SECRET SALVATION

by Chad Josey

  The headsets went silent. Joe looked through the cockpit and saw billowing cumulous nimbus clouds ahead. The clouds seemed to appear out of nowhere on the horizon.

  To this point, the flight had remained smooth as if they were floating above the ocean. After everyone had overheard what the pilot had told Gabriel, the plane vibrated up-and-down.

  Clouds grew taller and menacing frightening away the sun as the light disappeared. The plane bounced off one cloud to the other as the pilot did his best holding the flight steady.

  Gabriel’s voice appeared again through the headsets. “Looks like we’re experiencing some turbulence here. Make sure your seatbelts are tight and hold on.”

  The once, bright sunshine turned into a scary purple-greenish hue. Before, the plane had flown through the maze of billowing clouds, but no longer.

  Clouds caved in their pathway through the sky. Flashes of lightning danced around them. Each flash brought a round of screams from the passengers. Mary clutched her nails deep into Joe’s bare leg beside her.

  Gabriel’s microphone remained open. The pilot said, “Sir, I don’t know if I can handle… the plane… is… May Day, May Day…. this is Foxtrot-Alpha-Kilo-Echo. We are at position—”

  The headsets fell silent. All the passengers held onto the seats and windows. They braced themselves to keep from slamming against the seats. Everyone looked around at each other. Their faces etched with the sheer terror of what was happening.

  Mary pressed herself as close to Joe as possible with a white-knuckle death-grip on his arm. The growing pressure snapped Joe from his frighten trance.

  What the hell is happening? All this shit I’ve gone through keeping this secret, and we’re going to die in a plane crash?

  Joe sensed the growing panic coming from Gabriel and the pilot. The plane nose-dived. A sudden tip forward caused a loud scream to erupt from everyone, including Joe.

  The screams eclipsed the noise of the plane’s engines and roaring thunder. Joe grabbed Mary as tight as he could and yelled, “I love you.”

  She responded the same. The plane leaped in a violent motion upward as if it had come to the bottom of a roller-coaster.

  With a sudden, quick-change in direction, Joe saw Mary’s face look as if she was falling inside of a tunnel. The surrounding area grew darker-and-darker. He watched as her eyes opened-and-closed as slow as his.

  They both passed out at the same time. Complete darkness filled their eyes. Silence entered the cabin. Their grip on each other loosened as they slumped together.

  The other five passengers joined them in a similar, peaceful slumber in their seats. The plane bounced performing a roller-coaster ride through the storm clouds.

  Through the headsets inside the frantic plane came Gabriel’s voice. “Okay, pull up now. We are clear. They are all out.”

  “Yes, sir,” the pilot said. He pulled back on the flight controls causing the plane to thrust its way through the sudden storm.

  The pilot reached down on the console and turned off the flight-locator beacon. Moments had passed as the plane floated as calm as before emerging from the black, cloud tops

  “Okay, take us to the ship,” Gabriel said.

  The pilot turned the plane. They flew in the opposite direction across the Indian Ocean for hours. The cabin remained quiet with its passengers asleep in their seats unaware they were safe.

  24-Safety

  PRESENT – 4:11 p.m.

  Somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean

  1,681 Days Prior to Impact

  DARKNESS. Joe had lost consciousness for several hours.

  Light. It flickered inside his closed eyelids as he slowly opened them, his vision blurry. Joe felt padding and paper underneath him in a mysterious room.

  Uneasiness overcame Joe. The table rocked back-and-forth feeling as if he was playing on a large swing.

  What in the hell?

  The motion was constant but gentle. Joe’s eyes blinked faster clearing his vision. He lay on a hospital bed inside of a gray, dim-lit room.

  Joe forced his torso up and swung his legs across the edge of the bed. He scanned around the room. It was empty. A single wooden chair sat in the corner. On the opposite wall from him was a large mirror.

  Where… where am I?

  His tongue moved inside his mouth; the dryness of his throat as coarse as cotton balls.

  Moisture filled his lips. Joe stretched trying to shake-off what reminded him of the worst hangover he had ever experienced after Charlie’s bachelor party many years prior.

  What happened?

  Not moving his body, the bed continued rocking. Joe lowered his head stretching out his neck, and in an instant, one name came to him.

  Mary?

  “Mary!” he shouted.

  As he prepared to stand from the table, the gray door of the room opened. A bright light from the other side of the door surrounded Joe.

  Through the light, the figure of Gabriel appeared. Gabriel entered the room closing the door behind him.

  “Gabriel?”

  Joe tried to stand. His legs were too weak as Gabriel rushed to his bedside preventing him from falling.

  “What the hell happened? I remember the storm coming out of nowhere… and… the plane was…”

  “Joe, everything is okay.”

  “Mary, where’s Mary?”

  “She’s okay. We have her resting in another room.”

  Joe pushed himself back onto the bed as Gabriel backed away to give him space. “Where the hell are we?”

  “It’s part of the departure plan for Salvation,” Gabriel said.

  “Part of the plan… what plan? Where the hell is Mary?”

  Gabriel sat in the chair. “Joe, we are on a boat. We are going to our launch site on a tiny island two-thousand miles southeast of Mauritius.”

  “A boat? … What about the plane… the storm?”

  Gabriel placed his elbows on the armrest and balled his hands into a double-fist in front of his face. “Yes, the excursion… the plane ride to Reunion Island… that was a decoy.”

  “A decoy for what?”

  “Like I told you, Salvation will do everything possible to protect its secret. With the passengers on board your plane leaving to go to Salvation… co-workers… friends… family... everyone will look for you.”

  Joe shook his head. His brain could not comprehend what Gabriel was saying.

  “And, we can’t have them asking questions. So, to them, you all died in a plane crash.”

  By this time, blood rushed through Joe’s legs, boiling in his heart pounding through his chest.

  Joe pushed himself off the table and rushed to the door. The door handle did not open as it locked automatically behind Gabriel when he entered.

  “Mary!” Joe shouted banging his fist against the door.

  “Joe, relax… she’s fine. Trust me.”

  “Trust you? Trust you? I’m tired of trusting you,” Joe said as he turned from the door and approached Gabriel. Before Gabriel could stand, Joe grabbed Gabriel’s arms pinning his body back against the chair.

  Gabriel attempted to free himself. In a rushed voice, Gabriel said, “Don’t you see. If they find the debris of the plane and no bodies, they will presume everyone is dead. No one will continue to look for you or ask questions…. Let me go!”

  Gabriel freed his left arm. This gave him the leverage to push Joe’s weakened body away.

  “No more games. No more secrecy. Where the hell is Mary?”

  Joe paced the room until ending up leaning his backside against the padded table.

  “Everyone was safe the entire time of the flight. We got the weather forecast telling us it would turn rough. This was when we executed our plan.”

  Joe resisted an urge to charge at Gabriel.

  “The water I handed out during our flight… it contained a drug to make everyone unconscious so we could bring you here.”

  Joe sat in disbelief as Gabriel continued. “The record will sho
w you all departed a flight from Mauritius, a storm developed, our pilot sent a distress call, and the plane crashed into the ocean.”

  Joe’s body relaxed. Gabriel’s words made strange sense.

  "But, once the pilot radioed for help, he turned off the tracking beacon and flew out of the storm. Two hours later, we made our water landing and boarded this ship. Tomorrow, we will arrive at our launch site.”

  “But… um… why the hell go through all that shit, when we all knew we were leaving for Salvation, soon?”

  “Just how willing would you have been to take part in faking your death? Are you sure everyone on board the flight knew what was in store for them about Salvation? It had to be believable… it had to seem real.”

  Joe looked at the ceiling in disbelief on what he was hearing. “But, what about the plane? If it brought us to this ship, where’s the debris coming from?”

  “We flew the plane back by remote control to the coordinates of the storm. It flew at a low altitude avoiding any radar. Once it got to the area where we encountered the storm, we crashed it.”

  Joe forced his stare direct to Gabriel. His eyes became small-and-narrow. His focus burned through Gabriel.

  “Where… in… the… hell… is… Mary?” Joe asked.

  4:04 p.m.

  DARKNESS. Mary’s last memory onboard the plane as it entered the fast-developing storm.

  Light. The false sensation of the plane moving up-and-down jolted her eyes wide-open. As Mary awoke, plastic padding of a bed stuck to her arms.

  Uneasiness overcame her. The bed swayed back-and-forth under her. She took several quick breaths attempting to wake herself from her stupor.

  Mary pushed herself up. The paper, protective layer under her crackled with each move.

  As Mary regained her strength, she swung her legs off the bed sitting on its edge. A dim-lit window was before her.

  She studied the vision in the window, her eyes still groggy. As an image of a person came into her focus, the door of her room opened. A bright light from the hallway surrounded her.

  “Mary, are you okay?” a man asked as he walked through the light.

  “Uh… yes…. what the hell happened, Gabriel?”

  Gabriel rushed to Mary as she sat. He grabbed her shoulders.

  “You’re okay. Everyone is safe,” Gabriel said.

  “That… that was not supposed to happen,” Mary said as she shook her head clearing her thoughts.

  “It was the only way we could safely get everyone here and fake your deaths.” Gabriel smiled as he made eye contact with her.

  “Well, you should have at least warned me ahead of time this was the plan.” Mary straightened up on the bed allowing Gabriel to step away from her.

  “So, we’re headed to the launch site? And, Joe’s okay, right?”

  “Yes. We’re on our way, and he’s fine.”

  “I’m sure he is worried about me and where am I?”

  “We’ll bring him to you soon. But, first, we have to go over our next steps.”

  “Joe still has to tell me about going to Salvation. I was sure as hell you would have told Joe to let me in on the secret before we even came to Mauritius.”

  “Mary, we went over this before… about your reaction… so, whether we told you back in Long Island, in the air to Mauritius, at the resort… it doesn’t matter now.”

  “Doesn’t matter to you, but I’ve got to do a convincing acting job here. And, y’all sure as hell made this worse by him having to explain the faked plane crash.”

  “Maybe so, but we had to make it look to the rest of the world everyone on the plane died. And, if Joe would have told you about Salvation, would you have even been able to go on a supposed trip with him?”

  Mary sat in silence. She thought about the scenario Gabriel had explained.

  “Okay… I see your point. Whatever. I’m finally happy to get to this point as I’ve been waiting for a very long time.”

  “You have held up your end of the bargain perfectly, Mary.”

  Her eyes widened as the figure of Joe became clear in the window behind Gabriel.

  As she pointed to the window, Mary said, “Joe’s waking up, now.”

  Gabriel turned his head and saw into the room where Joe lay as he awoke.

  “Collect your thoughts about how you will react tonight when Joe tells you. Someone will come get you in a few moments to take you to another room, and I’ll bring him to you.”

  Mary replied, “Collect my thoughts… that’s all I’ve been rehearsing to myself.”

  The door closed. She watched as Gabriel entered the room where Joe attempted to sit up on the edge of his bed. Joe called out Gabriel’s name.

  Mary stood from her table and walked over to the window. It was a one-way mirror preventing Joe from seeing her on the other side. A smile came upon Mary’s face when Joe yelled out her name.

  “Joseph, don’t worry… I’m right here, Honey,” she said in a soft voice. Her left palm pressed against the window as her right hand caressed the diamond, heart-shaped pendant around her neck.

  “I’m here.”

  June 11, 1997

  Pasadena, Texas

  Graduation Day

  THE BACKFIRE OF THE pickup truck startled Mary as it lunged forward from the stoplight a block away from the high school. Her adopted father, Bob Warner, sat behind the steering wheel with a proud smile. His daughter is graduating tonight from high school.

  “I’m so proud of you, Mary.”

  “Thanks,” she replied in a sarcastic tone waving through the front windshield to her friend in the car ahead.

  “So, what are you and Joseph doing after graduation?”

  “We’re going out somewhere,” Mary said as they drove into the football stadium parking lot.

  “Look, I’m sorry about our fight this morning… it’s just… it…”

  “You were asking way too many personal questions about us. You’re always getting into my personal space. Always asking me about Joe and his grandma… if I want to go live with him in New York, then I will.”

  Bob tightened his grip on the steering wheel. His lips pursed together holding back his comments to prevent restarting their earlier fight.

  “Can you let me out here? Joe’s right there,” Mary said.

  “Okay. I’ll see you later. I love you, Mary.”

  Bob stopped the pickup truck long enough for her to get out without responding to him. As Bob drove through the parking lot, Mary was in his rearview mirror talking with Joseph and another friend.

  The parking lot accommodates ten thousand cars on any Friday night during the Texas football season. A free spot was available beside the entrance to the stadium. Bob placed his handicap sign on his rearview mirror from behind his visor and parked.

  The stadium crowd was a challenge to push through for Bob. Beads of sweat rolled down his back in the unbearable summer afternoon. The glaring sun lowered behind the tall pine treetops surrounding the stadium.

  Bob found the perfect seat open for him at mid-field, four rows from the top. A terrific vantage point of the ceremony.

  Tears filled Bob’s eyes as he sat alone among the crowd on the aluminum bleachers. Memories of his daughter flashed before him. Bob remembered their first meeting when Mary was a little girl at the children’s home. The good and bad times brought an unfamiliar emotion over him.

  I can’t believe how attached I’ve come to that girl.

  To hold back the tears, Bob lowered his head into his hands.

  One day… she’ll understand why I did what I did. They will convince her…

  Bob lifted his head and scanned across the football field. Clouds thickened on the horizon in front of the setting sun.

  I need a drink so bad… they better live up to their end of the deal… they promised to protect her as long as I reported-in on the Bishops… they promised-

  A familiar voice behind Bob broke his thoughts. “Well, hey Bob. I bet Mary is so excited.”

/>   Liz stood beside him on the bleacher steps. Bob rose and gave her a tremendous bear hug.

  His bloodshot eyes usually a sign Bob had been on a bender. But, the fresh tears in the corner of his eyes signaled otherwise to Liz tonight.

  “I can’t believe my little girl is finally graduating,” Bob said.

  “I know. Isn’t it something? Joseph’s been so excited the past couple of days.”

  “I mean… she’s ah, she’s…” Bob said stuttering.

  “Yeah, I bet she’s excited too,” Liz said confirming what Bob had attempted to convey.

  “No, she’s leaving me.” Bob slid over as far as he could allowing Liz room to squeeze onto the end of the metal bleacher. “We had a big ol’ fight this morning, and uh, she says she’s moving to New York with Joseph.”

  Liz did a double-take at the surprising news, while Bob stared straight ahead. “Really? That’s news to me,” she said. “I’m sure Mary didn’t mean she would go live with Joseph, just to visit.”

  No, Liz, she meant it. In fact, I want her to because she can watch Joseph from New York that way.

  “I know Mary and me, we don’t always get along. But, I love that girl.”

  “Awe and Mary loves you too,” she said. Liz placed her arm around Bob’s shoulders comforting him. “Plus, as long as I’m alive those two ain’t living together unless they’re married.”

  Her warm smile provided relief. Bob made eye-contact with her. “Liz, what say you and me… uh, maybe, we can go have dinner one night?”

  July 27, 1989

  Pasadena, Texas

  FRIENDS AND FAMILY had stopped by after the funeral to pay their respects filling Rachel’s house. The funeral had been a wonderful remembrance of Joseph's mother.

  Cancer had taken her life at a young age, leaving behind ten-year-old Joseph, now an orphan. His care was now in the hands of Rachel’s mother-in-law, Liz.

  Bob Warner had been friends with Rachel and her husband, Jacob, for many years. After Jacob’s death, Rachel often had frequented his hardware store needing his help around her house. Rachel’s untimely death had shocked Bob as he had been paying significant attention to her in recent years.