Guess who's back! *Dodges sharp item thrown at me* Calm down! There a couple things I would like to say (er, write) first.

I'm terribly sorry you had to wait so long. I was traveling for the last ten days, and after that I was taking a summer engineering camp, then I took a course at the metal art center, then I took a summer geography course...

I promise I will put more time into my chapters. I know they have been getting shorter and shorter recently, so I want to make them the way they used to be.

I would REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY appreciate more reviews. Can I get three reviews per chapter? Pleeeeeaaaaaase?

Well, enough of that. Let the reading begin!

Amy twisted around in her seat. A large black jet was right behind them. Amy knew automatically it was a Vesper jet. She was about to scream when suddenly the plane started dropping.

"What's happening?" she yelled. Nobody replied. Amy felt like she was getting squished into her seat. Everyone was gripping their armrests, and Natalie's mouth was open in an endless scream. Suddenly, the drop stopped. The plane shot upward, and Amy felt like an invisible hand was crushing her back.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" she screamed as they streaked up. But she couldn't even hear herself over the sound of the engine. Then, everything started tilting. Amy closed her eyes as her stomach wrenched. Her heart was pounding so hard she felt like it was going to rip out of her chest. Soon, the plane was completely upside-down. Amy squeezed her eyelids shut tighter. She was afraid that if she opened them, she would faint. The plane dove sharply again. Amy thought for sure that they would smash into the ground. She felt another wrenching in her stomach as the plane turned. This felt like getting put into a washing machine. Then, they were rocketing upward again. Amy didn't know which was up and which way was down.

If I survive this, I'll never fly again, she vowed. Then, everything was smooth. The plane leveled out. Amy slowly opened her eyes. Everyone was still, glued to their seats.

"Is everyone okay?" Matthew Brooks called. Natalie's mouth was still open, but no sound was coming out. Elias waved a hand in front of her face. She closed her mouth, but her eyes were the size of saucers.

"I'm f-f-f-f-f-f..." Amy stuttered. Her heart was pounding so much that she couldn't form words. Matt looked questioningly at her.

"She's fine." Dan offered. Everyone looked at Amy. She blushed, embarrassed about being the center of attention.

"N-no, I'm fine now." Amy said quickly, trying to change the subject. She looked out her window again. The Vesper plane was still following them, but it was much further away. "What are they trying to do?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well, if they were trying to kill us, they would've done that already." Matt said thoughtfully.

"I feel so much better." Zai muttered. Amy looked down at the water. The waves were getting kind of choppy. Then she noticed something. She looked closer. She saw a large, orange rectangle. It was descending slowly toward the water. Her eyes opened wide with terror.

"The pilot!" she yelled shrilly. Everyone turned toward her.

"What about the pilot?" Natalie asked.

"He left us!" Amy screamed. "He left us!"

Everyone looked out their windows. When they, too, saw the pilot parachuting to safety, mayhem broke out in the plane. Everyone started screaming as the plane started to stall.

"We're going to die! We're going to die!" Natalie was shrieking. Amy and Ian had apparently passed out.

"Nellie!" Dan yelled. "Can't you fly this thing?"

"On it!" Nellie stood up and pushed her way past the screaming people into the cockpit. The engines were losing power.

"Bad news!" Nellie's voice blared over the sound of the engine and the screaming. "There's no more fuel in the tanks!"

Amy closed her eyes again. She felt weak, like she should surrender. She was in a plane with no gas thousands of feet above the English Channel. She doubted she was going to make it. Why fight it? She'd done all she could. It was out of her hands now. Then, she felt someone shaking her shoulders. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into the intense green gaze of Matthew Brooks.

"Amy, get up! We're going to have to use parachutes!" he said. He was yelling, but it sounded muffled and faint to Amy. She came to her senses. Parachutes? She thought wearily. Maybe there's a chance... Slowly, Amy got to her feet. Everyone had gathered near the back of the plane. Some of them were gripping large packs that she assumed were parachutes. Everyone looked ashy with fear.

"Nellie, Elias, Ian, and I are the heaviest, so we'll each get out own parachute." Matt started.

Our own? Amy looked around. With a sickening dread, she realized that there were eight of them in the plane, and only six parachutes.

"Zai and Natalie, you share one." he went on. "Amy and Dan, you'll have the other."

Everyone was too scared to argue. Nellie, Matt, Ian, and Elias each grabbed a pack. With Natalie gripping him tightly around the neck, Zai put the other one on. Amy started at the parachute that someone had thrust into her hands. Suddenly, Nellie and Elias were gone. Amy realized that they had jumped. She didn't even realized someone had opened the door. She looked just in time to see Matt and Ian hurtling themselves out. Ian was screaming, but Amy couldn't hear any of it. Her heart was pounding so hard she couldn't concentrate on anything else. Then, she saw Zai and Natalie leaning out the door. It occurred to her that a lot of people were screaming, but she could barely hear anything. In a flash, Zai and Natalie were gone. It was just Dan and her. Dan was holding onto her for dear life. Amy slipped on the parachute. She realized that she didn't have much time before the plane hit the water. She took a deep breath and inched forward. As she peered outside, she suddenly felt dizzy. Her vision blurred. But just before she blacked out, Dan shoved her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Falling out of a plane was the most terrifying, exciting, scary, unexplainable feeling Amy had ever experienced. Just before Dan had pushed her, she was on the verge of fainting. Now, she was screaming her lungs out as she plummeted thousands of feet toward the English Channel. Nothing else mattered. It was if all of her senses had been shut off, and screaming had become the center of her very being. She was vaguely aware of Dan gripping her tightly around her shoulders, his hands looped through the straps of the parachute they were sharing. Parachute. The word echoed in Amy's mind. Then, with a jolt, she stopped screaming for a second and realized that she was supposed to pull the ripcord. In that flash of concentration, she fumbled around for the cord. Her fingertips brushed against it. She inhaled deeply. Once, twice. Then she pulled with all her might.

Amy was jerked upward after she pulled the ripcord. She looked up. A huge, orange rectangle had blossomed out above her. She looked around. She wasn't plummeting anymore. She was drifting. It was almost fun, and it was kind of peaceful. She nudged Dan, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, taking in the view. They were just floating thousands of feet up in the air, with nothing but the wind rushing in their ears.

"Look, I can see France!" Amy shouted, pointing. Dan squinted. In the distance, there was a vast, green land mass on the horizon.

"And there's England!" Dan yelled, pointing in the opposite direction. They got so caught up in admiring the awesome view that they forgot how close they were getting to the water.

"What was that?" Dan exclaimed as something landed on his cheek. Amy looked down. With a start, she saw that they were about fifteen feet above the water, and droplets were being sprayed upward by the wind.

"Hang on!" She yelled. She squeezed her eyes shut as the water rushed up to greet her.'

Amy gasped as she hit the water. It was shockingly cold. Immediately she started paddling to keep afloat. Dan was doing the same. The water was gray and choppy, and the waves at least five feet high were crashing all around them. Amy looked around to see Elias, Nellie, and Matt were swimming toward her and Dan.

"Is everyone alright?" Matt shouted.

"We're fine." Amy said as they all reached one another. Nellie looked like a wet skunk with her hair plastered to her face, and Elias still had his sunglasses on. And Zai...

"Where's Zai?" Amy asked suddenly.

"And Natalie?" Ian asked, panic rising in his voice. He started looking around. But Zai and Natalie were nowhere to be seen.

"Natalie!" Ian screamed, paddling to stay afloat. "NATALIE!" No answer. Everyone had spread out a little, calling for Zai and Natalie. Ian called his sister's name again, with the same results. Now he was panicking.

"Ian? Any luck?" Amy called. Ian turned and saw Amy swimming toward him. She was panting and shivering.

"We have to find her." Ian said, not listening to Amy. "We have to find Natalie! Please! Help me!"

"We will, I promise." Matt came up behind Amy. "But right now, what's important is that we get out of the water before anyone gets hypothermia."

"But we have to find her!" Ian shouted, thrashing. Matt grabbed Ian by the shoulders.

"Ian! Snap out of it!" he said. "What good will it do Natalie and Zai if you're dead too?"

With that, Ian seemed to calm down a little.

"You're right." he said quietly. Matt nodded. Nellie and Elias swam up.

"Now what?" Nellie asked.

"I called for help the minute we found out the pilot had abandoned us." Matt said. "Help should be here any minute." As if on cue, a bluish-green sphere surfaced about eight feet away. The bottom half was made out of some sort of metal, and there were two large motors on the back. A panel on the side opened up and a man smiled at them from inside. Amy's eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Hello, youngsters." Alistair Oh smiled, tipping his bowler hat.

A couple dozen yards away, Zai spat out some salty sea water. With one hand, he paddled furiously to stay afloat. With the other hand, he held Natalie around the shoulder and struggled to keep her head above water. Natalie's shallow breathing was the only indication that she was alive. Their jump didn't go so well. They had landed badly, and Natalie had struck her head, knocking her out. Zai was trying to keep both of them alive, but he was getting very cold, and he knew it was only a matter of time before hypothermia set in. He didn't have much strength left to stay afloat.

Is this the end? Zai asked himself. I've avoided death many times before, but is this really the time? I'm sorry, Ian. I couldn't protect your sister. Two more people in my life I've failed. Zai took one last gulp of air. The last of his strength was slipping away and he was just about to slip under when an ear-splitting rumble split the air. Zai looked up and gasped. A huge freighter was slicing through the water toward them. With new-found energy, he kicked toward it. He could see the name painted on the side. It was called the Belle.

Must be a French ship, he thought. Quickly, he checked Natalie's wrists for bracelets. She had several sapphire bracelets around her left wrist. He removed them, and used the sharp edge to snag the bottom of his shirt. From the snag, he tore a strip off the bottom.

"OVER HERE! OVER HERE!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, waving the strip of fabric high above his head. He hoped the dark red of his shirt would stand out enough against the blue-gray of the water to attract attention. Fortunately, there were a couple sailors on deck. After screaming some more, Zai was about to give up, when one of the sailors shouted something and pointed. A group quickly gathered on deck. Zai swam as fast as he could toward the ship. From one of the lower decks, a long rope ladder was dropped. Zai first secured Natalie to the ladder, and they hoisted it up. A few moments later, it was dropped again. Zai grasped it and held on tightly as he was raised up. A wiry sailor in a red sweater was at the top, and he helped pull Zai onto the deck. Natalie had already been taken away, probably to be attended to by the ship's doctor. Zai collapsed onto the floor, heaving.

"Ce qui s'est passé à vous?" The man asked. Zai looked him.

"Je ne parle pas français. I don't speak French." Zai wheezed. The man smiled.

"Ah, hello. We will have many questions for you and your friend, but first, let me introduce myself." he said. "My name is David Foucan."

Hoped you liked it. If you have any suggestions, just comment!