Chapter 2 - The Broken Pin
Álex fought the controls with both hands.
“Come on. Come on.”
The valley rolled beneath them.
Rocky cliffs filled the windshield.
“Altitude?” Marcos yelled.
“Too low for comfort and too high to crash!”
“Can we turn back?”
“No.”
“Can we reach the road?”
“No!”
Iván grabbed the pilot’s seat.
“Then find somewhere.”
Álex shot him a look.
“That’s what I’m doing.”
Another hydraulic warning flashed.
The helicopter tilted.
Álvaro slammed into the cabin wall.
Marcos pressed his face to the window.
He wasn’t looking for a landing zone.
He was looking for Lucía.
“Are you insane?” Álvaro shouted.
“She could still be alive.”
“She fell hundreds of feet.”
“I know what I saw.”
“You saw her fall.”
Marcos suddenly froze.
“Wait.”
Far below, between two ridges, something moved.
“Álvaro.”
“What?”
“There.”
A tiny figure lay near a patch of brush.
Then it moved again.
Marcos slapped the window.
“She’s alive!”
Iván turned.
“That could be anything.”
“It’s a person!”
The helicopter spun hard.
The valley vanished from view.
Álex cursed.
“I can’t go back.”
Marcos grabbed the cockpit frame.
“We have to.”
“We land first or nobody goes anywhere.”
Two minutes later, Álex spotted a narrow clearing.
Barely large enough.
“Brace!”
The helicopter hit the ground hard enough to throw everyone forward.
The landing gear bounced.
A side panel cracked.
Then the aircraft settled.
Silence.
Álvaro touched blood near his eyebrow.
Marcos unbuckled immediately.
“I’m going back.”
Iván blocked the door.
“No.”
Marcos stared at him.
“Move.”
“The mission isn’t over.”
“You pushed Lucía out of a helicopter.”
“She stole classified material.”
“And you decided that gave you permission to murder her?”
Iván stepped closer.
“Careful.”
Marcos didn’t move.
“No. You be careful.”
Álex climbed out through the pilot’s door.
A minute later he called them outside.
He was crouched near the damaged tail section.
“What is it?” Álvaro asked.
Álex held out a metal pin.
The end was cleanly cut.
“This didn’t fail.”
Marcos frowned.
“What are you saying?”
“Somebody tampered with it.”
Iván shook his head.
“That’s impossible.”
Álex looked directly at him.
“No. It’s deliberate.”
He pointed toward the rotor assembly.
“Whoever did this knew enough to create a delayed failure.”
Marcos remembered Lucía’s final words.
When the alarm goes off, it’ll already be too late.
Then the emergency radio cracked to life.
Static.
A voice.
Weak.
Female.
“…Base… this is Navarro…”
Marcos nearly dropped the radio.
“Lucía?”
Static.
Then—
“Don’t trust Rojas.”
Every head turned toward Iván.
May you like
Lucía’s voice returned one final time.
“I have proof.”
