Hardy Boys Casefiles 11 Brother Against Brother (ORIGINAL)

Chapter 1

"Surprise!" Joe Hardy shouted, whipping an Uzi submachine gun from the cart he was pushing.

The two hijackers froze in the middle of the airplane aisle. A moment before they had thought he was one of them â€" a terrorist sneaking aboard the plane disguised as a food handler.

Now Joe and his brother, Frank, had dropped their disguises. They were really there to stop the hijacking and rescue Frank Hardy's girlfriend, Callie Shaw.

"We're all going to die!" a terrified passenger screamed.

"Not if I can help it," Joe Hardy said. "Drop those guns, you two."

But the terrorists didn't throw down their weapons. The dark-haired terrorist curled his lip, raised his Uzi, and began shooting. His blond comrade followed suit.

Screams rose, echoing wildly in the confined space of the plane.

Bullets came flying past Joe. It seemed as though an army was shooting. There were more bullets than two machine guns could fire. Miraculously, nothing hit him â€" in spite of the fact that he was right out in the open.

Joe knew he had to stop these guys. He leveled his gun in a firing position. But when he pulled the trigger, nothing happened. The Uzi was jammed!

More bullets tore past him â€" a storm of lead. Joe could hear screaming behind him â€" people were being hit. "Somebody help us!" a woman shouted. "Please!"

Joe couldn't help, though. He stood facing the terrorists, desperately trying to get his gun to work.

But his fingers were clumsy. He fumbled with the bolt of the gun, watching it slip out of his sweaty grasp.

Then a familiar voice cried out behind him. Joe did turn for a second and saw Callie Shaw staggering in the aisle. She had one hand over her shoulder â€" small streams of red ran between her fingers.

Joe stared at her dumbly, while his brother Frank was yelling, "Callie! You're hit!" Frank jumped to help her as the storm of bullets increased. Both Callie and Frank fell to the floor, chopped down by the enemy's fire. No!" The word was torn from Joe's throat. fNO!"

He threw away his useless gun, balled his hands Lata fists, and charged at the terrorists. They were still shooting, foot-long flames jeting from the muzzles of their Uzis. Yet none of their bullets touched Joe. Just as he was almost on top of them, the terrorists stepped aside, revealing a third man. He was middle-aged, with thinning hair and a pudgy face. Joe recognized him â€" the leader of the gang. The man grinned an evil smile and held out his right hand. In it was a bomb detonator! Joe leapt at him, but the head terrorist pressed the firing button.

; "Fool!" was the last word Joe heard before the plane exploded. It all made a terrible sort of sense to Joe. Frank and Callie were gone. And now he was going up in a ball of flame, just as his girl friend Iola had when a terrorist car bomb had exploded.

Joe stiffened and felt himself being flung into the air. And then ... "Sir, sir, wake up."

Joe's eyes opened to meet those of a young woman in uniform.

"Sir, please. We're about to land." Joe realized that every muscle in his body was rigid. His blond hair was damp with sweat. He forced himself to relax, shaking his hed. "What's going on?"

"Sorry to bother you. You must have dozed off. Please bring your seat to an upright position. We're about to land in Denver."

Joe looked down at his hands. They were still gripping the armrests. "Right!" he said, pushing the button to adjust the seat.