Kill the Engine prompt from The Flame
It was cold, even for January. We had been fortunate enough to have a journey free of storms but still it was so very cold. Ice made pretty patterns against the windows and the stars were clear in the dark night sky. It could even have been considered a great night for romance if the circumstances were different. But they weren’t.
I could hear the crying of the terrified little ones and the wailing of their mothers. The fathers stood grimly in front of them, trying to protect their families from a foe that they didn’t know how to beat. They weren’t pilots - all of them were just people who had hoped for a good time. The real flight crew were running around trying to conceal their panic, telling everyone to stay in their seats and everything would be sorted momentarily.
No one would say the word but everyone knew the problem.
Bomb.
It was connected to the engine. If they lost height it would detonate but if they didn’t land then they couldn’t refuel. They were already almost running on empty.
A little boy sat on his mother’s lap in front of me. She was crying silently, clutching the hand of the boy’s older sister. He was clearly too young to understand the gravity of the situation.
“When we get to Grandma’s house I want some apple pie and some ice cream and a new teddy. And then I want to go to the park and the sweet shop and Grandpa’s shed.”
I listened to him list the things he wanted to do - so many things that I hoped he would get. So many things I hoped he would live to see. I didn’t even know him but his desires were becoming my desires and his wants were my own.
We had been waiting so long. None of the flight crew could tell us what progress was being made. Had they managed to disable it? Would we make it through this?
The little boy fell asleep, his innocent chattering leaving a quiet panic in its wake.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your patience.” The pilot had finally come to tell us our fate. He gazed upon us, the passengers, and his eyes were woeful. “I am so very sorry. We have only one hope, one option.”
“What?”
“Sorry?”
“What’s happening?”
Panicked voices filled the cabin. The little sleeping boy jerked awake, his eyes wide and staring. I looked at the pilot’s face as he turned to his co-pilot through in the cock pit.
“Kill the engine.”