Thanks to Sugar Sugar, Diena, ScullyMulder4ev, Christine, Sash3, Sara, K.
Presson, Teresa, Frankie2, Kiddo, Sonneta, Karen, and anyone else who read
and / or reviewed the previous chapter.
Please see previous chapters for all-purpose disclaimers. Also, please assume my lack of knowledge regarding submarines is mirrored by my lack of knowledge regarding aeroplanes.
Chapter 5.
"Parachutes?"
"Ben calm down." Katie warned softly.
"He wants us to wear parachutes?"
"It's standard safety procedure, since the new legislature came into effect everyone on a small plane has to wear one." Ford chipped it.
"But..." Ben began.
"No buts," The Commander said quickly. "Put the parachute on, and get on the plane."
Ben seemed to consider objecting, but Commander Ford didn't look like he was in the mood to be argued with, so he decided to go and pester Tim instead.
Ford sighed in relief, Ben looked as if he was going to behave - for at least a few minutes anyway.
Five minutes later Ford checked his parachute fastening for the eleventh time.
"Diving apparatus."
Ford spun around, and saw Lucas standing behind him.
"What?"
"Diving apparatus, everyone going on a launch has to wear it, the UEO has introduced it as standard safety procedure."
"But that make no sense - the chances of you needing diving apparatus in a launch are thousands to one..."
"Yep, but the brass don't understand things like that do they?" Lucas pointed out.
Ford smiled, realising what the teenager was trying to do.
"Lucas about the flight... I just wanted to say... I mean... You... um... I..."
"You're welcome Commander." Lucas said with a wry smile and he went off to check his luggage before it was stored aboard the plane.
***** ***** *****
"You can't put them in the hold, I have to take them on board with me." Lucas insisted when one of the men loading the plane tried to put his three bags in the hold at the back of the plane.
The man rattled off a long string of Russian, but Lucas stubbornly shook his head and refused to let go of the bags.
Katie Hitchcock made her way over to see what the problem was. She finally managed to make a compromise that Lucas should be allowed to take the smallest of the bags on with him, but the other two, including the one containing his lap top, would have to go into the hold.
Lucas wasn't happy about this state of affairs, but relented in the end, since he had the most important of the bags with him, he would have to be content with that.
***** ***** *****
A few hours later, they were all in the air and half way to their destination. Miguel was somehow managing to doze quite comfortably in spite of fact that Ben was sitting next to him and reciting the prayers - the ones that Tim had grudgingly agreed to teach him, interspersed with hail Mary's. The number of hail Mary's increased dramatically every time the plane so much as swayed.
Ford had his eyes closed, and was trying to steer one of seaQuest's launches through the Mid-Atlantic Ocean. Katie and Tim were talking quietly regarding their expectations of the conference.
Lucas was trying to decide whether it was going to be worth sulking about the storage arrangements, or if, as he suspected, no one would notice if he did. They'd probably put it down to teenage mood swings anyway, so he decided not to bother. He absent mindedly tightened his grip on his hand luggage as the plane rocked.
Unfortunately the weather had not improved dramatically since their last flight. The pilot was trying to fly around the worse of the weather, probably due in no small part to his opinions regarding Ben's mental state and the adverse effect any problems would cause to it.
Lucas looked out of the window and pictured the densely forested land whizzing past - it was more interesting than watching quite non-descript white... maybe fog or maybe cloud, Lucas wasn't sure anymore. He was feeling a bit turned around since the view hadn't changed at all for over an hour.
Katie tapped Lucas on the shoulder, and asked him to come into the cockpit.
"Why is something wrong? Are we going to crash?" ben said when he over heard Katie.
"No, Ben, calm down. I just thought Lucas would like to see the cockpit, I can remember visiting the pilot when I was a little kid, so I thought Lucas would like to do the same."
Lucas was about to protest at being called a little kid, but stopped himself when he saw the strain around Katie Hitchcock's eyes.
"Um... Yea, sure." Lucas muttered embarrassed, but still getting up from his seat, and securing his bag carefully before he followed her.
When they got out of range for the others to hear them, Katie whispered her apologies to Lucas.
"... I just couldn't think of another excuse which wouldn't worry anyone."
Lucas nodded in reply, not trusting that she would hear anything he said over his drumming heartbeat.
"It's nothing serious, the plane is fine, but the pilot's radio isn't working and we can't get in touch with the ground. I thought you might be able to shed some light on the problem." Katie continued.
Lucas examined the radio unit carefully.
"Well, is it fixable?" Katie asked.
"Yes... and there again no." Lucas answered helpfully.
Katie gave him a pointed look.
"Yes it's fixable, but not without some specialist equipment. I can't get it working in the air, although it would be a simple enough job an the ground."
Katie couldn't hide her disappointment. "We can't tell the others about this, it will only panic them. Will you promise not to tell them?"
Lucas promised.
"Sorry." Lucas added quietly. What was the good of being a genius if you couldn't even fix a simple radio, he thought. "How much of a problem is the radio going to be?" He added, pushing his own thoughts to the back of his mind.
"Not a major problem, it's just that the pilot can't tell anyone on the ground that we're going to have to divert away from our planned route because of the weather. It's not a problem unless we crash or something." Katie tried to joke.
The joke fell flat when they heard one of the engines stutter.
***** ***** *****
Fords eyes snapped open when the plane jerked violently to one side. It took him a moment to change his field of concentration from the Atlantic to the aeroplane. In that time the plane jerked again, and he heard the engine stutter repeatedly, and then cut out all together.
For a few seconds, they all froze. No one spoke a sound or moved a muscle, not until Katie and Lucas rushed out from the cockpit.
"We're going down, we have to jump." Katie shouted.
"We can't just jump!" Someone yelled, but no one remembered whom.
"Just remember the instructions the pilot gave you when we boarded." Katie yelled back.
"We'll die out there!" Ford said.
"We'll die in here unless we jump." Katie said, heading for the door that the pilot had indicated earlier. Almost as an after thought Katie added "Commander."
Ford's command training kicked in, and, just as if he really were on seaQuest, he took control of the situation.
"O'Neil, grab the first aid bag, Ortiz, get the survival kits," He shouted, instinctively recalling all that the pilot had said. In any case the proto- calls were similar to a sub in so many respects. Ford paused a second to make sure they were doing as he ordered. "Krieg, help Hitchcock with the door."
Ben was too frightened to argue, and he followed Commander Ford's orders.
As soon as the door was open, Ford made his way to one side of it. He knew Tim O'Neil had jumped before - Ford vaguely remembered something about the Lieutenant being involved a charity jump when he was in the Academy.
He motioned for O'Neil to jump first, and Tim knew he was intended to be an example so he didn't even stop to think before he felt himself falling through the air. Next Miguel was at the door - he hesitated.
"If O'Neil can do it, so can you." Ford shouted past the noise of the wind. And then Miguel too was falling.
Ben too, was soon convinced to jump, although Krieg swore later that the Commander had pushed him out of the plane without giving him a chance to jump of his own accord.
Ford looked around for the next jumper, but no one was there. He heard shouting from the cockpit and saw Katie and Lucas emerge.
"The pilot won't leave." Katie shouted at him. "He's determined to go down with his plane."
"Lucas, you have to jump." Katie told him, expecting a frightened argument.
Lucas made his way towards the door, but then turned back, scrambling towards his seat as quickly as he could. Ignoring the Commander's calls he grabbed his bag from where it was secured. He made his way back to the door, holding the bag tight to his chest, and then seemingly more concerned about the bag than himself, he jumped.
Katie, and then Ford followed him into the mist.
Ford cast a long glance back at the cockpit, but didn't try to change the Captain's mind. It was possible that the Captain knew what he was doing, the man might survive the impact, although Ford wouldn't wager on his chances.
***** ***** *****
It was impossible to tell which way was up. There was zero visibility, in the mists. Just as the pilot had instructed Lucas counted down until he estimated it was time to pull the cord. There was a quick jerk as the air opened the chute and then he felt his decent slow dramatically.
It seemed not long after the parachute opened when Lucas saw the trees rushing up to meet him.
***** ***** *****
To Be Continued...
***** ***** *****
That's it for now, please tune in next week for the next exciting instalment of... ;o) And now back to reality, lol, if you have any comments which you feel inclined to share with me, then please review. Hope people are still enjoying the story. Shouldn't be too long until the next chapter is posted up - and, finally, we'll be hearing a bit about the past :o)
Please see previous chapters for all-purpose disclaimers. Also, please assume my lack of knowledge regarding submarines is mirrored by my lack of knowledge regarding aeroplanes.
Chapter 5.
"Parachutes?"
"Ben calm down." Katie warned softly.
"He wants us to wear parachutes?"
"It's standard safety procedure, since the new legislature came into effect everyone on a small plane has to wear one." Ford chipped it.
"But..." Ben began.
"No buts," The Commander said quickly. "Put the parachute on, and get on the plane."
Ben seemed to consider objecting, but Commander Ford didn't look like he was in the mood to be argued with, so he decided to go and pester Tim instead.
Ford sighed in relief, Ben looked as if he was going to behave - for at least a few minutes anyway.
Five minutes later Ford checked his parachute fastening for the eleventh time.
"Diving apparatus."
Ford spun around, and saw Lucas standing behind him.
"What?"
"Diving apparatus, everyone going on a launch has to wear it, the UEO has introduced it as standard safety procedure."
"But that make no sense - the chances of you needing diving apparatus in a launch are thousands to one..."
"Yep, but the brass don't understand things like that do they?" Lucas pointed out.
Ford smiled, realising what the teenager was trying to do.
"Lucas about the flight... I just wanted to say... I mean... You... um... I..."
"You're welcome Commander." Lucas said with a wry smile and he went off to check his luggage before it was stored aboard the plane.
***** ***** *****
"You can't put them in the hold, I have to take them on board with me." Lucas insisted when one of the men loading the plane tried to put his three bags in the hold at the back of the plane.
The man rattled off a long string of Russian, but Lucas stubbornly shook his head and refused to let go of the bags.
Katie Hitchcock made her way over to see what the problem was. She finally managed to make a compromise that Lucas should be allowed to take the smallest of the bags on with him, but the other two, including the one containing his lap top, would have to go into the hold.
Lucas wasn't happy about this state of affairs, but relented in the end, since he had the most important of the bags with him, he would have to be content with that.
***** ***** *****
A few hours later, they were all in the air and half way to their destination. Miguel was somehow managing to doze quite comfortably in spite of fact that Ben was sitting next to him and reciting the prayers - the ones that Tim had grudgingly agreed to teach him, interspersed with hail Mary's. The number of hail Mary's increased dramatically every time the plane so much as swayed.
Ford had his eyes closed, and was trying to steer one of seaQuest's launches through the Mid-Atlantic Ocean. Katie and Tim were talking quietly regarding their expectations of the conference.
Lucas was trying to decide whether it was going to be worth sulking about the storage arrangements, or if, as he suspected, no one would notice if he did. They'd probably put it down to teenage mood swings anyway, so he decided not to bother. He absent mindedly tightened his grip on his hand luggage as the plane rocked.
Unfortunately the weather had not improved dramatically since their last flight. The pilot was trying to fly around the worse of the weather, probably due in no small part to his opinions regarding Ben's mental state and the adverse effect any problems would cause to it.
Lucas looked out of the window and pictured the densely forested land whizzing past - it was more interesting than watching quite non-descript white... maybe fog or maybe cloud, Lucas wasn't sure anymore. He was feeling a bit turned around since the view hadn't changed at all for over an hour.
Katie tapped Lucas on the shoulder, and asked him to come into the cockpit.
"Why is something wrong? Are we going to crash?" ben said when he over heard Katie.
"No, Ben, calm down. I just thought Lucas would like to see the cockpit, I can remember visiting the pilot when I was a little kid, so I thought Lucas would like to do the same."
Lucas was about to protest at being called a little kid, but stopped himself when he saw the strain around Katie Hitchcock's eyes.
"Um... Yea, sure." Lucas muttered embarrassed, but still getting up from his seat, and securing his bag carefully before he followed her.
When they got out of range for the others to hear them, Katie whispered her apologies to Lucas.
"... I just couldn't think of another excuse which wouldn't worry anyone."
Lucas nodded in reply, not trusting that she would hear anything he said over his drumming heartbeat.
"It's nothing serious, the plane is fine, but the pilot's radio isn't working and we can't get in touch with the ground. I thought you might be able to shed some light on the problem." Katie continued.
Lucas examined the radio unit carefully.
"Well, is it fixable?" Katie asked.
"Yes... and there again no." Lucas answered helpfully.
Katie gave him a pointed look.
"Yes it's fixable, but not without some specialist equipment. I can't get it working in the air, although it would be a simple enough job an the ground."
Katie couldn't hide her disappointment. "We can't tell the others about this, it will only panic them. Will you promise not to tell them?"
Lucas promised.
"Sorry." Lucas added quietly. What was the good of being a genius if you couldn't even fix a simple radio, he thought. "How much of a problem is the radio going to be?" He added, pushing his own thoughts to the back of his mind.
"Not a major problem, it's just that the pilot can't tell anyone on the ground that we're going to have to divert away from our planned route because of the weather. It's not a problem unless we crash or something." Katie tried to joke.
The joke fell flat when they heard one of the engines stutter.
***** ***** *****
Fords eyes snapped open when the plane jerked violently to one side. It took him a moment to change his field of concentration from the Atlantic to the aeroplane. In that time the plane jerked again, and he heard the engine stutter repeatedly, and then cut out all together.
For a few seconds, they all froze. No one spoke a sound or moved a muscle, not until Katie and Lucas rushed out from the cockpit.
"We're going down, we have to jump." Katie shouted.
"We can't just jump!" Someone yelled, but no one remembered whom.
"Just remember the instructions the pilot gave you when we boarded." Katie yelled back.
"We'll die out there!" Ford said.
"We'll die in here unless we jump." Katie said, heading for the door that the pilot had indicated earlier. Almost as an after thought Katie added "Commander."
Ford's command training kicked in, and, just as if he really were on seaQuest, he took control of the situation.
"O'Neil, grab the first aid bag, Ortiz, get the survival kits," He shouted, instinctively recalling all that the pilot had said. In any case the proto- calls were similar to a sub in so many respects. Ford paused a second to make sure they were doing as he ordered. "Krieg, help Hitchcock with the door."
Ben was too frightened to argue, and he followed Commander Ford's orders.
As soon as the door was open, Ford made his way to one side of it. He knew Tim O'Neil had jumped before - Ford vaguely remembered something about the Lieutenant being involved a charity jump when he was in the Academy.
He motioned for O'Neil to jump first, and Tim knew he was intended to be an example so he didn't even stop to think before he felt himself falling through the air. Next Miguel was at the door - he hesitated.
"If O'Neil can do it, so can you." Ford shouted past the noise of the wind. And then Miguel too was falling.
Ben too, was soon convinced to jump, although Krieg swore later that the Commander had pushed him out of the plane without giving him a chance to jump of his own accord.
Ford looked around for the next jumper, but no one was there. He heard shouting from the cockpit and saw Katie and Lucas emerge.
"The pilot won't leave." Katie shouted at him. "He's determined to go down with his plane."
"Lucas, you have to jump." Katie told him, expecting a frightened argument.
Lucas made his way towards the door, but then turned back, scrambling towards his seat as quickly as he could. Ignoring the Commander's calls he grabbed his bag from where it was secured. He made his way back to the door, holding the bag tight to his chest, and then seemingly more concerned about the bag than himself, he jumped.
Katie, and then Ford followed him into the mist.
Ford cast a long glance back at the cockpit, but didn't try to change the Captain's mind. It was possible that the Captain knew what he was doing, the man might survive the impact, although Ford wouldn't wager on his chances.
***** ***** *****
It was impossible to tell which way was up. There was zero visibility, in the mists. Just as the pilot had instructed Lucas counted down until he estimated it was time to pull the cord. There was a quick jerk as the air opened the chute and then he felt his decent slow dramatically.
It seemed not long after the parachute opened when Lucas saw the trees rushing up to meet him.
***** ***** *****
To Be Continued...
***** ***** *****
That's it for now, please tune in next week for the next exciting instalment of... ;o) And now back to reality, lol, if you have any comments which you feel inclined to share with me, then please review. Hope people are still enjoying the story. Shouldn't be too long until the next chapter is posted up - and, finally, we'll be hearing a bit about the past :o)