Читать книгу Two Dauntless Hearts онлайн | страница 12

“And the excellent pilot,” Buck added.

Marly shot a grateful smile over her shoulder. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

And then, without warning, the engine sputtered, coughed and died.

Marly set the plane altitude for the best glide speed and turned her focus to the control panel. Her experience and training kicked in.

“What’s happening?” Pitbull’s voice said into her ear.

She didn’t respond, needing every second of her attention on safely landing the disabled plane. Because they were so low already, Marly mentally went through an abbreviated emergency checklist and lowered the landing gear, all while scanning the surroundings for a suitable place to land.

Marly keyed her mic. “Mayday, mayday, mayday.”

“Holy hell,” Pitbull whispered beside her.

She’d promised to keep him safe on this flight, probably jinxing them all in the process. “Bravo-bravo-niner-eight-niner, experiencing engine failure. Bearing down on the savanna twenty miles north of the All Things Wild Safari & Resort, seven souls on board.”

The air traffic controller acknowledged her distress call and offered to send a rescue crew to the location of their transponder.

Marly eased back on the yoke, trading airspeed for altitude, aiming the plane in the direction of the longest, flattest spot on the huge field. Unfortunately, it was occupied by a herd of zebras and water buffalos.

She couldn’t take her gaze off the ground ahead, so she raised her voice loud enough that the men in the rear could hear. “Gentlemen, brace yourselves for a rough landing.”

ssss1

When the engine cut out, Pitbull’s heart slammed against his ribs and pulsed through his veins until Marly gave the warning to brace for landing. Then, as with all dangerous assignments, he drew into himself and focused on the mission.

In this case, it was to survive and get everyone out of what would surely be burning wreckage, if they were lucky enough to be alive upon landing.

“Move, damn you,” Marly muttered into the mic, her concentration on the zebras trotting across the field in front of the descending plane. “Move.”