Coordinated Effort
(Micro-fiction story for the 500 word shockwave challenge)
-"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Capitan speaking" - his voice was serene, but it was easy to figure out the situation inside the cabin - "As you are aware, we have some 'guests' pushing us to deviate from the planned route, and we have no other option than comply" - He was trying hard to sound calm, but the tremors on his voice were telling a different story - "I'm still controlling the plane, but we will have to follow specific instructions shortly. Please stay calm and fasten your seatbelts. Thank you".
The co-pilot finished reading the piece of paper given to them by the guy standing behind him and started typing numbers into the self-navigating console. The Capitan reached out and covered the ENTER button with his hand while talking to the second guy, who acted like he was in command.
-"This data is wrong" - he said suddenly sounding confident - "You are not considering the Landmark that's in the middle of that path"- the copilot looked at him confused, but said nothing - "We will have to make a slight adjustment to go around" - the two strangers talked for a few seconds and then agreed with him, saying that they will have to send the correction to the other team.
-"What other team?" - both the pilot and copilot said at the same time. None of the other two guys responded. They just gave the pilot a pen and asked him to annotate the changes on the paper. The pilot took the pen from him and the paper from the copilot, calmly smiling - "I guess this is how it will go down then".
One of the strangers took a cellphone out and started typing in it - "I'll have to unblock the cell signals if you need to send that" - the pilot said - "and I'd like to send a message too, for a special one of mine, given the circumstances".
He started typing while one of the visitors kept looking at the screen - "Hi, honey. I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you and the kids. I admit that it was my fault. I love you so much, even though your last message to me was to go kill myself. Well, I guess your wish was granted. Love you forever." - he smiled while pressing the SEND button and placed the cellphone back in its holster, changed the data entered in the console and corrected a couple of numbers on the paper, giving it back to the visitor, who was bewildered by the message. The other guy sent the adjusted data to the second team, and both grabbed the back of the seats. The aircraft took a hard turn to the left while passing over a big city. The visitors were now alarmed and in disbelief.
-"Well, the adjustment was perfect" - said the Capitan, while two gigantic structures were getting closer to them, really fast.
-"Welcome to New York".
About the Creator
Alex Torres
Started writing short stories back in 1988 at work, when I had an empty page to fill for the employee's internal magazine. Taking the pen again after a 30 year-long hiatus, exploring where it takes me this time.


Comments (2)
Well done, nice surprise ending
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Capitan speaking"wonderful wrriting style