Chapter 6 - The Ghost in the CockpitRed emergency lighting flooded the cabin, casting long, bloody shadows across the mahogany tables.
The Gulfstream lurched sideways, dropping fifty feet in a microsecond that left Nia’s stomach floating somewhere near her throat. Little Leo woke up instantly, letting out a piercing, terrified shriek.
"Jyn!" Nia yelled over the screaming wind resistance.
Jyn was already moving, his athletic frame cutting through the turbulence as he shoved open the cockpit door.
Nia unbuckled herself, clutching Leo tightly to her chest, and followed him into the narrow flight deck. What she saw made her blood run colder than the Swiss mountain air outside.
Both pilots slumped motionless in their captain chairs, their heads tilted at unnatural angles, breathing heavily through pale, sweat-slicked lips. On the main navigation console, a single green blinking light pulsed against a backdrop of locked system errors.
"They've been poisoned," Jyn said instantly, dropping to his knees beside the co-pilot and checking a pulse at the throat. "Fentanyl derivative. Aerosolized through the cabin air intake."
"Poisoned?!" Nia’s voice cracked. "How?! This is your private jet! Your security team inspected it!"
"Which means someone inside my own inner circle compromised the ground crew," Jyn growled, his eyes scanning the digital flight path. The automated autopilot was disengaged. The plane was currently banking hard toward a restricted military airspace over the Alps—and descending fast.
Altitude: 18,000 feet.
Descent rate: 4,000 feet per minute.
"Can you fly this thing?" Nia demanded, looking at the forest of digital dials and glowing touchscreens.
"I have a commercial license," Jyn said grimly, already unbuckling the unconscious pilot and hauling his limp body out of the seat with terrifying strength. "Landing a Gulfstream G650 in a blizzard through a mountain pass with zero visibility is another matter entirely."
"Do it," Nia said, stepping up beside him, pressing Leo securely into a makeshift sling made from her scarf. "Because if we crash into a glacier, I am going to haunt you for eternity."
May you like
Jyn looked at her sideways, a fierce, desperate intensity burning in his dark eyes. Then, he gripped the yoke with both hands, his knuckles turning white as bone.
"Hang on to something solid," Jyn muttered. "We're going off-roading."
