Robby spoke first.
“Thank you, Captain. I have a request. When we finish here, I would like for Tony and myself to transmit what we know about the cause of the accident to Tri Con. There might be other airplanes in danger of the same problem, and they’ll want to inspect them.”
“That’s not a problem. It will be our next priority.”
Robby said, “As far as other survivors, I was on the flight deck during landing, and afterward myself and Captain Wells were trapped by a jammed door for a short time. Once we hacked our way out, we found Britt had begun the evacuation at the one-left door. Nancy was unconscious at the other forward door. Charlie and I moved her to Britt’s raft and then cleared the one-right door. We launched the two rafts with all the business class passengers, and Charlie went aft to help the others.”
Tony went next.
“I was at the overwing area for landing, and Candace, Mary, and myself deployed both rafts from there. Charlie showed up, helped us load and launch, and then went aft to the rear doors.”
Maxwell said, “Okay, two rafts were launched at the front doors and two at the overwing area. Where was the fifth raft launched?”
Pam answered, “That would be my raft at the two left door, but I won’t be much help. I was knocked unconscious during the crash and came to in the raft later. I was saved by a family that was smart enough to open the door and deploy the raft.”
“All right, I was led to believe that there were eight possible rafts. Is that correct?”
Robby answered, “That’s right, we have not accounted for the two right door or the four left and right doors at the very rear.”
Pam suddenly gasped.
“Oh no! Bertie was at the two right door. She had that little girl with her. The family in my raft told me that the entire exit area was covered with heavy debris that they couldn’t move. They told me that all the other passengers went aft when they saw the door blocked. It’s all a blank to me, but I should have helped Bertie.”
Britt said, “Pam, how could you help if you were unconscious? There was nothing you could do. We can only hope that Charlie helped her or she went aft with everyone else.”
“If she went aft, Britt, she would be in the raft with Tony or Candace. Did either of you see Bertie or the unaccompanied minor?”
They both said no.
Maxwell said, “I’ll speak to the family that opened your door and see what they can tell us, but for now can we assume that raft wasn’t launched?”
Everyone agreed it probably wasn’t.
“Now, that leaves the two rafts at the rear of the airplane. Is there any way to know if they were launched before the airplane sank?”
No one could say with any certainty one way or the other.
Britt said, “Captain, I should tell you that there were a large number of handicapped passengers in that section of the airplane. It would have been time-consuming to evacuate them. I only hope that at least some of them escaped. There were two flight attendants back there, and I also sent a flight attendant supervisor to assist them. She just happened to be traveling on the flight and offered to help.”
Tony added, “Don’t forget, Charlie went aft also after he helped us launch.”
Captain Maxwell said, “All right, based on what we know I think we have to continue to search for at least two more rafts, and that’s what we’re going to do. I’ll leave you to enjoy the hospitality of the USS Karuk, but keep the notebooks handy and write down anything that might help now or later. I’ll be available twenty-four hours a day if you think of anything. For planning purposes, I assume we will be relieved by other ships soon, and at that time I have been led to believe that we will be ordered to proceed to the Azores, where you will be provided transportation.”
Everyone thanked the captain again. He turned to Robby and Tony, “If you gentlemen will come with me, I’ll take you to the radio shack, where you can compose and transmit your information. I’ll put you in the capable hands of my best radioman. His name is Brian Davis, but he likes to be called Radio.”
Neither pilot noticed the smile on the captain’s face as he turned away.
Pam and Nancy were returned to sickbay, which was located next to the ship’s laundry. They quickly befriended the laundry workers, and Allen’s Armani suit would mysteriously disappear and never be seen again.
Chapter Twenty-One
At Tri Con headquarters, things were happening fast. Harold Collins had received two communications in the last few minutes from the Karuk via the Department of Defense. Both required immediate attention. He couldn’t do two things at once, so he elected to delegate. He told his secretary to put out the word for Jake Smith to report to his office right away. Then he had her dial the crew family room and see if Colt Adams was there. A moment later his intercom buzzed, and she said, “Sir, Captain Adams is on line three.”
He picked up the phone and said, “Colt, I’m glad you’re still there. I need a favor.”
“What can I do for you, Mr. Collins?”
“Look, I appreciate what you’ve done for our people down there, and I can tell they all look up to you. I want to share some information with you and then ask you to pass it on to the relatives. I can’t come down there because I also received other information that I have to act on right away. In fact, when you’re finished there I’d like for you to come to my office and discuss this other thing too.”
He related what he had learned from the Department of Defense and Colt agreed to tell the families. When he hung up the phone, he walked over and closed the door. This time he told the hostess she could stay, but she had to sit by the door and not let anyone open it. She was now thinking about cooking dinner for Colt instead of going out with him.
He moved to the front of the room and asked for everyone’s attention.
“Mr. Collins asked me to pass along some good news that he has received. He apologizes for not coming down himself, but he wanted you to get this without delay. More survivors have been rescued. The USS Karuk now has one hundred and twenty-seven survivors on board, including seven crewmembers. And, just to prove that I could never be a newsman, I’ll add that there are no known fatalities.”
The room erupted in applause.
“Now, since all the crew has not been rescued yet, there’s no good way to handle this, but after all we’ve been through together, I’m simply going to read the names to you. Then we’re going to deal with it as a group.”
There was an audible gasp from some of the family members because they had not expected to receive actual names, based on what happened earlier.
Colt said, “The only reason we have names is because one of the crew was able to send an official message concerning the cause of the accident, and instead of signing it with one name he signed it with seven. That was Robby Jenner.”
Melissa almost fainted. She sat down and buried her head in her hands.
“Tony Johnson was also rescued. I’m sorry Pattie; we haven’t heard from Charlie, but we will. The lead flight attendant, Britt Fowler, is safely on board, as are Mary Dobson, Nancy Hammond, and Pam Arnold. We already know that Candace is okay, so that makes seven crew in all. This is just more proof that the landing was survivable, and I’m confident we will get more good news. Mr. Collins promised that he will let us know as soon as he gets more information.”
The celebration in the room would have been much more ebullient, were it not for the fact that four families plus Molly Jackson’s mother still suffered in limbo. Allen Smallwood’s wife had been invited to join them, but elected not to. Colt offered encouragement to them and was happy to see that everyone remained to give their support.
Colt explained to Pattie where he was going and quietly left the room. When he arrived at Collin’s office, the secretary escorted him into a conference room where he found Collins, Jake Smith, Phil James, and the two federal representatives, Gene Clark, and Ed White. Harold Collins filled Colt in on what Robby had reported. The dump valves had
mysteriously opened and could not be closed. Phil had not been able to find any plausible scenario that would allow that to accidentally happen to one dump valve, much less two. Now that they knew what happened, it was all about how and why. Ed White was reluctant to name Ray Slackman an actual suspect, based on what they knew so far.
“Gentlemen, we simply don’t have any real proof. No matter what we think we know, the justice system requires certain benchmarks that must be met in order to accuse someone. We have to keep looking if this is going to stick.”
As Ed was talking, his cell phone was vibrating. He looked at the caller ID.
“Excuse me guys, I have to take this.”
He walked to the end of the room and took the call. Jake and Phil continued to explain that what happened couldn’t happen. Colt went through the scenario in his mind and could not think of anything that Charlie could have done to prevent the accident.
Ed ended his call and walked back to the group.
“We may have a break. The local office received a call from a woman who claims she may have information for us. She’s agreed to come here to talk, and I’ve arranged transportation for her.”
Colt asked, “Who is she?”
“An employee at a local bar, The Cavu Lounge. Her name is Annie Jordan, and she should be here shortly.”
Twenty minutes later, Ed walked into the interview room.
“Ms. Jordan, my name is Ed White. I’m a special agent with the FBI. Thank you for coming by to talk to us.”
Annie shook hands and said, “I don’t know if I can help or not, Mr. White. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble, but I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about this.”
“Well, this is quite a tragedy, ma’am. If you can shed any light at all on it, you’d certainly be doing the right thing. Our policy is to keep information as confidential as possible. Why don’t you just tell me what’s on your mind?”
“Well, I’ve heard a lot of employees talking about the crash, and last night some of the mechanics were talking about the fuel system and saying the airplane ran out of gas.”
“That’s one of the theories we’re looking at. Do you have reason to believe that’s what happened?”
“Mr. White, I don’t know anything about airplanes at all, but since everybody is talking about the fuel system, I remembered seeing something a few days ago that had to do with airplane fuel.”
“Can you tell me what that was about?”
“Well, one of the Tri Con mechanics was in the bar this week, and he was pretty upset that he was going to be let go. He had quite a few beers and was looking at some papers he had with him. He told me it was a love letter to Tri Con’s bottom line or something like that. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but when he went to the restroom, I wiped down the bar and picked the papers up so I didn’t get them wet. There was a Tri Con logo at the top of the page and under that it said something about fuel. Like I said, it may not mean anything, but I keep thinking about all those people dying and thought I should say something.”
“You absolutely did the right thing, Ms. Jordan. We depend on good citizens like you to come forward, even if the information turns out to be unrelated. Can you remember exactly what was on the paper?”
“I don’t think so. I just remember it was about fuel.”
“Was it all writing and words or did it have pictures or something like that?”
“Oh, wait a minute, I remember now. It was a diagram of some sort, and it had a funny word at the top that sounded technical. I think it started with an s.”
“Did the diagram have thick lines or double lines like pipes, or were they thin lines like electrical wires?”
“Oh yeah, it said something about electrical too.”
“Okay, was the technical word schematic?”
“That’s it! I’ve been trying to remember that word.”
“You’re doing great, Ms. Jordan. Now, the fuel system involves a lot of different things, but the electricity usually opens and closes valves and operates pumps. Did the paper say anything about valves or pumps?”
“Oh wow! I do remember what it said. It was something like Electrical Schematic Fuel Dump Valves.”
“Great. Sometimes you remember much more than you think. By the way, do you remember this mechanic’s name?”
“Oh sure, he comes in all the time. His name is Ray Slackman.”
“Can you think of anything else that might be relevant, ma’am?”
“I don’t think so. None of this may mean anything.”
“You may be right, but can I get some information on how to reach you if I need to?”
Ed wrote down the information and escorted Annie out. He asked her not to discuss her visit with anyone, and she agreed.
A few minutes later, Ed rejoined the others in the conference room.
“Gentlemen, I think we have our why and how. We have a viable witness who can attest to the fact that Ray Slackman harbors a grudge against Tri Con and can also place in his possession documents that could be used to sabotage Tri Con Flight Eleven. I don’t think we have enough to charge him with sabotage at this point, but we’re close. It’s time to bring him in. I plan to get a warrant for his arrest and charge him with lying to a federal officer and obstructing a federal investigation. I think he might fold under interrogation, but if not, at least he will be in custody while we gather more evidence.”
Charlie had seen no evidence of rescue since the pre-dawn sweeping searchlight. The day was slipping away, and the shadow of the raft was growing longer. He shuddered to think of another night in the crowded raft. Most of the twenty-one handicapped people were taking prescription drugs of one sort or another and had watched them sink with the airplane. No one had considered taking time to recover personal belongings in the rush to evacuate. They had been very fortunate to get themselves out and had barely made it in time.
The distant searchlight had been so encouraging and yet had resulted in absolutely nothing. The weather had also been a plus today. Ceiling and visibility had improved steadily, and a search plane could have spotted them from miles away. Charlie and Molly struggled to find any little sign that would offer encouragement and hope to the survivors, but they were losing credibility as the hours passed with no sign of civilization. Even Molly’s skill at finding positive solutions to difficult circumstances was being severely tested. The one advantage they had was that all of the handicapped passengers had faced extreme challenges before and had learned to deal with it.
Charlie still suffered periodic bouts of guilt and depression because he blamed himself for everything that had gone wrong. He now wished that he had fired the flare when they saw the searchlight earlier. He had not experienced many options during the entire ordeal, but he felt that he had consistently chosen the wrong one when given the opportunity. In addition to everything else, he had begun to worry about Pattie. He knew what she must be going through, and once again he blamed himself. Those thoughts were compounded by realizing that everyone in the rafts had loved ones grieving for them also. Charlie offered up many silent prayers as the day wore on.
Another thing that he and Molly had discussed several times was what happened to the other rafts. They had all begun at the exact same place and time, and yet even with the increased visibility, the others were nowhere in sight. Charlie knew for a fact that seven rafts had launched. Only the two right door had been inaccessible. He had personally seen all other rafts away. He tried to think of all the factors that would affect how far and fast a raft would drift. He finally concluded that the other rafts probably drifted farther away than his raft. Both Shelia’s raft and his were relatively heavy and had both deployed the sea anchor early on. This presented another rare option. Should he pull the sea anchors and drift to the east or leave them deployed and stay in the area? They would never catch the other rafts with a two-day head start anyway, and every survival manual said stay with the wreckage. They actually had no wreckage, but at least they could sta
y near the last reported position.
He took some satisfaction from the fact that he could still think logically and rationalize facts, but it wasn’t going to make a difference in this case. His thought process was interrupted when someone made a loud whooping noise. Both rafts erupted in shouts and applause when the grinning fisherman held up a wriggling fish about ten inches long. Shouts of, “Sushi for dinner” and, “Start the fire” made everyone laugh. Molly encouraged the celebration to continue by making jokes and funny comments. Any break from the monotony was a good thing, and everybody wanted to enjoy the moment. The rafts were joyous, rowdy, and extremely noisy. Nobody saw or heard the P3 Orion until it roared overhead at one hundred feet.
Suddenly there was a stunned silence in the rafts. Seventy-eight people sat with their eyes wide and mouths open. Charlie felt a moment of panic when he thought the airplane had not seen them, but it only went a short distance before pulling up into a lazy chandelle to reverse direction. It went into orbit above the rafts. He closed his eyes and said another silent prayer of gratitude.
“Karuk, Navy Eight.”
“Go ahead, Navy Eight.”
“You better tell the cook to get out more mystery meat. We’ve got two more strays for you to round up. Looks like seventy to eighty hungry people.”
“Roger that. The more the merrier. I’ve already been thrown out of the berthing compartment, and I have to make an appointment to use the restroom, so a few more won’t matter.”
Ed White made the call and obtained the federal warrant, then called the airport division of the local police. He faxed the warrant and asked them to pick up Ray Slackman. He planned to interview Ray at the airport holding cells and confront him with the new information that he had received. With a little luck, he could get a confession and be home for dinner. He was still talking with Harold Collins and Jake Smith when his cell phone vibrated.
The conversation was short, and when he ended the call, he said, “We’ve got problems. Slackman hasn’t been seen all afternoon.”
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