Page 18 of Too Much In Common
“I believe most of what I’ve heard is classified.” Tian teased.
“Yes, I’m single.”
At least he was direct. “No. I don’t date within the airline, and the only trait of my father’s I inherited is my love of flying.”
“You’re one of those Johnsons?”
“You mean the ones that put nepotism in Legacy Air? Yes, I am. Which means now you will be judging me the rest of the flight to decide if I got my job because I was a female, because I’m a Johnson, or both.”
“What if you got your job because you’re good?”
“No one ever assumes that when they first meet me.”
“Kind of like when pilots hear I flew for Uncle Sam—they assume I’m cocky?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?
“Well, First Officer Johnson, if you promise not to judge me by my stereotype, I won’t judge you by yours.”
“Sounds like a deal.”
“Now, what did you mean that the only thing you got from your father was his love of flying?”
“Have you ever met my father?”
The captain shook his head no.
“My father is the cliché pilot of all the cliché pilots. My mother was a flight attendant, his second wife was a passenger, his third wife was a desk agent, and his fourth wife was another flight attendant. I think you see the pattern... Well, you get the idea. I have six half-siblings that I know of.”
The captain whistled in a low tone. “Now I know why someone tried to bet me I couldn’t get you to go out to dinner with me.”
“Somebody is betting on me?” She ran through the faces of the pilots in the lounge, wondering who knew enough about her to put the captain up to such a bet.
“More like they were betting against me.”
Tian didn’t want to know. “So, what is the favorite place you’ve ever been?”
“Changing the subject again?” He laughed, and the conversation moved on to planes and landing strips.
Somewhere over the Rockies, an alert from the Denver Air Traffic control tower sounded. Through her headphones, Tian listened as the captain conversed. Dread grew in the pit of her stomach. When the conversation ended, they looked at each other in silence.
“Put the new coordinates in,” Captain Cook said. “I’ll alert the crew and try to give them a heads up.”
With Wi-Fi, some passengers might already be hearing rumors and asking questions.
Tian listened as he explained the situation over the crew’s phone. Then he switched to the PA system for the general announcement.
* * *
The Hastings app pinged a three-tone beep. Something was wrong. Chris swiped to read the screen.
Above him, the speakers crackled.
“This is your captain, Joshua Cook. I have an important announcement. We have just received word that the Seattle-Tacoma airport is closing to all incoming planes because of a bomb threat at the airport. Our plane is being diverted to Spokane, Washington. Nothing is wrong with our plane, and we are not in any danger. I will update you as I know more. I repeat, nothing is wrong with our plane, and we are not in any danger—we are only being diverted.”
His words mirrored those on Chris’s phone screen. He shared the screen with Candace. Like the captain, he believed that sharing the truth was better than sugar-coating things. “With your permission, I’ll ask Hastings to book a hotel and a car in Spokane.”
“Probably wise.”
