The movement came in a repeated mechanical rhythm.
Laura’s eyes immediately moved toward the flight instruments.
“How long has the control column been doing that?”
“About ten minutes.”
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
Andrew pointed toward several warning displays.
“The autopilot disconnected unexpectedly. Then the flight control computer started generating conflicting errors. A few minutes later, my first officer said his arm was going numb and suddenly collapsed.”
Laura looked at the unconscious man.
“Did the two of you eat the same meal?”
“No. He brought coffee from the airport.”
“Anyone else sick?”
“No.”
Laura studied the instruments.
Her uniform was gone.
Her military career was supposedly finished.
But the instincts built during years inside fighter cockpits returned almost immediately.
The aircraft suddenly drifted right.
Andrew pulled against the controls.
“Don’t fight it,” Laura warned.
“I have to stop the bank.”
“No. You’re fighting bad computer input. The system is correcting against you.”
Andrew looked at her.
Laura pointed toward the control system.
“Isolate one of the secondary flight channels.”
For half a second, Andrew hesitated.
Then he trusted her.
He disconnected the channel.
The aircraft gave one violent shudder.
Then the vibration disappeared.
Andrew stared at her.
“You were right.”
Laura didn’t respond.
They still had bigger problems.
A powerful storm covered the radar ahead.
Fuel reserves were shrinking.
Their first officer remained unconscious.
Then a doctor who had volunteered from the passenger cabin appeared at the cockpit entrance.
“Captain, I examined your first officer. I don’t believe this is a normal medical collapse.”
Andrew turned.
“What do you mean?”
“His symptoms are consistent with chemical poisoning.”
Silence filled the cockpit.
Laura immediately looked toward the center console.
Something was missing.
“Where is his coffee thermos?”
The flight attendant looked around.
“It was here.”
Laura’s stomach tightened.
The broken flight-control system.
An incapacitated first officer.
And now evidence disappearing from the cockpit.
Those were no longer random coincidences.
“Lock the cockpit door,” Laura said.
