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Chapter 7
He was shaken awake, what was it with people shaking him awake today. He prepared to let his latest disturber know exactly what he thought of them, and opened his eyes. There was nobody actually shaking him, and as he took a few seconds to get his bearings and have a look around, he remembered that he was on board a plane. Not only seated, but tied into his seat, on a hijacked plane, now bound for Nyuk. He wondered what had shaken him awake, only to realise that the whole plane was shaking. As he came fully awake, he became aware that there were some people on board screaming, and he looked across the short distance to the cabin door, to see the head honcho of the hijackers leaning into the cabin, and having a heated discussion with one or more of the flight crew. Although there were raised voices, he couldn't actually manage to make out what was being said.
The hijacker came out of the cabin, and looked more concerned than angry, and within seconds the pilot's voice came over the tannoy system.
"Good day, this is your captain speaking. As you may have noticed, the flight today has encountered some very heavy turbulence. The situation is under control, and there is nothing to unduly worry about. The cause of this turbulence, is due to the fact that due to the circumstances on board, and our changed destination, we are not in the normal commercial flight lane, and we are flying somewhat lower than normal. Therefore we are flying into air currents that we would normally avoid, and this is causing the turbulence that is having such an affect on the flight. We expect this turbulence to last for about another 20 minutes, until we turn in to make out decent into Nyuk. For those passengers feeling queasy, it is worth remembering that there are air sickness bags located in the pouches on the back of the seat in front of you. Let me stress again, that there is nothing to be seriously worried about, and I would like to ask all passengers to remain calm. Thank you."
His immediate thought was just how calm the captain had come across as. He wondered whether there was a dealing with hijacking course, that the airlines sent their pilots on, to try and train them how not to lose it in pressure situations like this. Then again, he considered that surely part of a pilot's make up would be the need to remain calm in pressure situations. They wouldn't be much good if they started running around like a headless chicken at the slightest problem. Granted they might be sh1tting themselves, but they knew how to deal with it, and perhaps even got some kind of adrenaline rush from it.
If they were going to be starting their descent in about twenty minutes, then they would be on the ground in Greenland in less than an hour. He still had reservations about how they were going to land this plane anywhere on the godforsaken icicle, and the vision of the plane sliding across the ice like a big silver pen, that a kid had put a ruler under the slide on it. There again the hijackers had obviously planned this lunacy, and therefore had probably considered all that kind of thing carefully. It also dawned on him that supply planes must be able to land, so even if there wasn't a large civilian air strip, it was virtually certain that there would be a military strip big enough.
That only left the question of why on earth would anyone want to go to Greenland, let alone be so desperate to go that they were willing to hijack a plane to get there. He hoped that he would find out why, because he was intrigued. He also hoped that he would get the chance to talk to the two women he had met, but not spoken to. There was so much he needed to ask them both. He suddenly had the chills, as someone had been tap dancing on his grave, and had the notion that he was supposed to be here, and so were the women, and he knew that his part in whatever was going on wouldn't be over when they landed.
Twenty minutes later, virtually down to the last second, just as promised by the captain, the plane changed direction and began its descent, and the turbulence stopped almost immediately. He had spent most of the last twenty minutes with his eyes closed, knowing that if he’d kept them open, the vibration effect on his vision would have made him feel quite ill. He glanced to his right and saw the head honcho of the hijackers come out of the cockpit, looking decidedly happier than he was before the captain had made his announcement. As if he could feel himself being looked at he turned and walked over.
“I trust you are well rested, if only I could have had such a relaxing journey as you seem to have had. Well without the bindings, of course.”
“Oh no, these ropes are really comfortable, and they help with my tendency to fidget. If only all such journeys were so restrictive, I could save myself the money and travel in the economy seats.” He replied, with only the faintest hint of sarcasm.
The hijacker shook his head slightly, with a wry smile on his face, and said “I could have made things a lot more uncomfortable for you, and lesser men than myself may have had you shot.”
He surprised himself by laughing again before replying, “Yeah, my journey could have been more uncomfortable, I could have been stood up for two and a half thousand miles like yourself. As for shooting me, I’m quite sure you’re not an idiot. Mad perhaps, but not an idiot, and although the only help I’ve seen doesn’t appear to be the sharpest tool in the box, I’m quite sure that they’re all under strict instructions not to shoot anyone unless it’s a real emergency. I mean who knows where the bullet might end up, it could end up puncturing the fuselage, and then we’d all be proper fucked, yourself included.”
Head honcho’s face didn’t crack, and through what seemed to be unmoving lips, hissed, “I am not mad, or anything close to it, and it is probably a good job for your sake that I’m not, as you continue to try my patience, but rest assured if you continue to do so when we are on the ground then I may not look on you in such a favourable light. Do not push me, you are in no position to push me, and continued pushing may well end up being bad for your health. With regards to “my help” as you put it, they are all trained shots, a couple of them, including the one you think so highly of, are of Olympic standard, and therefore they wouldn’t miss. Furthermore, all the guns are loaded with specially designed ammunition, that will go through simple flesh quite easily, but will disintegrate upon contact with a more solid surface.”
“Bully for you”, came the automatic reply, and he immediately thought that it probably wasn’t the greatest idea.
The hijacker lifted his gun and pressed it against the side of his head, and whispered, “I could pull this trigger and from this range you’d have little chance of survival, so do yourself a favour, and think before you say anything else, as if you push me any further, they could be your last words.” With that he removed the gun, and walked off to speak to his lackey in the first class compartment.
As the hijacker walked off, the passenger who sat behind him, leant forward, and in a whisper that was full of undisguised panic. “Why can’t you be quiet, do you want to get us all killed? It’s all very well for you to have a death wish, but don’t wish it on every one else as well.”
He was too tired to think of anything else, and somewhat wearily replied, “Fuck off!”
As the plane descended, he spent his time leaning over as far as his binds would let him, so that he could look out of the window as best as he could. At first all he could really see was the ocean, but as they moved on, he could make out the start of the land.
God alone knew why they called this particular land mass Greenland, much as he tried, he was certain that he couldn’t see even the slightest bit of green anywhere. All he could see was masses of white, with the occasional bit of grey, where rock jutted out from beneath the cover of the snow and ice. In time he thought he saw buildings, and even they seemed white, and as he watched the land coming to meet the descending plane, he involuntarily shivered, and his mind was cast back to five years before.
His mind had him back in that all white room, with no discernable size or shape, he could see the mystery woman on the next bed / table to him, and then four more men further along in the room. He tried to picture their faces but he couldn’t seem to be able to pick out any recognisable features about them, and wondered whether that was because of the time lapse since then, and the fact that he had never seen any of them since, or whether it was because they were all so non descript from the distance he had seen them, that they wouldn’t be remembered. Something about that set alarm bells ringing in his mind, and he wondered why. What was it about being non descript was it that caused him to shudder.
His thoughts came back to the present and as he looked he could see what appeared to be an airport, or at the very least an airstrip. He strained to get a good view, and he could definitely see a long strip of tarmac, with it’s blackness contrasting boldly with the surrounding landscape of almost blinding white.
He looked around the cabin, and saw that everyone was belted in for landing, with the exception of the head honcho, who was stood in the doorway of the entrance to the c0ckpit, with his back to him, but seemingly alert, moving his head from side to side on a regular basis, so that he could see the pilots at work, and watch the mood of the passengers. As he looked around he couldn’t see the other hijacker that had been in the first class cabin, but that wasn’t to say that he wasn’t there. For all he knew the hijacker could have been sat in his original seat, and he’d never have been able to have seen him, with him being tied up like he was.
He looked out of the window again, and was surprised that the plane was almost on the runway. Within seconds there was the bump of the rear wheels hitting the tarmac, and then the secondary bump of the front wheels touching down. He felt himself leaning forward slightly as the braking effect took, hold, and within thirty seconds they had come to a complete halt. He looked out of the window, and was surprised to see that the tarmac seemed to stretch on for a good distance in front of them. So much for sliding off into the icy wastes.
He watched in some surprise as the steps were brought across the airstrip to the plane. It would appear that the whole of the ground crew was dressed in the same clothes as the hijackers, jeans and polo shirts, with the only difference being that they all wore hooded parkas and sun glasses. He shivered involuntary again, and wondered what was waiting for him once they got off the plane, always assuming that they ever did.