“But whoever authorized it may have known exactly what happened to my aircraft.”
Andrew looked at her.
“Can you get us down safely?”
Laura took one slow breath.
“Yes.”
Then she looked at the instruments again.
“But first, I need you to do something.”
“What?”
“Tell the cabin crew to prepare everyone for an emergency landing.”
Andrew reached for the intercom.
Laura watched the instruments.
Then suddenly she noticed a line of data that shouldn’t have been there.
A command.
Not generated by the aircraft.
Not generated by the pilots.
A remote input.
Her blood ran cold.
“Captain…”
Andrew stopped.
“What now?”
Laura pointed at the screen.
“Someone is trying to control the aircraft.”
The cockpit went silent.
And then, for the first time since she had entered the cockpit, Laura felt something more frightening than the memories of her past.
Someone had known she was aboard.
Because the remote command had appeared only seconds after she had identified herself as the former F-16 pilot.
Andrew stared at the screen.
“Can they actually control us?”
Laura didn’t answer.
She was already reaching for the emergency checklist.
Then her phone vibrated inside her pocket.
She had forgotten it was there.
One message.
