Thirst No. 5 by Christopher Pike Read Free Book Online Page A

legends surround the Abomination?”
    “The worst one, the strangest one, also came from our contact with celestial beings. They warned that if this man was born who was not a man, then at some point in the future, all mankind’s history would be lost.”
    “Lost? How?”
    “The legend is vague on this point. I don’t know whatit means. But the legend does say that the Abomination will destroy our history for the love of a witch.”
    “So you’re saying that when the Abomination meets this witch, this catastrophic event will occur?”
    “Yes,” Mr. Kram replies.
    “Does the legend point to a time? When is it supposed to happen?”
    “Soon.”
    “How soon?”
    Mr. Kram’s voice drops to a whisper. “Any day now.”
    I force myself to laugh. “Do you honestly believe this nonsense?”
    “I’m afraid I do, Sita.” He pauses. “Kill him, before it’s too late.”
    “What?” I begin. But Mr. Kram has hung up.
    It’s just as well, I was about to do likewise. Of all the crazy legends I have ever heard, this one has got to be the strangest. Of course it’s pure nonsense, it has to be.
    How could Matt personally destroy history?

FIVE
     
    W e’re attacked a hundred and fifty miles west of Raleigh, where we planned to land. We’re so near the city that Matt has already dropped us down to ten thousand feet and begun to decrease our speed. Fortunately, he doesn’t overreact in the crisis. He quietly calls me into the pilot’s cabin and points to the two objects on our radar screen.
    “They’re fifty miles behind us and closing fast,” he says.
    “Can you ID them?” I ask.
    “Not specifically but they’ve got to be military jets. They’re traveling faster than the speed of sound. We have to assume they’re armed.”
    “And that they have orders to shoot us down,” I add.
    He nods grimly. “It’s possible they won’t bother to try to take us alive. Whoever’s after us clearly knows we’re hard tohandle. We should assume they’ll fire on us when they have a clean shot.”
    “Do you have a plan?”
    “I have a few ideas.” Matt nods to heavy cloud banks not far in front of us. “Those might give us cover we need to make an escape.”
    “Are you kidding? The clouds won’t block their radar.”
    “I’m not talking about staying in the plane.”
    I shake my head and smile. “How did I know you were going to say that? What should we do?”
    Matt glances toward the rear of the plane. “We have parachutes for all of us, although I want Cindy and Jolie to jump in tandem. They can bail out when we reach the clouds, along with Seymour. Then you and I can take down the jets.”
    “How?” I ask.
    “They’ll want to look us over before they shoot us down to be sure they have the right target. They’ll come up on our rear. That will give them an easy shot with their missiles. That’s when we should strike. If you can time a jump precisely, you should be able to grab hold of one of their wings.”
    “I’ll need a little luck to pull off a stunt like that.”
    “Sure. But we all know you were born with more than your fair share. When you catch the wing, keep things simple. Rip the canopy off the pilot’s cockpit. Once he’s exposed to the howling wind, he’ll have no choice but to eject. You let go the second he does.”
    “How are you going to take down the other jet?”
    “I’m going to ram it.”
    I reach out and touch his arm. “You’re not talking about a suicide strike, are you?”
    Matt frowns as he studies the approaching dots on the radar screen. “It’ll be tight but I should be able to bail out just before the collision.”
    “You’ll be playing tag with a heavily armed jet that has twice your speed and ten times your maneuverability. I doubt their pilot will let you near.”
    Matt acts confident. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve even Top Gun pilots don’t know about. You take care of your end and I’ll take care of mine. Now get the others ready.”
    I stand.