Chapter Six: Death From Above
The P40 Warhawk exploded out of the hangar bay, plummeting through the clouds in a desperate effort to evade the screaming black fighters that were in pursuit. Polly barely paid attention to Joe's torrent of curses as he strangled the controls and throttled the plane into submission, rolling it through the sky like a trained animal. Her skin was electric with the threat of danger, and her mind reeled from recent events.
Earlier, Commander Jolly Roger had shoved the three of them into what looked like a dark closet, seconds before two ballistic missiles crashed through the window of her office and obliterated the command spire of the City of Lost Souls, a floating steel island of thieves and mercenaries. The missiles had been no random attack, Polly knew that much. But who would go to such drastic measures to kill one person?
The lights in the closet blinked to life. There was a sudden drop and a brief absence of gravity, then a high pitched whistle that reminded Polly of an air raid siren.
"Screamin' Mimi," Jolly mumbled, as if reading Polly's thoughts. "Sub-sonic evacuation transport Dex rigged up for me."
"My, that boy really gets around," Polly quipped.
"Who is this Blackbeard?" Joe said, pulling his Colt .45 from its holster and slamming in fresh ammo. "And why the hell is he launching missiles at you!?"
"He's an arms dealer, king of a country of terrorists, and the man who murdered Rock," she said bluntly, smoothing her waist coast.
The cylindrical cabin whined to a halt and when she got out Polly found they'd returned to the hangar bay. As the trio approached, technicians finished refueling the Warhawk and Jolly's private fighter, a P82 Mustang emblazoned with the image of a Valkyrie riding a winged horse .
Easing into their cockpits, Jolly looked at Joe with venom and longing in her eyes.
"There's not much time, Joe," she yelled over the roar of the planes' propellers. "Meet me in Nanjing and we'll talk. And this time don't keep me waiting, huh?"
Joe nodded and raised his thumb in agreement.
"So what gives with Nanjing?" Polly asked.
"Jolly has a safehouse there," Joe replied, flipping switches and buttons on the console. "It's where she and Rock got married."
A devastating bang outside the plane pulled Polly away from her thoughts. Looking out the canopy, Polly saw a large shadow race past her before exploding some hundred feet away. Joe pulled back on the control and sent the Warhawk climbing into the sky.
"Joe, what's happening?"
"Can't say!" he hollered over his shoulder. "I think it's some kind of kamikaze stunt. They're using their planes as bombs!"
Something heavy suddenly struck the plane' s fuselage. Two more impacts hit the right and left elevators and a fourth clipped the left wing . Joe looked out the canopy in all directions , all the while struggling to keep the plane aloft.
"You gotta be kidding me."
Four men dressed in heavy monk robes crawled over the plane like giant cockroaches, securing their footholds with thickly clawed gloves and boots that hummed with blue rings of energy. Effortlessly, they arose from their positions as if they were on solid ground, robes snapping in the wind.
Behind heavily sloping hoods, macabre, crimson skulls smiled maniacally .
Chapter 7: The Holy Assassins