Revenge (20 page)

JIMMY
COATES:
SABOTAGE

If you think it’s over, think again

Sneak preview
…

BANG! The plane gave a massive jolt. Jimmy was hurled sideways, slamming his head against the side of the cockpit. If it hadn’t been for the helmet, he would have been knocked out cold. He heard both agents yelling through his headset, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. He was suddenly aware of the whole plane violently shaking. His stomach rolled around, and he cried out without even knowing what he was doing. His head was still reeling from the impact. Then he heard the first clear words through his earpiece.

“It’s there!” the pilot shouted. His reedy voice came as a shock. Jimmy strained against his strap to see what the man was talking about.

“On your DS!” said Froy urgently, reaching over to shake Jimmy’s shoulder. “Your display station!”

Jimmy looked down at the screen in front of him. There was a green outline of jagged straight lines surrounded by blue, representing the coastline beneath them. The whole screen was criss-crossed by thin blue and red lines, but it was hard to make anything out because of the furious vibrations of the plane.

“It’s sprung out of nowhere!” the pilot cried. “They won’t
miss next time.” Then Jimmy saw it – first the black aeroplane icon that represented the EA-22G Growler he was sitting in. Then, barely two centimetres away on the screen, the flashing red dot that could only mean trouble.

“They’ve found me!” Jimmy gasped, barely able to get the words out. “How did they find me?”

“Hold on tight!” the pilot screamed.

For a second Jimmy felt like the plane had disappeared from under him. The pilot had sent them into a rapid dive, then he swooped out of it almost immediately. The massive reversal of the g-force thrust Jimmy deep into his seat, and the blood rushing to his head made it feel like his brain was about to burst.

“I don’t know how they found us,” Froy shouted, peering behind him through the glass. “I’m sorry Jimmy.” Jimmy looked over as well. With the intense shaking and the limited view, he only caught sight of it for a split-second, but it was enough – the wing-tip of another plane. It was behind them, it was fast, and it could only be NJ7.

The plane surged onwards, back up above the clouds. The vibrations calmed a little and the pilot kept deploying what countermeasures he could. Instinctively, Jimmy knew that first would come a hot flare to divert heat-seeking missiles, then chaff – debris which would disrupt any missile that automatically sought the nearest solid objects.

Jimmy closed his eyes, searching for that power inside him. He had to forget that he was terrified – that was only the human part of him, the 38 per cent that was a normal,
frightened boy. He willed the assassin to take him over. He knew that somewhere within him was enough strength, resilience and expert knowledge to survive this crisis.

At last, he felt a rush up the side of his neck – like a rising flood taking over his brain and energising every muscle. His breathing slowed. The panic in his chest crumpled into a harmless ball.

“Can’t we fire back?” Froy shouted.

Jimmy didn’t wait for the pilot to answer. His voice came out low and calm.

“Check your DS,” he ordered, punching a couple of keys. Schematics of the outside of the plane appeared, with the rockets highlighted. “Raytheon HARM High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile, AGM-99,” he announced, thrilled at his own conviction. “This is an Electronic Countermeasures plane, not an attack plane. Our missiles can take out anti-radar artillery systems and surface-to-air missiles on land or on ships over 100 kilometres away. But we’ve got no way of attacking another plane.”

The plane rocked again and the noise in the cockpit escalated. “We’re losing control!” the pilot screamed above the rattle of the metal struts that were barely holding the cabin together.

CRASH!

It felt as if the plane had been hit by a sledgehammer. A direct hit. Jimmy was thrown to the side, slamming his helmet against the wall of the cockpit again.

Then the plane went into tailspin.

Joe Craig studied Philosophy at Cambridge University, then became a songwriter. Within a year, however, his love of stories had taken over and he was writing the first novel in the
Jimmy Coates
series. It was published in 2005. He is now a full time author and likes to keep in touch with his readers through his website www.joecraig.co.uk.

When he’s not writing he’s visiting schools, playing the piano, inventing snacks, playing football, coaching cricket, reading or watching a movie.

He lives in London.

Jimmy Coates: Killer
Jimmy Coates: Target

Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au

Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900
Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca

New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz

United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk

United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com