CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY NINE – THE PLANE CRASH

The world dissolved into a whiplash frenzy of noise, motion, and incredible force. Karina felt herself tumbling, Becky ripped from her arms by the sheer violence of their impact as their restraints failed. She collided with unforgiving metal bulkheads, bouncing and crashing through a nightmarish funhouse as the plane tore itself apart around them. Just as abruptly as it had begun, everything went terribly, mercifully still. Karina floated in a daze, unsure if she was even conscious. Agony lanced through her body from a dozen different sources, but it felt oddly distant. Muted, as if witnessed through someone else's eyes. A sharp wail of distress pierced the ringing in her ears. Becky...Becky was crying, hurt, alone. With a monumental effort, Karina dragged herself back to full awareness, blinking and struggling upright amidst the shredded ruin of the cargo bay. John lay sprawled only a few feet away, body twisted at an unnatural angle and deathly still. "John..." she rasped, tas