Zone

by Jack Lance

  ‘I strongly disagree,’ Ben said curtly. ‘If we ditch, we’re screwed. We have to risk it if there’s no other choice.’

  ‘Ditching a plane doesn’t necessarily make the situation hopeless,’ Jim said.

  ‘It is hopeless, Jim,’ Ben countered, anger in his voice. ‘Our chances of survival would be next to zero, and you know it. Besides, it’s still dark outside. We wouldn’t stand a chance.’

  ‘Maybe it won’t come to that,’ Jim retorted. He was surprised by Ben’s fierce reaction. He had never seen his friend act like this before, and he and Ben had never argued. Until now, he couldn’t even have imagined arguing with Ben.

  Jim decided not to press the issue and glanced askance at Greg. ‘I’m doing my best, Ben,’ was all he said.

  It was 5:15 and Princess was gradually losing altitude. The lower their altitude, the slower their rate of descent. When all four engines were still working, about five minutes ago, they had flown at 30,000 feet. Now they were at 24,000 feet.

  ‘I’m estimating we have another twenty minutes, maybe a few minutes more,’ Jim said. He received no contradiction from Ben.

  It would be another hour and a half before morning dawned in this part of the Pacific, assuming the world as they knew it was still down there. The sea remained hidden beneath a blanket of clouds, as it had been all night – another bizarre occurrence. The only light visible outside was afforded by stars and a three-quarter moon.

  Jim listened intently to the silence. He had never experienced anything like this before and couldn’t have dreamed of what flying would be like without the distant thrum of engines.

  Now the unthinkable had become the reality. The passengers wouldn’t hear anything, either. And for them the silence had to be far more surreal and frightening.

  Suddenly he had a desperate urge to contact someone out there in the world. He did not want to be alone. But there was no point transmitting radio messages. It would be like talking into an empty space.

  Besides, he wasn’t alone. Hundreds of people would live or die, depending on what he was about to do.

  This was the moment of truth. He had to put everything out of his mind except what needed to be done. Could he do that? Could he handle it? He had thought he could, just a few minutes ago. And he resolved to survive whatever or whoever was responsible for this pending catastrophe.

  Murderer! Jody whispered in his ear.

  He ignored her.

  ‘Engine one is not responding,’ Greg reported. ‘I’m going to try number four.’

  ‘All right,’ Jim said.

  The air in the cockpit was getting so thin they were having trouble breathing. Jim considered strapping on his oxygen mask, but decided against it. The same was true for Ben and Greg, assuming they had even considered it.

  They still had electrical power in the APU and – Jim assumed – in the ram air turbine, a small propeller that automatically deploys from the belly of an aircraft in the event of engine failure.

  Greg devoted his attention to the fuel valves and the evolutions needed to restart the engines. Everything depended on it.

  By 5:20, their indicated air speed had dropped to 250 knots.

  ‘When IAS reaches 230 knots I’m going to give flaps, otherwise I can’t fly anymore,’ Jim said. ‘But we’ll have to be below 20,000 feet before we can do that.’

  As Jim said that, Ben noted that their altitude had dropped to 22,000 feet.

  ‘I’m going to try and slow us down by lifting the nose a bit.’

  ‘Right,’ Greg said.

  ‘Transmit one more message. It probably won’t make a bean of difference, but try anyway. Besides, it’s procedure.’

  Greg nodded and placed the microphone close to his mouth. ‘Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This is Oceans 5-8-2 …’ He paused briefly. ‘Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This is Oceans 5-8-2, transmitting blind. Our current position is unknown. Our destination was Sydney. Total engine failure. We have lost all navigation and communication and are preparing to ditch. This will occur at approximately 12.45 Zulu time, twenty minutes from now. We have 353 people on board a Boeing 747-400. I repeat: we’re preparing to ditch because we have lost engine power. Oceans 5-8-2 out.’

  Princess descended to 20,000 feet. Jim again considered whether he should attempt a general restart, as Ben had suggested.

  Again he decided against it. Too much had gone wrong during this flight, and it was a stretch beyond sanity to believe that anything would start going right. If they couldn’t start the engines manually, it was likely this last effort would also fail. Instead of a belly landing, the plane would smash head-first into whatever was down there.

  Eighteen thousand feet. Breathing was still difficult but easing a little. They would need to be below 10,000 feet before the air pressure stabilized. Now that he had decided what he would do if Greg couldn’t restart the engines, Jim had some time to consider other matters such as saying a silent goodbye to his daughters, Cara and Natalie.

  He could see their sweet faces in his mind’s eye. If Ben was right and the plane was going to crash, he would never see them grow up; he would never have an opportunity to lecture them about the unreliable and ill-mannered boyfriends they would surely bring home. Maybe it was for the best – for those boys, anyway. Because none of them could ever measure up to his daughters. Not by a long shot. He loved his daughters and yearned to protect them from all the evil in the world.

  I don’t want to die tonight.

  From the corner of his eye, Jim watched Greg’s fruitless efforts to restart the engines.

  ‘Keep going, Greg,’ he urged.

  He turned toward Ben. ‘As I said, I’m not going to risk a general restart. If this doesn’t work, I’m going to ditch. I’ll inform the purser first, then the passengers.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Ben asked.

  ‘Very sure.’

  Ben didn’t argue. Someone had to make the decisions, and on this flight that responsibility fell to Jim Nichols. Ben accepted that, at least for now. His bleak expression betrayed his doubts and fears, however.

  At 5:30, Jim phoned the purser. ‘We have lost all our engines and are trying to restart them,’ he told Aaron. ‘I don’t know if it will work. Prepare the cabin for an emergency landing. You have ten minutes. We’re trying everything we can here, but ditching seems the most probable outcome.’

  ‘I understand,’ Aaron said.

  ‘You know what to do.’

  ‘Anything in particular I need to consider?’

  Jim gave it some thought, then, ‘Yes, move the Business Class passengers to the main deck. That will improve their chances of survival. Evacuate through the front sections, the back ones will be submerged. Take positions at the inflatables and appoint a couple of ABPs. Report back to me when you’ve done that.’

  After they broke off, Jim realized he had forgotten to ask about the conditions in the cabin. No matter, he had a pretty good sense of what those conditions were. It’s up to me now, he thought.

  Despite his best efforts, he could not resist thinking about his rage on the previous day. Again he wondered what, if anything, he had done to Jody. The last thing he would have wanted to do was kill her. She had been a good wife in many respects. Especially in the early years of their marriage.

  Don’t work yourself up. You haven’t killed her. She’s alive and kicking.

  Jim half expected ‘Jody’ to contradict him at that moment, but she did not.

  Heaving a heavy sigh, he addressed the passengers. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I’m sorry to report that we have a serious problem. All engines have failed. We are doing our damnedest to restart them. As a precaution, the crew will start preparing the cabin for an emergency landing. Please follow their instructions and remain calm. Be assured that we will do whatever we can to bring us down safely.’

  Jim couldn’t think of anything to add so he switched off the public-address system.

  Greg shook his head. ‘They’re stil
l not working. I’ve tried everything.’

  ‘Don’t give up,’ Jim said. He tasted warm blood in his mouth.

  He had drawn blood biting his lower lip.

  Their altitude fell to 9,000 feet.

  We’re taking you to our destination, Jody suddenly said.

  His breath faltered. He peered out the cockpit windows into the night.

  ‘Destination?’ he whispered to himself. ‘What destination?’

  Jody went silent again.

  Jim hadn’t given a thought to their destination. He had only focused on the possibility that he might need to ditch the plane. But that was hardly worthy of the term destination, not on a subconscious level, or on any level, for that matter.

  So he had not heard this last thought from within him.

  But who then had spoken to him?

  Jim began to realize something horrible.

  Jody, what the hell are you?

  TWENTY-SIX

  Pursuit

  At 5:20, Sharlene stared wide-eyed at the open door of the dimly lit toilet stall. Of the corpse, she espied only one foot. If she wanted to see all of Jerrod Kirby, she needed to take three steps forward. But she was afraid to take them.

  Because the body of the deceased man was not the only thing in there.

  Sharlene staggered backwards, and the foot in the stall disappeared from view.

  Then she found herself standing beside Cassie, who was again looking at her. That man was murdered, Sharlene thought she read in the girl’s mind. You know that, don’t you?

  Sabrina and Evelyn also turned their attention to Sharlene. ‘What on earth is going on?’ Cassie’s mother asked, rubbing her hands nervously. ‘Why is it so quiet all of a sudden?’

  Sharlene had to tell her something, and all she could think to do was stick to the story Aaron and her colleagues were telling everyone else.

  ‘We’re experiencing technical difficulties,’ she managed.

  Sabrina shook her head in disbelief. ‘We’re going to crash, aren’t we?’ she whispered nervously. ‘We’re all going to die.’

  Evelyn shot her a shocked look. ‘Don’t say that. You’re scaring me!’

  Evelyn either didn’t believe what was about to happen, Sharlene speculated, or she was in denial. But a part of her must realize an airplane flying without engines cannot stay aloft for long. All people on board were undoubtedly well aware of that basic law of gravity.

  Sharlene could summon no words to reassure Evelyn. She glanced around, hoping to see Aaron returning. But she only saw the toilet stall.

  The door to the stall was now closed.

  She drew a startled breath. This was so odd that for a split second she wondered if the door had ever been open. But then she remembered that Devin Felix had witnessed the same freakish thing.

  Had someone quickly closed the door? That was certainly possible, although the only other crew members in the aisle were Joyce and Michelle, and they were further away, past the toilet and the main galley, engaged in talking to passengers. None of the passengers could have closed it. They were all buckled in their seats and facing forward. Sharlene couldn’t imagine any of them volunteering to confront a corpse stretched out on the floor of the stall.

  She suspected that besides herself, Cassie, and Devin no one had even noticed that the door to the stall with Jerrod Kirby inside had briefly sprung open.

  Her heart racing, Sharlene looked back at Cassie, who sat with hunched shoulders, looking tense, helpless, and vulnerable. Do something, please, do something! she seemed to be on the cusp of crying out.

  ‘It is going to be all right, isn’t it?’ Evelyn asked in a pleading voice. The hefty woman was clutching Sabrina’s hand. What she wanted was confirmation, and Sharlene had to give it to her.

  ‘Of course it is,’ she said, as if to a child. But as she said it, she could not meet Evelyn’s eyes. Instead, she glanced toward the bathroom again.

  The door remained closed.

  It was up to the captain to determine if everything would be all right, Sharlene silently posited, and right now she wouldn’t hazard a guess as to whether Jim Nichols was even in command of the plane.

  As Sharlene walked away, Cassie watched her go with sad, mournful eyes. It was as though she were saying goodbye.

  Sharlene saw passengers murmuring prayers, holding hands, or just staring vacantly ahead. Some of them called out to her, but she didn’t pause to acknowledge them.

  According to her watch it was now 5:23. How long could the Princess stay airborne without engines? Not long, was the obvious answer. If she were going to do something, it had to be now.

  She paused before the curtain separating Tourist Class from the nose of the plane. Behind this curtain were the stairs leading to the upper deck. Did she dare go up them, alone?

  She should ask Aaron to come with her, but she hadn’t seen him during the past few minutes. Nor did she have time to search for him. Besides, she didn’t want to retrace her steps, because that would mean having to approach the toilet stall again.

  Sharlene decided to dash up the short flight of stairs. She would soon land on the upper deck, surrounded by people and close to the cockpit.

  If she felt that chill again, she would just keep going. That was all she had to do – keep moving.

  Drawing a breath, she swished the curtain aside and hurried toward the steps. She took them two at a time.

  And then she was on the upper deck.

  Nothing had stopped her or pursued her.

  As she looked in Business Class, she noticed Ray Jacobstein talking to one of the passengers.

  Now all she had to do was continue on to the flight deck, just a short distance ahead. Behind her, she heard the curtain of the upper-deck galley being drawn aside.

  Was it Mara? Wasn’t she supposed to be here with Ray in Business Class? Maybe she had stepped into the galley to secure the trolleys.

  Then Sharlene felt a hand on her shoulder.

  For a fleeting moment she convinced herself it was Aaron, following her to give her the support she so desperately needed. She prayed she would hear his voice.

  Go on in, see Jim. Tell him. Tell him that three hours ago, during the turbulence, we passed through the door of your nightmares. We’re now in a world where there is no Sydney. Something evil from that world has come aboard. They want us. You were here before, when you were dead. Now we’re almost at the end of our journey. But Jim is taking us home. Didn’t he promise you that? He’ll always get you back home.

  As soon as she realized it was not a hand on her shoulder, Sharlene felt chills besiege her body. Before she could cry out, something seized her and dragged her backwards into the galley. Her head bumped against the outside of an oven.

  She blinked, and saw an essence standing there, as forbidding and threatening as the darkest of nights.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  Searching

  The bathroom door, ajar a few minutes ago according to Devin, was now locked. Aaron thought Sharlene was behind it.

  He unlocked it and pushed the door open.

  He saw nothing except the body of Jerrod Kirby, looking the same as it had before, with one leg stretched out and the other raised, his hands folded in his lap, and his head resting against the bulkhead. He looked as if he was simply taking a nap.

  As Aaron closed the door, Rosette came up to him.

  ‘I’ve got Jim on the phone,’ she said. ‘He wants to talk to you.’

  ‘On my way,’ he said. ‘Where?’

  ‘Main galley.’

  He expected to hear the worst, and he did.

  ‘Aaron,’ Jim Nichols said, ‘we have lost all our engines and are trying to restart them. I don’t know if it will work. Prepare the cabin for an emergency landing. You have ten minutes. We’re trying everything we can here, but ditching seems the most probable outcome.’

  Aaron felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

  ‘I understand,’ he acknowledged.

  ‘You kn
ow what to do,’ Jim said.

  ‘Anything in particular I need to consider?’

  ‘Yes, move the Business Class passengers to the main deck,’ Jim answered. ‘That will improve their chances of survival. Evacuate through the front sections, the back ones will be submerged. Take positions at the inflatables and appoint a couple of ABPs. Report back to me when you’ve done that.’

  Aaron hung up.

  While he was preparing himself for what was to come, Alexandra came in. Just seeing her made him more worried about Sharlene. Then he heard Jim Nichols’ voice addressing the passengers.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I’m sorry to report that we have a serious problem. All engines have failed. We are doing our damnedest to restart them. As a precaution, the crew will start preparing the cabin for an emergency landing. Please follow their instructions and remain calm. Be assured that we will do whatever we can to bring us down safely.’

  He sounded as if worse had not yet come to worst. When Aaron left the galley, he briefly entertained the illusion that Jim had been able to convince the passengers that things could be worse. The cabins went quiet and the silence was eerie.

  But as a professional purser with many years of flying under his belt, Aaron understood that bewilderment reigned supreme in these kinds of circumstances. The passengers now fully understood that they were living in a nightmare, and that waking up from that nightmare was not an option.

  The entire crew except for Sharlene and one or two others gathered around Aaron, who forced his mind to focus on what needed to be done. Time was short.

  ‘You heard the captain,’ he said hoarsely to the crew. ‘Take positions at the exits, except in sections D and E. They’ll be submerged after we ditch. Mara and Ray, move the Business Class passengers down here. Devin, select a couple of ABPs. I’ve got one to recommend. I’ll point him out to you in a moment. Make sure everyone puts on their life jacket and then demonstrate the brace position. Secure everything that’s loose and take duty-free bottles out of the storage bins. Get rid of them. You know what to do. Questions?’