by Shawn Keys
Not too much later, Jocelyn approached the counter at their gate and busied herself at the computer. After a few seconds, she switched on the microphone to announce, “Thanks for your patience, ladies and gentlemen. We’ll be commencing boarding for Ciel Claire airlines flight 2385 within a few minutes. Please have your boarding passes and photo identification ready and open to the picture. I’d like to invite any business class or elite passengers to board at their leisure. Passengers Toussaint, Amirault, Minot and Savoie, please see me at the gate.”
For some reason, Daniel thought there was something wrong with that announcement. She was being perfectly pleasant, but there was something wrong in the flow of it. She had skipped over something and he couldn’t put his finger on it. Before he could put any brain power to it, his name and those of his team were called. Exchanging semi-worried glances, they gathered their carry-on items and went up to find out what the issue might be.
Jocelyn greeted them with a smile. “Do you all have your photo IDs ready? Why don’t you join the elite passengers and embark the aircraft now? Get yourselves settled, alright?”
Their concerns melted at the generous offer. Daniel never really cared about getting on the plane early. That meant having to sit longer in an uncomfortable, small seat. It’s not as if the government ever sprang for first-class tickets. At the same time, he wasn’t about to reject the kind offer now that it was made.
Handing over his boarding pass and passport, Jocelyn shepherded him and the trio of women alongside him through the door and into the ramp heading to the jetliner’s open door. They shuffled down into the passenger cabin and found their seats. They took up two rows along the windows on the starboard side, pleasantly remaining together as a unit.
All around them, others filtered in as their zones were called. As Daniel predicted, the flight didn’t fill to capacity, capping out around two-thirds. The ambient noise didn’t rise beyond a murmur. There weren’t enough people to overpower the air conditioning.
The aircraft pushed back from the gate and the service attendants began to run through the safety routine. Daniel craned his neck, curious as to whether Jocelyn was in their area. She wasn’t. He was on the aisle, so he leaned out and peered forward into the business class cabin. He couldn’t see her there, either.
Ahh, well. Not like we really needed special treatment all the way to London. He settled back and tried to get comfortable. Cadence was beside him, making for a wonderful distraction. The track suit was hardly the sexiest of attires, but his imagination provided an adequate vision of what she looked like beneath the loose, breathable fabric. Enough to warm his blood.
The plane pushed back and then taxied down the runway. Closing his eyes, he waited for the take-off to be over so he could pull the tablet from his carry-on and access the entertainment system. Ciel Claire had decided to utilize a downloadable app and a secure WIFI system rather a hard-wired system implanted in the backs of the seats. He liked the idea, figuring it was far more convenient.
Once they were off the ground, he was about to ask Cadence to share a movie with him when the pilot came over the speaker.
“Good morning everyone, this is your Captain speaking. Welcome aboard Flight 2385 as we hop over the Andes into Santiago, Chile. We’ll be cruising at 35,000 feet and will have calm weather the whole way. We should have you up to the gate on time in about seven hours. Enjoy your flight, and thanks for choosing Ciel Claire.”
Daniel froze as the intercom clicked off. I had to have to heard that wrong. He glanced over at Cadence. She was flipping through a magazine, not really paying attention. He flicked a glance back between the seats to see MK reading a novel while Irène was scanning through her phone, already connected to the paid WIFI. None of them were listening. Am I crazy, or did he say Chile?
He reached into his bag and pulled out the boarding pass Jocelyn had given him. He scanned the details. His name. Flight 2385. Destination: London. Then, a second boarding pass on Lufthansa from London to Bordeaux. Flight 542. They had boarded through Gate 12, the pass indicated. Jocelyn had scanned the barcode, and he had seen his name and seat assignment pop onto the screen.
It was then that he realized what had bothered him about her announcement back in the airport. When she had announced to the crowd that she was about to commence boarding, she had said ‘Ciel Claire airlines flight 2385’. But attendants always followed that by saying ‘with service to London’ or some sort of secondary identification. It wasn’t a rule or anything, but the airlines catered to human nature. People didn’t listen to numbers. They listened to the city for which they were headed.
The chain of coincidences began to reveal themselves to him. The departure boards were all down. We couldn’t see if the gate number had changed. Jocelyn confirmed the gate assignment as the one on our itinerary. We had no reason to think it was wrong. It was the gate on our ticket. She checked us in and was there to board us!
He scowled. Do the attendants that check your luggage usually board the passengers as well? He thought so, but couldn’t be certain.
All of that flew through his head at a frantic pace. What the hell is going on? This can’t be some idiotic mistake. It would have taken planning! Jocelyn. She was there at each stage. Was that even possible?
Seeing the whole picture was almost impossible. He didn’t know if he was right in what he’d heard the Captain say. Daniel reached up and pushed the button for assistance.
Cadence caught that move and glanced over at him. “You alright?”
“Not sure. Did you hear the Captain speak?”
“Oh. Umm, not really. Sorry, I caught this article about the FLGs and the team that Belgium is sending. Really great coverage of their track team.”
Before he could tell her anymore, a helpful attendant stopped by his seat. She squatted down with demure elegance and asked, “Can I help you, Sir?”
Not wanting to come off as insane, Daniel kept his voice calm and level. “Don’t want to bother you, but I think I misheard something the Captain said about our flight. Aren’t we headed to London?”
Confusion flitted across the attendant’s face. It was the sort of confusion that came from someone who had never lived in an age before massive airport security made mistakes like this plausible. Walking onto the wrong flight in this day and age was… all but impossible in her mind. “I’m not sure I understand, Sir. London?”
Daniel’s heart was sinking. He was beginning to fear he was right. He produced his boarding pass. “Andrea,” He plucked her name off her uniform tag, “Did he say, ‘hop over the Atlantic to London’ or did I really hear him say, ‘hop over the Andies to Santiago’?”
“This flight is headed to Chile, Sir.” Her tone added ‘as you well know’ without bothering with the words out of respect for him as the paying customer.
“I’m sorry, Andrea. But we are supposed to be going to London and then to Bordeaux. We happen to have really good reason to be in that area of the world over the next few days.” He offered his boarding pass again. “This is what got me on the plane. The flight number is right. The destination doesn’t match.”
Giving a final sigh of frustration, Andrea plucked the boarding pass from his grasp. She glared at it… then her mouth dropped open a little. “Oh… my. This… this isn’t possible.”
“The number can’t be wrong. The Captain said it. We should be headed to London.”
“Once a week, Flight 2365 does go to London. I know it is departing in an hour from Gate 10.”
The number was so close. Daniel cursed himself for not having looked at the ticket information on the itinerary more closely. The flights had all been arranged for them. They’d simply shown up when they were told. He wanted to believe that if he had been paying attention, he would have caught it. Would I? This Jocelyn woman was the professional. If she had told me the flight number had changed, I’m sure I would have swallowed it. Why wouldn’t I?
“We’re on the wrong plane,” Daniel insisted.
“No chance we can turn the plane around so we can catch the real one to London?” He noticed the spark of concern in the attendant’s eyes, and he shook his head. “No, I’m not really asking that. Please, find out what you can.”
Andrea nodded and set off up the aisle.
Cadence leaned in to whisper, “Are you being serious?”
“I’m afraid so, Love.” Daniel was trying to keep his anger contained.
“Did we walk through the wrong gate or something? I mean… I don’t fly a lot, but they checked everything!”
“Too many things,” Daniel replied. “They always check everyone’s ID about a million times before you go anywhere these days. Too many coincidences. Too many things falling into line. Someone planned this.”
“What? Why?”
“I have no idea. We’re going to miss the opening ceremonies at this rate. We’re going in the opposite direction.” He scowled, trying to think. “They might have sent our bags on the original flight. Not being on the same flight as your stuff is a huge red flag. Maybe they hoped we’d end up on the no-fly list.” He shook his head, trying to dispel that thought. “That Jocelyn woman…”
“She had to be involved somehow!” Cadence insisted.
Andrea returned down the aisle with a man in tow.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Irène asked from behind. By now, MK was also perking up, leaning forward to hear what was happening.
Cadence gave them a quick run-down while Daniel observed the new man approaching. He wasn’t dressed in a uniform, which implied he wasn’t part of the flight crew. By coming with Andrea, it also meant the man wasn’t merely another passenger. He lingered back a few rows, not coming any closer while Andrea stepped over to some of the people nearby in the middle rows. Politely, she asked them to move seats, clearing the space around Daniel and his three companions.
Daniel thought this was going overboard; if he was evil enough to be contemplating a hijacking, he probably would have showed his true stripes by now. Still, he wouldn’t mind a little privacy as they dug into this problem. He had the suspicion that there was about to be more than a few accusations flying around. Better to have a bit of a buffer.
The mystery of the man’s identity didn’t take long to resolve itself. As soon as there was a bubble erected around the Portesaran team, he settled into the seat across from Daniel. He raised the arm of the seat so he could face Daniel directly, his legs in the aisle. “Hello, Mr. Toussaint. I’m the air marshal on this flight. You can call me Henry.”
That makes sense. Question is… will he believe me or is he going to lean more toward arresting me. “I apologize for causing trouble, Henry. It wasn’t my intent. I’m beginning to think we’re the victim of a prank that’s in extremely poor taste.”
“A prank? Mr. Toussaint, it’s a crime to board a plane without authorization.”
“We didn’t.” He gestured toward Andrea. “She has our authorization. A boarding pass that Ciel Claire gave us. We thought this flight was headed for London. An attendant scanned our passes at the gate.”
“You’re saying the system recognized you as being on this flight?”
“I saw the light go green on the screen and flash my seat number.” Daniel wasn’t conversant with the whole system, but nothing about it had looked strange.
Henry glanced up at Andrea expectantly.
Andrea frowned. Not precisely at Daniel, but also not liking something about what he was saying. “I checked the computer. He and these ladies are registered aboard 2365 for London. It shows that the boarding cards were issued, and they are expected to board in about fifteen minutes.”
Henry held out his hand and she handed him the boarding card. He turned it over, checking a few markings that were probably placed strategically so that a professional could spot a fake more easily. He lowered the card and met Daniel’s eyes with serious weight. “Did you doctor this? Alter it in any way?”
“What? No!” Daniel fought to keep his temper under control. Giving into anger at a time like this could only end badly. “I’m telling you, it responded to the scan and logged us into this flight. Unless you think I have a bar-code generator, that would be impossible, wouldn’t it?”
“Not the time to get flippant with me,” the marshal growled, reading Daniel’s frustration despite his best efforts to hide it. “You could have threatened the attendant that checked you in. Insisted that she ignore the warning that came up.”
Cadence broke into the conversation. “He’s the one who asked about the flight! Would he do that if we’re the ones who faked passes to get on the plane? We could have been in Chile before anyone knew anything was wrong.”
That struck a chord with the naturally suspicious law official. “Walk me through it.”
Daniel did, step by step, starting from the check in counter. “We were logged into the flight and onto the plane by this Jocelyn woman.” He cut his eyes up toward Andrea. “She works for your company. Do you know her?” He gave a curt description.
Andrea nodded slowly. “Yes, of course. She at the counter when I came through to set up for the flight. Jocelyn Nanier.”
Henry nodded, satisfied that it wasn’t someone pretending to be this other woman. “Do you have any past affiliation with her, Mr. Toussaint?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t recognize her.”
“I did,” MK blurted out. “Though I don’t know from where. I swear, I’ve seen her before. But…” She shrugged, looking miserable as her memory failed to support her. “I can’t remember where. She looked familiar, though. So was her voice.”
Henry nodded again, thoughtful. He wasn’t glaring at them in suspicion, but he wasn’t making any judgments yet, either. “I’m going to try to figure this all out. Stay in your seats. Do you all understand?”
The four of them nodded, then waited for the pair to withdraw back up the aisle and fall into a whispered, private discussion.
Instantly, Irène leaned around the seat and blurted, “What is going on? I don’t get this!”
“Someone’s trying to get us in trouble,” Daniel surmised. “Maybe they hoped we’d be idiots about the whole thing. Get ourselves arrested. Who knows, that might still happen. Technically, we have committed a crime. Our only chance is to prove we didn’t do anything knowingly.”
In order to stay seated, MK had to speak to Daniel and Cadence through the small break in their seats. “They said that the computers think we are supposed to be on the other plane.”
“Either we all mistook what we saw on Jocelyn’s computer screen or she already switched us back.” Daniel shook his head. “No idea what fingerprints she’s going to leave by doing that, but she has to be confident that she can avoid being traced. She had to know we’d tell people what happened and who checked us in. She has to know that she’s going to be questioned.”
“We’re going to get this sorted out,” Cadence said firmly.
“Yeah, we will. Problem is… we don’t know how long it’s going to take. They could refuse to let us on another plane until the whole situation is sorted out. That’s going to leave us stuck in Santiago for a while. Hotel or holding cell. Either way, you three aren’t at the Games to compete.”
“You think that’s the real play?” MK asked.
“I do. Whoever set us up had to know this wasn’t going to stick. They’re trying to stop you three from getting to the FLGs.”
Cadence’s face scrunched a little in thought. “Our only clue is this Jocelyn. MK, any luck figuring out how you know her?”
“No,” she admitted with a note of sadness. “It’s really bugging me. I know her from somewhere. I swear it.”
Irène was already on her phone, looking on the company website to see if she was listed as an employee. Not finding anything there, she flickered over a few search pages and then gasped. “Ho
ly crap! This is her, isn’t it?” She reversed the phone to show them a picture of a woman in a wedding dress hugging a man.
“Yeah, though maybe fifteen years younger. Is that the wedding announcements from a newspaper?”
“Yes!” Irène answered triumphantly, though a note of disgust was in there as well as she found the connection. “Jocelyn Nanier née Jocelyn Rimouldi! She’s related to Gregoire. Says here she’s his fucking cousin!”
Cadence smashed the seat in front of her. “That son of a bitch! Are you serious?”
“Yeah,” Irène affirmed. “Look here. She’s got a twin brother, too. Found his Stay-Connected profile. He works for the airline as well. Not sure where. It says he’s some sort of technician.”
Growling low, Daniel was tempted to go on a bit of a rampage right then. “How much money do you want to bet that he took down the departure displays?”
A light went on behind MK’s eyes. “That’s where I probably know her from! I mean, I never met Gregoire’s family. He wasn’t social with us or anything. But she does look like him. Maybe I heard her voice on the phone when he took a call from her. No wonder I couldn’t place her!”
“You need to tell them,” Cadence said. “She’s going to either try and play innocent or flee now that she’s taken her shot. Either way, giving her extra time is a bad idea.”
Daniel reached up and punched the button to get their attention. “We need them to listen to reason and investigate fast enough to make a difference. I don’t think we’re going to end up getting charged for anything. But if we give Jocelyn and her brother enough time, they could tie all the evidence into a bag of snakes that will take a week to sort out. That’s a week we don’t have.”
* * *
Evelyn reclined in the back of her limo as it bore her across town towards her next meeting. The cell on the seat next to her began to sing the ringtone for Daniel, conjuring a smile from her as she picked it up. “Hey there, you. Half hour into the flight and you’re already missing me? Using the airline’s phones is expensive, you know.”
