It felt so good to be in control again, to have technology back at her fingertips, that Jaya could almost feel the flow of happy sparks flying through her as she quickly looked over the helicopter controls. She mentally sifted through every flight simulation game she’d ever played where she’d had to fly using similar instruments and began pushing buttons. She let out a gratified whoop when she heard the helicopter blades roar to life over her head. She knew flying an actual helicopter wouldn’t be the same as gameplay, but she didn’t have much choice. And she’d spent hours upon hours learning how to fly in virtual reality simulators. It was how she got exercise and learned what she needed to know to keep her in business.

The best game designers in the world used systems that exactly matched reality. And Jaya had made sure she connected with those designers when using the simulators. In theory, she should be able to fly all sorts of different aircrafts. She glanced over the controls while the rotator blades picked up speed. She recognized most everything she would need to fly the helicopter.

“Okay,” she whispered. “I think we can do this.”

She reached behind her and pulled the seatbelt over her head, latching it around her middle. She glanced over at the squirming bag on the co-pilot seat. There was no way to buckle Haty in, though she wished she could figure something out.

“Hang on to something, kitten, this could be a bumpy ride.”

Letting out a slow breath Jaya opened the throttle and pulled the lever gradually up so she could ascend. As the pitch increased she pushed the left pedal. The helicopter started to move to the right. She shrieked and immediately let go of the throttle, afraid she would hit the security perimeter fence around the heli-pad. She forced herself to take a deep breath and try again. She had to get moving. Ivan would know where she was by now and his men would be on their way to her position. If she wanted to leave the island she needed to do it now.

She took hold of the throttle and tried again. This time she was able to leave the ground without the helicopter pulling too far to either the left or the right, though the controls were extremely sensitive and she had a difficult time leveling out. She broke into a sweat as the aircraft rose. She glanced down, her heart racing. Ivan’s men were attempting to get onto the platform, but she’d locked out the security codes.

She used the extra time it took them to get onto the heli-pad to calmly level out the helicopter and lift it higher. By the time they broke through the fence the helicopter was too high to reach and it quickly became clear that they had orders not to shoot her down.

“Now we head to Jakarta,” she whispered, manoeuvering toward where she hoped Indonesia was. She’d taken the vague information Ivan had given her on the island’s location, cross-referenced it with what she knew about this part of the world and the navigation instruments on her dashboard. “Let’s hope we have enough gas, Hatyarra, or this is going to be a very short flight.”

The most terrifying moment of her entire escape came when she flew the helicopter over the cliffs toward the open ocean. “Oh, holy shit!” she shouted, sorely tempted to squeeze her eyes shut. But she needed her sight, which included the breathtaking drop directly below her.

Then she made the first of a series of colossal mistakes. She decided she wanted to fly lower so she wouldn’t die in case she accidentally crashed. Which she probably wouldn’t have done if she’d just stayed level and kept flying toward Indonesia. She was still pretty close to the island when the helicopter started to jerk to the left. She over-compensated by pulling too hard on the throttle, which is when the helicopter began spinning. It jumped up and down then plunged toward the choppy waves.

Jaya was thrown around in her seat. She gripped the throttle, but it seemed to lock in position. Nothing she did made a difference. She was going to crash!

She reached for the bag on the other seat and clutched it against her chest, feeling the warmth of Haty seeping through. The cat seemed to sense their predicament. She used her tiny claws to cling to Jaya through the sack. Jaya sobbed against the bundle. “I’m so sorry, baby,” she whispered. “Oh god, please don’t die.”

Seconds later Jaya was jerked hard to the side and then flung back in her seat as the helicopter hit the water. She screamed, her voice echoing through the small space. The whirling blades slashed the water and forced the helicopter sideways. She watched in horror as one of them bent and snapped off. A rush of water hit the window in front of her. The helicopter was completely sideways in the ocean and sinking fast.

She took Haty out of the makeshift bag and very carefully dropped her the few feet to the other side of the helicopter. Then she braced herself as best she could so she wouldn’t fall and unbuckled her seatbelt. Standing on the edge of the opposite seat she tried to reach over her head and push the door open. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she still forced her brain to move, to work through the problem. There wasn’t much she could do for herself except stay with the helicopter and hope a boat came before she drowned. But maybe Haty could swim back to the island. She had to climb on top of the dashboard and use the throttle for a foothold in order to finally get a good grip on the handle. Just as she threw the door open a big wave slapped against the side of the helicopter, sending it listing further to the side. Jaya was thrown back against the opposite door.

“Ouch!”

Haty landed on top of her just as another wave hit the helicopter, soaking them through the now open door. Haty screeched and burrowed into Jaya’s neck. Jaya curled onto her side, the kitten cuddled against her. She sobbed helplessly. She knew she needed to get up, keep moving. Check to see if someone was coming for them. Urge Haty to start swimming, but she was too frightened to move.

She was jarred from her momentary pity party with a gasp when water rushed over her. She lifted her head. Water was coming rapidly through the open door. Looking around she stared out the front window and realized the helicopter was now swiftly sinking. This galvanized her into action. She didn’t want to be trapped inside when it finally went down, though she was screwed if she was out in open water. She couldn’t swim.

She crawled toward the opening, a shivering Haty clinging to her shoulder. “Okay, baby, when we get out that door, you need to just start swimming. Go to the mainland and find Ivan. I’m probably not going to be able to go with you. Humans aren’t like cats, we aren’t born with the ability to swim, oh god!” The biggest wave she’d seen yet hit the helicopter, swamping the entire thing and flooding the interior almost completely. She sputtered and clung to the seats while Haty clawed her shoulders in a desperate attempt to hang on.

Jaya reached for the edge of the helicopter and dragged herself toward the door, resisting the swirling water attempting to suck her back in. She grabbed Haty, kissed the wet, squirming kitten and flung her out the door. “Swim, Haty! Go, go, go!”

The little grey and white body hit the water, bounced, sank then came up screeching angrily. She immediately turned around and headed straight back for Jaya. Jaya sighed and reached for her. She was pretty sure that was exactly what Haty was going to do, but she’d had to try. “Okay, sweetie, you’re okay,” she said soothingly. She reached out to scoop up the yowling mass as it hurtled toward her. She tossed the bedraggled kitten back up on her shoulder where it burrowed in Jaya’s hair. “Not much of a killer now, are you?” Jaya muttered as she attempted to grip the side of the helicopter and pull herself up on top before it sank completely under the waves.

She slipped and lost her grip, falling off the side and sinking into the water. Panic hit as water engulfed her. She opened her mouth to scream but salty water rushed into her mouth and nose, choking her. She waved her arms and kicked her legs, trying to push herself up. Images of nothing but endless dark blue ocean stretched out beneath her flashed through her brain scaring her. Her heart felt like it was bursting in her chest. Haty finally let go of her. Jaya accidentally kicked the helicopter. Pain rushed through her leg, but she was able to reach out and take hold of the edge of the door and haul herself back up.

As soon as her head broke the surface, Haty launched herself back at Jaya, tucking her body beneath the heavy, wet curtain of Jaya’s hair. Jaya coughed and gagged as water streamed down her face. She cried, her tears mixing with the sea water, and pulled herself against the front of the helicopter, resting her face against the windshield. She was utterly exhausted.

“Haty,” she said, her voice rough from swallowing too much water. “You’re going to have to swim once this thing goes down. J-just promise if you see I-Ivan…” Her teeth chattered so hard, from either fear or cold, maybe both, she could barely speak. The helicopter sank steadily until only the tiny portion Jaya clung to was above the surface still. “P-promise you’ll bite his nose off if you can. J-just wait until he’s asleep then you get him good. Okay, baby kitty? Revenge for mama?”

Jaya cried out in despair as the helicopter sank below the surface completely. “Oh god!” she yelled as she kicked and thrashed in an attempt not to get dragged under with the sinking machine. “Go, Haty!”