Unknown Skies part 18
As soon as Elsa turned the switch, there was a subtle but noticeable electrical whine which grew steadily in pitch. A quiet hiss was heard as the left engine's air starter kicked in. Slowly but gaining speed, the engine's fan blades started to rotate, the air and fuel inside the engine being compressed more and more and the temperature grew hotter and hotter. The noise coming from the left engine grew louder and louder until it reached an ear splitting crescendo. Everyone was eagerly anticipating this moment. Would Quebec Echo's engines start? Would several months work be worth it or a total waste of time?
Those questions were answered when the left engine gave a slight cough and the screech it made increased to unbearable levels before it settled down to a loud but tolerable noise.
Inside the cockpit, everyone cheered in sheer delight as the left engine's power gauge raced briefly up to the stops and quickly settled back down again.
They had started an engine!
"WE DID IT!" Dan cheered.
"Not yet" Sam replied in a cautious tone.
Anna took this moment to flick the ignition switch for the right hand engine. That engine started the same way that engine number 1 did.
Once the engines were started, Sam switched off the APU before turning to his sisters, who by this point had retaken their seats.
"Let's see if this beast can still move" He said.
Sam then released the parking brakes and gently pushed the throttles forward. The Boeing 757's wheels gave a groan of protest as the power of the twin Rolls Royce RB211 engines forced the aircraft, and the wheels into motion.
Once the wheels were freely moving again, Sam and Dan brought the aircraft into a 180 degree turn. Once pointed out towards the edge of the fjord, Sam and Dan went through various tests of aircraft systems including the brakes, flaps, slats, lights and of course the engines.
Luckily there was a lot of room to conduct these tests since Elsa had frozen over the Fjord to the exact measurements it had been frozen over during Anna's wedding and the arrival of Flight 595.
When the moment came for the engines to be revved up to full power and brought back again, Elsa and Anna held on tightly to their seats. In Elsa's case, a thin layer of frost covering where she was gripping onto the foldable jumpseat with a vice like grip.
As the throttles were brought forwards and the engines roared at full power, the sisters felt the Boeing 757 shudder and shake with incredible force. Almost like an avalanche tearing its way down the mountain.
Unfortunately, Dan completely forgot that Anna and Elsa were in the cockpit as he said,
"C'mon Sam. Just let it go, you can't hold it back anymore!"
Dan was of course referring to Sam holding the brakes on, with the former wanting to go for a high speed dash down the ice. But it was the way he said it, in a tone that vaguely sounded like the song "Let it Go" from Frozen! The song that Elsa had sung during the film which had cemented Frozen's success!
"Dan you bloody idiot! You do realise what you have done there!" Sam snapped angrily at Dan, as he brought back the power and slowly taxied the aircraft back to its parking space.
A look of horror crossed Dan's face as he realised what he had said.
"Crap" was all Dan said.
Elsa and Anna had frozen, figuratively, when Dan had made his "let it go joke" Elsa recognised the words and the tune of the mini song that Dan had sung. Anna recognised it as Elsa had sung that song, which Elsa called "Let it Go" to Anna numerous times.
Slowly, and with a shaky voice, Elsa said,
"Where did you learn that tune?"
Sam and Dan quickly parked the aircraft and shut down Quebec Echo's engines, and whilst more fuel was pumped aboard using the pedal pump, Sam spoke back to his sisters, slowly and carefully.
"The world which we took off from, it was very different from this one. Firstly magic didn't exist there. The second is that we had movies, basically moving pictures that talk. One of the greatest, most loved and celebrated of them all was a film, made by the Disney Company, called 'Frozen'. It is about two sisters, one with the power to control ice and snow. The sisters were royalty, with the magical sister becoming a queen."
Elsa and Anna's eyes widened, their breathing grew short and their heartbeats raced. They sort of knew where this was going.
"What were the sister's names?" Anna asked shakily.
Sam looked to Dan, who nodded.
Sam then turned back to his sisters and spoke in the same slow, calm and careful tone as before.
"The Sisters, they were called, by the end of the film, Queen Elsa and Princess Anna of Arendelle."