Sailor Moon: Takedown by Jack Ryan
        Reenie has gone home to the 30th century. The Negamoon family has been defeated. The Doom Phantom has been destroyed. The future was safe. Until a month later...

        For the Sailor Scouts and their classmates, it was supposed to be a class trip to Paris. They would soak up some French culture, make use of two years in language class, and maybe even have some fun.

        For three men, it was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to set a friend free. They took it.

        Now, the Sailor Scouts are trapped thirty-five thousand feet above the Atlantic Ocean. They are at the mercy of the hijackers. They are unable to transform lest they reveal themselves and get people killed. Yet they must act, and act soon. Six hundred lives depend on it.


Chapter 1
        Tom Clancy’s character John Clark would have been proud of them. They were taking an international flight over water in a nice big plane with the necessary four engines. As the five girls took their seats in the center isle of the Air France 747-200, Lita thought of bringing that fact up. She opened her mouth to say it when she remembered that of the five, only she and Amy read Clancy’s books, and Amy had yet to read Rainbow Six, so she wouldn’t get it.

        Crossroads?second year French class was taking a week-long trip to Paris, and Lita, Mina, Serena, and Amy were all in that class. And Rei just had to tag along. Lita remembered Luna insisting that they stay together. Serena had vehemently argued, but eventually gave in. Oddly enough, she and Rei were sitting together, not bickering.

        “Amy, put that book down!"Serena snapped. Amy, sitting in the middle row, sighed and tucked the paperback edition of Cardinal of the Kremlin into her carry-on bag. Serena continued growling at her, “Do you have to be such a brainiac all the time?"

        “What am I supposed to do?" Amy asked patiently.

        “Yeah, Serena," Mina backed Amy up, “This flight is something like nine hours."

        “Nine hours, thirty two minutes, and twenty eight point two..."

        “Okay Amy!" they all said in unison. Amy shrugged. Her calculations would be off, of course, depending on wind speed and direction, air traffic delays, and even what the pilot had eaten for breakfast.

        “Well she doesn’t have to read that damn book the entire flight!" Unfortunately, the argument had continued with Amy in the middle.

        “Rei, most of the flight is going to be at night anyway." Lita reminded the fiery-tempered girl, “We’ll all be asleep!"

        “Not with the amount of coffee I drank waiting on this flight," Serena reddened a little.

        “And certainly not with you guys arguing about what I’m going to do while we’re in the air!" Amy snapped. Satisfied that they had all finally shut up, she reached back into her bag and pulled the book out again.

        “Well if you can’t beat ‘em..." Serena began, pulling out a graphic novel and opened it. The girls were quiet as the airplane taxied to the runway and took off.

        Elsewhere on the plane, three men sat together. One read an issue of the Wallstreet Journal. Another listened to a portable CD player and the third stared out the window. They had slipped easily through baggage check. Airport security had noticed nothing in their bags, even with the scanners. These three were simply too smart. They were old professionals at this. It would be easy.

        “Would you like anything?" The flight attendant asked, her voice laced with the French accent. The 747 was now at its cruising altitude, headed for Charles de Gaulle International. The flight attendants were now out getting drink orders before meals.

        “Um, sure." Serena tugged at her lower lip with her finger, thinking, “I’ll have some hot cocoa if ya got any."

        “I think we can handle that.." the flight attendant smiled. She looked up at Amy. “And you, miss?"

        “Oh, no. I’m fine." Amy replied, “I don’t like to drink while there’s turbulence."

        “Hmmm?" the attendant raised her eyebrow.

        “You know," Amy said, “Violent updrafts or downdrafts of air caused by uneven atmospheric pressure and exacerbated by sudden changes in wind speed and direction. I don’t like that. It makes me spill my drinks on myself." As she explained, the other four girls became more and more embarrassed.

        Totally bewildered, the attendant moved on.

        About two hours into the flight, the man reading the newspaper folded it and stuffed it into the provided netting with the magazines. He stood up and opened the overhead compartment. At the same time, the man listening to the CD player turned it off, put it into his carry-on, and began fishing something else out. The one near the window did the same.

        Each man pulled out their own one by two foot bag and zipped it open. The bags were lined with resins and composite materials that would conceal what was within. Soon, other passengers began to notice.


        By now, Amy was relaxed in her seat, listening to her own CD player. To her left, Serena and Rei were busy with a card game. To her right, Mina was snoozing and Lita watched the in-flight movie. Suddenly, Serena and Rei began bickering.

        “Hey, you can’t do that!?Rei insisted, “That is totally illegal!"

        “Is not!" Serena defended, “I can do it."

        “No you can’t, you have to have an eight to do that!"

        “You can do it with a nine, too!"

        “Yeah, but only if it’s a red nine!"

        “No, it can be a black nine!"

        “Can not!"

        “Can too!"

        “Can not, can not, can not!"

        “Can too, can too, can too!"

        Amy was anticipating the moment when Rei and Serena would turn to her, and she began thinking of the rules. Just then, several passengers began gasping.

        Mina, thinking they were all getting upset about the fight, said, “Guys, stop. The other passengers are starting to stare."

        Almost on some sickeningly hilarious cue, a tall man strode down the isle carrying a sub-machine gun in his hands.

        “Omigod!"Serena screamed, “what is that?"

        Amy looked up at the weapon and calmly said, “That is a Heckler and Koch Maschinenpistol MP10, made in Germany of stamped metal. It is capable of firing a 10mm bullet and that particular one seems to be loaded with a thirty round magazine. The MP10 is a favorite of German police forces as well as other law enforcement agencies worldwide and is third favorite to the Israeli Uzi and Czech model 56 with terrorists," It took a moment for Amy to realize what had just come out of her mouth. Her eyes went wide and with her hands to her head, she shrieked, “Oh my god. He’s got a gun!"

        The man stood in front of their passenger section while the other two went forward, so there was no chance of any of the girls sneaking into the back and transforming.

        “This is bad." Rei stated the obvious while trying to comfort Serena.

        “I wonder what they want?" Lita looked over at Mina. The blonde simply shrugged.

        Soon, an announcement from the pilot came in over the loudspeaker. “Ladies and gentlemen, if you haven’t noticed, we have some special company onboard. These men tell me they intend no harm and will only hurt anyone who tries something stupid or heroic. We will be diverting from Paris to an unknown place in Lybia."

        The passengers were silent for a while, then Rei said, “We’ve got to do something!"

        “Do what, Rei?" Amy retorted, “We can’t change into the Sailor Scouts in front of everyone and we can’t sneak away! Even if we could, the airplane isn’t bullet-proof. Which means it isn’t fireball-proof, lighting-proof, crescent beam-proof, or moon scepter-proof. If the plane gets a puncture in it, the cabin will depressurize and at this altitude, we’ll asphyxiate."

        “What about your bubbles?"

        Amy shook her head. “Nope. Charles' Law would be in effect there. My bubbles would lower the surrounding temperature to create a mist, but lower the temperature and you decrease pressure and volume. Fine on the ground but up here the plane might implode on itself.

        “And finally, we can’t rush them. They might start firing wildly. That’d kill passengers or punch a hole in the side of the plane or both. We don’t want to come off of this flight with anyone dead. That means we’re powerless to do anything."

        That left only one thing to be said, and it was Serena who said it in a frustrated sigh. “Damn it!"

Chapter 2