Kerri started to get up out of her seat to go after Janine and talk to her, but the fuel guy was blocking the cockpit door. “Here is your fuel sheet, madam.”
She took the piece of paper from him and sat back down in her seat, scanning it with practiced efficiency to verify the gallons of jet fuel boarded and check the balance in the wing tanks. “This looks good. Seventy thousand pounds of fuel on board. Has anyone ever told you that you have the neatest printing of any fueler out here?”
“No, madam. If you have no further questions, I’ll leave.” He turned abruptly and walked away.
Kerri handed the fuel sheet to her first officer, Ray Elliott, so he could confirm the fuel load. “Look how tidy his handwriting is, and he didn’t even get any gas on the sheet.”
“Yeah. That’s about the cleanest fuel guy I’ve ever seen. Most of them smell like a gas station. Looks good to me, Kerri.”
They both went about their preflight duties, Kerri glancing at Ray as he completed his checks. She hadn’t flown with him before. He was new to the airline and to flying the 767. He was still wearing the lapel pin of a pilot on first-year probation. However, she wouldn’t tell him what to do unless he asked for help, even though he was somewhat slow entering the required information in the flight management computer.
Kerri decided to let Ray fly the leg to Kona since it didn’t have a demanding arrival or a short runway. In fact, Kona was a great airport to land at because it had a nice long runway on a big, flat section of a lava field, it was easy to see the airport from the air, and there was no high terrain near the airport. It was the perfect place to become comfortable landing a big jet.
“I have the flight plan in the box if you want to check it.”
“Thanks, Ray.” She compared her paper flight plan with the points in the navigation computer, verified the correct latitudes and longitudes, and then typed some additional information into the box.
“Did I miss something?”
“We need to include the altitude change when we step from thirty-four to thirty-six thousand feet so the flight computer will give us a more accurate fuel estimate. You also want to select an arrival and runway for landing. Other than that, everything looks good.”
Kerri didn’t have to tell him she was watching everything he was doing and checking his work. Just by her actions, she showed him she was thorough and would catch his errors, but she wouldn’t be a jerk about it. She wanted him to know she ran the crew like they were a team and that she welcomed his input. He would encounter the few asshole captains on this fleet soon enough and learn that Kerri wasn’t one of them.
“How do you like to do the HF radio checks?” Ray asked.
“Call Clearance Delivery and ask for the primary and secondary frequencies. Then you just need to make sure we can receive and transmit on both freqs.” Kerri was glad he felt comfortable enough to ask her techniques. They would work together well and have a good flight today.
Kerri was still hoping to grab a minute with Janine before they pushed back, but the gate agent showed up ready to close the airplane door. Maybe Janine would come up and talk to her after they were airborne.
* * *
The appearance of Kerri as the captain on this flight still unsettled Janine. Regardless of how she felt about Kerri, George Cato was a very professional chief purser with a very high standard of service, and she had to step up her game to keep up with him and the first-class passengers.
Once all the passengers and bags were settled and the doors were armed, George walked up to the flight deck. “The cabin is secure, Captain, and we’re ready to go.”
Janine sat next to George in their jump seats as they taxied out for takeoff.
After a brief ten-minute taxi, Ray called out over the PA, “Flight attendants, please prepare for takeoff.” This was their last chance to make sure no passengers were out of their seats and everything in the cabin was ready. They were both quiet, mentally reviewing their emergency-evacuation procedures.
George whispered to Janine, “I still love the takeoff the best.”
“Me too.”
After the jet gracefully lifted into the air, she waited for the sound of the landing gear coming up because that meant everything was good with the airplane. Both she and George stayed in their seats until they heard the familiar double-ding from the cockpit. They were passing ten thousand feet, and it was safe to get up.
George was a study in motion and efficiency as he set up the galley to serve dinner to eighteen people in a space the size of a large hall closet. Janine watched him closely to copy his techniques the next time she flew as chief purser. He clued her in on some of the idiosyncrasies of the passengers.
“In addition to Mr. Important in 3B, watch out for Mrs. Ellis in 5C. She’s never satisfied with the cabin temperature and will bitch about it for the next five hours.”
“How do you handle that, George?”
“I just keep refilling her wineglass, tell her I’ll inform the cockpit, and eventually, she’ll doze off. Simple.”
“You make it look so easy.”
“Well, after forty-two years, I’ve learned a few tricks along the way.”
Janine watched George weave his magic spell over all the entitled, spoiled, wannabe big shots in First Class. I don’t know how he keeps that big smile on his face, but he is impressive.
* * *
“Trans Global 401, Los Angeles Center, proceed direct to coast out fix, FICKY, and switch to enroute advisory frequency.”
“Los Angeles Center, Trans Global 401, direct FICKY and switching to enroute frequency. Aloha,” Kerri answered.
“Why did dispatch put us on this route, Kerri? It seems pretty far south and not very direct.”
“Good question. Take out your weather charts and look at the twelve-hour significant-weather forecast.”
Ray did as Kerri asked and looked at the charts, but he didn’t say anything. He appeared confused.
“See that big thunderstorm system near North thirty and West one-forty? We use the Hawaiian Track System with one-way routes over the ocean, so to avoid that weather, dispatch has us on one of the southern tracks. We should be well clear of any turbulence from that system.”
“Oh, yeah. That makes sense. Thanks for showing me.”
“Any time, Ray. I’m going to run the cruise checklist and write the estimated crossing times for our nav fixes on the flight plan.”
Kerri completed her instrument and fuel checklists with practiced efficiency. She had the list memorized, but she referred to it anyway, just to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. Everything looked perfect, just the way she liked it, and they would land fifteen minutes early. Kerri also calculated she could save an extra two thousand pounds of fuel by staying at a lower altitude with less headwinds.
After completing her paperwork, she pushed her captain’s seat all the way back to stretch out her long legs and get comfortable for the next four hours. She then took a few moments to gaze out the big windows of her 767. The deep-blue Pacific Ocean stretched endlessly before her, a layer of soft, fluffy white cumulus clouds beneath her. She felt most at home here. When she was in the sky flying her jet, with the beautiful horizon before her, all was right with the world.
Kerri loved commanding her magnificent airliner and was intensely aware that she held the lives of two hundred and fifty passengers and crew in her hands. She was honored to accept this huge responsibility.
“Ding.” The cabin-to-cockpit chime sounded.
“This is Kerri.”
“Are you guys ready for your crew meals?” George asked.
Kerri wasn’t particularly hungry, but Ray vigorously nodded.
“Sure, George. You can bring those up now.”
The chime sounded again a few minutes later. “I’ll get the door.” Kerri rose from her seat, kept her right hand on the grip of her holstered gun, checked that the area in front of the door was clear, then opened the door.
She was surprised to see Janine standing before her instead of George.
“Well, hi, Janine.”
“Here are your meals. Do either of you need to step back?” Janine barely looked at her. She sounded officious and appeared to be in a hurry to return to her cabin duties. Kerri now understood why some of the other flight attendants called her the Ice Queen. She could radiate cold like an iceberg when she wanted to.
“No. We’re fine. Thanks for bringing the meals up.”
Janine gave her the food trays without comment, then firmly closed the cockpit door.
Kerri handed Ray his meal, then sat down at her seat, balancing her tray on her knees. Janine’s demeanor puzzled her. How had things changed so quickly? They’d had such a great time on their Maui layover, as well as on the flight deck in the middle of the night flying back to LA. Maybe calling her and texting hadn’t been such a great idea. Janine might think she was some kind of stalker. Also, Kerri did feel a little guilty about bribing Dusty to get Janine’s phone number.
Kerri completed her required position reports and recorded the time and fuel remaining as they crossed each navigation point on the paper flight plan. Her non-flying duties weren’t particularly exciting as they droned across the water, and sometimes she chatted with her first officer, but Ray was busy wolfing down his meal. Instead, Kerri allowed Janine to occupy her thoughts for the next two hours.
As Kerri looked down from her big side window to the sparkling water beneath them, she wondered what it would feel like to walk along the beach holding hands with Janine. It was a small fantasy, yet it stirred strong feelings in her heart. It had been so long since she’d enjoyed such a simple pleasure as holding hands with a woman she truly cared about.
She wasn’t thrilled that she’d been through so many women in her lifetime. She’d never wanted to have many girlfriends, but somehow her relationships never seemed to work out. Kerri really was just a hopeless romantic who wanted to fall in love with a woman who was also in love with her. Maybe Janine still could be that person. But first, Kerri had to apologize to her.
* * *
“Is the cockpit door latch sticking, Janine?”
“No. I don’t think so. Why do you ask?”
“Well, you kind of slammed the cockpit door after you gave the pilots their meals, and I wondered why. Maybe the door isn’t the problem?” George asked with a sly smile.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to slam it. And, no, there’s not a problem.” She quickly left the forward galley before George could ask any more uncomfortable questions.
She tried her best to put on her smiling work face as she moved about her section. Underneath her outside smile, she was disconcerted about Kerri Sullivan, and she had to admit that she felt off balance. She was still very annoyed that Kerri had called her at home and that she didn’t take the hint that Janine wasn’t interested.
Whatever she felt about Kerri, she had to put that aside and focus on her job. All the first-class passengers had been fed and were busy watching movies or sleeping. She glanced at her watch, noting they had a little more than two and a half hours to go. She resolved to try to avoid any more contact with Kerri during the rest of the flight. Maybe she’d get a chance to talk to her privately on their layover to tell her to stop with the calls and texts.
Just then she heard the cockpit call chime, and she picked up the handset to answer.
“We’re done with these food trays and I’d like to step back for a restroom break,” Ray said.
“Okay. I’ll be right up.”
Janine didn’t want to go back into the flight deck and face Kerri again. “George, would you do it?”
“I would, honey, except Mr. Important is ringing his call button again. Go ahead. It’ll be fine.”
Reluctantly, Janine pressed the cabin-to-cockpit call button. Ray opened the cockpit door, let Janine in, then he entered the cabin. Janine checked that the cockpit door was securely locked behind her and turned to Kerri.
“Would you like to sit down?” Kerri gestured to the first officer’s seat.
“No, thank you. I prefer to stand.” Janine didn’t want to sound curt, but she was also very uncomfortable being on the flight deck with Kerri, though this time it wasn’t in the middle of the night. Now bright sunshine streamed through the panoramic windows, and the beautiful blue ocean horizon stretched before them. At home, Janine had refused to respond to Kerri’s phone calls or texts over the last several days. But in this situation now, trapped on the flight deck with her, she had nowhere to run.
Kerri gazed into Janine’s eyes for a long second. “I was really hoping to talk to you. You and I must have gotten our wires crossed. I certainly don’t want to bother you, and if you’re not interested, I’ll understand, but I would like for us to at least be friends and be able to work together well.”
Kerri sounded sincere, and some of Janine’s apprehension melted. “I’d like that too.”
Kerri reached for Janine’s hand and smiled at her.
“Ding.” The cabin-to-cockpit chime sounded.
Janine broke eye contact. “That must be Ray. Let’s talk when we get on the ground. Let me know when you’re ready for the door.”
Since they were above twenty-five thousand feet, Kerri reached into her left-side compartment, pulled out the required oxygen mask, and placed it on her head. “Sounds good, Janine. You can open the door now.”
BOOM!
* * *
The plane lurched violently, and the air in the cockpit instantly turned into cold fog. Both of Kerri’s ears popped. The warning horn blared, and the red master warning lights flashed. What the hell was that? We have a rapid decompression!
She recited out loud the emergency memory steps. “Oxygen masks—ON, 100%.” Kerri looked to her left to verify the regulator was set at one hundred percent oxygen. “Crew communication—establish.” She looked at her comm panel through the face mask. It was hard to see the small flight interphone switch. She flipped it to the “mask” position, keyed the yoke mike button, and heard her own voice over the cockpit speaker.
Ray had returned to his seat, put on his lap belt and shoulder harness, and was flipping through the emergency checklist. Then he just sat there.
“Ray. Ray. Put your mask on.” Kerri reached across the center console and slugged him hard in the shoulder. He turned to her with a dazed expression.
“Mask on, now!” Kerri pointed to her face mask. Ray finally nodded and put on his own oxygen mask.
As Kerri tried to prevent Ray from blacking out from hypoxia, the airplane started to roll to the right. She grabbed the yoke, clicked off the autopilot, and turned the plane to the left. She was losing airspeed rapidly. “What now?”
Kerri quickly scanned the engine gauges. “Oh, no. We’ve lost the right engine too.” She lowered the nose of the jet to regain airspeed and not stall. The words of her first air force instructor pilot came immediately into her mind. “Fly the jet, fly the jet, fly the jet.”
Kerri stepped on the left rudder pedal to correct the yaw, lowered the nose, and accelerated to single-engine cruise speed. She set the rudder trim and the pitch trim to stabilize the aircraft.
“Ray, are you okay? Silence the warning bell and get out the engine-fail checklist. Because we’ve lost cabin pressure, I’m descending to ten thousand feet.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m fine. I’ll start working on that checklist.”
Kerri saw something out of the side of her oxygen mask. It was Janine’s blue uniform dress. She was lying on the floor of the flight deck, not moving, her pale face a sickly blue.