Ch 20
How Jackie got roped into playing with the band at Rikki's, Duncan had no idea. He went down early for dinner. to see the band setting up and talking in low voices to each other. Surprisingly, Jackie and that Nate were discussing something.
He no more than got sat down when Zane came over and sat by him.
"Did you know Jackie can wail on the guitar?" Zane asked.
Duncan chuckled. "I've found Jackie is very talented in a few areas. She's still giving me surprises."
"How long are you staying?" Zane asked. "I'd love to add her to the band."
Duncan said, "Sorry, we're to catch a flight home late Monday, right after Jackie does her mermaid show at Sea World."
"She can at least play for us Saturday night then?" Zane asked hopefully.
"It's up to her," Duncan replied. "I know she loves attention. She'll probably do it, but like I said, her choice."
"Great!" Zane beamed and left to go do something.
The band was at their instruments now. Bella was at the microphone, Jackie beside her with the electric guitar. Jackie started playing, which drew all eyes to her and she played the opening rift. The rest of the band joined in, then Bella began singing Sweet Child of mine.
Duncan grinned. While Jackie was picking with her thumb and forefinger, she was also doing the lower tones with her pinky. It did sound like she was playing two guitars at once. The younger crowd began dancing to the music.
Cleo and Lewis then sat down with him, Cleo wide eyed. "Jackie can play the guitar too, she's really good!"
Duncan shrugged. "I'm sure Jackie can do anything she wants. She does try hard at everything she does."
"Is there anything she can't do?" Cleo asked.
Duncan grinned. "So far, I'd say, sit still. She's miserable on plane rides."
Cleo and Lewis chuckled.
"She is really dynamite," Lewis said.
"That's her sister, Joan," Duncan told them. "MVP quarterback on both teams she played on. Very rarely does Joan have a second down. The ball gets in her hands and it goes straight to the end zone. Instead of her name she even has TNT across the back of her uniform. She had the second fasted had thrown football of all time. 145 miles an hour. Her mother Cameron beat her by one mile an hour."
Lewis thought for a second, then said, "That's over 230 Kilometer an hour!"
"Yeah, they seem to do very well at whatever they do." Duncan agreed. "And Joan has knocked down a few receivers with her throws."
The song ended and they got hearty applause and a few whistles. After a short pause, they started playing again. Bella wailed out the next lyrics.
Tommy used to work on the dock
Now the union's on strike, he's down on his luck
It's tough, so tough...
Riki came over. "What can I get you?" she asked, then added, "Duncan, I know you can get us a guitarist."
Duncan smiled. "We have to head home next Monday. When does the band have a break?"
Rikki pointed with her pencil and said, "Right after this song. Jackie likes the Payaya/Mango drink."
"Two of those then for now," Duncan said.
Rikki got Cleo and Lewis' order then leaned over and told Duncan. "We'd really like it if you visited often."
"I'll see what I can do," he replied.
Many people standing and watching the band sang out with Bella on the chorus.
We've got to hold on to what we got
it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not
we've got each other, and that's lot for us
WE'LL GIVE IT A SHOT!
WHOA, we're half way there
WHOA ooH! Living on a prayer
Take my hand, we'll make I swear
Whoa -ooh! Living on a prayer
Living on a prayer!
Again at the end of the song, the place erupted with applause and cheering. Bella announced a break, she thought Jackie's finger might be getting sore. That earned her some laughter.
Fitzcarin came in and sat at the empty seat left at the table. Seeing this, Duncan said, "Fitz? that's Jackie's seat."
Fitz looked at him in surprise. "Oh is it? Pardon me." He got up and dragged another chair over. Someone else called, "Hey, that's MY seat!"
Every seat in the place was taken. Zane took pity on him and brought over a folding chair.
"Thank ya lad," Fitz beamed and sat between Cleo and Lewis, who both frowned at him. "I didn't know Jackie could play a guitar. She is quite wonderful at it." he offered.
Jackie sat down. Seeing a drink waiting for her, she beamed Duncan a smile. "Thank you!"
"Having fun?" Duncan asked.
"I am! This is almost as good swimming!" Jackie beamed. She took a sip of her drink and said, "Oh, by the way, our last song is a solo for you."
"Me?" Duncan asked.
"Yup! You don't know how much you've done for me," she said and gazed at him while she took another drink.
Confused, Duncan asked, "What have I done?"
Jackie cast him a smirk. "Just being you. I'll explain, up on stage."
"ooo," Cleo cooed. "Something good?" she coaxed.
Jackie nodded. "No hints, it's a surprise."
"Got time for dinner?" Duncan asked.
"Not really, it's only a fifteen minute break," Jackie said with a wince.
"We'll eat later then," Duncan told her.
Too soon the break was over. Jackie gave Duncan a kiss on the cheek and went up to play.
The band did Blondie's Heart of glass, then Nate sang 'Land Down Under'. After that, Nate gave up the keyboard to Jackie. She put her guitar down and went over t the keyboard. Bella brought the mike over to her. Jackie gave her a nod of thanks.
Jackie then said, "The town I live in was hit by a nuclear weapon. Yes, I was home at the time. So many dead, whoever wasn't dead was in very bad shape. I have to say, I lost it. I lost many good friends and the boy I was going to marry. When I finally became aware enough to even think, I was suicidal. Knowing someone did that to our peaceful community, I was angry. Enraged, actually. I still didn't care at all if I died. I just wanted to kill those responsible before someone got me. I was not someone anyone would want to be around. Luckily, when I went out specifically to start a killing spree, Duncan McLeod came with me. It was with his patient guidance, that I was able to grieve and begin to put those horrid days behind me. Duncan, my best fried, this song is for you."
Jackie then began playing the piano and sang.
My love
I'll never find the words, my love
to tell you how I feel, my love
Mere words could not explain
.
Precious love
you held my life within your hands
created everything I am
Taught me how to live again
.
only you
cared when I needed a friend
believed in me through thick and thin
this song is for you
filled with gratitude and love
.
God bless you
you make me feel brand new
For God blessed me with you
you make me feel brand new
I sing this song cause you
Make me feel brand new
.
my love
whenever I was insecure
you built me up and made me sure
You gave, my mind, back to me
.
Precious friend
with you I'll always have a friend
Someone who I can depend
to walk a path that sometimes bends.
.
Without you
life has no meaning or rhyme
like notes to a song out of time
how can I repay, you for having faith in me?
.
God bless you
you make me feel brand new
For God blessed me with you
you make me feel brand new
I sing this song cause you
Make me feel brand new
Jackie played the last few note then got up and walked off stage towards Duncan. He got up and walked toward her. In the last few steps, she ran into him and they hugged. Everyone applauded and cheered.
.
Having dinner, Bella pulled Fitz off to their own table when space cleared. Cleo and Lewis at with Duncan and Jackie. For a while, Lewis just took long glances at Jackie. He finally said, "You really have had it very rough, haven't you?"
Jackie offered him a brief grin. "I don' think it could have been rougher. Then again, I did have Duncan. Sonya didn't. Yeah, she had Bruce but he was in berserker mode as well. They destroyed the PSR in LA all by themselves. JJ told me about it. They hit LA so hard PSR didn't have time to run. They killed hundreds, toppled a 15 story building and ruined many others. They didn't care. At all. Someone even pointed a gun at them, and they killed him and everyone around him. I think that's when PSR began to be really afraid of us."
"With that arm thing you have, I think I'd be a bit terrified of fighting you also," Cleo said.
Jackie grinned. "Yeah, but you see, with Duncan here, we didn't just go in and slaughter everyone. Many with the PSR were there because they had been forced to join. We tried to weed out the truly bad guys from those who were only trying to stay alive. I think we saved almost as many as we killed. The ones we saved turned against PSR to help get rid of them."
"I can't imagine having to live like that," Cleo said tonelessly.
"I hope you never do," Jackie replied.
"It was an ugly business," Duncan told them. "It's over now, and hopefully will stay that way."
"I have to know," Lewis said to Jackie, "Just how can you be born with that metallic thing in your arm? It just seems humanly impossible."
Jackie smirked. "That's because I'm only half human. Dad is human, Moms are terminators, built on a hyper alloy combat chassis with internal armor. Mom Delilah who had me, has dual plasma canons, one in each arm. She has human type organs, but she was designed for war. Mom Cameron is the same. I do have a human style brain, not a CPU like Moms have, I do have the same skeleton structure as they do, and my internal armor is tough enough to stop bullets. I inherited one plasma canon. My left forearm is all liquid metal that I can shape into whatever I want it to be."
"That is incredible," Lewis said in a breath. "You're a hybrid between a real human and an android."
"Me, Joan, John Junior, Louise, Allison, we all are. We each have slight variations, but we are a mix of our parents just like any other kids," Jackie said.
"You have two mothers?" Cleo asked.
"Mom Cameron and Mom Delilah," Jackie said with a nod. "It may seem odd to you. That's just normal for me. There have been times when I was really glad I had two mothers."
"They never fight?" Cleo asked.
"Not each other. They are like sisters, I guess you could call it. I think that's why Joan had Bob marry Allison as well." letting out a chuckle, Jackie said, "And Joan has a big ego, she and Allison married Bob on the fifty yard line in the stadium in Austin. Thousand attended, and it was televised! I mean come on, isn't that a little over the top?"
Cleo and Lewis laughed. "I'd say so," Cleo agreed. "You don't want the same? Having another woman in your relationship?"
Jackie shrugged. "I'm not really that close to anyone, except Duncan here. He did save my sanity, and probably my life." Casting a smile at Duncan, she said, "He's my hero." To Cleo she said, "And I think he's about the only one left who accepts me the way that I am."
"Duncan, aren't you a little nervous around Jackie?" Lewis asked.
"No, Jackie is fine young woman," he stated. "Does she make mistakes? Yes, everyone does. She will also go above and beyond to help others, which is very commendable. She's smart, loyal, and I have to say, there's no woman anywhere that's prettier. I think she's even better looking than Marie Antoinette, and that's saying something."
Jackie eyed Duncan. "You knew Marie Antoinette?"
Duncan grinned, "I'm just saying you are gorgeous."
"But why use her as an example?" Jackie asked. "I know you reference things and people you're familiar with."
"I was just giving an example." he said firmly.
"How do you know she was so pretty?" Jackie asked.
Duncan paused. "I have seen historical photos," he replied.
Jackie grinned mischievously. "Did you ever get to say, kiss her hand?"
"No, she was a queen.." Duncan clapped his mouth shut.
"Ahhh HA! You did know her!" Jackie said triumphantly as she pointed a finger at him.
Duncan face planted. "Jackie there are some things we should not discuss in public."
Jackie giggled. Beaming a smile at a confused looking Cleo and Lewis, she said, "Duncan might be older than dirt, but I love him anyway."
"I think it's time to go," Duncan said in a grumble.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Jackie said quickly. "I promise I won't say anything else. Cleo and Lewis won't say anything about it either, right guys?"
Duncan gave Jackie a frustrated look. "Jackie, hon, I know you and Joan aren't use to holding anything back. There are things though that you have to keep quiet about."
"He's right," Cleo said. "Jackie we were very scared you were going to expose us. You did your best to fix it, but we're still nervous."
Thoughtfully, Lewis asked, "Duncan, how old are you? That is if you don't mind me asking."
Duncan let out a sigh. "I knew John Graham and fought with Bonnie Prince Charlie."
"Who are they?" Lewis asked.
"Look it up, then keep it to yourself," Duncan told him.
"Yeah, OK," Lewis agreed.
.
Later when they got home, Lewis went straight to his computer and looked up John Graham and Bonnie Prince Charlie. He read the wikki information, then called, "Cleo, you have to see this!"
Cleo came over to look over his shoulder. He pointed at the date. "John Graham was the Jacobite leader in Scotland in 1689! And this page, Bonnie Prince Charlie, Charles Edward Stuart, also led a Jacobite revolt in 1745! Duncan knew these men, he has to be 400 years old if not older! Holy shit! How can someone live that long? He IS older than dirt!"
Cleo put her hands on his shoulders. Gently she said, "Lewis, hon, how can I possibly be a mermaid? People do have secrets they can't let anyone know about. Respect his secret."
"Yeah, I will, but ... I just don't understand HOW someone can live that long."
"Maybe it's magic," Cleo offered. "How can a machine that was built possible look and act human and have children? Science can't explain everything. You should know that."
"I do but ... this is incredible!"
Cleo giggled at him then with a wry grin asked, "Why don't you come hold me up in the shower?"
.
Jackie firmly promised not to say anything else to anyone about Duncan's age. In their hotel room, he did tell her he was born in 1592 in the town of Glen Finnen, she already knew he was immortal. She also let him know she had no idea how long she was going to live, being a self repairing cyborg. She was hoping to give him at least a good hundred years. They had a good long cuddle and snuggle.
.
The week went by faster than Jackie expected. Doing the shows with Ronnie, and playing in the band with Bella, as well as spending time on Mako island with her new friends, time flew by. Before she knew it, it was Monday, and she'd given her last show.
Their departure was much more tearful than Jackie expected as well. Coming to the hotel to see them off, Jackie couldn't help but cry some as she was hugged by Cleo, Bella, Rikki, Zane, Fitz and even Lewis. She'd made good friends here and it was hard leaving them. They swapped contact information and both Duncan and Jackie told them to call if there was any problem with Mako island, or if anyone had the nerve to try and build there.
Now, she had to put up with those long flights to get back home.
.
The flight to Hawaii was long. Worse yet, they got checked into the US through customs and before they got onto their flight to Seattle, then had to go through one of those stupid metal detectors. Jackie showed her 'exempt' card. They wanded her instead. Of course the wands went off. She had to go to a side room.
Great, this again.
Three security officers, one who was a woman and bore an office's had, came into the room. She put on a pair of plastic gloves and said, 'Miss Connor, we have to strip search you."
"No," Jackie said flatly. "Look at my exempt card. You need to call that number.
In a hard tone, the woman said, "You failed a wand test with every part of your body, we cannot let you on a plane. I called SWAT, they will be coming to pick you up."
"You are an idiot!" Jackie snapped. "No shit I set off metal detectors! My bones are metal, they have a tendency to do that. Just call the friggin number on that card like it says."
"Clothes off!" the woman snapped.
"With two guys in here? No way." Jackie retorted.
The woman pointed to Jackie. "Strip her."
The man strode over to grab her arms. She grabbed then and spun to throw them into a wall. Glaring at the woman, she warned, "I am loosing my patience with you."
Seeing the men fly, the woman drew a hand gun. "On the floor, NOW!" she commanded.
Jackie brought her plasma canon out, "You shoot and I will obliterate you!"
The woman got on her radio. "This is airport security, we have a combative and armed suspect in holding room three!"
The men staggered up, Jackie eyed them. They moved over and drew their own guns.
"We have every right to shoot if you do not get face down on the floor!" The woman barked.
"Shoot and it will be THE LAST thing you will ever do!" Jackie barked back.
"That could be a bomb," One man said as he eyed her plasma canon.
The woman eyed it then said, "Back out, slow." She left the other two men back out of the room, then she backed out and slammed the door shut.
"Wonderful," Jackie grumbled. Contemplating kicking the door down, Jackie decided to wait a few minutes before doing so. She was about to kick the door when a knock sounded. The door opened and another man in a dark blue suit stuck his head in and his badge.
"Jason Kitterman, NSA, can I come in?" he asked.
"Have at it. Where did Miss strip-or-else go?"
He slid in and asked, "What seems to be the problem?"
Jackie eyed him. "I gave them my metal detector exemption card, they took it, used a wand on me anyway, then brought me in here to strip search me! I'm NOT going to let two men take all my clothes off! They grabbed me, I tossed them off, THEN miss asshole said strip or we'll shoot you. I am not taking my clothes off in front of men, and if miss asshole would just call the number on the exemption card, she would find out metal detectors are useless on me because I have a metal skeleton!"
"You're a cyborg," he concluded. "Who are you?'
"Jackie Connor."
"I see, I'll be right back," he said and left.
He peeked in a moment later and said, "Miss Connor, please come out with me."
Jackie followed him out to see Miss asshole with three other men, standing in a line. The new man was also in a suit.
The NSA man asked the woman, "Do you have the exemption card Miss Connor gave you?"
The woman handed it over. "She was checked and has metal all over her body."
Jason handed Jackie the card back. He then turned to the other man in a suit and said, "That exemption card means what it says. Jackie Connor is a cyborg, full metal skeleton. Her bare little finger will set off any metal detector. You can do a pat down search. No where in any circumstances does it say you have the authority to perform a strip search, especially with two men in the room. If this ever happens again, you and your company will be replaced. All three of your employees here will be up on charges of gross misconduct and sexual harassment. Your company will also be fined for misconduct."
"She has a weapon!" the woman stated.
"One I was born with," Jackie retorted.
The NSA man tipped his head and said, "Miss Connor, you may proceed on to your flight."
"Thank you, Sir," she replied and walked away. She picked up her carry on , her tail, off the end of the conveyor and continued on to meet Duncan. Behind her she heard a man growl, "You three are FIRED!"
That made her smile. They still had time to catch their flight.
.
Upon getting on the plane, Jackie had noted what this plane was. This was a 737, the type that had been having troubles, and every one had been grounded a few years ago due to 'computer' problems. Things like travelling off course, suddenly initiating a landing sequence and changing altitude suddenly. One had changed altitude right into the ground. Supposedly, the problems had all been fixed.
"I don't have a good feeling about this plane," Jackie told Duncan quietly as she got in her window seat.
Duncan sat beside her. "Why's that?"
She told him about the history of this type of plane, then added, "Supposedly they were all fixed. What if they missed one?"
"I'm sure every plane was checked out completely," he assured her.
"I've already been in one plane crash, I'd like to avoid any others," Jackie said firmly.
"Hon, relax. Try to get some sleep. It's going to be a long flight," Duncan said.
Jackie let out a huff. "I'll just watch and listen."
A girl in her late teens had the outside seat on the other side of Duncan. She leaned over and said, "Excuse me, you don't have to worry every plane is checked out before it takes off. If it doesn't pass, it goes in the hanger to be repaired before it can fly."
Jackie eyed her. "Never been in a plane crash, have you?" she asked.
"Since you lived, it couldn't have been that bad," the girl retorted.
"I only jumped out the hole of that burning plane and fell into the forest below, then hobbled around on a broken leg for a week before someone found me. I was the only survivor of that crash and I highly doubt you would survive what I went through, so shut up," Jackie replied flatly.
The girl huffed, put in headphones and ignored them.
A head popped up from the seat in front of Jackie. "You can jump out of planes?" a thin young man asked. "If you had to, how would you get out of this one?"
Jackie tapped the wall by the window. "Wait til we're below 10,000 feet, take this wall out, grab my tail and jump. We're behind the wing here, so we won't get hit by anything."
Duncan winced. "Don't tell him that," he said.
"It's what I'd do," Jackie said.
The stewardesses got in the isles as the plane began moving, doing their 'safety' show of how to buckle seat belts and explain where the exits were and how to use the oxygen masks if they came down.
"It will be fine," Duncan assured her.
.
They took off. Jackie sat listening closely to the engines and the softer sounds of the plane. She noted there was wheel bearing noise from one of the closer landing gear wheels. Not long after they were airborne and flying over water, she swore she heard a soft pop. She studied the wing she could see. She felt no difference in their motion. It wasn't the landing gear coming up, that noise was completely different. Maybe it was nothing. They climbed to cruise altitude, 30,000 feet.
Beside her, Duncan was relaxed and falling to sleep. Jackie put her head onto the wall beside her, picking up the vibrations of the engines. The steady whine of the jet engines was even. Unfortunately, she wasn't close enough to the cockpit to pick up what they were saying up there. For a while, Jackie listened to the engines and any other activity she could pick up. They flew on for hours with no change.
Then Jackie noted a frequency shift in the engine noise. It was lower, as if the engines were slowing down. She also saw the stewardesses were all going to the front of the plane. Something was going on. Before anything was called, she got up and got her tail out of the overhead compartment. Getting back into her seat, she unzipped the bag and put it between her legs. It was a tight fit, but she managed it. Leaning her head against the wall, she noted the engine frequency was changing. It went up, then down. She frowned, not all engines were operating at the same speed.
She nudged Duncan. "Hon, wake up."
"Hmm?"
"There's something wrong," Jackie told him and nudged him again.
Opening his bleary eyes, Duncan asked, "What's up?"
Jackie said, "I don't know, but the engines are changing speed. I think we're slowly descending too."
Jackie picked up the sound of the landing gear going down. It had no more that gotten down, when it went back up. "The landing gear just dropped and went back up," she noted. The plane then tipped in a turn.
"Can you tell what's up?" he asked.
Studying the sky, Jackie said, "We're turning around. I think we're also down to around 20,000 feet."
An announcement came. "This is the captain, we have discovered some minor problems, and will be headed back to Hawaii to get them corrected. Everyone keep calm, there is nothing to worry about."
"Famous last words," Jackie grumbled.
Duncan asked, "You got your tail out?"
"Just in case," Jackie agreed. "We're slowly descending. I don't see anything but water." She then noted in the air borne noise, the engine frequency was going up and down. Like at least one engine was missing. "I think we're running out of gas."
The plane dropped into a steeper dive.
"This is the captain, our trouble is worse than we thought. We will be performing a water landing. Everyone, get into crash positions."
The stewardesses ran up and down the aisle waking people up and getting them into their crash positions, and telling people to get their life vests on, but do not inflate them until they have landed and are outside the plane.
Jackie watched the water and listened to the stuttering engines.
"Ma'am... MA'AM!" A stewardess called to Jackie. "Give me that bag," she said as she reached.
"No, this is my life jacket, I'm fine," Jackie said firmly.
One stewardess was in the front, explaining that on a water landing, planes floated, so there would be no rush to exit the plane.
Jackie saw the water was now maybe a thousand feet down. The jets were also winding down. "We're outta gas," Jackie stated. She punched the window out, and began ripping the inside of the wall away.
"Everyone take your crash position!" the captain announced.
Yup, they were dropping faster. This was gonna suck!
Throwing chunks of the interior wall away to land on people, Jackie exposed the aluminum outside wall. By the air going by, they were falling now more than flying. The surface of the water was coming up fast.
"Everyone brace now!" Jackie screamed and did so herself.
The plane hit the water hard. There was tearing and screaming, a hard thrust up. The lights went out, their environment tumbled and shuddered. The instant the chaos was over, Jackie looked up. The front of the plane was gone. Sky and water showed where the front of the plane and exits used to be. The water was coming in. "Seatbelts off now!" she screamed and got her own off. She also ripped Duncan's free. a limp stewardess was washed down the isle with the water coming in.
The plane was sinking. Free of her seat, Jackie plasma'd / punched a hole in the outside wall then grabbed Duncan and threw him out of the plane. The boy in front of her appeared, she grabbed him and pushed him out the hole. The girl on the outside of their row was screaming and crying, jerking at her seatbelt. Jackie ripped it off her and pushed her out as the water became neck deep.
Jackie focused on getting her tail on. When the water came in over her head, noises went away. At least she had room to get her skirt, socks and shoes off and her tail on. There was pressure now, the plane was under and going down. Jackie swam out of the hole and scanned the area. She saw the nose end of the plane sinking down. The main body they were in and one wing was also slowly dropping deeper. Not far away, a man was under, and trying to find the surface. Jackie swam over to him and pulled him up. A chunk of wing was floating. Jackie got him up and onto the wing.
"Hold on!" she told him, then dove back down to look for anyone else who was trying to fight their way up. The was debris in and on the water. No other people though. Damn it, that meant most everyone else had sank into the depths with the plane, still buckled into their seat belts.
Jackie found Duncan and the two she'd pushed out, treading water together. She surfaced to face Duncan.
"No one else made it, the plane sank too fast," Jackie explained.
"See if you can something for us to climb on," Duncan said. Jackie nodded and went back under.
The young man's eyes grew wide, seeing Jackie dive back under. "See that! She has a tail!"
"Yes, inflate your life fest," Duncan told him. "It will make it easier to stay up."
The girl had inflated hers, but still gaped at where Jackie had gone. "She ... she got us out, and she's a fish!"
"Guys!" Duncan said loudly, "Look around for something to grab onto!"
Under water, Jackie was searching. She knew where Duncan and the pair were, and she could see the man on his piece of airplane wing. She could also see the plane body slowly getting deeper. No so deep was a section with an exit door on it. She swam down to it. Planes had life rafts and those inflatable chutes to slide down. Either one right now would be good.
The chunk had been torn off. Inspecting it, Jackie saw a handle and pulled. A small explosion sounded. Bubbles burst forth and a large orange thing came out and rose with the bubbles. She managed to grab a rope on the side and was dragged up to the surface with it. Yay, she'd found a life raft.
As soon as she was back up on the surface, she pulled the life raft over to Duncan. She had him get in, then the other two. "Wait here," she said, then swam over to the man on his piece of wing. Grabbing the lower end, she pushed the wing towards the raft.
The man looked at her. "You, you've got a tail," he said blankly.
"Yup, good thing too, or we'd all be dead now." Jackie replied.
He let out a chuckle. "You really got a tail! It's like a miracle!"
"If we live through the next few days, THAT will be a miracle," Jackie told him. "We have no food or water, and I'm not diving down to scrounge through the remains of the plane for any."
"They told us the plane would float," he said.
Jackie eyed him. "They told us it wouldn't crash too."
"But, I've seen planes float."
"Yeah, when they're whole," Jackie countered. "When we hit the water, a wing and the whole front was torn off. No buoyancy, the plane sinks, just like a boat that breaks apart."
"I thought I was going to die,"
"If I hadn't seen you floundering, you might have," Jackie said. "The sad thing? I think most everyone drown trying to get their seat belts off."
"If they could hold their breath long enough they might have."
Jackie shook her head. "No, most people panic. That water came in quick, and the body where we were is down about 150 feet and sinking deeper. At 150 feet, the water pressure is about 64 pounds per square inch. It squeezes you, and forces it's way into your lungs unless you are skilled to stop it. All those others are dead. We are still alive for the moment."
In the middle of the ocean with no land in sight and nothing to sustain themselves with, she had to wonder how long they had.