"Yes, Chief, Everything is fine. I have Doctor Mendelschmitt right next to me." Max said into his shoe phone as he kept an eye on the Doctor by the cigarette machine. "The plane is taking off in 10 minutes. Yes, Chief we're right on schedule." Max checked his watch. " The Doctor will be in Hamburg in exactly 1 hour and 40 minutes."

The chief wiped his brow with his handkerchief. "Max, I can't stress how important it is to get Doctor Mendelschmitt to Hamburg on time. Are you sure KAOS hasn't following you?"

Max checked around and over his shoulder, "No Chief, I think we've outsmarted them this time"

The pilot of the plane walked up to Max to interrupt him, "Excuse me Agent 86 but we're ready to take off."

Max nodded to the pilot. "Gotta go Chief, I'll call you when we land and don't worry, the doctor's in good hands" Just before Max hung up he quickly added. "Oh and Chief, tell 99 not to worry, I'll be home before she knows it."

"Alright Max, I'll let her know, good luck" The Chief let out a deep sigh as he hung up the phone. He trusted Max to get the doctor to his destination but until he was safely delivered, the Chief couldn't help but worry.

Max attached his shoe phone together and walked over to the doctor. "Dr. Mendelschmitt, the plane is ready for us to board us if you'll just follow me"

Max escorted the doctor on board the small jet plane.

"Why is it we are not traveling by train or car for such a short distance?" asked the doctor.

"KAOS could be on board the train or they might try setting up a road block if we traveled by car. It's safer this way, just you, me and the CONTROL pilots."

The doctor looked a bit apprehensive toward Max but trusted his instincts.

Max and the doctor buckled in as the plane taxied down the runway. The pilot radioed in for permission to take off, " Approaching runway five. Permission take off."

The pilot leaned over to his co-pilot, "Ah, I sorry I'm never really good at names. The pilot said struggling to remember.

The co-pilot smiled, "Its, Williams sir"

This strange exchange caught Max by surprise.

"You two don't know each other?" Max asked cautiously

"Oh don't worry, Agent 86, our regular co-pilot came down sick, Williams here is his replacement"

" Agent 86, I have 20 years flying time if that's your concern" Williams assured him .

"No, No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you don't know your business. Its just. well.. never mind" Max settled back into his seat trusting the CONTROL pilot's judgement. But something caused him to be a little leery of his co-pilot. Max was going to keep a close eye on him through the flight.

The small jet took off smoothly and reached its cruising altitude within a few minutes. After about 30 minutes in the air, Max leaned to whisper to the doctor, "Only an hour to go and we're home free" The doctor smiled at Max and went back to studying his papers. Max passed the time by was looking out the window at the mountains below him. Suddenly, he felt the plane bump. "Just a little turbulence, happen this time of year" announced the pilot.

Max nervously began tapping his foot, for flying was not one of his favorite things to do. In the Korean War, Max flew on several missions with gunfire all around the plane. That was probably the reason for his bad case of nerves when he had to fly. It made him nervous being up so high and vulnerable. He began to think of 99 to keep his mind off the bumpiness of the flight. It had been a week since he last saw her and he looked forward to getting home. Now that he was married, Max worried about making it through these dangerous missions more so then when he was single. The last thing he wanted was to leave 99 a young widow.

Max began to grow impatient. "ETA?" Max inquired.

The pilot looked at his watch, "We touch down in about 30 min. I'll radio ahead to let them know we're approaching"

Just as the pilot reached for the radio, the co-pilot drew out a gun from his coat pocket.

"Put the radio down," warned Williams aiming his gun at the pilot.

Max jumped forward but forgot he was wearing his seatbelt, which jolted him back into the seat.

Williams swung the gun around at Max, "Just sit there and don't move Smart."

"I thought you said he was a CONTROL pilots?"

Max asked the pilot.

"You're not Williams are you" the pilot asked the agent.

"Very observant aren't you. I took care of the real Williams before we boarded, his uniform fits rather well don't you think?" sneered the agent.

Max gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath for letting something like this happen especially on his mission. The KAOS agent got up and moved over to the doctor keeping his gun fixed on Max every moment.

"The good doctor and I are going to bail out," he said as he threw a parachute over to Mendleschmitt.

The agent quickly got into his parachute but the doctor was having trouble attaching the hooks on his.

"Come on doc, I haven't all day" growled the agent.

With the KAOS agent occupied with keeping his gun on Max while he waited for the doctor, the pilot threw the plane down into a dive knocking the Kaos agent off his feet and into the back of the co-pilot seat. Max quickly jumped on top of the agent as they proceeded to struggle for control of the gun. But the KAOS agent brought his foot against Max's chest and pushed him away. Max came back at him but not before the KAOS agent lowered his gun into Max's shoulder and pulled the trigger. The bullet burned its' way right through him, just to the left of his right shoulder. Max was thrown back from the force then slumped down in pain. The KAOS agent got up and grabbed the doctor, "Smart, I should kill you right now for that little display but instead." The KAOS agent aimed his gun at the back of the pilot and pulled the trigger. The shot instantly killed the pilot leaving the plane without anyone manning the controls. Quickly the KAOS agent opened the door of the cabin and pushed the doctor out. Aiming his gun once more to the control panel he fired off two more shots, shattering the instruments. The light suddenly went out. "Good luck Smart. Happy landing" the KAOS agent yelled over the wind whipping through the cabin as he leaped out the door.

Max struggled to get up to get to the controls. He pushed the dead pilot to the floor and got into his seat. Max reached for the radio and pushed buttons to gain contact with the tower. It was dead. The entire instrument panel was shut down. Max felt the plane losing power as the engines shut down. The world was starting to look like a ninety-degree angle, as the nose headed straight towards the earth below. With his feet against the console, Max pulled back on the yokes with every ounce of strength he had, desperately trying to keep the plane aloft. His shoulder burned from the bullet deeply imbedded into it as he struggled to keep the plane steady.

Suddenly there was a rapid, random banging noise. Max realized the sound was treetops striking the underside of the plane.

Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as the plane went lower and lower in altitude. Max looked for a clearing along the green canopy of trees. With nothing in site, Max knew the next few moments could be his last. The bottom of the plane scrapped along the tops of the trees then crashing through the thicket. The force of the plane cutting through the branches sheared the right wing clean off. Max resolutely kept his eyes forward, watching the ground approach through the shattered windshield.

The plane slammed hard into the ground. The shear force of impact slammed Max's head against the console knocking him unconscious as the plane skidded and slid to a violent stop. The loud screeching sounds of ripping metal echoed into an eerie quietness of the area. Only the sound of the wind was heard and the only movement was that of the smoke from the burned out engines.

To be continued..