Chapter 14 - The Final Struggle At Ten Thousand Feet
The hurricane-force wind tore through the cabin, ripping papers from the tables and deafening everyone with a continuous, howling roar. Clara screamed as her chair tipped sideways, while Sterling and Vance fought to maintain their footing against the sudden loss of air pressure.
Adrian scrambled across the slick floor, ignoring the numbing cold as he lunged blindly toward the open door where the digital recorder was sliding dangerously close to the edge of the metal threshold.
"Grab him!" Sterling screamed over the roar of the wind, pointing frantically at Adrian.
Vance lunged forward, tackling Adrian around the waist just as his fingers brushed against the casing of the recorder. They slammed hard into the metal bulkhead, sending a sharp shockwave through Adrian's ribs.
"You're done, Miller!" Vance roared, wrapping his forearm around Adrian's neck in a tight chokehold.
Adrian’s vision began to blur at the edges, the lack of oxygen from the depressurized cabin combining with the chokehold to make his head spin. But as he looked past Vance’s shoulder, he saw Clara kicking desperately at her leather restraints until the heavy chair finally tipped over, snapping the rope against a metal table leg and freeing her hands.
Without a second's hesitation, Clara scrambled across the floor, grabbed the heavy fire extinguisher mounted near the cockpit door, and rushed toward them.
Before Vance could react, Clara brought the heavy metal canister down hard across the back of the detective's head. Vance's eyes rolled back, and he slumped forward, unconscious, sliding limp across the floor toward the open door.
Adrian gasped for air, pushing Vance's heavy body aside and grabbing the digital recorder just as it teetered on the very edge of the threshold. He turned around, pulling Clara into his arms and shielding her from the rushing wind.
Marcus Sterling stood near the cockpit door, holding a small emergency parachute harness with a pale, trembling expression on his face.
"You can't fly away from this, Sterling," Adrian yelled, holding up the recorder with its screen flashing a bright, solid red. "The backup sync finished right before you disconnected it."
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Sterling stared at them for a fraction of a second, then hit the emergency cockpit lockdown button, sealing himself inside the flight deck as the automatic emergency door slid shut between them.
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