“Correct. As you know, a vampire cannot reproduce, and yet Yaksha did with Umara. That alone made us think that Matt was a man who was not supposed to be.”
“Did you have any other reasons?”
“Not long after Matt’s birth the Black Death—what you probably call the bubonic plague—struck Europe and Asia. You were alive during those days. You know that half the world was wiped out.”
“The Telar blamed Matt for the plague?”
“I suppose we needed someone to blame.”
“What other legends surround the Abomination?”
“The worst one, the strangest one, also came from our contact with celestial beings. They warned that if this man was born who was not a man, then at some point in the future, all mankind’s history would be lost.”
“Lost? How?”
“The legend is vague on this point. I don’t know what it means. But the legend does say that the Abomination will destroy our history for the love of a witch.”
“So you’re saying that when the Abomination meets this witch, this catastrophic event will occur?”
“Yes,” Mr. Kram replies.
“Does the legend point to a time? When is it supposed to happen?”
“Soon.”
“How soon?”
Mr. Kram’s voice drops to a whisper. “Any day now.”
I force myself to laugh. “Do you honestly believe this nonsense?”
“I’m afraid I do, Sita.” He pauses. “Kill him, before it’s too late.”
“What?” I begin. But Mr. Kram has hung up.
It’s just as well, I was about to do likewise. Of all the crazy legends I have ever heard, this one has got to be the strangest. Of course it’s pure nonsense, it has to be.
How could Matt personally destroy history?
FIVE
We’re attacked a hundred and fifty miles west of Raleigh, where we planned to land. We’re so near the city that Matt has already dropped us down to ten thousand feet and begun to decrease our speed. Fortunately, he doesn’t overreact in the crisis. He quietly calls me into the pilot’s cabin and points to the two objects on our radar screen.
“They’re fifty miles behind us and closing fast,” he says.
“Can you ID them?” I ask.
“Not specifically but they’ve got to be military jets. They’re traveling faster than the speed of sound. We have to assume they’re armed.”
“And that they have orders to shoot us down,” I add.
He nods grimly. “It’s possible they won’t bother to try to take us alive. Whoever’s after us clearly knows we’re hard to handle. We should assume they’ll fire on us when they have a clean shot.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“I have a few ideas.” Matt nods to heavy cloud banks not far in front of us. “Those might give us cover we need to make an escape.”
“Are you kidding? The clouds won’t block their radar.”
“I’m not talking about staying in the plane.”
I shake my head and smile. “How did I know you were going to say that? What should we do?”
Matt glances toward the rear of the plane. “We have parachutes for all of us, although I want Cindy and Jolie to jump in tandem. They can bail out when we reach the clouds, along with Seymour. Then you and I can take down the jets.”
“How?” I ask.
“They’ll want to look us over before they shoot us down to be sure they have the right target. They’ll come up on our rear. That will give them an easy shot with their missiles. That’s when we should strike. If you can time a jump precisely, you should be able to grab hold of one of their wings.”
“I’ll need a little luck to pull off a stunt like that.”
“Sure. But we all know you were born with more than your fair share. When you catch the wing, keep things simple. Rip the canopy off the pilot’s cockpit. Once he’s exposed to the howling wind, he’ll have no choice but to eject. You let go the second he does.”
“How are you going to take down the other jet?”
“I’m going to ram it.”
I reach out and touch his arm. “You’re not talking about a suicide strike, are you?”
Matt frowns as he studies the approaching dots on the radar screen. “It’ll be tight but I should be able to bail out just before the collision.”
“You’ll be playing tag with a heavily armed jet that has twice your speed and ten times your maneuverability. I doubt their pilot will let you near.”
Matt acts confident. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve even Top Gun pilots don’t know about. You take care of your end and I’ll take care of mine. Now get the others ready.”
I stand. “Just one thought. I should be the first one to jump. If I’m able to grab one of the jets, it’ll cause a distraction for both pilots and give the others more cover to complete their jumps.”
Matt nods. “You’re right. But don’t jump until you’re sure you can catch one of them.”
“Understood.” I stop and lean over and kiss his cheek. “I’ll see you on the ground.”
“It’s going to work, Sita,” he says.
Brutran takes the news calmly when I explain our situation, and so does Jolie, but Seymour is another matter.
“What is it with you?” he complains, not bothering to hide his fear. “You’re always having us jump out of something.”
“True. But this time you’ll be wearing a parachute.”
“Great. And I suppose it makes no difference to you that I’ve never worn a parachute before.”
I smile. “A kid can do it. All you have to do is be sure to pull the rip cord when you reach a thousand feet.”
“I’ll pull it the moment I jump,” Seymour says.
“Listen to Sita,” Brutran warns. “Your chute will be easy to spot, even with the clouds. You want to get as close to the ground as possible before pulling the cord. A thousand feet is good. That way their pilots will have less chance of calling in your location.”
“Exactly,” I say. “It will do us no good to escape the jets if they’re able to radio their people where we’ve landed.”
Brutran has already taken out a parachute and is fitting it over her shoulders. She puts one on her daughter as well, but—following Matt’s advice—she has no intention of allowing Jolie to use the chute. She only wants her daughter suited up so she can buckle onto her and perform what’s called a tandem jump. Despite what Hollywood movies would have people believe, it’s physically impossible for a human being to hold on to someone else when they pull their rip cord. The jolt is too strong. But Jolie will be safe if she is locked on to her mother.