To Honor: Vampire Assassin League #22 by Jackie Ivie Page A

what the world contains without you, Christine. It is a landscape of complete and total loneliness. Total darkness.”
    On cue, the cabin lights went out. An odd hissing sound came next. Takeshi was instantly standing in the midst of the cabin with Christine in his arms. She didn’t know how. He moved so quickly. One hand was wrapping the black silk about her, cocooning her against him. The other held her in place. The cabin was murky dark. And it was tilting rapidly and markedly. Takeshi kept angling to compensate. She decided right then that she didn’t care about anything other than how it felt to be near him. Close. Protected. Secure. She nuzzled her nose against his neck. Listened to his heart beat.
    Or was it hers?
    The intercom buzzed on.
    “Hi back there! This is your pilot speaking. Sorry to interrupt, but we appear to have problems.”
    “Hunters?” Takeshi asked.
    “More like technical issues. When you fly experimental aircraft, you get experimental results. We don’t have much time. This baby fueled by hydrogen?”
    “ Hai .”
    “Then we got less time. So. Here’s your options. Right now you can have a bad landing on a too-short glacier...or you can have a spectacularly bad landing into the side of a mountain. And I wouldn’t take too much time deciding.”
    “Option one,” Takeshi answered.
    “Good choice. Out.”
    “We’re going to die!” Christine cried out.
    “Not possible, love. I told you. I’m already dead.”
    “Well I’m not!”
    And the jet slammed into something.

CHAPTER TEN
    The ninja inside took over.
    Takeshi’s entire existence had been spent for one thing - turning his body into a weapon of precision, timing, and skill. He’d molded himself into a being of grace and strength; speed and skill. He’d learned to utilize every gesture. Use every sense. He’d been one of the Aka-Sourah Clan’s best at ninjitsu even before he’d been turned. But vampirism gave him the upper hand. He’d used the vastness of time mastering every form of martial arts, every weapon, all maneuvers. He could disable or kill with a finger.
    He just hoped it would be enough.
    His multi-million dollar, experimental stealth jet slid along an uneven surface, randomly jerking as it collided against obstacles. The air was alive with a cacophony of sound. Screeching metal. Burning brakes. Throbbing engines. Unsecured items became lethal projectiles. Kitchen cutlery. His tea sets. Random toiletries. And then the furnishings started ripping free of moorings, adding a groaning sound to the mix. Takeshi leapt and spun, dodging every oncoming item. He didn’t use his eyes. He didn’t need to. His hearing was acute. He evaded everything with precision. Timing. And Christine proved the perfect companion. She became an extension of him, her movements only a hairsbreadth of time behind his.
    The cabin started disintegrating next. Debris clogged each breath. His hand-hewn and oiled mahogany paneling peeled away in strips, revealing the outer skin, and when that sliced open, he saw sparks. Moon-caressed ice fields. What could be mountainside. Star-filled sky.
    All a blur.
    They weren’t slowing quickly enough.
    He ran the plane’s specs through his mind, while his body continually dodged items coming at bullet-speed. He knew the specs by heart. He’d studied and approved them. Takeshi attended every board meeting. Members of his board were hand-chosen. Well-paid. His meetings were all scheduled for midnight. Tokyo time. It was a good hour for business with the other directors. No one balked. They were scattered about the globe. Everyone connected wirelessly.
    They needed to exit the plane. That gave him options. If Vaughn was the pilot he claimed to be, the man was releasing hydrogen as they slid. That’s what he needed this time for. Hydrogen wouldn’t combust if it wasn’t contained. It would dissipate and become harmless. Hydrogen rose two times faster than helium. Six times faster than natural gas. That