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He smiled broadly when she got near.
"What happened?" she shouted over the noise of the wind.
"It occurred to me," he yelled back, "that I made a mistake bring-ing you with me." He opened the door on purpose. He opened it for her.
Just as she began to step back, his hand lashed out and seized her by the wrist.
The intensity of his eyes was startling. He didn't look crazy. He looked ... fascinated. Almost as if he found her amazingly beautiful. But of course it wasn't her It was his power over her that fascinated him. It was himself that he loved so intensely.
She didn't try to pull away. Instead, she twisted her wrist so that she also gripped him.
"Come on, let's jump together," she shouted. "That would be the most romantic thing we could do."
He leaned close. "And miss out on all the history we're going to make together?" he said. Then he laughed. "Oh, I see, you thought I was going to throw you out of the plane. No, Pet, I took hold of you so that I could anchor you while you close the door. Wouldn't want the wind to suck you out, would we?"
"I have a better idea," said Petra. "I'll be the anchor, you close the door."
"But the anchor has to be the stronger, heavier one," said Achilles. "And that's me."
"Let's just leave it open, then," said Petra.
"Can't fly all the way to Kabul with the door open."
What did it mean, his telling her their destination? Did it mean that he trusted her a little? Or that it didn't matter what she knew, since he had decided she was going to die?
Then it occurred to her that if he wanted her dead, she would die. It was that simple. So why worry about it? If he wanted to kill her by pushing her out the door, how was that different from a bullet in the brain? Dead was dead. And if he didn't plan to kill her, the door needed to be closed, and having him serve as anchor was the second-best plan.
"Isn't there somebody in the crew who can do this?" she asked. "There's just the pilot," said Achilles. "Can you land a plane?" She shook her head.