Chapter 6 - THE RED NOTICEThe storm over the North Atlantic was fierce, battering the hull of the Gulfstream G650 private jet as it cut through the darkness toward JFK International Airport.
In the lavish cabin, Mara sat with her feet pulled up under her, a thermal blanket wrapped around her shoulders. On the small mahogany table in front of her sat two items: her encrypted tablet and a glass of warm milk.
Her phone chimed. An encrypted, peer-to-peer satellite text message.
[UNKNOWN NUMBER]: THEY KNOW YOU ARE ON THE GULFSTREAM. JFK IS A TRAP. SWAT AND SEC TACTICAL TEAMS ARE POSITIONED AT RUNWAY 4L.
Mara didn't panic. She picked up her tablet and typed a single line back.
[MARA]: WHO IS THIS?
[UNKNOWN NUMBER]: A FRIEND OF YOUR MOTHER. REDIRECT TO TETERBORO RUNWAY 2. GROUND TRANSPORTATION IS WAITING. DO NOT TRUST THE PILOT.
Mara slowly raised her eyes from the screen and looked toward the cockpit door.
The cabin pressure suddenly fluctuated. A soft hiss echoed through the air vents overhead.
Mara’s training immediately kicked in. Sedative gas.
Arthur Pendelton hadn't waited for her to reach New York. He had compromised the flight crew before the plane even took off from Zurich.
Mara acted with lightning speed. She pulled her silk scarf from her neck, soaked it with the glass of milk on her table, and pressed it tightly against her nose and mouth to filter the air. She slid down off the leather seat, staying low to the floor where the oxygen concentration was highest.
She crawled toward the rear of the cabin where the main electrical control panel was hidden behind a teak door.
Using her metal letter opener—which she had smuggled through private security in her medical bag—she popped the latch on the breaker box.
Her fingers flew across the wires. She wasn't just turning off the lights; she was hotwiring the aircraft’s automated cabin pressurization system to force an emergency dump.
CLICK.
[WARNING: CABIN PRESSURE FAILURE]
Automated oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling with a loud clatter throughout the cabin. Simultaneously, the pilot’s door burst open. The co-pilot, wearing an oxygen mask and holding a taser, stepped into the dark cabin, searching for her with a tactical flashlight.
"Mrs. Whitfield!" he yelled over the rushing roar of the wind. "Make this easy on yourself! Mr. Pendelton just wants the tablet!"
Mara was crouched behind the primary bulkhead. As the co-pilot swept his flashlight beam past her position, she swung the heavy brass letter opener with all her weight, jamming it directly into the pressure valve of the co-pilot’s oxygen tank strapped to his chest.
HISSSSSSS!
The sudden, violent release of pressurized oxygen struck the co-pilot in the face, knocking him backward onto the carpet. Mara lunged forward, grabbed his taser from his hand, and pressed it directly against his neck.
ZAP!
The man spasmed and went limp.
Mara didn't waste a second. She pulled the pilot’s master access keycard from his belt, rushed to the cockpit door, and slammed it shut, locking the main pilot inside.
She sat down at the flight engineer's jump station outside the cockpit, plugged her tablet into the aircraft's avionics bus, and initiated an automated flight plan override.
[AUTOPILOT OVERRIDDEN] [DESTINATION CHANGED: TETERBORO AIRFIELD, NEW JERSEY] [ALTITUDE DROPPING TO 10,000 FEET TO EVADE NEW YORK APPROACH RADAR]
The jet pitched violently as the automated system locked the controls out from the main cockpit. Inside, the primary pilot began screaming and pounding on the reinforced steel door, but Mara ignored him completely.
She looked at her tablet screen. The unknown text message sat there, blinking softly.
Mara typed back:
[MARA]: TETERBORO IN 12 MINUTES. IF YOU ARE LYING ABOUT MY MOTHER, I WILL ERASE YOUR ENTIRE EXISTING EXISTENCE BEFORE THIS PLANE TOUCHES THE TARMAC.
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The reply came back instantly:
[UNKNOWN NUMBER]: YOUR MOTHER DIDN'T DIE OF CANCER TWENTY YEARS AGO, MARA. SHE IS STANDING ON RUNWAY 2 RIGHT NOW.
