Bailout!

Disclaimer:  I do not own either of the Mission: Impossible series or any of the characters therein.  I receive no compensation or any other tangible benefit from this story.  I am just a fan who enjoys taking the team out for an adventure every now and then.  🙂

Summary:  A mission goes dangerously wrong.  This story may ultimately become part of a bigger mission story that hasn't been written yet. 

 

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"Can't you get this thing off the ground any faster?" Nicholas urged anxiously as he buckled himself into the passenger seat of the small airplane.  "They can't be far behind us."

"I'm doing the best that I can," Max replied, through clenched teeth, as his fingers punched all the relevant buttons with lightning speed.

The team had been sent to Nicaragua, on a mission to shut down a drug trafficking operation run by a man named Gustavo Lopez.  The handsome, dark-skinned Nicholas had posed as Tomas Rodriguez, a heroin dealer from nearby Honduras; Max as the pilot who would fly Rodriguez and his cargo back to his home country.

But somehow during the exchange, something had gone wrong.  One of Lopez's henchmen had exposed Nicholas as a fraud, and no amount of smooth talking could salvage the situation.  Lopez had opened fire, and Nicholas and Max had fled for their lives.

The plane was their only chance.

Now, as it slowly gathered momentum, Nicholas kept a cautious eye below, his heart coming up in his throat as he saw Lopez and his men rounding the curve and approaching them at breakneck speed.

"Max!"

"Hang on!"  Max responded.  He yanked the throttle control and the machine surged forward.  But even as they gained speed, and then altitude, Lopez and his men were not far behind.

As Nicholas watched, he could see the men pointing large weapons at the airplane and little bursts of light flashing at the end of them.

"They're shooting at us!" he cried out.

Max's lips were drawn into a thin line, and his jaw was set.  He could feel the occasional pinging as one bullet after another hit the frame.  No matter which direction he turned, the off-road vehicles were able to keep pace.

A few more tense seconds passed in silence as Max focused on getting them to safety.  Then, a shot from a long-range weapon met its mark, and Max felt the plane sputter slightly.  He cursed loudly.

"What is it?" asked Nicholas.

"They got one of the engines," muttered Max.

"Will we make it?"

Max hesitated before replying.  "I hope so."

"It looks like we're finally out of range," said Nicholas hopefully, as he watched the off-road vehicles slow to a stop.

Max said nothing, focusing instead on trying to coax the ailing aircraft to safety.  Come on, girl, he pleaded silently.  Come on.

After a few additional moments, as they were flying over a large section of rainforest, the plane lurched violently, and black smoke poured from its left side.  Max cursed again and jerked off his seatbelt.

"The other engine is failing," he said tersely.

"Emergency landing?"

"We'll never make it," the blond pilot declared.  "Grab that backpack in front of you and put it on," he ordered, as he switched to autopilot and then did the same.  "Our only chance is to jump."

Nicholas did as he was told, but his heart was in his throat.  "Jump?!  But, Max, I've never-"

"Nothing to it, Nicholas."  Max's voice was tense.  He lifted his hand to show his teammate the rip cord.  "Count to three, then pull.  The chute will do the rest."

Then came another violent lurch, and another large puff of smoke, and the aircraft began to nosedive.  "Gotta go!" Max yelled.

Nicholas hesitated at the open door, but Max pushed him out before following suit.  After three seconds, Max yelled, "Pull!" as he pulled his own cord.

In the initial few seconds of free fall, Max's mind was racing.  He wasn't worried about himself; he had jumped from airplanes many times.  But Nicholas had not.  There had been no time to make sure that he had known what to do.  This was one time that Max hoped his teammate would just trust him and do exactly as he was told.  He silently prayed that Nicholas would pull the cord at the right time, and that the chute would open.

As his own parachute unfolded, Max caught sight of a yellow blur to his right.  Nicholas' chute had also opened, but a sudden gust of wind had caught it and was carrying it a good distance away from Max.  Even though they were landing in the middle of a rainforest, Max wasn't worried.  Instead, the blond agent sent up a silent prayer of thanks; Nicholas would land safely, and Max would surely find him once he was on the ground.

A few moments later, Max landed on his feet in a small clearing.  He shook off the backpack and parachute, abandoning it to search for his teammate.  He glanced around, but all he could see were trees.

"Nicholas!" he called, as he headed off in the general direction of where he'd last seen his friend.

As he walked, he fished his communicator out of his pocket.

"Jim."

Back at team headquarters, the team leader had been waiting anxiously for Max's call.  There hadn't been time to contact him until now.  "Max, what's going on?"

"The mission's blown." Max answered grimly.  "Lopez's men made us.  We made it to the plane, but they shot it down."

"Oh my God," mumbled Grant, as Jim interjected,  "Are you all right?"

"We jumped," answered Max, "and we landed in the middle of a rainforest a few miles southeast of the compound.  Nicholas's chute was blown off course.  I'm looking for him now."

"Let us know when you find him," urged Jim.  "We'll grab a chopper and come get you both."

"Will do," responded Max.  "But be careful.  Better come in from the south side,  so they won't see you."

"Okay, Max.  We'll see you soon."

Max broke off the communication and resumed yelling his friend's name.  He cursed to himself.  This would be easier if Nicholas had had a communicator, he reasoned, but Lopez's men had searched him for weapons and wires so he hadn't been able to carry one.  Of course, there were the other possibilities:  that the dark-haired agent was hurt, and unable to hear Max's calls, or that he had blown many miles off course.

Max shook his head, as if to banish those thoughts, and continued trudging through trees and overgrowth.  "Nicholas!  Nicholas, where are you?"

Several more agonizing moments went by.  Finally, Max heard a faint cry, but could not ascertain its origin.

"Where are you?"  Max called.  "I hear you but I can't see you."

"Up here."

The voice was coming from somewhere above him.  Max looked up, but could see nothing at first; the sun was blinding where it peeked down through the forest.  The blond agent squinted, shielding his eyes with his hand, and tried again.  This time, he caught sight of the bright yellow parachute, snagged in the top of a tall avocado tree above him.  A closer look, and he spotted Nicholas, hanging down from it, his backpack snagged by a large limb, his feet dangling in the air.

"There you are.  Are you hurt?"  Max's voice was a mixture of relief and anxiety.

"Nothing's broken," came the frustrated reply.  "I'm just stuck."

Max smiled slightly.  "Hang on, buddy.  I'm coming up."

The ascent was not as easy as Max had hoped.  Despite his tall frame, he had to jump to grab the lowermost branch, using all of his upper body strength to pull his weight up.  From there, things were somewhat easier.  After what seemed like an eternity, Max positioned himself on a thick branch just below and to the left of his friend.

Nicholas' hair was wildly tousled, and there were bloody scrapes all over his face and arms, which hung uselessly by his sides.  The branch above him had ripped through both shoulder straps of his backpack, stopping his fall but from the looks of things slicing the dark-haired agent's upper back in the process.

Nicholas' teeth were clenched, and Max knew he was hurting.  "Take it easy, pal," he soothed.  "Let's get you down."

"Okay," came the tired reply.  "Tell me what to do."

Max took a moment to survey his surroundings and plan his strategy.  With Nicholas' entire body weight pulling on the straps, there was no way they could be unbuckled without upsetting his balance and sending both of them crashing to the ground.  Max would have to cut his friend free, one strap at a time.

Max eyed a sturdy-looking branch to Nicholas' left and just within his reach.  He reached in to extract his pocketknife as he spoke.  "If I cut this side free," he suggested, "do you think you can use this arm to grab that branch over there?"

"I'll try," Nicholas said bravely.  "My arms are numb."

"I'll help you," Max promised.

"Don't let me fall," Nicholas pleaded softly, and the combination of fear and trust in his teammate's voice shook Max to the core.  "And don't fall yourself."

"That's the plan," Max quipped.  With one motion, he cut the strap around Nicholas' left arm, reaching out to steady him as for one anxious moment he dangled precariously in space.  It took several seconds for enough feeling to return to his arm for him to reach out and grab the designated branch.

"You got it?" Max questioned urgently.

"I think so," Nicholas grunted.  His feet desperately searched until he found a sturdy branch below him; Max's arm maintained a steady grip around the shorter man's waist.  "Just don't let go."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Max quipped again.  "Now, same thing with the other side.  You ready?"

Nicholas nodded resolutely, and the pair repeated the motion.

Slowly, carefully, the two men began their descent down the fifty-or-so feet tall avocado tree.  They worked in a pattern.  Max would make sure Nicholas was stable, then descend until he found a sound place to perch.  Then he would steady his friend while Nicholas found a new handhold, then planted his feet once again.  Then they would repeat the cycle, over and over again, for what seemed like hours.

Finally, Max reached the final branch, about seven feet off the ground.

"This last step"s a doozy," he told his friend.  He let go of the branch he was holding and jumped down, landing on his feet but wincing slightly at the pain where they'd borne his entire body's weight in the forceful landing.  He looked up, and Nicholas was staring down at him uncertainly.

"I don't think I can do that, Max," he advised.  "My ankles won't take it."

"It's okay, Nicholas.  Just grab the trunk and ease yourself down.  I'll catch you."

Nicholas did as he was instructed, and Max kept his promise.  As he felt his friend's weight land safely, Max sighed heavily in relief and dropped to the ground in utter exhaustion.

"You okay?"  Nicholas asked quickly.

"Yeah."  Max smiled up at his teammate, but his eyes brimmed with concern.  "How are you doing?"

"I'm sore," Nicholas replied honestly, taking a seat beside Max.  Then his face broke into a grateful smile.  "But I'm still in one piece, thanks to you."  Nicholas looked down at the scrapes on his arms, picking bits of tree bark from one of the larger ones.  "I must look a mess."

"I wasn't going to say it," Max jibed, earning a chuckle from his companion.

"So, what now?" wondered Nicholas.

"We wait," answered Max.  "Grant and Jim are on their way with a chopper.  Which reminds me, I'd better let them know I found you."

Max keyed his communicator to let Jim know that he had found Nicholas and that both of them were safe.  When he finished, his friend was looking around quizzically.  "Max, where are they going to land the helicopter?" he asked.

Max grinned slightly and stifled the urge to give his teammate the customary shoulder slap, since he didn't want to injure him further.  "You're about to embark on your second big adventure today, pal," he replied.

Nicholas rolled his eyes in response.  "And something tells me it'll be just as much fun as the first one," he deadpanned.

A few moments later, a faint, choppy sound caught Max’s ear. Hastily he keyed his communicator.

“Jim, it sounds like you’re right over us.”

The elder agent looked down at the seemingly endless grove of trees below them. “Well, we are above a forest,” he observed. “But we can’t see any sign of you anywhere.”

“Jim,” said Grant suddenly, pointing downward. “There, atop that tree. Something yellow.”

“Nicholas’ parachute,” Max offered, having heard Grant’s voice. “We’re right below it.”

“There’s a small clearing about a hundred yards to the left of your location,” Grant advised. “We can drop the harnesses there.”

“Ten-four,” acknowledged Max, and he and Nicholas began the small trek toward the clearing Grant had indicated, where they found two safety harnesses waiting. Once the two men were buckled in, Max gave the signal, and Grant nudged the helicopter upward.

For approximately ten minutes, the teammates hung in midair, suspended from but securely fastened to the helicopter. Then Grant spotted a meadow just outside the rainforest. He lowered the chopper gently until Max and Nicholas reached the ground. Once they were unbuckled and had stepped clear, Grant landed just long enough for them to climb inside. They rode in comfort the rest of the way back to the team’s headquarters, where Shannon was waiting.

The End

(c) 2020