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“I look forward to it,” Zarrina replied A sho

t rang out, the transmission ended and the COM panel went dark Kurt flipped the switch a few ti

“Radio’s down,” he said

“What are we going to do?” Leilani demanded

“Head southwest and follow the original plan”

He hoped he hadn’t just sacrificed the Trouts, but he had no choice They had to make it to the Seychelles or at least to a vessel in the shipping lanes They could signal a ship and ditch nearby, but either way they had to get away from Aqua-Terra

THE FURY IN JINN AL-KHALIF’S eyes burned hot enough to melt steel The distance between his aircraft and Austin’s continued to grow Austin was escaping, and carrying with him both a woman Jinn desired to have and, more important, the secret of his whereabouts, a secret he needed to maintain

“Why are they faster than us?” Jinn demanded to know

“He duhter than us Thirty knots faster at least If you want to catch theo as well Othere lose a mile every two minutes”

Jinn considered this He’d suffered a major defeat already One plane down, another in the hands of an eneone, there was no telling what percentage of the microbots had survived either impact

“Even if we duo,” the pilot said, “we’ll only be able to match his speed We’ll never catch him”

Jinn had a better idea He unlatched his seat belt “Land,” he said “Immediately”

CHAPTER 37

KURT HELD THE JET ON A COURSE DUE WEST FROM AQUA-Terra He pulled back on the stick slightly, bringing the aircraft into a shallow cli every bit of speed he could froht beyond escape and infor sensation in his eyes snapped him out of it

“Smoke,” Leilani said