No Man's Land

1- A Lesson in Aerobatics

Jana *****

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My focus was drawn away from my phone by an ear-wrenching scream. It wasn't the scream of someone being murdered-that one's pretty distinct- but the scream of metal on metal. The man I was sitting next to looked around anxiously, and the seat belt sign popped on. A female flight attendant stood up from her seat at the bulkhead of the plane and reached for the intercom.

"We seem to be experiencing some turbulence. However, I am sure it is nothing serious and we are checking with the pilot now. The seat belt sign is now on, please find your way back to your seats."  I was only a row behind where she had been sitting, and from that spot I could see the sweat rolling down her brow and the way her eyes flickered back and forth. She was obviously nervous but did not want to terrify the passengers. I quickly lifted up the window to examine the wing. Indeed everything was NOT okay, and infact very serious. Ignoring the sign, I stood up.

"Um, excuse me but, the aileron flew off along with the spoiler on  the right wing. " I said quickly. The woman blinked at me before shaking her head. You couldn't blame her- took me a while to memorize the parts of a plane.

"The aileron helps the plane turn and the spoiler reduces drag. Now that the plane is missing it we're probably going to veer to the right. That, uh, that wouldn't be great." I said, trying to keep my voice down. However, the man sitting next to me certainly heard.

"THE PLANE'S GOING DOWN!" He yelled. Of course pandemonium broke loose, it's common human nature to panic (for some reason). I shot a look to Carrie as the other flight attendant rushed back to whisper something to the first, who gasped. Though I was not wonderful at reading lips, I certainly could make out that she had said 'the captain isn't moving'. The woman looked around with a look of shock before going back onto the intercom.

"It seems that the plane has lost a vital piece of hardware on it's right wing. Please remain calm and put on the oxygen masks as we will rapidly lose altitude and we may have to depressurize the cabin. Now, we seem to need some assistance from a passenger with flight experience." It was certainly her lucky day. My hand shot up, along with those of seven others. All eight of us rushed up front. A man stepped forward.

"I can do it, I used to be air force." The man spoke in a British accent, and I shot another look to Carrie, who had also raised her hand, along with Michael and Chestine. I stepped forward.

"All due respect, fighter jets are way differently set up than commercial airliners." The man shot a look to a few people, obviously exchanging unheard words. The man drew out an ID and suddenly everything was a lot more complicated.

"I'm with the British intelligence service, miss." Oh, he didn't know what card he was pulling. I contemplated for a moment before pulling him closer to me by his shoulder. With my other hand I pulled out my identification.

"And I work for the American government. This is an American model that I am familiar with. Let me fly the damn plane before we crash." The man looked taken aback. Judging by the way he looked at the three other people who had raised their hands, they were also MI6, which meant they probably had also picked up that Michael, Chestine, and Carrie were more than just federal workers from our exchanges.

"Fine. Get to it." he muttered. I nodded to Carrie who spoke into the intercom as I entered the cockpit. Everything was in disarray with buttons and sensor not cooperating with each other as if someone had dragged their hands over all of them and said 'that'll do!'

"Well folks, it's your lucky day. It seems we've found ourselves a pilot. Please sit down and get into the bracing position. Remember to put on your mask before assisting a child or disabled companion." I let rook in a quick breath and took a glance at the slumped over pilot. 

"Mike, can you figure out COD?" I shouted over my shoulder. He shouted back a reply, and I shoved the pilot off of the seat, careful not to touch the blood and saliva dripping out of his mouth. I sat down and grabbed ahold of the yoke, poking and adjusting some buttons on the console. I felt my ears pop as air seemed to start to leave the cabin by a means I didn't know. With a breath of air held in my lungs, I surveyed the surrounding waters for a place to land. Of course, we were somewhere out on the Pacific, so there were no major landmasses. However, I spotted an island which couldn't have been seven kilometers away. However, we were over 2 miles in the air, so the landing would be difficult. 

Slowly I eased up on the yoke, pulling it slightly to the right to ease the off-balance. I took in a breath as I felt the cabin depressurize to an unsafe level. Hopefully that breath could last me. Slowly we  neared the land, and I realised that I had partially overshot the distance. I yanked the yoke to the right so that we would lean into the turn and then eased up as the plane neared the ground. My head started to feel light as my lungs gasped for air. In the past I could hold my breath for 4-5 minutes tops, but by this point we were at about minute number seven. If only I was that guy from Spain who held his breath for 22 minutes.

I swore as I realised that in my focus I had not put on any of the many seat belts and securing straps. Settling for the one that crossed over my body, I clipped it on and put on the pilot's headphones in hopes that the landing might not make me go deaf. The plane made contact with the ground. Though the plane was small, the impact was huge.

The plane thudded against the island's floor.

I realised I had forgotten to brace.

The cockpit shuddered with impact.

My head thwacked against the console.

My world vanished into black.

A/N: ahhhhh I have had this draft just sitting there for like two months and finally I published it! What do you think so far? I already have four pre-written chapters so these first uploads will come pretty fast. Enjoy!