This is my first attempt at doing a multi-chapter story in sound/dialogue format. Just a warning for those of you that don't care for this particular style.
The 'Code Red' Affair
door opening
"Any word yet, April?"
"We've gotten word, but I'm afraid it's nothing positive, Napoleon. Just confirmation that the plane they were on lost radar contact without a peep over the radio and never arrived at its destination. The aviation authories have issued a Code Red."
"Dammit. Where was the plane when they lost contact?"
"That's the only positive. They were still over the water, but not far from shore. If the plane was able to make even a brief water landing, there's a chance they could have made it to land."
"Not a big positive there, April."
"We'll find them. Illya's very resourceful and Mark's - well, Mark's can stay calm through the oddest situations. They always told us in Survival School that staying calm was half of the battle."
"That is a fact. Come on. Sooner we get on the scene ourselves, the better I'll like it."
. . . . .
"Mister Solo, Miss Dancer. My supervisor told me to be expecting you and that your organization is to be allowed full access to the case. I'm Jarmon Bratcher - in charge of recovery operations."
"Mister Bratcher. I'd say it was a pleasure to meet you if not for the circumstance. Any findings yet?"
"Yessir, but I don't believe that you'll care for them. We found several bodies and have identified one of them as the co-pilot. He was shot in the back of the head."
"I think we can rule out the plane going down due to mechanical failure."
"Possibly not, Miss Dancer. If the person with the gun hit the control panel as well as the co-pilot, they might have caused a fatal mechanical error whether that was their intention or not."
"Fine then. We can eliminate that only mechanical failure was a problem."
"Yes, ma'am. Sorry. I know this is more than just an investigation into a crash for the two of you."
paper rustling
"The preliminary report on the bullet is enough to show that it didn't come from the weapons Agents Kuryakin and Slate were registered to be carrying onboard. So far, we haven't located the other others of the crew, but we have frogmen on their way down to the submerged plane as we speak."
"How many people were onboard?"
"According to records, the flight wasn't fully booked. Fifty-six pasengers, including your two agents, plus nine crew so sixty-five altogether. We've also recovered twelve passengers in addition to the co-pilot, none of which could be your men from the descriptions we were given. That leaves forty-three unaccounted for at the moment, Mister Solo."
"My God. All those people."
"At the moment, it is being considered to be a hijacking attempt that went wrong. We're trying to keep the media out of it, but with the number of civilians aboard, that isn't going to keep for much longer."
"Thank you. If there is any other equipment available, Miss Dancer and I would like to join the frogmen."
"Well, I certainly don't have to ask if you're dive certified. Certainly. I can have gear here for you within the hour."
"We'll wait here on the shore if you don't mind."
"Napoleon? Do you think it really was a hijacking?"
"No. I don't think your average hijacker could have succeeded with either Illya or Mark onboard, let alone with both of them on the flight. Illya isn't what I'd call someone to sit back and see how things unfold. And most certainly not where civilian lives are involved."
"I don't know if I want to hear the answer to this or not, but what do you think we'll find?"
"To be honest, April, I think we'll find one of two things. Either Illya and Mark were dead before the plane hit the water or they weren't on it when it crashed. If nothing else, one of them would have gotten a transmission out, however short."
"You're right. And perhaps it's wishful thinking instead of a woman's intuition, but I don't think we'll find them down there, Napoleon."
"My guts agree with your intuition, so let's go down looking for any hints our partners may have been able to leave us."