A Dangerous Game

Chapter Twenty-One: Crash

The first thing April Rhodes was aware of when she awoke was a very loud, very obnoxious electronic alarm going off. She picked herself off the ground, blinking to regain focus. The ground was covered with broken glass, which at first she thought was from the windows, until she remembered something Jesse had said about them being shatter-proof. April was very disappointed to find that the glass was the remains of her bottle of scotch.

She got to her feet, stumbling over to Jesse, who was slumped over the control panel. "Hey!" she said. "What happened? Jesse," she flicked him, "wake up." She hit him around the back of the head, "Hey!"

Jesse snapped awake, looking around in confusion. "What the hell, April?"

She shrugged, "You were ignoring me."

"I was unconscious," Jesse growled. He turned in his chair, shoving at Finn's shoulder, who was knocked out in the chair next to him. "Wake up, genius. You made us crash."

Two Hours Earlier

"For goodness sakes, April!" Jesse exclaimed, trying to keep his eyes on the sky, "Go sit down."

April glared at him, moving away from where she had been standing behind his chair (and commenting on everything he was doing), and going to sit in one of the chairs in the back. "So what exactly are we planning to do?" she said, putting her feet up and leaning back in a way that defiantly could not be safe on any moving vehicle.

Finn and Jesse were both silent.

"I didn't think we would get this far. I'm actually surprised Finn's plan worked," Jesse admitted.

"I thought we were going to save my brother," Finn said quietly.

Jesse raised an eyebrow, "You know where he is?"

"No…" Finn said slowly, "but wouldn't the ship have just come from there? Couldn't we just reverse the course?"

"Of course, yes. I was about to say that," Jesses glared at Finn, then thumbed a button, making the ship shudder and slightly alter its course. "We should be there soon." He said, leaning back in his chair.

Clouds skimmed by the windows, making Finn turn away; he didn't want to be reminded of exactly how high up they were.

"Nope, sorry!" April's voice was heard from the back, along with the slamming of the onboard phone back onto the receiver.

The two men slowly turned in their chairs to face her. "Who was that?"

"We might have a problem."

"Finn, take the helm," Jesse hissed.

Finn nodded, turning back around and staring at the controls blankly.

Jesse crossed over to April's chair, "Who was that?" he repeated.

"President Snow. He wanted us to stop and give our location."

"Did you tell him?"

"No," April rolled her eyes, "you heard me hang up on him!"

"So he admitted to not knowing where… Finn!" The ship had just lurched and was dipped downward at an alarming angle. Jesse half-walked, half-slid back to his chair, holding onto it so he that could sit down. He pushed Finn out of the way, grumbling "Idiot" under his breath.

The ground was approaching at a very fast pace, and as much as Jesse tried to pull them up, the most he could manage was to make sure that they weren't in a compete nose-dive.

"That can't be good." Finn said, his hands on his hips. They were outside the ship, surveying the damage done by the crash. There was a huge dent in the front, wires sticking out.

Jesse crossed his arms, glaring at the damage like that could fix it. "I'll get it flying again."