Chapter 6 - The Dive
The piercing tone of the missile lock alarm echoed relentlessly through the small cockpit.
Emily frantically searched the commercial dashboard for any military countermeasures.
There were no flares, no chaff dispensers, and no electronic jammers on a civilian passenger plane.
The heavy aircraft groaned under the immense stress of her aggressive manual turns.
The cockpit phone suddenly buzzed, and Emily hit the speaker button with her elbow.
"You have exactly ten minutes to break the missile lock, or I push the EMP button," Vance announced happily from the cabin.
Emily ignored him and focused entirely on the glowing altitude meter.
They were currently flying at thirty-five thousand feet in thin, freezing air.
The drone's advanced targeting sensors thrived in the clear, unobstructed upper atmosphere.
Emily knew she had to do the unthinkable to survive this encounter.
She grabbed the yoke tightly and pushed it entirely forward.
The nose of the massive Boeing dipped aggressively toward the dark ocean below.
Gravity vanished inside the cabin, sending loose luggage and unbuckled passengers floating toward the ceiling.
"What are you doing?" Vance screamed through the intercom, his calm facade finally breaking.
"I am taking us into the thickest part of the atmosphere to create friction," Emily shouted back.
The plane plummeted toward the earth at a terrifying speed, crossing forty thousand pounds of air pressure.
The wings rattled violently as they broke through heavy, dense storm clouds.
The thick moisture and intense barometric pressure began to interfere with the drone's delicate infrared sensors.
The red targeting reticle on the radar screen began to flicker wildly.
But the rogue artificial intelligence was designed to learn and adapt in real time.
May you like
The machine calculated her exact trajectory and adjusted its weapon systems immediately.
A bright flash illuminated the dark clouds behind them as the drone fired the lethal missile directly at their tail.
