Airframe (33 page)

The landing lights went out.

Darkness in the cabin.

183

She held her breath.

She heard the faint thunk of a relay, coming from somewhere in the forward compartment.

She knew it was electrical, but apparently the man in the red shirt did not. He grunted softly, as if surprised, and moved forward quickly.

She waited.

After a while, she thought she heard the sound of footsteps on the metal stairs, going down.

She wasn't sure, but she thought so.

The airplane was silent around her.

Cautiously, she came out from behind the seat. It was time to get out of here, she thought.

She moved to the open door, listening. There was no question, the footsteps walking away, the sound diminishing. The nose lights came on, and she saw a long streak of shadow. A man.

Walking away.

A voice inside said, Get out of here, but she felt the goggles around her neck, and hesitated.

She ought to give the man plenty of time to leave the hangar—she didn't want to go down and find him on the floor. So she decided to look in another compartment.

She pulled on the goggles, pressed the button on the unit. She saw the next page.

The next compartment was nearby, located just outside the rear door, where she was standing. She leaned out the door and, holding on with her right hand, found she could easily look into the panel box. The cover was already open. There were three vertical rows of electrical buses, which probably controlled the two rear doors; they were overrides. And at the bottom...

Yes.

The Quick Access Recorder.

It was green, with a white stripe around the top. Stenciled lettering: MAINT QAR 041/B

MAINT. A metal box about eight inches square, with a plug facing outward. Casey reached in, gripped the box, and pulled gently. With a metallic click it came free of the inner coupling. And she had it in her hand.

All right!

She stepped back inside the doorway, holding die box in both hands now. She was so excited she was trembling. This changed everything!

She was so excited, she did not hear the rush of footsteps behind her until it was too late.

Strong hands shoved against her, she grunted, and her hands slipped away, and then her body fell through the door, into space.

Falling.

To the floor thirty feet below.

Too soon—much too soon—she felt a sharp pain on her cheek—and then her body landed, but something was wrong. There were strange pressure points all over her body. She was no longer falling, but rising. Then falling again. It was like a giant hammock.

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The webbing.

She'd hit the safety webbing.

She couldn't see it in the darkness, but the black safety webbing was hung beneath the plane, and she had fallen into it. Casey rolled over onto her back, saw a silhouette at the door. The figure turned and ran through the airplane. She scrambled to her feet, but it was difficult to balance. The webbing was slowly undulating.

She moved forward, toward the dull metal expanse of the wing. She heard footsteps clattering on the metal stairs, somewhere forward. The man was coming.

She had to get out.

She had to get off the webbing before he caught her. She moved closer to the wing, and then she heard a cough. It had come from the far edge of the wing, somewhere off to her left.

Someone else was here.

Down on the floor.

Waiting.

She paused, feeling the gentle swaying of the webbing beneath her. In a moment, she knew, more lights would come on. Then she could see where the man was.

Suddenly, the hot strobe lights above the tail flickered rapidly. They were so bright, they illuminated the entire hangar.

Now she could see who had coughed.

It was Richman.

He wore a dark blue windbreaker and dark slacks. The lazy, collegiate manner was gone.

Richman stood near the wing, tense, alert. He looked left and right carefully, scanning the floor.

Abruptly, the strobe lights went out, plunging the hangar into darkness. Casey moved forward, hearing the webbing creak beneath her feet. Would Richman hear? Could he figure out where she was?

She came to the wing, stretching forward in darkness.

She grabbed it with her hand, moved outward to the edge. Sooner or later, she knew, the webbing would end. Her foot struck a thick cord; she bent down, felt knots.

Casey lay down on the webbing, gripped the edge in both hands, and rolled over the side, falling. For a moment she hung by one arm, the webbing stretching downward. She was surrounded by blackness. She did not know how far it was to the floor. Six feet? Ten feet?

Running footsteps.

She released the webbing, and fell.

She hit the ground standing, dropped to her knees. Sharp pain in her kneecap as she banged into concrete. She heard Richman cough again. He was very close, off to her left. She got up and began to run toward the exit door. The landing lights came on again, harsh and strong. In their glare she saw Richman throw up his hands to cover his eyes. She knew he would be 185

blinded for a few seconds. Not long.

But perhaps enough. Where was the other man? She ran.

She hit the wall of the hangar with a dull metallic thud. Someone behind her said, "Hey!" She moved along the wall feeling for the door. She heard running footsteps.

Where? Where?

Behind her, running footsteps.

Her hand touched wood, vertical runners, more wood, then the metal bar. The door latch. She pushed.

Cool air.

She was outside.

Teddy turned. "Hey, babe," he said, smiling. "How's it going She fell to her knees, gasping for breath. Teddy and the electrical guy came running over.

"What is it? What's the matter?"

They were standing over her, touching her, solicitous. She tried to catch her breath. She managed to gasp, "Call Security."

"What?"

"Call Security! Someone's inside!"

- The electrical guy ran to the phone. Teddy stayed with her. Then she remembered the QAR.

She had a moment of sudden panic. Where was it?

She stood. "Oh no," she said. "I dropped it."

"Dropped what, babe?"

"That box . . ." She turned, looking back at the hangar. She'd have to get them to go back inside, to—

"You mean the one in your hand?" Teddy said.

She looked at her left hand.

The QAR was there, clutched so tightly her fingers were white.

GLENDALE

11:30 P.M.

"Come on, now," Teddy said, arm around her, walking her into the bedroom. "Everything's fine, babe."

'Teddy," she said, "I don't know why ..."

"We'll find out tomorrow," he said soothingly.

"But what was he doing ..."

'Tomorrow," Teddy said.

"But what was he ..."

She couldn't finish her sentences. She sat on the bed, suddenly feeling her exhaustion, 186

overwhelmed by it.

"I'll stay on the couch," he said. "I don't want you alone tonight." He looked at her, chucked her on the chin. "Don't worry about a thing, babe."

He reached over, and took the QAR out of her hand. She released it unwillingly. "We'll just put this right here," he said, setting it on the bedside table. He was talking to her as to a child

'Teddy, it's important..."

"I know. It'll be there, when you wake up. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Call if you need anything." He left, closing the door.

She looked at the pillow. She had to get out of her clothes, to get ready for bed. Her face hurt; she didn't know what had happened to it She needed to look at her face.

She picked up the QAR and stuck it behind the pillow. She stared at the pillow, then lay down on it, and closed her eyes.

Just for a moment, she thought.

187

FRIDAY

GLENDALE

6:30 A.M.

Something was wrong.

Casey sat up quickly. Pain streaked through her body; she gasped. She felt a burning sensation in her face. She touched her cheek, and winced.

Sunlight poured through her window onto the foot of the bed. She looked down at twin arcs of grease on the bedspread. She still had her shoes on. She still had her clothes on.

She was lying on top of the bedspread, fully dressed.

Groaning, she twisted her body, swung her feet to the floor. Everything hurt. She looked down at the bedside table. The clock said six-thirty.

She reached behind the pillow, brought out the green metal box with a white stripe.

The QAR.

She smelled coffee.

The door opened, and Teddy came in in his boxer shorts, bringing her a mug. "How bad is it?"

"Everything hurts."

"I figured." He held the coffee out to her. "Can you handle this?"

She nodded, took the mug gratefully. Her shoulders hurt as she lifted it to her lips. The coffee was hot and strong.

"Face isn't too bad," he said, looking at her critically. "Mostly on the side. I guess that's where you hit the mesh..."

She suddenly remembered: the interview.

"Oh Jesus," she said. She got off the bed, groaning again.

"Three aspirins," Teddy said, "and a very hot bath."

"I don't have time."

"Make time. Hot as you can stand."

She went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. She looked in the mirror. Her face was streaked with grime. There was a purple bruise that started by her ear and ran back behind her neck. Her hair would cover it, she thought. It wouldn't show.

She took another drink of coffee, removed her clothes, got into the shower. She had bruises on her elbow, on her hip, on her knees. She couldn't remember how she had gotten them. The stinging hot spray felt good.

When she came out of the shower, the telephone was ringing. She pushed open the door.

"Don't answer that," Casey said.

"Are you sure?"

"There's no time," she said. "Not today."

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She went into the bedroom to dress.

She had only ten hours until her interview with Marty Reardon. Between now and then, she had only one thing she wanted to do.

Clear up Flight 545.

NORTON/DOS

7:40 A.M.

Rob Wong placed the green box on the table, attached a cable, pressed a key on his console.

A small red light glowed on the QAR box.

"It's got power," Wong said. He sat back in his chair, looked at Casey. "You ready to try this?"

"I'm ready," she said.

"Keep your fingers crossed," Wong said. He pushed a single key on the keyboard.

The red light on the QAR box began to flicker rapidly.

Uneasily, Casey said, "Is that..."

"It's okay. It's downloading."

After a few seconds, the red light glowed steadily again.

"Now what?"

"It's done," Wong said. "Let's see the data." His screen began to show columns of numbers.

Wong leaned forward, looking closely. "Uh ... looks pretty good, Casey. This could be your lucky day." He typed rapidly at the keyboard for several seconds. Then he sat back.

"Now we see how good it is."

On the monitor, a wire-frame aircraft appeared and rapidly filled in, becoming solid, three-dimensional. A sky-blue background appeared. A silver aircraft, seen horizontally in profile. The landing gear down.

Wong punched keys, moving the aircraft around so they saw it from the tail. He added a green field running to the horizon, and a gray runway. The image was schematic but effective. The airplane began to move, going down the runway. It changed attitude, the nose raising up. The landing gear folded into the wings.

"You just took off," Wong said. He was grinning.

The aircraft was still rising. Wong hit a key, and a rectangle opened on the right side of the screen. A series of numbers appeared, changing quickly. "It's not a DFDR, but it's good enough," Wong said. "All the major stuff is here. Altitude, airspeed, heading, fuel, deltas on control surfaces—flaps, slats, ailerons, elevators, rudder. Everything you need. And the data's stable, Casey."

The aircraft was still climbing. Wong hit a button, and white clouds appeared. The plane continued upward, through the clouds.

"I figure you don't want to real time this," he said. "You know when the accident occurred?"

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"Yes," she said. "It was about nine-forty into the flight."

"Nine-forty elapsed?"

"Right."

"Coming up."

On the monitor, the aircraft was level, the rectangle of numbers on the right stable. Then a red light began to flash among the numbers.

"What's that?"

"Fault recording. It's, uh, slats disagree."

She looked at the aircraft on the screen. Nothing changed.

"Slats extending?"

"No," Wong said. "Nothing. It's just a fault."

She watched a moment longer. The aircraft was still level. Five seconds passed. Then the slats emerged from the leading edge.

"Slats extending," Wong said, looking at the numbers. And then, "Slats fully extended."

Casey said, "So there was a fault first? And then the slats extended afterward?"

"Right."

"Uncommanded extension?"

"No. Commanded. Now, plane goes nose up, and— uh-oh—exceeding buffet boundary—now here's the stall warning, and—"

On the screen, the airplane nosed over into a steep dive. The white clouds streaked past, faster and faster. Alarms began to beep, flashing on the screen.

"What's that?" Casey said.

"The plane's exceeding the G-load envelope. Jeez, look at him."

The airplane pulled out of the dive, and began a steep climb. "He's going up at sixteen ...

eighteen ... twenty-one degrees," Wong said, shaking his head. 'Twenty-one degrees!"