Author's Note- Hey everyone. It is a new week which means a new post. But before we get started I wanted to thank the two people that review the last chapter, Lunetaylia and flyyyyaway. I will work on adjusting Chapter 4 to read a bit smoother after I get back to the U.S.
Disclaimer- Still do not own Hetalia, luckily that doesn't stop me from writing for it.
Chapter 6- The Fifth Plane
The control room had lapsed into silence sometime ago. That was primarily because their work was starting to winded down. According information from Gander Control and its Icelandic, British, Azores, and American counter parts they had landed most of the incoming planes from Europe. It was true that they there were still some planes making their way across the Pacific, but it felt good to get the North Atlantic airspace clear out.
As a result Canada was pretty much stuck at his console making sure that none of the planes changed course without permission. So far there hadn't been too much of an issue. True, there were now a whole lot of unhappy pilots, confused passengers, and crowed airports, but no one had failed to follow the instructions to clear the skies. It made his job important but boring. It also unfortunately gave himself time to think about what was going on.
He stared at the map looking at red markers which showed the down planes. He looked at the way they clustered on the east coast and he tried to figure out why. It was clear that the attackers were clearly trying to hit important targets regardless of whether or not they were civilian or military. The aggressors were also clearly selecting sites to maximize the amount of casualties. But why were all of the attacks limited to the eastern sea board. After staring for a few more minutes, the answer hit him.
"Time zones."
"What?" On the other side of the radio feed Alaska sounded tired and resigned.
Canada had been staring at the screen so long that he forgot that he had an open mike to the state. He sheepishly repeated his last statement. "Time zones."
"Mathew, can you repeat?" Now Alaska just sounded confused as her sluggish brain tried to figure out what the neighboring nation was talking about, but things were starting to click into place for Canada.
"Time zones, the terrorist forgot just how big the United States and that there are different time zones."
"Really?" Alaska sounded dubious.
"Think about it Samantha." Canada was kicking himself for not noticing the trend earlier. "You are only use to time zones because you hear about it all the time. Your state is big enough that you straddle two time zones. You also have to think about time zones all of the time when you communicate Canada and the Continent United States. As a nation the US has the biggest spread time zones to worry about."
"Technically he has the second most on both counts. France has the most time zones with all of the islands it owns and last time I checked Russia had the most continuous time zones. But…" Alaska slowed as what Canada was starting sink in.
"That is only because most people don't count the time zones for Bakers and Wake Island, but you understand my point." Canada spoke quickly as everything more things began to click into place in his head.
Alaska paused before giving a response that was tinged with embarrassment. "Yes…I think that I do. I hate to admit that I forget most countries only have one time zone. It would make sense that the confusion would go both ways."
"Exactly, they overlooked the obvious."
"Mathew, I am starting to get a bad feeling." On the other end of the radio Alaska sounded as though she wanted to be sick.
"What Samantha?"
"If our suspicions are correct then flights are going to be grounded for quite awhile until determine if there are anymore terrorists."
"True." Canada admitted. "This isn't going to be fun for you."
"You think?" Alaska barked with a raw laugh thick with pain.
"Have you heard any more word on the origin of the planes?"
"Not much. The FAA is being pretty tight lipped about everything. Honestly I don't even know if the planes were international or domestic yet, though more and more it looks like domestic flights were used." By the way that Alaska spat out the name FAA it was clear bad blood was brewing between the FAA and NORAD. Canada quickly decided he wasn't going to push it.
"But it still doesn't change the fact that Alfred not allowing any of the planes into US air space." Canada pointed out.
"Why Mathew we both know that isn't completely true?" Sarcasm dripped from the states voice.
"Oh?"
"Hawaii had to accept flights heading the his way, and we are giving clearance to some planes to cross over Alaska to reach an acceptable airport in Canada."
"You know what I mean." Canada countered, but Alaska just smirked "Hawaii had to take the flights because there is nowhere else the planes could possibly land, and none of the Alaskan flight paths are over populated areas. But that isn't too hard when you have a population smaller than Rhode Island"
"Hey," Alaska responded to Canada's ribbing. "I have a more people than Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, or New Brunswick. In fact I almost have more population than all three of your territories combined."
"True, true." Canada felt a bit better after the brief banter; unfortunately they needed to get back to business. "So, is Operation Yellow Ribbon successfully helping you combat the current problem, or should we give you back your international flights?"
"Honestly just getting and keeping my bush flight traffic on the ground has been keeping me busy enough. I don't need any extra other planes to distract me." Alaska admitted a tiredly. "Have the extra traffic been too bad?"
"Most things have gone pretty well, so I can't complain."
"Most?" Alaska prodded.
"I had some issues earlier in the day. A Chinese cargo flight, that wasn't happy about being forced to land in Vancouver instead of Seattle. All the other followed the rules so they didn't require an escort." "Honestly the whole thing has gone surprisingly smoothly. I have you to thank for that on the West Coast."
"Sometimes I wonder why Alfred thought it was a good idea to take the air traffic of the Pacific." Alaska gave a deep sigh of frustration.
"Because you are good at it." Canada commented with a small amount of mirth in his voice. It felt good to finally feel like he was a bit more in control of the situation.
"Only because we have to." Alaska just sounded tired. "But honestly, can't get it through my mind that the threat may already be gone. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop."
"Frightening isn't it."
It was just after two hours since the fourth hijacked plane went down in the field in Pennsylvania, and all the evidence seemed to indicate that all the planes used in the attacks were domestic flights. That brought Alaska a lot of comfort. It meant that the threat of further attacks was gone now that all domestic flights were on the ground.
Now all she had to do was sit back and guide the international flights of the North Pacific safely to a Canadian airport that was capable of taking them in. In the case of the large cross pacific planes Vancouver International was one that had airstrips large enough for them to land. As a result was starting to look like Vancouver would take in the largest amount of stranded passengers. Which meant BC resources would be tested which meant he be very stress about life.
Alaska didn't feel too badly for him. The air stop had already played havoc with her economy. A fact proven by the tickle forming at the back of her throat and the temperature she was running. The only think keeping her going right now was the possibility the whole nightmarish day was almost halfway done in the lower 48. And there was a good chance that things would get sorted out early enough that she could sleep in her own bed tonight, or if bush flight was still down she could at least crash at her apartment in Anchorage.
A deep shiver crept up her spine causing Alaska to wince slightly; maybe a hot bath would force some of these knots to unwind. Or maybe she just crawl into bed and sleep all this off for a few hours. Bed sounded so good right now.
"Ma'am"
Alaska opened her eyes to see Air Force tech standing over her. It was easy to see that she was one of the newer ones…she was still practically oozing essences of civilian.
"Yes?" She prodded the youth.
"What?" The technician responded slightly startled. Great, Alaska thought, inexperienced people just want we need in a national crisis.
"You were trying to get a hold of my attention."
"Yes…I mean yes Ma'am…I" The woman, no, the child Alaska corrected herself, snapped to attention.
"Would you please spit out the information please."
"I think I better show you ma'am." The woman comment nervously before ushering Alaska towards her station.
"Alright, what do you have to show?"
The tech pointed out a blip on the screen. "The Alaskan FAA is informing us that they are getting garbled communications with that plane, but one of the few clear messages they got from them include the abbreviation for the word hijacked."
It took a few moments of staring at the screen to figure out what the boy was trying to say. "So the FAA thinks that it is hijacked?"
"That is what they are telling us."
"Which airport?"
"Korean air 85 is scheduled to fly into…" the technician paused as he typed some additional commands into the computer. "Ted Stevens Anchorage International."
Alaska swore internal, but did her best to remain outwardly composed. "I think that it is time for us to get on the horn with the governor and inform him of the situation."
"We can do that?" The technician asked nervously.
"Under one condition, yes." Alaska admitted quietly.
"And that condition is?" Fear was creeping into the techs voice.
"When we believe that the State is under emanate attack." Alaska stated flatly as she stared moving blip on the screen.
"Has this protocol been used before?"
Alaska leveled her eyes at the technician before giving a simple one word reply. "Nope."
Historical Note- The fact that there are only two states that have special mandates allowing them to defend themselves if attacked is true. But the reasoning behind it is kind of interesting, interstates. The Interstate system was designed to make defense a national responsibility by allowing troops to be transported rapidly wear they were needed. For practical reasons the territories (which Alaska and Hawaii were included) were not linked to the continental US. When Alaska and Hawaii became states it was still impossible to link them to the lower 48 so congress gave them the right to defense their borders in case of attack.
In Closing- So, do you like the story so far? How can I improve it? Did you spot any mistakes that I made? I would love to hear from you about anything you spotted or would like to see.
Next Week's Chapter- Difficult Decisions- As Alaska prepares to face down the hijacked plane, Canada is faced with a series of difficult decisions. Should Korean Air 85 be diverted to a Canadian airport, and is Canada prepared to shoot down the plane if it attempts to attack a Canadian city?