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as she watched her fortune piling into the plane. Shoot! she screamed.
Shoot that son of a bitch!
The guards had no idea who she meant, but they understood the com-
mand to shoot. The first one through the gate pulled up and pointed his
Uzi at the crowd of natives waiting to get up the ladder. There was a fat
one who seemed to be giving orders. He aimed for the center of his back.
A bullet took the guard high in the chest, knocking him back off his feet.
His Uzi clattered on the runway. The other guards pulled up, looking for
the source of the shot..
Kill them all, you fucking cowards! Beth Curtis yelled. Shoot!
The guards crouched to make themselves into smaller targets as they
scanned the edge of the jungle for movement.
There was a roar and the guards looked up to see two fighter jets coming
in low over the runway. Their decision was made. They ran for the cover
of the compound as Beth Curtis screamed at their backs.
She ran out to the dead guard, picked up his Uzi, and pointed it at the
747. A gunshot came from the jungle and a bullet ricocheted off the concrete
next to her. She turned the Uzi toward the trees and pulled the trigger. It
roared for three seconds, the recoil pulling her sideways as the bullets
chopped a pattern in the vegetation like a remotecontrol Cuisinart. She
brought the gun back around on the plane and pulled the trigger, but the
clip was empty.
She threw the gun to the ground and stood shaking as the last of the
ladders was thrown away from the plane and the doors were pulled shut.
65
Down to the Promised Land
Malink joined Tuck on the flight deck and tried to work the flight officer s
harness around his belly as Tuck released the ground brakes and the jet
started rolling. The two fighters did another pass overhead, one of the pilots
warning Tuck not to attempt to take off.
You forced me down, Tuck said into the headset mike. What more
do you guys want?
He rammed the throttles to maximum. They either had enough runway
or they didn t. What was certain was that he wouldn t know in time to
stop. They were going into the ocean or into the sky and that was that.
The flaps were down for maximum lift, which would use three times as
much fuel as a regular takeoff, but that was a problem to deal with once
they were in the air. He looked at the ocean ahead, then at the airspeed
indicator, then at the ocean ahead back and forth, waiting, waiting,
waiting for the airspeed indicator to reach the point where the plane would
lift. He was twenty knots short of takeoff speed when the end of the runway
disappeared from view and he started his pull up.
The rear wheels of the great plane grazed the water as it lifted into the
air. Tuck heard what he hoped was a cheer coming from the back of the
plane, but there was a distinct possibility that he was hearing collective
screams of terror. He had just lifted off with three hundred and thirty-two
people who had never flown before. Tuck thought of Sepie, who would
have started her first plane ride two hours ago.
Where are we going? Malink asked.
Island of the Sequined Love Nun / 311
He was trying to compose himself, but when Tuck looked at him, he saw
that the old chief s eyes were as wide as saucers.
A place called Costa Rica, Tuck said. You ever heard of it?
Malink shook his head. Vincent tells you to take us there.
No, it was my idea, actually.
There is plenty cargo on Costa Rica?
Couldn t say, Malink, but the climate is nice and there s no extradition.
That is good? Malink said, as if he had the slightest idea what extradi-
tion was.
Tuck admired the old chief. He was here because his god told him to be
here. He had just made a decision that would change the history of an entire
population, and he had done it on faith.
Tuck set the autopilot and crawled out of the pilot s seat. I m going back
to make sure everyone is strapped in. Don t touch anything.
Malink s eyes went wide again. Who is flying the plane?
Tuck winked. I think you know. He turned and headed down the steps
to check on his passengers.
Pushed to his limit and no little bit frightened, Sebastian Curtis sneaked
up on his wife, who was in full tantrum, and injected her in the thigh with
a syringe full of Valium. She turned and gave him a good shot to the jaw
before she started to calm down. He caught her by the shoulders and backed
her into the office chair in front of the computer.
Don t worry, he said, Nomura is on his way back with the Lear. We ll
be long gone before anyone can get here.
How did he do it? Beth s voice was weak now, trailing off at the end.
I don t know. I m surprised he s even alive. We ll be fine. We have
plenty of money. Not as much as we d hoped, but if we re careful&
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