Vlogger Bother - The Vegas Trip

by Charles Mead

  The captain came on the intercom and announced the route for the flight and advised that the weather was all clear apart from some minor turbulence expected towards the end of the flight.

  James felt the plane start to move as it was pushed back from the gate and heard the sounds of the four engines starting. The plane taxied slowly to the runway and soon James felt himself pushed back in his seat as the powerful Rolls Royce engines kicked in at full power. In less than a minute, the jumbo jet gracefully lifted into the damp Gatwick skies.

  James began to browse the meal menu. It just confirmed to him that from now on this was the only way that was acceptable for him to travel. The friendly flight attendant soon came around to take their orders. James decided to order the chicken satay with cashew nut dipping sauce followed by the lemon and thyme chicken. This was destined to be a fantastic flight and he would film everything for his audience.

  After lunch James sat at the bar with Chris and talked about their presentation in Las Vegas. James ensured he spoke just loud enough for those seated nearest the bar to hear what he was talking about. They agreed on the format of the presentation after some lengthy discussion and got their ideas together.

  After returning to his seat, James decided now was the best time for some rest and asked the flight attendant to convert his seat into a bed. He went to the Upper Class toilet to change into his “dream suit”, which was another freebie in Upper Class. It resembled posh pyjamas and was black. James decided he was going to keep it, regardless of whether it was meant to be kept or not. He returned to his seat, where he put on his black eye mask and noise-cancelling headphones and drifted off to sleep.

  James woke up after several hours’ sleep and was ready for the extravagance that was the afternoon tea. He removed his headphones and thought it was odd there was no engine noise. He took off his eye mask and found the cabin empty apart from Chris, who was asleep opposite him.

  James looked outside and noticed the plane was on the ground and at the gate at Las Vegas airport. He removed his seatbelt and flung off the duvet cover, and went over and woke Chris up by grabbing his arm and shaking it.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “What’s going on?” asked Chris groggily.

  “We’re here in Vegas. You’re not going to believe this, but I think a prank is being played on us right now.”

  “How come?” Chris was struggling to get his bearings after a lot of alcohol and sleep.

  “Look out the window. We’re here! Nobody is in our cabin. We’re the last two,” said James.

  “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would they just leave the two of us here and let us both sleep? This doesn’t add up.”

  “I suppose they could have seen we both needed our rest, but I’m telling you, it’s not that. It’s a prank! People knew we were coming, so I think we should play along.”

  “It still doesn’t make sense. This plane has to return to London so they can’t really have us on here still asleep,” said Chris.

  “Whatever. I still think this is a prank and we should both vlog it as we go. For authenticity I am going to go back to bed and then wake you up again, okay?”

  “Pretty sure that authenticity is not the right word. I would say ‘staging purposes’ or something,” said Chris.

  “The word doesn’t matter. I am just going to do it and then we can be authentic from that point.”

  “Get on with it then, so we can start working out what is going on here,” said Chris.

  James repeated the same process of waking up and talking to Chris with his vlogging camera recording it all. James thought the response from his subscribers to this prank would be off the charts. He pictured the Bentley again in his mind.

  “Something’s not right here, James. We need to work out what is going on. The plane is really quiet. There’s no background noise whatsoever.”

  “Actually, you’re right. This prank is well thought out.” He turned his phone back to himself and pointed with one hand towards the lens. “But you are not going to fool us. Perhaps Chris will be fooled, but not me. We’re onto you!” said James with a grin.

  “Yeah, I am the stupid one,” replied a visibly annoyed Chris.

  “Thanks for confirming. What should we do next?”

  “Let’s have a look around the rest of the plane.”

  They both walked towards the curtain divider for the cabin and pushed it aside. Premium Economy was completely empty. They continued through to the economy cabin, which seemed empty as well. They walked all the way to the back of the plane. Nobody. Not one person.

  They looked at each other and shrugged. This made no sense. They turned around and walked back towards their cabin and noticed the staircase to the bubble part of the plane.

  “Might was well check up here,” said Chris.

  They climbed the stairs and found a completely empty small economy cabin, then went into the premium economy cabin and noticed the flight deck door was open. They walked straight in and James sat down in the captain’s chair as Chris looked out the windows. He could see some of the Vegas hotels in the distance.

  “Well, on the plus side, we are in Vegas and haven’t ended up somewhere completely different,” said Chris as he pointed his vlogging camera outside the windows.

  “This has to be the best prank so far. Are you in on it, Chris?”

  “No. This really does not have the feel of a prank to me.” He looked at the inflight computer in the cockpit and started to cycle through the screens.

  “What are you doing?” asked James.

  “Just having a look for any clues. I am sure this thing is what the pilots use to programme the autopilot waypoints between London and Vegas.”

  “How do you know that is the right thing?” asked James incredulously.

  “I have been getting into flight sim games recently. I was going to mention to you we should review a few. Anyway, I bought some add-ons to try and watched a few YouTube videos and this thing looks very similar to what the videos were showing to programme.”

  “Right, okay. So what does that tell us?”

  “Other than we are definitely in Las Vegas and have a certain amount of fuel still left in the tanks, not a lot.”

  “So a waste of time, then.”

  “First part of problem-solving is looking for clues, James. This didn’t answer anything for us, but we need to look around.”

  They both scanned around the cockpit some more and James noticed what looked like two large tablet screens next to each pilot seat. “What about these tablet things?” he asked.

  “I didn’t think these older planes had these…” Chris peered at the closest one. “They show the pilots maps of airports and charts so they don’t have to carry them in the cockpit and can cut down on fuel.”

  “So again, nothing useful.”

  “Still worth checking. Process of elimination,” replied Chris.

  James touched the tablet and it came to life. He pinched the screen slightly to zoom out, which confirmed it was a map of the Las Vegas airport and that they were parked at gate E7 at Terminal 3.

  “No nothing here of use.” James turned the screen off and looked outside the cockpit windows.

  “Can you see anyone in the terminal building?”

  “Actually no. Perhaps they have cleared it out for our arrival?”

  “Settle down, Mr President. Neither you nor I are that important. Does the sky look funny to you?”

  “No. What should we go look at next?”

  “Let’s go back downstairs to the Upper Class galley.”

  “Galley?” asked James.

  “Kitchen. It’s where they keep all the food and drink.”

  “Oh yeah, of course. I am disappointed I missed out on afternoon tea. I wanted some scones and cream.”

  “Is there ever a time you don’t think about your stomach?”

  CHAPTER SIX

  “That’s weird,” said Chris as he opened some of the metal containers in the galley. �
��There’s a lot of uneaten food in here. It looks like we have about forty afternoon tea meals in here.”

  “So there are scones?”

  “Yes. Here you go, if it will help you focus.” Chris handed him a tray with a scone, cream and some finger sandwiches on it.

  “I don’t want this one. The tray says Premium Economy. I am travelling Upper Class.”

  “Seriously? We’re in Vegas and have no idea what is going on and you want a different scone, even though they were probably made at the same place?”

  “See if you can find me one.”

  “Sometimes, James, you need to hear yourself talk,” said Chris as he looked through the trays until he found an Upper Class tray and shoved it at him.

  “Thanks mate.”

  “I am going to get changed out of this sleep suit. Next step then, I think, is we leave the plane.”

  “Okay. Next step for me is to eat this scone. I wonder if one of these things is a microwave.”

  “Eat it cold, James. Setting the plane on fire is the last thing we need right now.”

  “I am not that clumsy, but okay.”

  James unwrapped the scone and cut it in half with the weirdly shaped airline butter knife with completely flat edges. He opened the jam and carefully smoothed it over both surfaces, followed by the cream, and was just about to take his first bite, filming the entire process.

  “James, you’re going to want to take a look at this right now,” said Chris.

  James moaned and walked back into the Upper Class cabin where he found Chris staring at a large screen on the bar wall. It showed a digital clock counting down.

  “Do you remember this being here when we got on today?” asked Chris.

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Me neither. What do you think it means?”

  “No idea... but we can check quite easily if one of us stops vlogging and we just look at the footage we got of us sitting at the bar or when we came onboard.”

  “Good idea, James.” Chris stopped recording and sat down on one of the bar stools as he searched through the footage. The colour drained from his face.

  “James, that clock wasn’t there when we boarded in London.”

  James felt his stomach sink. Maybe this was not a prank.

  “We’re on a different plane!” said James.

  “How could that happen?”

  “I don’t know, but if it wasn’t there when we got on the plane in London and is there now, we’re on a different plane.”

  “Or…” Chris paused as he thought, “someone has put it there.”

  “Right, that’s it. We search this plane again to make sure nobody is on it, and this time we take a look at the overhead lockers.”

  Chris jumped up from the bar and started vlogging again, then went straight for the overhead lockers in the cabin. He opened one after another in rapid succession, his face reddening. All the carry-on luggage was still there.

  “This makes no sense at all. Get changed, James. We’re going to get off this plane and get some answers.”

  “I haven’t finished my scone yet.”

  “Seriously? Bring it with you after you have got changed, if you are that bothered. We have more pressing matters going on here!” said Chris, clearly frustrated.

  “Okay, okay. Do you think we should sync the countdown timer on our phones to that countdown timer?”

  “Yes, good idea. Give me your phone and I’ll do it while you get changed.”

  “Wonder what happens when it gets down to zero.”

  “Well, in these kind of scenarios, clocks that count down to nothing rarely have a positive outcome, unless it is a movie and the hero just manages to stop it before it gets to zero.”

  “In just over an hour we will find out.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Five minutes later, with their belongings gathered and phones still recording, Chris and James stepped onto the jetway bridge. Chris jumped up and down on it. James gave him a curious look.

  “Just checking it’s solid,” said Chris.

  “Right, where do we go now?”

  Chris tried the door next to the jetway bridge controls to see if it was unlocked. It opened outwards and they both felt the blast of the hot Las Vegas air hit them.

  “Let’s take a look what’s going on on the tarmac,” said Chris.

  “We’re probably not allowed down there.”

  “Something tells me the rules aren’t currently being applied, and if they are and the police come and arrest us, at least we will get some answers.”

  James reluctantly agreed and followed Chris down the steps to the tarmac.

  “Should have put my shades on,” said James.

  “Whatever. Does it seem odd to you that our plane is the only plane parked at the gate at our terminal? It’s a busy international airport so there should be more.”

  “I don’t know, I guess,” said James with a shrug.

  Chris looked at the sky, which had a few clouds in it.

  “The sky appears stuck,” said Chris.

  James looked upwards along with his camera.

  “Perhaps the clouds are just at high altitude?”

  “Maybe, but clouds should still at least move a bit, even slowly. These clouds are not moving at all.” Chris looked around the tarmac and pointed to some airport vehicles off the far wing of their plane.

  “Let’s check those cars out. That might be a way off the airport for us in this heat.”

  “Technically we haven’t cleared immigration yet,” said James.

  “You are clearly acting for your vlog and it’s getting annoying. Engage with reality, will you? This is not a regular situation.”

  “I never act for my vlog,” objected James.

  “We’re not doing this now. We can do this later once we have a better idea of what is going on.”

  “Not doing what?”

  “Having an argument about your vlogging act. We both need to focus.”

  “What if it is my way of coping with the situation?” asked James.

  “Okay if it is, but stop doing it so many times. The material you are filming is probably going to be viewed millions and millions of times. Think of that...oh, and the money, of course, along with the Bentley.”

  James smiled as he realised Chris was right and decided to make an effort to be more mature.

  They walked towards the vehicles on the far side of the plane. Both were empty and neither contained keys.

  “What now?”

  “Hmmm. I reckon we go back up the stairs and see what is happening in the terminal.”

  They walked back up the stairs and as they got to the top James looked out over the two nearby runways. No planes landing, no planes taxiing, no planes taking off.

  “Where are all the other planes?”

  “That’s also a question I want the answer to.”

  “What if…” James said hesitantly, “somehow time has stopped?”

  “You thought I was odd thinking the clouds had stopped moving a few minutes ago, and now you’re going with that?”

  “Well what else could it be?”

  “Perhaps anything else. I don’t know. Come on, let’s have a look inside the terminal.”

  “Hang on, before we do, have you got a phone signal?” James asked.

  Chris got out his phone and looked at it.

  “Nothing, I haven’t got a network at all, I have no data connection either... and it also appears there are no wi-fi spots in the area. Weird!”

  They proceeded cautiously up the long jetway until it met the main terminal. They both stopped and looked at each other, each waiting for the other to do or say something. Instead, they just listened for any noises at all.

  There was nothing.

  Chris decided to point his vlogging camera around the corner whilst looking at the screen.

  “You think that’s going to help you if there’s someone or something around the corner?” whispered James.

  “I don
’t see you doing anything right now,” replied Chris as he looked at the screen. “Well coast appears to be clear this way. Check your side.”