Disclaimer: I do not own "Scooby Doo," or its characters. They are property of Warner Bros. Studios and Hanna Barbera Productions.
Dedicated in memory of Robert Dean Stethem (1961-1985); Captain John Testrake (1928-1996) and Uli Derickson (1944-2005). May you all never be forgotten.
"TWA 847"
By TwilightSparkle3562
Chapter 1
"Summer of Hell"
As I stand at the memorial for Daphne Blake and all the victims of Pan Am Flight 103, it is hard to believe that it has been nearly 30 years since the love of my life had left me in the skies over Lockerbie, Scotland. Every day, it seems like Daphne had never left me to begin with in a spiritual manner and in the days since the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, I always began to think back on the spiritual connection that she had with God. It seemed like God had chosen Daphne to be his earthly vessel, much like what he did with his own son, Jesus Christ, over 2,000 years ago.
There was, however, one period of time where Daphne had been used as a vessel for God and it happened in another time three years before that fateful night in Lockerbie. You see, it was on another aircraft that gained national attention in the summer of 1985.
It all began after we just finished our freshman year at Syracuse University. Daphne and I were on a working vacation in Greece, since our professor at the time had assigned us to make a documentary about the history of Greece for our first assignment to be presented on the first day of the new school year the following September.
On the morning of June 14, 1985, Daphne and I were in our hotel room in the center of Athens getting ready to head over to Ellinikion Airport for what supposed to be a transatlantic flight on Trans World Airlines, or TWA for short, to New York/JFK and then after going through US Immigration and Customs at Kennedy Airport, a short regional flight on TWA Express back to Syracuse, NY. Of course, little did we know, that our carefully made out plans were not to be made possible.
"Freddie, did you make sure all my bathing suits were packed?" asked Daphne as we sat in our hotel room.
"Yes, Daphne," I said, slight annoyed. "They are all in your suitcase."
Being a woman, Daphne had to always make sure that she looked beautiful before stepping out in public. On this day, she was wearing her purple business suit that she later wore when we got sucked into Eric's computer game and on the ill-fated flight over Lockerbie. I had chosen to wear just a white shirt and blue jeans.
"Thanks, Freddie," said Daphne, who had finished fixing her hair and makeup. "We need to make sure we have everything before we leave."
"I'm pretty sure we do," I said as Daphne walked past me. "Our camera and other equipment is all packed and ready to be checked in. I'm pretty sure you are looking forward to getting back."
All Daphne could do was give a small smile. Travelling to her, while exciting, was also very stressful. There was the matter of making sure she had everything she had packed, not to mention the fear of being hijacked by terrorists or crazed idiots to countries such as an Arab country or all the way to Cuba. Not to mention that Athens had the worst airport security in the world.
"The sooner we get out of here, the better," replied Daphne. "I love Greece and making films for our class, but it is even better to get back home."
After grabbing her purse with her passport inside, I followed Daphne down to the hotel lobby where we checked out and hopped a taxi over to the TWA check in counter at Athens Airport. During the ride over, we were listening to news of unrest in Lebanon which made Daphne feel nervous.
"Crazy activity in Lebanon, eh?" remarked the taxi driver. "I hope to God that everything settles down soon."
"Indeed," I remarked. "How long do you think that this unrest is going to go on?"
"I hope not for very long," sighed the driver as we approached Ellinkion Airport. "I still remember that Air France flight that was hijacked a few years ago to Africa. Makes me want to move to another country."
We both knew that the terrorists who hijacked that Air France flight had only hijacked the aircraft to gain the release of jailed comrades. 1985 was already a year of several notable aircraft disasters and we would soon be joining that list, although we didn't know it at the time.
Meanwhile, leaving from their own hotel, two well-dressed Arab men were already on their way to the airport as well. Like us, they had a ticket on Trans World Airlines to New York/JFK, but they had no intention of going to the United States.
"Have you look over the instructions, Mustafa?" asked the man in Arabic, dressed in a white suit. "Do you know what needs to be done?"
"Yes, Abdul," replied the man in Arabic dressed in a brown suit. "We are to hijack the plane to Beirut and demand the release of our comrades jailed in Israel and other countries."
"May Allah be praised," they both said, much to the taxi driver's confusion, who didn't understand their language aside from English and his own.
As soon as we got to the airport, we approached the Trans World Airlines ticket counter getting ready to check in for TWA Flight 881 to New York/JFK on a Boeing 747 continuing on to Syracuse, NY on a Boeing 727. Of course, that was not to be.
"Your attention, please?" said a TWA agent on a loudspeaker. "Due to Aircraft Maintenance, Flight 881 to New York has been cancelled. Please see gate agent for rebookings."
This of course, did not boast well with us and knowing our plans for a nonstop flight to New York had been scrapped, we followed a hoard of people who had tickets for the same flight. Upon arrival at the TWA check in counter, we were given a variety of rebookings to other flights.
"We have two seats together in first class on a flight to New York that is departing from Rome," said the agent. "You will need to check in for Flight 847 which is departing at 12:30pm from gate 11."
"As long as we get home, then we'll take it," I told the agent, who printed out our new boarding cards.
Little did we know that the two Arab men that I talked about earlier were also going to be on the same flight as us…