Clockwork Down

Chapter One

"Do you think Riley will be okay?"

Staring out the window at the landscape tens of thousands of feet below, Gabriel turned towards Lillian. "I spoke with her this morning. She's not close to her Aunt, doesn't remember her much. But she wanted to be at the funeral to support her Mom. So she's okay. More worried about me, I think.

"So, you didn't want to hire another bodyguard to babysit me?"

"I'm your bodyguard today." Lillian's mouth broke into a smirk.

"I didn't think you could shoot a gun or toss a man 100 yards."

"Gabriel, there's a lot you don't know about me." Lillian enjoyed this casual banter with her charge. She played the no-nonsense boss too much, she missed being able to just talk.

Their conversation was cut short when Nelson entered the cabin carrying snacks. "This is great! You can never raid the galley of a commercial jet. Anyone for sandwiches?" He plopped down facing Lillian and across the aisle from Gabriel. The cabin was spacious and looked more like a living room than an aircraft.

Gabriel smiled, loving the enthusiasm of the younger scientist.

Nelson vigorously rubbed his hands together. "I don't get to go on many business trips, especially sunny California. Thanks Lillian. There's a seminar on the effect sun spots have on micro radio waves, and…"

"You can thank your Dad. He stated that you need to get out and go to these conferences more. Besides, he wanted to go to the next one. It's being held in Sweden."

Gabriel looked at Lillian, "and why exactly do I have to go?"

"Because I needed to be there and I didn't want to leave you alone to get into trouble."

"You sound like my mother."

"Gabriel, don't look so glum. There are a couple of seminars geared towards new scientific approaches for the military."

Just as he was garnering some interest in this conference, he heard two soft pops come from the cockpit.

Vaughn vaulted from his seat before Lillian could even register the sounds. He called over his shoulder "buckle up!"

Lillian with her back to the cockpit, grabbed the armrests as the jet plunged into a nosedive. Nelson, not yet buckled up, rolled out of his seat head first, somersaulting halfway down the aisle.

Two more pops and Lillian recognized that sound as gunfire.

The plane leveled off for a few seconds, banked sharply to the right then started another deep decent. Her ears popped painfully as the pressure changed. The plane bucked in turbulence, overhead lights winked, it leveled off for another second or two, then plummeted once again.

Then all went black.