Chapter Six – The Stranger
"Maggie, please," Lennie pleaded. "You're maniacal, look at you. You can't keep up like this."
She shook her head stubbornly and continued to look at the documents before her. "No, look at this. Harrison Industries has been selling weapons illegally to various countries, to groups that wouldn't hesitate to kill innocents," she angrily. "How could I have been so stupid to trust that man, to take his words for the truth?"
There was a knock on the door and without another word Lennie went over to open it. He let out a sigh of relief when the man on the other side appeared to be the science reporter Jeffrey Marks.
"Good, Jeff, help me talk some sense into her," Lennie said.
Confused he walked across the room to stand next to Maggie. His confusion was soon replaced by worry at the sight of her and the bandage around her head. "Should you be up?" he asked kindly.
"Jeff, look at this," she said in a straight forward manner, ignoring his question. "I need your help."
Her newly arrived colleague raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the table to study the documents. "Maggie," he said seriously. "Where did you get these?"
"How could I be so stupid?" she scolded herself.
"You're making no sense, take it from the beginning Maggie," Jeffrey asked.
"I met him at the Hive café while doing an interview about upcoming projects," she whispered as she fixed her eyes on his signature present on the closest document. "I- he was charming, such a gentleman. I didn't mean for it to happen," she trailed off as she straightened to look at her colleagues who eyed her in concern. "He's got a wife and three children for heaven's sake and I wanted no commitments."
"Maggie," Lennie began in a soft voice.
"I had an affair with Doctor Kevin Harrison," she blurted out. "I fell in love with him. Everything felt so good. Then just before I was to pack for the goodwill trip to Moscow one of Harrison's employees turned up at my door. He said he had secret documents and that he needed my help. I dismissed him at first because I didn't understand and I didn't want to believe that Harrison Industries were involved in something illegal."
"Why don't you sit down, Maggie," Jeffrey said as he gently steered her to a nearby chair and handed her a handkerchief.
She gave him a faint smile and almost fell down in the armchair. "Thanks," she said. "Anyway, Carl Parker didn't get to finish his statement. Another man appeared in my apartment and he shot Parker in cold blood before my eyes. I was so afraid, I fled for my life but the man came after me-"
"My goodness Maggie, why didn't you call the police?" Lennie exclaimed.
"I tried but there was no connection. A passerby hit the fire alarm and the man disappeared, probably afraid of the attention," she reasoned. "When I came down and headed into my apartment Carl Parker was gone, there was no sign of him and for a moment I wondered if I'd dreamt what happened."
Her colleagues waited patiently for her to continue, seeing she was upset they didn't want to push her.
"The day after I confronted Doctor Harrison about it and he claimed to be upset to hear that Parker had been to my place. He claimed Parker had been having money problems and had debts that he couldn't pay off. That was why he'd turned on Kevin- Doctor Harrison, and tried to blackmail him. And, since I was a media profile he probably figured that by going to me and make his accusations public Doctor Harrison would be forced to pay in order to prevent it. He reasoned that the loan shark must have caught up with Parker at my doorstep. He apologized to me for Parker's actions and claimed he was sorry I got in the middle of it. He also said it was ridiculous of me to believe in Parker and tried to assure me that he was a rich guy that had everything he wanted so there was no need to do illegal business and damage his reputation."
"Actually, that makes sense," Lennie pointed out.
Maggie nodded solemnly. "I believed him and bid him goodbye. I was just about to board my flight when a woman in a wheelchair came up to me and handed me all these," she said and nodded at the documents.
"If what you've just told us is true this could mean the end of Harrison Industries," Lennie said in a cautious voice to Jeffrey and then added darkly to the newly arrived colleague; "Maggie thinks that Doctor Harrison sent his Buzzard after the Concorde."
"Harrison Industries is a respected company, Maggie. Such accusations are dangerous. It's not something you just throw around," Jeffrey cautioned.
"I know it's crazy but the more I think about it the more it makes sense," she said in a subdued voice. "I was onboard having the only copy of the documents. Although I don't think the drone had been tested on a prey that wanted to stay flying. I don't think he counted on the experienced flight crew onboard the Concorde or took into consideration that the aircraft was a supersonic carrier."
"I don't know about this, Maggie. I'd say we better call the police," Jeffrey cautioned seriously.
"Kevin thinks I'm to blow the whistle on him when I arrive at Moscow. He doesn't know I'm back in Washington. I think I'm safe for the moment," she reasoned.
OOOOOO
Henri Davis shivered from the chilly breeze in the early morning as he stood gazing out over the accident site. People from various fields of expertise approached from every direction, most of them directly from the breakfast table. He fixed a young engineer with his eyes and headed over. He flexed his fingers inside the gloves in order to try and get some circulation back and cursed at the coldness.
"Good morning Mr. Davis," the younger man greeted with a smile.
"How-" he began with a frown.
"I saw you in my periphery vision," he explained light heartedly and then added jovially; "You don't seem to appreciate the cold, sir."
"I was born and raised in California," Davis said sourly. "I'll never get used to the cold."
John Macy couldn't help but to chuckle as he refocused at his work. He came from Aspen, Colorado and couldn't imagine a life without snow.
"How's it coming?" Davis inquired curiously.
Macy nodded. "See that?" he asked as he pointed inside the wreck with his flashlight. "We've found the holy grail."
Davis stared at the cube shaped object painted in the bright color that was commonly called international orange. "Finally we might be able to piece two and two together," he muttered.
"I think I can free it and hand it to you within the hour," the engineer said with a satisfied grin.
The flight investigator gave him a pat on the back and broke into a toothy smile. "Well done, Macy. You do that and I'll have a chopper ready to take off. We'll load it and get back to our department in Geneva. I would like to get a fresh team of experts to take it apart sooner rather than later."
"You know I've heard people talk," the engineer said thoughtfully. "A fellow back at the Hotel bar showed me a shaky recording from the accident last night, he was very proud he'd managed to catch it on camera."
Davis huffed.
"I'm telling you, it's amazing that thing even held together," he finished.
OOOOOO
Eli Sande angrily stomped into the tarmac at the Airport in Moscow. They had arrived a few hours earlier with MLI Airtime and as if the humiliation of being forced to hitch a ride with another airline and then to try and comfort his wife while the press seemed to follow every step he took he now had to deal with some manager. He quickly found the office where MLI was cooped up and walked in.
"Mr. Sande," a balding middle aged man greeted with a large grin. "I'm pleased to see that the trip went well."
"Now that I was travelling with your company?" Eli returned with a wry smirk.
"Mr. Sande," the man said as he quickly turned serious. "I deeply regret what happened. It was all but a terrible accident but if anything you should be proud that no one was killed. That your company have such skilled pilots. My chief pilot shook his head when he saw the pictures, muttering something in Spanish under his breath."
Eli couldn't help but to smile at the statement. "Well, mister-"
"My mistake, how unfortunate and untactful of me. Allow me to introduce myself properly," he said as he reached out with his hand. "I'm Yuri Breznin, chief of operations in Russia here at MLI Airtime."
"Eli Sande, President of the Federation World Airlines, not that it wasn't any news to you," he said. "Thank you for offering to help."
"There was no trouble, our flight from Innsbruck to Moscow isn't that popular anyway, we had the seats, you brought us the passengers and perhaps some good publicity," he said with a nervous chuckle. "Of course we don't fly supersonic, we only have a fleet of Boeing 737 and 757. Although a Tupolev would have been nice."
Eli nodded. "You realize of course that the FWA doesn't have any flights to Russia at the time being. We're only scanning the market."
"Business is complicated," Breznin admitted enigmatically. "Anyway, should you decide to traffic Russia I hope that we can be of use for one another. We are interested in a direct route to France. Perhaps we could benefit from each other?"
"Maybe," Eli let on dryly. "I'll keep it in mind, especially after your actions here. Now, if you'll excuse me I'll go and find my wife, have something strong to drink and try to forget the whole thing."
OOOOOO
Line Sanders sighed, rubbing her tired eyes. So far she had interviewed the two captains, a representative from the cabin crew and two passengers. There didn't seem to be any inconsistences between the statements given to her. They varied in experience and they were given from different angles but in the end they led to the same conclusion – the aircraft's structural integrity had failed mid-air and caused the cabin to depressurize. The drag created by the holes in the cabin and the new path taken by the wind through the aircraft destabilized the airflow around the airliner to such extent that it was forced into an uncontrolled dive. The pilots had then managed to level out the aircraft at ten-thousand feet but the irreparable damages done to the airliner made it impossible to fly even a relatively short distance. Innsbruck International Airport was quickly discarded and an emergency landing was to be carried out at the Alpine ski resort she was now overlooking.
She had to admit that it amazed her that the outcome of the accident hadn't been a tragedy with 109 dead people. Her respect for the pilots grew for every clue she uncovered. What troubled her though was what could have caused the structural collapse on a newly delivered aircraft. Was it possible that the software placed in the code lock had disengaged on its own or was it never properly locked at the airport? Line shook her head as she remembered Henri's retelling about his meeting with the flight engineer. He had been told that the hatch was locked and closed before take-off. She couldn't put her finger on it but there was something that didn't add up. With a resigned sigh she headed out toward her rental car. It was time to drive to the airport and then take a flight to Geneva.
OOOOOO