On Fire

Fog closes in on the tarmac. A business jet rolls down a taxiway nearby. It nears its take-off point some distance away, and its engines roar as it prepares to take off. Bright street lights gleam on aircraft parking areas and taxiways now made wet by fog. Miles of taxiways are outlined before them, extending far into the distance, blue for ground lights, yellow for the main runways, an endless game board for giants. The diagrammatic lights disappear far away, somewhere in the thickening fog.

  Kim doesn’t think that she and the men holding her can be seen from the main office, but there have to be security cameras somewhere. Security points at the airport have people to monitor the feeds. That is, if anyone is paying any attention.

  The experience of kicking Dai Gu backwards over the railing of the Ferry flashes back to her as again she kicks, this time at Gu, hard. She works to wrest herself from his grip and twists against the big Russian on her other side at the same time.

  The Russian pulls his gun and starts to aim it at her.

  Kim is very close and very surprised when Gu’s gun hand rises even faster. He has to let go of her arm in order to do it with such speed, but he manages to fire directly into the Russian’s oversized head. Kim grabs the air, comes away with the Russian’s gun as it falls, and breaks into a run.

  As Kim surges away, she hears Gu shout at the Russians. He must be telling them to get her, she thinks. She hopes he is also telling them not to shoot her!

  Kim heads flat out for the nearest hangar, which is not more than a few tens of feet away. The Russians better obey Gu. Don’t shoot screams over and over in her head. The warehouse has a series of overhead doors. One is open.

  Kim speeds headlong into its yawning darkness.

  Chapter 68