Equal Time Point

by Harrison Jones

  At one end of the ramp, there were several pieces of ground support equipment parked, and Ray placed the tug between an air conditioning cart and a portable generator. He walked down the row of airplanes until he found one that had a set of portable stairs in place at the entrance door. He bounded up the stairs and glanced at the number on the nose wheel door. It was ship 827; the sister ship to the one at the bottom of the Atlantic. Ray had no time to consider trivia. He opened the big entrance door and entered the aircraft. Once inside, he closed the door and looked around to make sure he was alone. This would be the perfect hiding place for now, and he needed time to think of a better plan.

  He went into the lavatory and filled the sink with water so he could shave the hair from his face. He had grown the beard several years before, and shaving was not a habit he was used to. When he finally finished, he was nicked and cut in several places, but satisfied that his appearance was sufficiently changed and wouldn’t be recognized from a photograph that the authorities might have. He placed the remainder of the amenity kit into the trash bin and then walked to the back of the airplane. He decided to rest until dark, and then find a way to escape the airport property. He still wore his tool belt. He removed it and reclined a seat to nap in.

  After driving Pattie and Melissa to their homes to pack, Jenny stopped by her apartment near the airport and changed into her Tri Con flight attendant uniform. Since becoming one of Molly’s assistants, she had not had occasion to wear it often, and she was pleased that it still fit. She threw some things into her rolling travel bag and found room for an extra pair of jeans and a shirt that she hoped would fit Molly. It distressed her that the outfit would probably look better on Molly than it did on her. She collected Pattie and Melissa from her living room, and they drove to the airport.

  At six thirty, the three of them arrived back at the crew family room to find most of the group already waiting. Bertie’s husband was there, surrounded by his daughter, son, and four grandchildren. The grandchildren ranged in age from about eight years old to fifteen. Pattie hugged him and told him not to give up.

  “I appreciate your encouragement, Pattie. I have to go and do what I can, no matter what, and I want my family with me.”

  “I think it’s exactly the right thing to do. Bertie would do the same if roles were reversed.”

  The Fowlers and the Johnsons arrived, having driven together to gather their belongings for the trip. They seemed to have become close friends in the short time they had been thrown together by the crisis and had found much in common. When they were introduced to the Martin grandchildren, they immediately focused their attention on caring for them. The room was filled with joy, elation, and relief now that the families knew that their loved ones were safe. The atmosphere was tempered only by the fact that Bertie was not among the survivors. Mr. Martin and his children made it clear that they too celebrated the rescue of the other crewmembers, and they graciously accepted the empathy of everyone else. Even in their distress, they felt loved and supported by the other families.

  Harold Collins came into the room to announce the departure plans.

  “I regret that I will not be able to accompany you, but I have to remain here as the investigation continues. Our departure plans for the Azores are all set, and we’ll get you on your way to reunite with your loved ones very shortly. We’re waiting for a few more people who are staying at the hotel to check out and return here; when they do, we’ll put you all on a bus and take you directly to the airplane. The crew is already on their way to do the preflight, and they’ll be ready for a timely departure when you arrive. I want you all to know how much I admire the way you have come together to support each other, and I want you to know how proud I am of the heroic effort our crewmembers have made to save so many lives. There will be a total of forty-four family members on the flight tonight, and there are fifty business class seats, so I hope everyone can stretch out and get some rest. I know Captain Adams will give you a good ride, and most of you know Jenny Kramer, who will be your lead flight attendant. The other crewmembers are also volunteers who wanted to do this on their days off. In fact, we had over one hundred volunteers and had to turn most of them away. You know, it’s times like this, when people pull together, that make me proud to be a human being. We’ll all be waiting to welcome you home in a couple of days.”

  The room gave him an enthusiastic round of applause, and many individuals personally thanked him. A few minutes later, a crew of bag smashers arrived to load the luggage on the bus, and an agent arrived to check IDs against the passenger manifest as they boarded the bus.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Ray couldn’t actually sleep, but he had pulled the armrest up on a row of seats and stretched out with his eyes closed for over two hours. He was anxious to get away and had thought of several ways to escape the airport once darkness fell. The longer he waited, the more nervous he became. His eyes popped open when he heard a noise at the front of the airplane. The first thought that came to his mind was police, but then it occurred to him that if they knew he was here, they would have come for him sooner. The other possibilities were that maintenance was here to perform some sort of work, or the airplane was being prepared for a flight. Either way, he could not leave the airplane without being seen since the only stairs were at the front door. He quickly came up with a lame cover story for being on the airplane if he was spotted, and then waited to see what would happen.

  His first big clue came a few minutes later when he heard the APU start; shortly thereafter, the air conditioning system began blowing cold air through the outlets above the seats. The airplane was being prepared to fly, and he needed a plan if he was to escape. It wasn’t dark yet, and he would have to not only find a way off the airplane, but also a new place to hide. Then it occurred to him that his thinking was far too simplistic. What better way to leave the airport than on the airplane? All he had to do was stay put and soon he would be in another city, free and clear. This new train of thought was intriguing, and he began thinking of how it could be accomplished. There were several places he would like to hide, but all of them required going to the front of the airplane, where he would surely be seen and questioned. He also knew that time was running short. Soon either a mechanic or one of the crew would be doing a walk around and inspecting the interior of the airplane.

  He came to the conclusion that there was only one place that he might be able to remain aboard and not be discovered. He peered around the edge of the seat and didn’t see anyone. He assumed that whoever started the APU must still be in the cockpit. He hurried around the partition at the last row of seats and was out of sight from anyone at the front of the airplane. From his position, he could access the rear galley without being seen, and he quickly went through the drawers until he found what he needed. He located a packet of Tri Con stationery and a magic marker. He wrote, “Out of order,” on the paper and used a roll of masking tape to attach it to one of the lavatory doors. He added a big X pattern of masking tape to the exterior of the door and replaced the items he had taken from the galley. He had performed this task many times before, when the toilet malfunctioned and there was not time to repair it before departure. There were several other lavatories at the rear of the airplane, and it wasn’t uncommon to be dispatched with one out of service. Now he moved into the lavatory and locked the door from inside. He sat down in the small space and hoped the flight would be a short one.

  He thought his plan through and was satisfied that it would work. Like most mechanics who wore a tool belt all day, Ray had a habit of resting his hand on the flashlight in the loop at the front of the pouch. When he moved his hand down now, he panicked when he realized the pouch was not there. He had left it in the row of seats he had been resting in. Just when he thought he was home free, he had made a stupid mistake. The tools in the seat would be a red flag that someone would investigate, and his name was on the pouch. He would have to retrieve them. When he cracked the door and peeked out, he coul
d hear voices from the forward part of the cabin. He couldn’t make out the words, but he watched through the thin opening. He saw a mechanic walk out the front door onto the stairs. He quickly opened the door while watching the front of the airplane and grabbed the tool pouch. He ducked back into the lavatory without being seen and locked the door once again. Ray settled down for the long wait and visualized himself walking off the airplane scot-free.

  Colt had managed his time well during the afternoon. He went home, packed his bag, showered, shaved, and then got into his uniform. On the way to the airport, he stopped at the ATM for some cash and made it to flight operations by six o’clock. He stopped in crew scheduling to see who the copilots would be, then answered questions and dispelled rumors for the schedulers. He knew they gossiped more than a ladies’ knitting club, and he didn’t want them spreading wild stories or becoming an unofficial source for the news media.

  He found the briefing room the flight had been assigned and began the flight planning. By the time the two copilots arrived at six-thirty, he had completed most of the task. Glenn Rodgers and Rick Stanley were both senior first officers and made short work of the remaining paperwork.

  After that, the conversation turned to what had happened to Flight Eleven and Colt told them as much as he could without risking the wrath of the FBI. They went to the flight attendant briefing room and found Jenny with her crew. Heather, the family room hostess, smiled at Colt. He said, “Heather, I hope you have not been spreading unfounded rumors and untruths about me.”

  Jenny spoke up, “We’ve tried to dissuade her from encouraging you, Colt, but she’s young and foolish.”

  Colt spoke to the other flight attendants.

  “Ladies, don’t listen to these surly, insubordinate women. My name is Colt Adams, but you can call me Your Majesty, Your Honor, or whatever other similar superlative you choose. Tri Con has had the good judgment to assign me as your leader tonight. I won’t demean you by talking about the weather and other such trivia, but there are a couple of important things for you to know. One is that I take one cream and no sugar; the other is that I prefer the beef over the chicken. The two underlings accompanying me are scallywags of the first order, and I would not recommend allowing them to sully your good reputation.”

  He took a sheet of paper from his pocket and handed it to Jenny. The page contained a very thorough and professional briefing with all the pertinent details about the flight so that she could include the information in her briefing.

  Colt added, “I’ll leave you to continue your discussion and remind you to discount any personal insults that Ms. Kramer might direct toward me. The airplane is on the remote pad, and I’ve ordered a van to transport us in about fifteen minutes. I look forward to flying with you, and I think, with a little effort, this could quite possibly be the finest flight of our entire collective careers.”

  Jenny said, “Thank you, Your Majesty. We’ll try to demonstrate worthiness of your kindness and compassion.”

  Colt took a bow, and all the girls giggled as he and the copilots left the room.

  Jenny spoke to the girls at the table.

  “If you haven’t flown with Captain Adams before, don’t be deceived by the facade. He’s one of the finest pilots you’ll ever fly with, and even though he likes to keep everyone entertained, if you screw up, he will hold you accountable in a most unpleasant way.”

  One of the ladies drew a scornful look from Heather when she asked, “Does he have a wife?”

  “Several. Don’t go there,” Jenny answered.

  Jenny continued her briefing and included all the information Colt had written on the page he had given her. At the conclusion, she went over the passenger list and related what she knew about each family. She noticed two slips of paper clipped to the manifest and recognized the familiar forms. “Ladies, I’m not sure what this is about, but we have two gentlemen added to the manifest. As you can see from the little blue forms, they are authorized to carry weapons. The authorizing agency is FBI, so we have two gun-toting feds with us. I don’t have to remind you that this means that no alcoholic beverages are to be served to them.”

  Jenny looked at the girl who had asked about Colt, “It doesn’t say if they’re married or not.”

  That drew a laugh from everyone else and a blush from the girl. Jenny went on to explain that even with the two feds, the total number of passengers was only forty-six. Therefore, she planned to seat everyone in business class and use only the forward and mid galleys to serve.

  “I want everyone to sit at your normal duty station for takeoff and landing so that we have all the doors covered, but other than that, we can all hang out up front. Plan on about a three-hour break so everyone will have a chance to sleep.”

  A few minutes later, the entire crew was gathered in the lounge, and the transportation arrived to deliver them to the airplane. Two vans were required to accommodate the eleven people with their bags, and they caravanned around the perimeter road to the remote ramp on the north side of the field. Colt was the first one to climb the stairs to the forward entrance door with his travel bag in one hand and his brain bag in the other. As he neared the top, a mechanic came out to greet him.

  “Afternoon, Captain. I just started the APU and got the air conditioning going for you. The logbook is clean, and the fuel truck is on the way. I’m supposed to hang around until departure in case you need anything.”

  Colt said, “I appreciate that. Feel free to wait inside where it’s cool if you want to.”

  “Okay, is this a charter flight or something?”

  “Yeah, we’re going to pick up the Flight Eleven crew, and we’re taking their families to reunite with them. The other passengers are being accommodated on Air Portugal.”

  “I knew it must be something important. Operations is treating it like Air Force One.”

  Colt made his way to the cockpit and began making his nest in the left seat. He was joined shortly by Glenn, who had lost the coin toss for the return leg. They settled into the routine, and a few minutes later, the preliminary checklist was complete, except for checking the fuel load after the truck finished pumping. Colt looked out the windshield and saw a Tri Con employee bus entering the security gate, followed by a black Crown Victoria with antennas protruding in various places.

  He left the flight deck and waited at the top of the stairs to greet the passengers. Rick returned from performing the exterior walk around and watched as each man shook Colt’s hand, and each lady gave him either a hug or a kiss on the cheek. Not knowing the background, he concluded that the captain possessed a more magnetic personality than he had thought. Colt knew that most of his passengers had just lived vicariously through their loved one’s terror filled experience. He sensed their apprehension about getting on the same type airplane to fly the same route, and he admired their courage and sense of loyalty to their family. Colt had mentally put himself in Charlie’s place and wondered if he could have performed as well.

  At the end of the parade, the last three men up the steps had short hair and wore dark suits with white shirts. They looked like they were cloned in the basement of a federal building somewhere.

  Ed White said, “Good to see you again, Colt. I wanted to come over and introduce you to Special Agents John Lehman and Joe Rand.” Handshakes were exchanged all around. Ed continued.

  “John and Joe will be going with you and conducting the initial interviews of the crew. We want to get their thoughts while everything is still fresh in their minds.”

  Each agent handed Colt a copy of the in-flight gun-toting authorization.

  He said, “Gentlemen, we’re happy to have you with us. I know you’re legal to carry your weapons on the flight, but I remind you that once we are underway you are not authorized to use them without the captain’s permission. Since I know everyone on the airplane personally, I can’t imagine it becoming an issue, but nonetheless, those are the rules.”

  Lehman answered, “We understand perfectly, Capt
ain, and it will not be a problem under any circumstances.”

  “Welcome aboard. We have plenty of seats. You can enjoy a business class seat or an entire row of tourist if you want to stretch out horizontally and sleep. The flight attendants will know that you are carrying, but the passengers will not. You are also welcome in the cockpit anytime.”

  Ed said, “We appreciate your help, Colt. I wish I could come along myself, but you know the situation here.”

  “Any luck locating this guy, Ed?”

  “Not yet, but it will happen, believe me.”

  “I do believe you. I’ll keep these two fed and watered for you until we get back in a couple of days.”

  Colt escorted the two agents inside and introduced them to Jenny, who compared their IDs to the little blue slips she had with her paperwork.

  The passengers had settled into their seats, and Pattie and Melissa had taken the two front seats on the left side. The Fowlers were in the middle two seats, with the Johnsons taking the two on the right. The ladies had taken aisle seats across from each other so they could converse. Colt took a few minutes to speak with Molly’s mother and to encourage the Martins, who had taken seats in the rear of the cabin. Before leaving headquarters that afternoon, Colt had learned that the two missing passengers were a Spanish man traveling alone and the unaccompanied minor. He didn’t have the heart to tell the Martins that a ten-year-old girl was missing with Bertie. He took some time with Bertie’s granddaughter of about the same age and tried not to think of the possibilities or what the outcome might be. When he heard the fuel truck driving away from the right wing, he went to the cockpit to prepare for departure.