Page 5 of Brutal Loyalty

“Uh, so what? You want me to climb out onto the wing and fix it while we’re flying?” Elena asked. Despite the jab, she looked genuinely worried, and despite the circumstances, Roman got a little satisfaction out of watching her sweat.

“No,” he answered with a small smile. “I need to remain focused on flying the plane since autopilot and navigation have been on the fritz, so I need you to talk me through the steps to fix the problem.” Before Roman could continue, Elena interrupted.

“Like I know anything about airplane engines! Are you crazy?” she shrieked.

“If you’d let me finish.” He glared at her. “There should be a manual under your seat. I need you to check the index and find the section on electrical issues. Turn to the page listed and look for an entry regarding engine temperature.”

Elena pulled a massive, spiral-bound manual from beneath her seat and began flipping through it furiously. She skimmed the index, a single manicured finger trailing down the pages, until she found what she was looking for. Roman alternated between watching her, watching the console and monitors, and focusing on flying the plane.

Roman’s time in the Russian Army, coupled with his experience working for the Sokolovs, meant he was especially good under pressure. From the look on Elena’s face and the shaking of her hands, it was clear she hadn’t had any same training. She looked to be a few breaths away from panicking, and he wondered if her eyes were even focusing on the words in front of her. If they were going to get through this, they needed to work together as a team.

“Elena.” Roman tried to soften his voice and sound soothing. “If you routinely read heavy literature like Dostoyevsky, then you are smart, and you are capable. You can do this. All you have to do is find the right pages, and then read aloud. I’ll take care of the rest.”

His encouragement seemed to work. He heard Elena inhale and exhale a few times with intent, followed by the careful shuffling of pages.

“Got it. Electrical. Uhhh…let’s see here,” she said. “Engines one, two, three, four, overheating. Oh geez, this makes no sense.”

“It’s okay. Just read what it says. Even if you don’t know what it means, I will. You can do this. Wewillget through this,” Roman said as he watched the engine three temperature gauge continue to climb.

Elena rattled off a series of technical directions. Roman reached above them, flipped a few switches, and held a button to restart one of the onboard generators. He watched the temperature gauge, but there was no change. Engine three still risked overheating, and they still had quite a distance to go until they were back in Boston.

Shit-shit-shit, Roman thought. He did his best to remain outwardly cool to avoid upsetting Elena further.

“Resetting the generator didn’t work,” he told her. “I know our load isn’t too heavy because the plane is practically empty. Let’s see…go to the engine section and look for ‘engine oil high temp.’” His palms had begun to sweat now, and his hold on the steering yoke slipped for just a minute.

The plane shook and rattled. Elena let out a small scream, and Roman did his best not to jump at the sudden sound.

“We’re going to be okay, it’s just turbulence. Are you on the right page yet?” he asked with more forced calmness.

The problem wasn’t turbulence.

“Like, how are you not freaking out right now, Roman? We are gonna crash, and we are gonna die,” Elena said, her tone somewhere between terrified and joking. She kept flipping, though, and Roman kept a tight grip on the yoke. He focused on his breathing.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to us,” he said, a resolve he didn’t quite feel coming through in his voice. The plane rattled again, but this time Elena didn’t scream. Roman could only hope she would be able to keep it together. Even though it pained him to momentarily push aside his frustration with her, he was glad his reassurance seemed to be helping her calm down.

When they got out of this, Roman might even be able to forgive her for being so disrespectful.

Maybe.

“Got it!” Elena exclaimed. She held the manual close to her face and squinted as she read the next set of directions aloud.

Roman’s heart sank when he heard what she said. He asked her to repeat it, and when she did, he bit the inside of his cheek to stay focused.

“We need to manually reset the engine. When that starts, the monitor here will display some scary-looking warnings. After the engine is offline, we’ll have about five minutes to go through the reset procedure.”

“We?” she repeated. “As in,we, meandyou, and not just you?” Elena asked.

“Yes,we,” Roman replied in earnest. “All you need to do is push some buttons and pull some levers when I say so. Nice and easy.”

Suddenly, the plane jolted and jarred, sending both of them jerking forward. If not for their seat belts, they each would have collided face-first with the console. Elena looked terrified and grabbed his arm for just a moment to steady herself.

Her gripping him had been instinctive, a search for security—from him. It had been a woman’s touch. Roman felt something stir deep in a part of him he’d long forgotten, but he shoved the emotion aside quickly.Not now and not with her.

“Are you ready?” he asked, while holding the yoke steady and looking at the monitor one last time. The temperature in engine three was still rising.

“Ready,” Elena said in a determined whisper. Roman reached above them and pressed the button for the engine to start the reset procedure. After a few seconds, a bright red warning light began to flash on the engine monitor. The plane lurched again. Roman’s heart leaped into his throat and sweat beaded on his skin. The air in the cockpit suddenly felt stale in his lungs.

“Flip the switch that says ECAM underneath it,” Roman said. He fought against the yoke to keep the plane under control while Elena searched for the right switch. She flipped it.

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