunged toward the back of the plane, emerging seconds later with what Diana realized were parachute packs. She’d seen them on the bodies of downed pilots.

“You can’t be serious,” said Alia, eyes bright with panic.

“Put it on,” commanded Jason, shoving a pack at her. “You’ve jumped out of a plane before.”

“For your stupid eighteenth birthday!” Alia said, but she was already reaching for the straps.

“Listen to me,” he said as he hurled packs at Nim and Theo and shoved another at Diana. “Get your goggles on. We’re at about ten thousand feet. As soon as we get below seven thousand, we’re going to jump. We go five seconds apart. Count it out so you don’t crash into each other.”

“Ai meu Deus,” said Theo.

“What about you?” said Alia.

“Ben has a pack in the cockpit. We’ll go in tandem. As soon as you jump, I want you to get stable and belly down, then deploy the main canopy. Try to face upwind and be prepared to duck and roll when you hit the ground.”

“This isn’t happening,” said Nim, wriggling into the parachute harness.

“It is,” Alia said, and Diana was struck by the steadiness in her voice. “But we’re going to be okay.”

“Liar,” moaned Nim.

“Optimist,” countered Alia. There was fear in her eyes, but somehow she forced a smile.

“Stay where you are once we’re on the ground,” said Jason. “The packs have trackers in them.” He touched Diana’s shoulder briefly. “I’ll find you.”

A loud clang sounded, and the jet shuddered slightly.

“What the hell was that?” said Theo, pulling his legs through the straps of the harness.

Diana looked up at the roof. “There’s something on the jet.”

They heard a metallic clatter above them.

“Are those foot—” Alia said, and then her words were lost as the jet’s door was torn open. A thunderous roar filled the cabin. The rest of them were strapped into their seats. All but Jason.

In the space of a breath, Diana felt the pack torn from her hands. She saw Jason’s eyes widen.

“No!” she cried. She reached for him, but it was too late. The force of the vacuum lifted him like a doll and sucked him into the waiting sky.

Alia was screaming. Theo and Nim were shouting. Diana looked at where Jason had stood a bare moment before. There and then gone.

Two men in black battle armor swung through the hole they’d torn in the plane’s side, cables attached to their backs, and stalked toward them.

Diana wrenched free of her seat belt and hurled herself at the armored men. They tumbled backward, perilously close to the open door. She felt a pistol pressed tight to her side and one of the soldiers unloaded his clip.

She screamed as her organs ruptured, the bullets tearing through her, and for a moment the world went black. The soldier on top of her pushed the barrel of his gun against her skull. Diana wasn’t sure what she could survive, and she didn’t intend to find out.