As he turned, his hands still guiding the joystick, the plane moved with him. Now, instead of speeding into a wall, they were headed toward the other military vehicles and personnel in the compound. Screaming men ran in all directions.
Remington simply kept moving the joystick and shooting at things. A car blew up on their right, and Laura let out a hurrah from the back. "That'll show 'em!"
With renewed determination and a bit more confidence in his ability to handle the plane, Remington remarked, "Let's get the hell outta here!"
He headed the plane in the direction of the entrance to the city. There was two connected wooden gates, a guard post at each end. As the guards saw the jet headed in their direction, they ran off terrified.
Remington tried to ease the plane slowly through but it was no use. "This is going to be close," he yelled over the engine roar, as the nose of the plane knocked through the gates and the wings toppled the posts on both ends.
The plane began to make its way to the other end of the city. People ran for their lives, shops were demolished, tents crushed.
The fighting in the streets between Omar's guards and the Sufi's momentarily suspended, as the men looked up in awe to see the jet careening through the streets. Then, like everyone else, they scattered in all directions.
Omar, on a balcony of his palace, watched the destruction of his city and cursed luridly. He gestured wildly to his men- something had to be done. They had to be stopped.
Mildred was still trapped underneath the donkey. She gave up all lady like pretenses and while she squirmed, hurled insults at everything and everyone she could think of. Especially the donkey.
Nevertheless, with all the pandemonium, the Jewel, next to Laura in the back of the plane, was having a wonderful time. "This is my first time in airplane," he remarked, smiling.
Remington's arms had begun to tire from waving people away from the jet. He shook the controls in frustration. "How do you stop this bloody thing?"
Laura leaned over the seat. "Don't you know where you're going?" she accused angrily.
"Laura- this isn't exactly the Auburn, okay?"
The plane now passed Omar's palace and the Sufi's fighting there, including Abdullah, also began to flee. As Abdullah wiped the sweat of battle out of his eyes, he spotted Remington in the cockpit. And more importantly, he saw the Jewel behind him.
"El d'Jahara!" he screamed, pointing his scimitar at the plane. "El d'Jahara!"
His comrades that had not already departed, began to mount their horses, taking note of "the Westerner's treachery."
Furious, Abdullah whirled around to find his steed, when he noticed two familiar feet protruding from under a donkey's ass in a shed across the street. He stomped forward and dragged Mildred out from under the animal.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you, so much for rescuing me! I can't tell you…"
Abdullah cut her off, grabbing her by the collar and pulling her up to her tiptoes. "Your friend steal the Jewel!" he said angrily.
"What? What are you talking about? Mr. Steele would never…."
"You are liar to me. You are dead."
Mildred gulped audibly as he released her, and stood in the middle of the road watching people scurry this way and that. Abdullah glared at her one last time and with a flurry of robes, mounted his horse, let out a banshee cry, and rode off in the direction of the plane.
"Boss!" she cried out. "What about me? What about Miss Holt?" Feeling that her situation was hopeless, she threw up her hands, and on the verge of tears, she sat down on the dusty ground. "What am I gonna do now?"
Remington and Laura now had their own problems. They had turned the corner, into the bazaar of fullers and dyers, with Omar's men in close pursuit. Several jeeps filled with armed men beeped loudly behind the jet.
The wings knocked over shacks and it began to haul the fabrics hung in lines above the shops in its wake. Luckily for them, the enormous weight of the drying cloth and the large number of them, caused half of the fabric to fall off- right onto the pursuing jeeps, momentarily blinding the drivers and causing their share of accidents.
They cleared the bazaar, finally reaching the main gate. Larger than the plane and of hard stone, it was a dead end. Remington squeezed the trigger again, but with no reaction this time.
He laughed nervously. "Wouldn't you know…all out of bullets?"
"We can't sit here!" Laura protested. Pointing to a switch on his left, she ordered, "Try that one."
"Backseat driver." He flicked the switch. Nothing happened. Nothing that was visible to them anyway. Underneath the plane, one of its rockets had fallen to the ground and remained under the plane's right wing.
"Now what?" Remington asked sarcastically and began to bang the control panel out of frustration.
With luck, he hit the rocket's activation button and with sparks flying, the rocket hurtled towards the gate. It exploded- kicking up a wind of dirt, sand and fire.
Part laughing and part crying out for joy, Laura gave Remington's shoulder a squeeze. "Not bad for your first time."
He grinned, nodding his head. "I aim to please." He moved the plane forward just as the Omar's men had cleared the dyers' bazaar.
Back in the heart of the city, Mildred had finally persuaded the donkey to let her mount him and was kicking him along down the street. As she bobbed up and down, her feet only inches from the ground, she muttered, "Come on. Come on, you dumb animal. We'll get him. Hurry on, now, Mr. Steele's getting away. When I get my hands on him….cut-rate con man…deserting me here….move it, come on, you flea-ridden…."
Remington and Laura couldn't shake off Omar and his men. Omar himself rode in the lead car, alternately yelling curses and orders at his soldiers.
"We can't keep this up forever!" Remington said disparingly, hoping Laura would have a plan.
"Well, we can't stop now!" Pausing, realization dawned on Laura. "Where the hell is Mildred?"
"Safe. I hope. We made some friends too." Remington offered up a silent prayer that their secretary still was in one piece.
The Jewel pointed straight ahead and casually remarked, "Sandstorm."
"Uh-oh," said Laura.
"Bloody hell," muttered Remington.
Omar's car sped up and now was parallel to the jet, just clearing the wings. Omar climbed onto the sideboard and took careful aim with a pistol. He fired at the cockpit, leaving a bullet hole in the glass inches away from Remington's shoulder. He continued to wave at the plane, asking them to stop.
Shocked at the near-miss, Remington again tried to make sense of the control panel. Squinting at the tornado of sand that lay ahead of them, he found the after burner switch.
"What are you going to do?" Laura asked.
"Either save us or kill us," he said, and flicked the switch. The after burners kicked in, and in a burst of speed, the plane flew ahead of Omar. His own vehicle was thrown off by the movement and swerved wildly, causing Omar to scream again at his men.
The plane headed into the storm and was soon enveloped by wind and sand. In a matter of seconds, it had disappeared from sight.
Omar's car stopped on the perimeter, and he held up his hands for the following cars to stop as well. Looking into the storm, Omar let out a scream of fury. Still enraged, he and his men hunkered down to brace themselves for the onslaught.
TBC….