Page 19 of Too Much In Common
He tapped the message into his phone.
Most of the passengers began to talk to those around them. Speculations ran rampant.
The seat belt sign flashed.
The flight attendant picked up the phone. “Please remain seated with your seat belt fastened. We will pass through the cabin to collect all of your empty containers. For those of you worried about missing connections, we would like to point out that the plane for your connecting flight is also being diverted. The captain has promised to give us news as soon as he hears. And remember, not everything you read on social media is true. I know this because I saw a quote from President Lincoln saying so.”
A smattering of laughter dispersed some of the tension.
Chris’s phone pinged again.
Hastings: Wow, availability is going fast. I found two side by side Jr. suites with a king and a couch in each. Or a corner suite with two kings and a couch. Ask MsO.
Chris showed the phone to Candace.
“You need a better code name for me. I feel like some sort of off brand cereal. MsO meal. Either way, one of you ends up on a couch. My apologies.”
Hastings: Found this—a 2-bedroom king suite with an adjoining standard double queen room.
Candace pointed at the screen. “That one.”
Chris: Book it.
Hastings: Done. Also rented an SUV.
“I wonder what everyone else does for a hotel?” asked Candace.
“Hopefully, the airlines can put them up.”
“Hard to believe that four years ago, I would have planned to curl up in a corner of an airport and sit it out. Of course, I would have also been with my roommates. Now, I am probably booking the best room left in the city.”
His phone vibrated.
Dana: Do the kids know?
Hastings: Negative. MrO wants to wait until we have more information
.
Candace read the screen. “Ask Hastings to tell M-R-O that M-S-O agrees.”
Chris typed the message into his phone. He should have known when he met Thor that his day would be weird.
* * *
Tian rubbed her temples after sitting on the tarmac for an hour before they could deplane. Most of the passengers had been polite about everything. That was two hours ago. For the last hour, she’d sat in an overcrowded conference room with other pilots waiting for news. Finally, an airport official entered.
“Preliminary sweeps of the Seattle-Tacoma Airport have found nothing. TSA and Homeland are conducting a full sweep, and the plan is to accept flights at 07:00 tomorrow morning. We are in contact with your companies to work on schedules for your departures. I suggest you all go find your eight hours of sleep so you can be patient with us. We haven’t had this many planes on the ground at this airport in twenty years. Our goal is to see you on your way efficiently and safely.”
Somewhere someone deserved a very long jail term for shutting down the airport and messing up flights for the next two to three days.
“We knew that an hour ago.” A pilot from a competing airline on her right shut his iPad. He turned to her. “If they run out of hotel rooms, you can share mine.”
Tian narrowed her eyes. “You’ve had an hour and a half to come up with a pickup line, and that was the best you’ve got?”
“It was worth a try.”
She stood and walked away, keenly aware that she was the only female in the room. With females composing less than ten percent of all commercial pilots, it happened often enough. She joined Captain Cook. She should call him Joshua, but the other name was more fun. He stood with the ten other Legacy Air pilots.
