Rick was never sure what happened first, the turbulence, or the sudden appearance of a man with a gun. All he remembered was the plane rocking, and the grey-haired man coming out of the baggage hold, weapon in hand, Rick recovered quickly and dove at him while yelling, "Steve, hold the plane steady!"

"No one move, or I shoot!" the intruder shouted, slamming his gun down in a glancing blow at Rick. Jaime bolted from her seat, knocking the gun awry just as he fired.

"No, Jaime….I don't want to hurt you!" he gasped, then Laurie called out, "It's Chris Williams! Steve, get on the radio!" As Williams wrestled with Jaime, Laurie grabbed her purse and swung it at his head, stunning him into dropping the gun.

Dazed, Rick saw the gun go sliding past him, then Williams go flying past him toward the passenger door. As he fell against it, the former OSI agent grabbed the handle before anyone could stop him, and unlocked it. As Laurie reached for him to prevent him from opening the hatch, Rick saw the door open, and grasped his wife around her waist, shouting, "Laurie!"

At once a blast of air hit them, and he saw Laurie grab at Williams, only to catch hold of his jacket or…parachute? "Close the door, Williams, you'll kill us all!" he yelled.

"Chris, let go, please!" Jaime called out, getting his attention. A look of remorse crossed his face, then Williams turned and backhanded Laurie, sending her backward and forcing her to release her grip. Unfortunately, the plane tipped, and a wild yell sounded from Williams as he slid helplessly out of the aircraft.

"Hold on, everyone!" Steve shouted, then managed to tilt the plane the other way, causing the door to slam closed. At once Jaime leaped forward and turned the door lock.

"Good work, honey!" Rick said, his head pounding He quickly located the hold door and closed it, then slumped into his seat. "Is everyone okay?" he asked, seeing Steve reach over and hug his wife.

"Oh, that jerk, I think he bwoke my dose." At that Rick sat bolt upright and swiveled to look at Laurie. "Sweetheart, you're bleeding…" he gasped, seeing blood streaming down her face. She had her hands around her nose, and gently he pried them away, revealing a rapidly swelling nose.

"Rick? How bad is she?" Steve turned from his pilot's seat, having finally gotten the plane in a fairly controlled state.

"She's got a broken nose all right….here, darlin'…" Rick pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and stuffed it up her nose, then Jaime located the first aid kit and found wipes and tape. She handed it to Rick, and he carefully wiped her face and bandaged her nose.

Just then Jaime looked down, then quietly said, "Steve…we have trouble."

All four of them followed her stare and saw a hole in the fuselage, then fluid of some kind streaming away from the plane. At once Rick pulled open the hold door again, revealing the hydraulics and what seemed to be a leak of some kind.

Grabbing the bandage tape, he ripped off several pieces, located the damage and plastered the hole. Immediately the fluid stopped flowing, and Rick closed the hold door once again.

"Steve, how much fluid did we lose, was it hydraulic fluid?" he asked, then froze when the big man shook his head.

"Nope, it was the gas. We have just enough to make it over the mountains. If we can avoid any more of the storms, we should be able to land safely. Rick, can you call Oscar and report what happened, I'll call the airfield."

"Gotcha." Rick put an arm around Laurie as he turned on his transmitter. "Dad, it's Rick, over."

At first there was no response, only static. Then a familiar voice answered. "Rick? It's A.J….where are you?"

Rick looked over at Steve, who said "About 20 miles from the Arizona border."

"A.J., we're about 20 miles from the border. Listen, we're going to need some help here." Rick added, then filled in his brother about the near-tragedy and the danger they were still in.

"I'll call Oscar and Ron, then see if Rudy can meet your plane….whereabouts did Williams fall out?" A.J. asked.

"About 20 minutes into our flight…somewhere over San Bernardino County?" Rick estimated, and Steve nodded, then turned back to the radio.

"I'll tell Oscar. Make sure Laurie's locator is on." A.J. told him, and Laurie put her transmitter on. Rick saw she was having to breathe through her mouth and he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "My brave girl."

Her eyes lit up over the bulky bandage on her face, and she whispered "Brave because of you." She looked over at Jaime, who had a bruise on her cheek. "And you, Jaime…you saved us."

"We saved each other." Jaime replied, reaching out a hand to Laurie and Rick, who grasped it. Steve turned at that, then grinned.

"Phoenix has us on radar, and Needles is launching a search for Williams. We should be landing in about …what the…"

Suddenly the plane was rocking, and lightning flashed across the windshield of the plane, as a huge thundercloud surrounded them.

"Everyone hold on!" Steve said, frantically trying to level the plane, which was now pitching violently. For several minutes the plane rocked, then the engine cut out and it began to drop in a near-vertical dive.

"No!" Steve wrestled with the controls, trying pull it up. Rick gripped Laurie in his arms, afraid that these were their last minutes.

"No matter what, I love you." She told him, her own arms around him.

"I love you too, Laurie…forever." He answered, then looked up to see Jaime manning the radio, calling a "Mayday" message.

All at once the plane began to level off, and surprisingly the clouds started to part, showing in the failing twilight that they were over a mountain range.

"Way to go, Steve, that was a ride!" Rick exhaled, then Jaime shook her head.

"Uh, we still have a problem. Steve, look at the gauges."

Rick peered at the control panel, then saw Steve turn pale.

"Jaime, call the airfield, I'm going to have to set down. We're nearly out of fuel."

Just as she began to transmit, a wind gust caught the jet and Steve had to swerve a couple of mountain peaks. Just as the motor began to cut out again, he told them, "Get into crash position, I'm going to set down on the first flat spot."

Immediately Rick and Laurie clutched each other and bent down, faces in their laps. There were a couple of minutes of bouncing, then a crashing sound. All at once the plane was spun around then a cracking noise was the last thing they heard.