Chapter 13by Rhiannon MacGregor In the Air Unable to pause in his struggle to investigate Jadzia's gasping breath, Smith struggled with the co-pilot as the airplane careened wildly back to level in the wake of turbulence. Face against face, hands over hands, they struggled for control of the gun, each willing to die to get it. Smith emerged victorious, however, as the small firearm discharged yet again, launching the fatal blow to the co-pilot. The man's shocked eyes met Smith's for a fraction of a second as if he couldn't believe he'd been shot, then his body crumpled to the aisle. Breathing heavily, Smith turned to get some overdue answers from Jadzia, but found the girl staring at her blood covered hand, her complexion almost completely devoid of color, her shirt front crimson. Time did not allow him to be solicitous of her condition. "Tell me what you know, Jadzia!" He demanded as he crouched in front of her. "Help me end this. Give me answers!" Jadzia stared at him blankly for a moment, a trickle of blood streaming from the corner of her lip. She coughed once, spittle staining her lips and teeth with blood. "Bedny ..." She managed. Frustrated, Smith leaned closer. "What about Bedny? What is he planning? Are the documents here real? Jadzia! Jadzia!" A single tear escaped Jadzia's eye as it became sightless and she exhaled her last breath. Frustrated beyond belief, Smith began digging through her pockets, her bag, anything that would give him some answers. He abandoned the fruitless search quickly, turning his attention to the more immediate crisis; the direction in which they were headed. His money was on Svalbard, home of the "not-so-secret" Russian installation. He headed for the cockpit, intent on convincing the pilot it was time to change course. Washington D.C. Tom McMann set down the phone in his office, his own words coming back to haunt him. He'd said the Russian's weren't crazy. Dick Giles had just told him that the worst case scenario had been played out. NORAD had suffered a nuclear hit. Within seconds the phone was alight with six lines flashing, but McMann ignored them as he picked up the direct line to the president. "Mr. President..." he began, unable to coherently form the words. "Mr. President, NORAD has been taken out by a nuclear device. Dick Giles and I are on our way to the your office." He paused, the deafening silence on the other end of the line persecuting him. "You'll need to notify Congress, sir. We're at war with Russia." Moscow Laughing and raising a glass of vodka, Colonel Bedny watched the unfolding story on the television in his office as CNN broadcast sketchy reports about the blast at NORAD and the surrounding destruction. It would be weeks, perhaps months before anyone could get close enough to the detonation site to determine what had happened. He loved this new world of "instant news." Within minutes, Solovieff was in his office, standing beside him watching the reports. A sense of dread surrounded Solovieff, the kind that permeates your being when you've done something irrevocable, something shocking. He was speechless as Bedny chuckled at his dazed expression. "Welcome to ... what is it the American's say? The 'big leagues'?" With another hearty laugh, Bedny slapped Solovieff on the back as his advisors and generals began to file into the office. He stepped behind his desk, clicked the remote to mute the television, and held up his arms in a gesture of welcome. "My friends! We shall now move on to phase two." Breaking News: CNN Interactive |