Knuckles hit hard against the glossy side of the black aircraft. Only raw instinct made him smash himself a handhold and cling to it breathlessly until the pain in his arms began to outweigh the pain in his ribs. He scrabbled for purchase for his feet, and finding none, began climbing, hand over hand, digging his claws deeply into the metal skin of the machine, aiming for a hatch several lengths above him.
By the time he reached it his arms were well ahead of his ribs in the pain stakes and his shoulders had joined in to vie for third place.
He surveyed the hatch. On the edge nearest him he could see the locking mechanism, and on the other side, the hinges. Taking out either would probably afford him access, but there were no more footholds here than lower down. He would have to let go with one hand to strike with the other.
He cast a glance downwards. Gliding was all very well, but the slipstream was strong and the aircraft fast-moving. He was likely to hit the tail at least before falling, and he suspected that gliding while unconscious might just be beyond him.
That said, the only alternative was hanging here until he tired and fell anyway, so it wasn't really much of a choice after all.
He dug his left fist in a little deeper and lashed out with his right, slicing away at the metal of the hatch. It gave surprisingly easily. He clambered around to position himself above, then swung towards it. He hit it squarely with both feet hurtled through as it gave and landed flat on his back inside.
He rolled over and pushed himself to his knees then back to his feet. He would have moved faster if there was anyone to see, but right now there was no one to bluff but himself. For a moment he could acknowledge the greyness at the edges of his vision, combined effect of injury and borderline exhaustion.
The past few days had undone too much of the recovery during the enforced idleness in the human, Chris', home. It hadn't been hastiness which had driven him from Sonic's commandeered plane but a kind of desperation. The need to get that Emerald back now, right now, while he was still capable.
He could feel it now. The presence of the Emerald this close made his nerves sing. He walked unsteadily, but unerringly towards it. He met no guards. It seemed the aircraft had been hastily converted, and there was no indication it was meant for a crew. The interior looked unfinished, the structure of the thing exposed. Remembering the fragility of the metal hatch, Knuckles was almost worried that if he misstepped he'd fall straight through.
The compartment containing the Emerald was likewise unguarded and filled with a clear green light. Knuckles stepped into it, the relief like stepping into a hot spring. This single Emerald didn't have the power of the Master, back on the Island. Not by half, but he still felt better just for laying hands on it.
He stepped back after a moment and considered how best to extricate it from the tangle of machinery and wiring. Wires and what looked like glass tubes ran out in all directions, glowing green as they carried the energy from the Emerald to wherever it was being used. To power the weapons certainly. And the engines? The internal systems? Knuckles didn't know and yanking it lose to find out what happened didn't seem exactly ideal. Did he really want to kill all power on an aircraft he was currently riding in?
He considered for a moment, gazing at the steady glow. Then he gave a sudden fierce grin which Sonic would barely have believed had he been there to see it, and decided that--yes--he did.
He stepped forward, and sliced through most of the paraphernalia in two quick movements. He grabbed the Emerald firmly in both hands and tugged. It came loose immediately, as though eager to be out.
The lights went out immediately and all noise stopped. Almost as promptly the aircraft pitched down
Knuckles cradled the Emerald in one arm and stretched the other in front of him to avoid crashing into anything as he made his way cautiously back across the compartment and out into the main body of the ship. There were no windows and with the lights out it was difficult going.
Somewhere up ahead he could hear shouting. There were some crew at least, and they were not happy.
Knuckles made his way back towards the hatch he'd entered through. Sunlight streamed in, restoring visibility in this part of the craft at least.
Someone had beaten him to it. Knuckles had to restrain himself from leaping straight out. Whitman and Robtnik both stood there.
Whitman was shouting.
"I told you someone--"he sneered and corrected himself, "--something--jumped." He fumbled with a radio in his hand. "Captain we have an intruder on board."
Robotnik seemed far less ruffled.
"We'll find him. He must have been in the Emerald compartment a moment ago. He cannot have got far."
Knuckles pressed tighter into the shadows. The two humans were standing in the brightest part and had poorer dark-adapted vision than him anyway, so he thought he was safe for the moment. That wouldn't last though. Robotnik was right about there being nowhere to go.
He considered simply smashing out the side of the aircraft and making a jump for it, but that would be noisy and take precious minutes while he became the centre of attention.
He looked at the two humans again. Both were armed, Robotnik with a small laser sidearm he must have had with him when they were transported here, Whitman with a gun not dissimilar to the one that had put the hole in Knuckles' foot.
Evens so, getting past them shouldn't be too much of a challenge. Getting past them without getting shot, losing his grip on the Emerald or hitting some part of the aircraft on the way out might be more so but--
Before he could finish his thought Whitman's radio crackled again.
"Sir we've got a problem. Incoming aircraft on collision course."
Whitman grabbed the radio. "Well get out of the way then!"
Knuckles didn't need to listen to the answer to know that a large and now unpowered aircraft could not outmanoeuvre this attacker. He didn't need to look outside to see who it was either. He abandoned the hatch, and broke into a sprint, bursting past the two humans and bounding towards the front of the aircraft.
He nearly missing his footing several times and arrived almost headlong into the cockpit. A single pilot was at the controls and Knuckles hoisted him up and out of his seat before he could reacted. The man went for a weapon and Knuckles cuffed his hand away.
The gun skittered away and disappeared somewhere in the structure.
"I suggest you do not follow it," Knuckles said. He pointed at the pack on the man's back. "If that's a parachute then making use of it might be your best chance of getting out of this in one piece."
The man stared at him for a moment. "My orders--"
"Your orders were given to you by a man who'll be running for the exit faster than you, unless I miss my guess."
The man waited a second longer then turned and headed back the way Knuckles had come.
Knuckles looked out. As expected the black and red shape of the plane they'd stolen last night was bearing down fast.
"Sonic, what are you doing?" Knuckles muttered.
He was answered in the next second as the small plane pilled up and rolled inverted. A whirling blue shape spun out and down and Knuckles leapt back as Sonic came straight through the roof.
Knuckles felt a wave of relief as he saw the hedgehog held the other Chaos Emerald tightly.
"Hurry." He stepped quickly towards Sonic. "We haven't got much time."
"I noticed." Sonic said. " Y'know, I sort of expected to be able to still use this thing to get us back."
Knuckles dismissed this with a wave. "I don't mean that. Something's happening with the Emeralds. Can't you feel it?" He paused for a moment, concentrating, trying to put a description to the feeling. "Like a tugging."
He moved forward further and brought his Emerald up to almost touch Sonic's. The hedgehog gasped.
"Woah. Yeah, I see what you mean. What is it?"
"I'm not sure, but it's getting stronger." Knuckles paused. "I think that whatever sent us here is reversing."
Sonic frowned. "Why? How do you know? Why now?"
"I don't know," Knuckles snapped. "It's just--a feeling." He did not elaborate that he'd ignored the feeling at first, writing it off as a symptom of his own longing to be home. "But I don't think it will work if they're separated."
"And it won't work unless the incoming load is the same as the outgoing one was," a voice stated from the doorway.
Both hedgehog and echidna whirled to face Robotnik.
"You know what's going on?" Sonic demanded.
Robotnik gave a smirking nod. "The recall program. I thought it had failed." He strolled towards them. "Apparently I was too hasty in dismissing it." He gave a theatrical sigh. "Just when I was starting to get settled in here too."
Knuckles looked past Robotnik at the empty passageway beyond.
"Where's Whitman?"
"He decided to employ the better part of valour." Robotnik shrugged. "He jumped."
"That was quick," Knuckles said dryly. "He wasn't wearing a parachute when I passed."
Robotnik gave another mock sigh. "In truth he was starting to get a little too ambitious. I've never been fond of competition."
"You killed him."
Robotnik eyed Knuckles sharply. "I can see you're heartbroken."
"Excuse me?" Sonic put in with a exaggerated gesture of his own, pointing out at the rapidly closing ground. "Haven't we got other things to be worrying about?"
Robotnik smiled. "Indeed. It appears we are all going home together." He stepped closer. "Hold on tight."
Knuckles may well have been unable to restrain himself from thumping that smirking face at this point if it wasn't for the fact that the steady tugging feeling abruptly became a breath-taking snatch and the world exploded into light.
---End Part 14---