HOSTAGE

Chapter 10
Written by: jlabrum

The gas turbine engine of the old Sikorsky screamed as it strained for altitude. Fear gone, she worked on high octane adrenaline. The rotor stall alarm still squawked as she milked the collective up and down to increase rotor rpm. Her confidence grew as she cleared the forest canopy and watched it shrink beneath. Rock on, Sam thought, the relief showing on her grime streaked face.

If only this aircraft were more maneuverable, she wished as she continued a steady assent in preparation for her next move. The pilot scanned the cabin. Joey was still out in the co-pilot’s seat, his harness unfastened. The two cops sat behind the rear crew seats watching every move she made, even though neither of them knew enough about piloting a helicopter to guess what she was thinking.

The altimeter registered 500 meters when Sam gently leveled off and changed to a Westerly heading. Her captors relaxed now that the crises seems to have passed. The landscape changed to prairie land and she thought, where is it? She executed a sweeping right turn. It must be south, she thought. Suddenly Sam spotted the small lake hidden in the trees. This’s got to be it.

With a cool confidence Sam surveyed the cabin again. Catching Brian’s’ eye, she gave him a signal that only someone as close as he would notice. Brian gave Reece a nudge. Then, Sam slammed the collective down hard and the ship shot downward hurling their captors against the overhead. Sam immediately corrected and they hit the floor sprawled and unconscious.

Sam set the craft down beside a mooring buoy near the center of the lake and secured a line. Rummaging through the cop’s pockets, she found the keys and unlocked the handcuffs restraining her companions. Brian just finished cuffing the three when he saw a boat headed toward them at high speed.

“Get down!” Brian yelled, throwing himself toward the automatic rifles lying behind a rear seat, He threw a weapon to Sam while bullets pelted around them. They prepared to defend themselves when the sound of a chopper filled the air.

“B23 come in.  Brian do you copy?”

“Brian here. Is that you, Sanchez?” He yelled into the handset.

An Apache with DEA markings swooped down and fired a burst across the boat’s bow.  It killed power and drifted to a stop. Spray covered the boat, drenching its occupants as the DEA gunship hovered close above. Their inflatable raced out from the shore.

“Affirmative,” barked the radio, ”What’s your situation – over?”

“Reece has been shot and lost a lot of blood. We have stabilized but we need to get him to a hospital ASAP. We have three in custody – over.”

Sanchez took custody of the drug boat and arrested the criminals. Then he sent the inflatable over to pick up Joey and the two cops. Within twenty minutes, with Brian at the controls, the rescue team lifted off and headed back to base with an ambulance standing by.