Chapter Thirty-Two

Flight 56

09:46 CET

Berlin, Germany

Johann finally closed 'The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt' with a sigh and leaned back in his chair, linking his long fingers behind his head. The notebook he had been using to write down any information that pertained to the subject at hand balanced on his knees and Johann peered down at his cursive with a wholly satisfied expression. His research throughout the night had taken him through a number of novels, online data, research papers, and reference books and while mentions of the list or a single entity known as death weren't prevalent he had discovered a number of off-hand mentions of something that seemed to match what Jade Skysong had told him of the list and among it all one named seemed to crop up.

Shishak Kaka.

Johann had never heard the name before but as he started researching it he found that a number of recovered documents translated from hieroglyph's detailed that the boy was a slave of no particular import. One transcript in the collection of old documents posted on the research websites detailed that Shishak Kaka was to participate in a chariot race to ensure that a well-known warrior would win the race. It wasn't unusual for the Egyptians to 'fix' races and fights to put on the best show possible. This particular chariot race was to be performed in front of the Pharaoh himself, King Merenptah.

But something had gone wrong. Many people died though the actions of Shishak Kaka that saved not only the famed warrior who was to win the race but other nobles of import. This had impressed the Pharaoh and Shishak Kaka was reported to have been invited to the Pharaoh's palace in Memphis.

Then all reference of Shishak Kaka seemed to disappear. Johann had found that the famed warrior, a few nobles known to have survived whatever incident had taken place, and the Pharaoh himself had all passed away within a week. The slave, Shishak Kaka, was never mentioned again in any of the documents Johann looked over.

With this information, and much more, swirling around his head, Johann decided it was time for some fresh air. The room had gotten stifling and he wanted time to be able to sift through the necessary information in his head. He stood up and exited his office to enter the living room.

The Miracle Skyhawks seemed to have made themselves at home quite quickly. Bethany was speaking to Jade in low tones, Murphy was flicking through a book he had found on one of the many piles, and Sticks was still sleeping spread-eagled on the sofa with Jäger at his feet, lying on top of Sticks like a very hairy quilt. The three band members that were awake looked to Johann as he entered the room.

"Good morning," Johann greeted as he walked to a low cupboard to pull out a pair of trainers.

"What are you doing?" Bethany asked as Johann pulled off the shoes he had been wearing to switch them with the trainers.

"I am merely heading out for a morning jog," Johann said as he tied the laces. "I need to formulate the information I have gathered and I rather like going for a nice run."

Bethany glanced to Jade for a moment before turning back to Johann. "Is that such a good idea?

"I do not see why not," Johann said with a smile. "You told me that this Siddharth would get in contact if you or I were in danger. We have not received such contact so I should be free to head out. I shan't be long."

"Hmm…" Bethany didn't look entirely convinced. "I don't think you should go alone, though."

"I shan't be alone. Jäger will be with me, of course," Johann said as he stood up and placed a hand on the deerhound's head. Jäger slowly opened his eyes and let out a huge yawn before sliding off of Sticks' chest and padding over to the door, sitting down patiently. "You may join me if you wish."

"I don't think jogging is Bethany's scene," Jade said with a chuckle as Bethany looked hesitant. "But we should have someone other than a dog-" at this, Jäger let out a small, irritated growl, "to watch over you, just in case. I'll go with you. I'm getting fed up of Sticks' snoring anyway."

"Then please make yourself at home," Johann said to Bethany. "Feel free to eat anything you find in the cupboards though there are only long-life products in there. If you wanted something a little fresher then there is a lovely little corner shop just down the road."

"Thank you," Bethany nodded her head. "Thank you, professor, for treating us strangers so kindly."

"Please, call me Johann. And for strangers such as yourselves it is no trouble. You have brought your list and Miss Skysong's ability with you; I am glad to have such things to research and witness." Johann looked to Jade. "I shall be keeping quite the pace, so I hope you can keep up."

"No disrespect… but I suspect I can probably keep up with you," Jade said with a grin, tightening the laces on her boots.

"Indeed," Johann let off a sly smirk and ran a finger down Jäger's forehead. "Then let us head out."

09:50 CET

Santander, Spain

The inspectors were taking two-to-three minutes on each of the bags as the line filtered through to the plane. Whatever the apparent threat was must have been extremely serious as Adrian and Seth had been waiting in the line for just over an hour. However they were near the back of the line and once they got through they knew it wouldn't be long until the plane got moving and they'd finally be on their way back home.

However, Seth had a problem and had been fidgeting for the better part of fifteen minutes.

"I don't think I can hold it in," Seth muttered in Adrian's ear as they watched the passenger in front of Adrian get inspected.

"Come on, just a little longer and you'll be on the plane."

"But I'd have to wait until we're in the air 'till I can go."

"We're right there, Seth."

Seth glanced behind him and saw that there were only five people left in the line, all looking irritated at having to wait so long. Seth looked back at Adrian and nodded to himself. "Look, I'm gonna dart out and then I'll be right back. I really don't fancy wetting myself on a plane."

"Be quick then!" Adrian said as the inspector started repacking the passenger's bag. "And I swear to God, if you miss this flight, I will not be happy with you!"

"Got it. I'll be right back," Seth said with an apologetic smile and quickly darted out of the line, making a beeline for the lavatories.

09:52 CET

Berlin, Germany

"I have to admit… I'm impressed," Jade said as she jogged side by side with Johann. Despite his age, Johann kept a healthy pace while Jäger loped at their sides. The early sun was hotter than she had expected and she could feel sweat forming on her forehead.

"It is always good to keep one's body in shape as well as their mind," Johann replied as he curved around the path with Jade matching him pace for pace.

"You don't seem like the kind of person who tries to keep particularly in shape."

"Do I give off that impression?" Johann asked. "I have run many marathons in my time, my dear. I have run all over the world, in Africa, in the USA, in China. I once had to run four miles in the Himalayas every morning for a year. I may be a man of the mind but I enjoy this side of my life nearly as much."

"I suppose they say don't judge a book by its cover," Jade shrugged.

"Come, Miss Skysong, let us take this off the beaten path," Johann suggested and turned off the gravel path to pass into the ankle-length grass. "I have run in this park for many a year yet I always discover something new when I head into the wilds. Discovering new things is what people like me live for, after all."

Jade and Jäger followed Johann as he led them between the thick trunks of trees and past bushes that were bright with berries and the early morning sun. Jade had to admit that the Tiergarten park was a very beautiful place in a homely kind of way. It reminded her of her hill in Eastbourne where she used to sing for herself and for nobody else. Perhaps if she had time in the evening she would take up on her old habits.

Johann led them through winding paths that only he could see until they came out on a clearing of long grass. A gardener was rolling around on his mower and upon seeing Johann gave a small wave. Johann waved back with a smile.

"Erik. Nice man. He always battles the wilds of this park." Johann looked to Jade. "I'm not sure he ever wins, though. Come, let us loop this field and then we'll make our way back. I don't want to leave your friends for very long. Miss Cross did seem worried and I don't want to exacerbate that feeling."

"You were right though," Jade said thoughtfully as they skimmed the trees to loop around the field. "I doubt you or Bethany are going to be in danger anytime soon. When I was in Eastbourne, there were sometimes days before the next person on the List. It's been a little over an hour since Siddharth told me the list would start properly. So I don't think there is anything to worry about—"

As if just to spite Jade's words, a sudden THUNK drew the attention of both Johann and Jade. They looked towards the middle of the field where the gardener, Erik, was thumping his mower that was vibrating to the point that the plastic chassis was shaking and wobbling. Black smoke started to curl up out of the engine and into the clear sky. Then—

BANG!

With a sound like a gunshot, there was a burst of smoke and orange flame and Jade saw the glint of something silver shining in the sunlight. Instinct seemed to take over and she shoved Johann with the palms of her hand, knocking the elderly man to the floor. Then it felt like she was punched in the chest and found herself sprawled on the grass, staring up at the mower blade sticking up out of her chest, snapped off from its origin of the mower in the middle of the plain.

"…Ow…" Jade muttered as she felt the copper taste of blood in her mouth.

"Miss Skysong!" Johann's voice was alarmed as he knelt over her, looking down at the long silver blade lodged in the top of her ribcage.

"It's fine," Jade grinned a bloody grin. "Just pull it out, will ya? I don't know what happens if I heal when something is in me and I really don't want to find out."

For a moment Johann hesitated. Pulling something like this out would break all the rules of first aid. It would be like pulling a knife out without knowing what the damage was but… he had seen her arm heal after Jäger's attack. He had seen that impossibility with his own two eyes. He grasped the edges of the long mower blade tentatively and wrenched it with a crack out of Jade's ribcage. Jade cursed but almost instantly the skin started to knit itself back together. Johann watched, as amazed as the first time, seeing flesh and muscle stitch itself together. By all means such a thing should not happen yet here it was… a body healing, re-stitching itself, forming without nary a scar.

Almost without thought, Johann placed a finger on Jade's bare skin where the blade had sliced her shirt at the centre of her chest. "I would love to research this further, Miss Skysong, when we have the time."

Jade chuckled and gently pushed Johann's hand away as she sat up. "Perhaps take me out for dinner first, Prof," then she frowned. "We need to get back as quick as we can. Siddharth said you were sixth on the list and that happened way too fast. We need to get to Bethany to make sure she's safe."

09:57 CET

Berlin, Germany

"Do you think we should have let them go?" Bethany mused, staring at the door with a concerned expression. "Maybe separating isn't the best idea."

"Well, I don't know about you, Bethany, but I don't do jogging," Sticks said from the sofa, munching on a protein bar that he had found at the back of one of the kitchen cupboards. He raised his arms. "It's these puppies that I keep healthy. My legs are like twigs." He motioned to Murphy who was still nose first in that book he had found. "And can you see Murphy going any speed other than a cool walk?"

"There is no such thing as cool jogging," Murphy confirmed.

"See?" Sticks quickly stood up and patted Bethany on the shoulder. "Don't worry. They'll be fine. I mean, he's got Jade by his side who is apparently some kind of super mutant, which, you know, is cool."

Then a sudden thought came to Bethany that she spoke without first realising how stupid it was. "D'you think she's not human?"

"Ha!" Sticks guffawed as Murphy lowered the book in surprise. "Bethany! You think there's some kind of little green man inside of Jade, controlling her like a robot? I don't know how the heck she can heal like she can but she's still human."

"But…" Bethany continued in an effort to get rid of the stupidity. "I mean… I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad thing but what human can do something like that? You saw her arm heal, the wounds stitch themselves back together… She never told us about it, either…"

"Bethany…" Sticks shook his head slowly. "I love ya, but don't be stupid."

"…Yeah…" Bethany nodded but her worry didn't go away. The fact of the matter was that what Jade could do was absoluty impossible. This list was impossible. A physical presence of death was impossible. Yet here it all was, facing her like a predator with a lock on her flesh. The world she thought she knew had been shattered and now it was like every step she took sent reverberations through the very foundations of her logic.

A harsh knocking brought Bethany out of her reverie coming directly from the front door. The knocking continued rapidly, beating through the room. Bethany glanced to Sticks and Murphy and they both looked bemused. Bethany motioned to the door and made for it while Sticks grabbed an umbrella from the corner, hoisting it over his shoulder as if it were a baseball bat.

She grabbed the front door handle, took a deep breath, and opened it wide.

Almost instantly a heavy-set figure pushed past her, dragging another figure. Bethany followed the trail of bright blood to the mangled leg of the figure being dragged.

"Johann?!" The big man bellowed, looking around the room. "Johann Schneider?!"

"Who the hell are you?!" Bethany demanded.

"Johann Schneider should be…" The man looked at Bethany. "You… You're the singer from the Skyhawks, Bethany Cross…" He looked from Murphy to Sticks. "Where's Jade Skysong? Where's Johann?"

"They're out for a moment, who are you?"

The man frowned and placed the pale and sickly woman down on the sofa. A shirt had been wrapped tight around the mangled mess of her leg, sodden with blood. But the woman was at least conscious and she gently grabbed the man's hand. "Siddharth…" She breathed in a weak voice. "This is… Siddharth… I'm Rose… Johann… is next… Is he safe?"

"He wanted to go jogging, Jade is with him, I don't understand… As in Siddharth who contacted Jade?"

"Yes…" Siddharth said, his tone still panicked. "Rose is hurt. We need him to take a look at her."

"You know he's not that kind of doctor, right?" Sticks said, still handling the umbrella as if unsure whether to thwack Siddharth around the head with it.

"I know," Siddharth sighed. "Rose insisted. How long will he be?"

"I doubt very long," Murphy said as he knelt in front of Rose. He gently put a hand on her leg and peered at the shirt. "I may be able to help, at least a little bit. I know enough that we need to keep this clean. That shirt is just going to help get it infected…" Murphy peered up through his sunglasses at Rose. "I'm gonna have to take this off… chances are it's going to stick and that means it's going to hurt…"

"…Whatever…" Rose breathed, feeling a strange sense of happiness among her agony. Sam was in the car watching over the man Siddharth had held at gunpoint. Three of the Skyhawks were here. Johann and Jade couldn't be far away, the same for Marshall and Robert… they were nearly all together… but… it was bittersweet… Rose concentrated on keeping her consciousness, knowing more than anything that she needed to stay awake, stay alert, to help her allies, to ensure their survival.

56. The number flashed in red on a large billboard of a screen. Above, the words SANTANDER stood out brightly. A plane stood solid amidst the rumble of engines. But something was wrong, the engines were shaking… too much… a flash of orange, a flash of black, the shattering of glass… darkness, and a scream that seemed to echo…

Rose had received so many of them in such a short time that she managed to retain the information of the visions; the details still bright in her mind. As usual, a flare of pain accompanied the vision but she ignored it and looked to Siddharth. "Santander! The seventh is in Santandar… Flight… 56… Find him, Siddharth…"

Understanding the urgency, Siddharth immediately drew back to open his laptop, allowing Murphy to slowly unwrap the sodden shirt. "Santander Airport, okay… Flight 56. That was due to depart an hour ago…" His fingers were a blur as his eyes scanned the screen. "Apparently there were checks and it hasn't taken off yet. We might still have time." His fingers were almost hypnotizing as they moved through data. "I got the passenger manifest but… without a name, Rose…"

"Pink… pink hair…" Rose said through gritted teeth as Murphy finally pulled the shirt away.

"I need water, Sticks, get me a bowl," Murphy said as Rose continued.

"…Earring… a goatee… blue eyes… agh!" She squeezed her fists shut.

"I'm going to have to search the names manually… match them with the online profiles…" Siddharth's eyes skimmed as pages opened and were shut before his eyes. With the rate the list had been going there was an unfortunately good chance that whatever was going to happen had already happened but he couldn't stop. The seventh man on the list was one of the ones that were unable to get to Berlin in the first place so this was Siddharth's only chance to get to him. "Here! The picture matches the profile of one Adrian Jacobs… he's on the manifest… I got his number…" Siddharth took out his phone and grit his teeth. "As long as Evrard isn't tracking… Damn! Of course, he's on a plane, the phone would be turned off…"

"Here," Sticks was back with a bowl of water to hand to Murphy.

"Hold her leg straight for me," Murphy murmured.

Siddharth looked at the manifest again. "He's sitting next to a Seth Daniels, maybe I can… worth a try, at least." Siddharth got another number and typed it into his mobile, hoping against hope… "It's ringing!" Siddharth finally exclaimed with a triumphant smile.

10:00 CET

Santander, Spain

Quickly drying off his hands and feeling very relieved, Seth pushed open the door of the toilets just as he heard the familiar ringtone of his phone. He pulled the phone out and quickly hung up. He had to get back to the plane and Adrian as soon as he could. Hopefully he hadn't wasted too much time. It would have been an absolutely stupid reason to miss a flight, having to relieve himself. Adrian would rib him relentlessly for it, Seth knew.

The ringtone sounded again and Seth quickly deactivated it once more. Get the message ,Seth shook his head has he made his way for the entry point. He approached the doorway where the last passenger was just disappearing through the checks when the phone rung again. Annoyed, Seth quickly answered the phone, "Call me later, I'm about to get on—"

"Don't let Adrian on the plane!" A voice rung out in Seth's ear, far too loud. Don't let Adrian on the plane… Seth stopped , confused. "His life is in danger! Do not let him on that plane."

"Who are you? What are you talking about?" Seth's curiosity got the better of him as he walked through the doorway. The inspector gave him a dirty look but Seth put a finger up for just a little time.

He heard the voice on the other end mutter a light curse then, "There's a… a bomb on that plane, okay? You need-"

"A bomb?!" Seth didn't mean to echo the word so loudly but the inspector immediately looked at Seth.

"Sir?"

"Hang on," Seth said but the inspector was in front of him now.

"Hang up the phone, sir. I need you to come with me."

Seth reluctantly hung up the phone and watched the walkway descend away from the plane. He closed his eyes and looked to the inspector. "I just got a phone call, I was just told there's a-a bomb on that plane…"

"We take threats like this very seriously," the inspector said and turned to his radio. "We've got a B140, I repeat, a B140 on Flight 56." After this, the inspector turned back to Seth. "Come on, you need to come with me. We'll have some questions for you."

Seth knew that nothing he could say would stop the inspector – if push came to shove, he would call security – so deigned to follow the man. As he walked, he turned back to see the plane had activated its engines. No doubt the pilot would get a message soon to turn off the engines and everyone would be filtered out again to check for a potential bomb. But the engines weren't stopping…

Seth himself stopped and stared as the turbines of the engine turned and turned. Too fast. He had seen planes take off before and had never seen anything like that.

"Sir, if you resist—" The inspector started but stopped upon seeing what Seth was seeing. The inspector turned back into his radio. "Control, what is going on with Flight 56?"

Whatever answer came back to him was interrupted by a massive flash and a booming sound that both blinded and deafened Seth. He fell backwards by some unseen force and felt his head crack on the floor. He rolled onto his stomach and felt his eyes burning and his ears ringing. It took a long couple of seconds but finally Seth was able to start hearing something… screams? Shouts? He slowly turned and his mouth fell open at the sight before him.

Flight 56 was nothing but a flaming wreckage, the explosion of the engines having ripped through it as if it were paper. The great glass windows had shattered and had sent glass absolutely everywhere. There were a few civilians on the floor, caught in the blast. But Seth had no eyes for them. He stared at the flaming wreckage, watched a blackened wing collapse down to the ground, realising that Adrian was in that plane. "Adrian…" Seth muttered just as something crashed into him. He felt his arms wrenched behind his back but he continued to stare at the ruins of the plane. "Adrian!" He screamed, tears running loose down his cheeks. "ADRIAN!"