Chapter 8 - THE PILOT WHO WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO FLY
The captain currently flying Flight 718 was named David Mercer.
Professional.
Experienced.
Calm.
And according to Jillian, not the captain originally scheduled.
That didn’t make him guilty.
But it made everything more complicated.
I returned to the cockpit.
Mercer looked at me.
“How’s your daughter?”
“Awake.”
Relief crossed his face.
Then I asked:
“Why are you flying this route?”
He frowned.
“Excuse me?”
“Who replaced the original captain?”
His eyes hardened.
“Operations.”
“Name?”
“I don’t know.”
The first officer looked between us.
“What is this?”
I didn’t answer.
Mercer’s jaw tightened.
“If you think I sabotaged my own aircraft—”
“I think somebody wanted you in this cockpit.”
Silence.
Then his face changed.
He reached into his flight bag.
Pulled out his phone.
Opened an email.
“Last night, I received this.”
The message offered him a significant bonus to accept an emergency schedule change.
Sender:
Aviation staffing contractor.
But the attached payment confirmation traced to a company I knew.
Cole Meridian Logistics.
Arthur.
Mercer stared at me.
“Who is Cole?”
“My partner.”
“Why would your partner pay me?”
“I don’t know.”
That was the first honest answer.
Then the first officer spoke.
“Captain, another warning.”
Everyone turned.
The aircraft remained controllable.
But time was running out.
Mercer made a decision.
“We’re landing at the diversion airport.”
No debate.
No ego.
He contacted controllers.
Cabin prepared.
My old training returned.
I helped only where appropriate.
Checklists.
Communication.
Calm.
Then Mercer looked at me.
“If something happens to me, can you assist?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
That was enough.
As we descended, my satellite phone vibrated again.
Arthur.
You’re almost there.
My stomach tightened.
Where?
His reply:
The airport Elias chose.
I stared.
Then another message.
Ask yourself why London was never the real destination.
I looked at the navigation display.
Our diversion airport wasn’t random.
It sat less than forty miles from a private military archive facility.
A facility where Elias Ward had worked after leaving active service.
The same place Elena’s files referenced.
This flight had been manipulated toward a location.
Not necessarily to destroy us.
To deliver me.
The realization came too late.
Jillian rushed into the cockpit.
“Warren.”
Her face was white.
“What?”
She held out a printed message received through the cabin system.
FROM ELIAS WARD:
DO NOT LAND THERE.
The captain stared.
May you like
Then Jillian whispered:
“Arthur has people waiting on the ground.”
