OUTBREAK!

Flight 666, a direct flight from the US to the UK, was filled to capacity. It was a huge jumbo jet carrying people of many different nationalities. No one seemed to notice the ominous number of their scheduled departure. They were on time, all passengers were accounted for, all preparations had been made and with the sun shining brightly, the aircraft had lifted off into the sky.

The passenger in seat 38A reached under his seat and withdrew his small travel briefcase, the fasten seatbelt sign had been turned off. He undid his seatbelt, got up slowly from his aisle seat and headed for the bathroom. Finding it unoccupied, he slowly eased himself in and locked the door. From his now opened case, he removed the false bottom, and gently retrieved the medium sized square box hidden inside. The special wrapping had rendered it invisible to the airport scanners.

Lucifan smiled smugly. They had been planning this day for a long time. He pulled a thin sheer silver body suit out, folded so thinly, no one would suspect that it could fit his entire body completely, including his head and face. Lucifan could see clearly all around him. Next he removed a second body suit and tucked it under the sink, securing it with tape, Demond would follow him in after he left, and put his suit on. Lucifan replaced the small box inside his case and stepped outside. Demond stepped in right behind him, also locking the door. Lucifan walked back to his seat, Demond came out a few minutes later and took his seat. If anyone noticed the bodysuits, they probably though it very weird, but we live in a weird world, right.

Demond nodded almost imperceptibly to Lucifan. He clicked the lock on the box and dozens of tiny genetically engineered mosquitoes swarmed out into the plane. They immediately latched on to any source of blood that was available. People started screaming and flailing their arms as they got stung. Within a minute of being bitten however, everyone fell asleep. The flight attendants came hurrying out, got bitten trying to assist the passengers, and fell over within a minute of mosquito contact. Four of them had been quickly neutralized. The fifth one however, was hidden from sight, also wearing a silver body suit.

The pilot had been buzzing the phone by the Attendants console but was getting no answer. Now Mina, who had been delayed getting into her suit, quickly grabbed the phone.

"Flight attendants please report the cause of the disturbance in the cabins immediately". The captain asked on hearing the phone being answered. He was getting really alarmed.

"Captain, this is Mina, I'm afraid there has been some kind of mosquito outbreak on the plane. All the passengers have fallen asleep, I think".

"Mosquitoes. How could there be a mosquito outbreak......."? He stopped speaking immediately, apparently realizing that something was seriously wrong. He had seen the passengers flailing or dancing he thought, people did weird things all the time.

Mina was standing in an area where she was unobserved by the camera, the cockpit crew could not see her. Lucifan got up and ran to her, gun in hand.

"Lie down on the floor". He whispered. She did as he said. He wasn't taking the chance that they had not seen her.

He took the phone.

"Come out of the cockpit immediately, or I will be forced to shoot her".

"Who are you"? Captain Gregory demanded.

"Just get out here". Lucifan ordered.

"Control tower, this is Captain Gregory speaking, we have a situation happening on Flight 666 from Chicago O'Hare to London Heathrow".

"What is the nature of the situation, flight 666"?

"Unconfirmed reports of a mosquito infestation. We have not yet exited the cockpit, but I may have to, as they are holding the flight attendants hostage".

"Do not exit the cockpit, I say again, do not exit the cockpit. This is General Gordon, stay where you are, await further instructions". Gordon was a pain in the ass for Gregory, the man was a bumbling idiot. But he was still his superior. They did not like each other, Gordon thought him a troublemaker and an upstart.

Mina screamed and a loud bang was heard from the outside. Captain Gregory had been dating Mina for the past six months, probably loved her. He was not planning on letting her get hurt. Furthermore, the plane was his responsibility.

Airplane cabins have cameras that are primarily used for safety and security reasons. Cameras can be placed outside the cockpit so pilots are aware of what's going on outside their cockpit door. Flight attendants can also use cameras to view a cabin that might otherwise be obstructed from their seats.

Captain Gregory had made up his mind. He stood looking out at the lifeless looking passengers, those that were visible from his vantage point. He considered his options for a minute. Were they dead or sleeping he wondered. He prayed to God they were still alive, even though he was not really a religious man, but any help was welcome. A plane filled with the dead was not on his to do list. He gave control of the plane to his co-pilot Kelvin, announced that he was going outside, and ignored the tirade of cuss words and threats being uttered by the General. Mina was still screaming. Covering his face as best as he could, he opened the door and stepped out, closing the door as fast as he could behind him.

Captain Gregory was stung the moment he opened the door. He slapped his neck where a few mosquitoes had latched on. He lost consciousness just as he heard Kelvin yelp in pain. Mina jumped up from the floor, returning the fake pop gun to Lucifan. She laughed shrilly.

Demond had taken control of the plane after putting it on auto pilot and hauling Kelvin's sleeping form out into the passageway. Lucipan sat down next to Demond and placed the captain's headpiece on.

'' To whomever is listening, I don't really care who you are. Your passengers and crew have been infected by the Sleeping sickness, otherwise known as African Trypanosomiasis, please don't ask me to repeat the word. It is damned hard to pronounce. Look it up"!

There was a poignant silence, other than the clacking of the keyboard, and the usual airport noises, nothing else was heard for a full minute. One could almost hear the systemic breathing of the people on the other end. Finally there were gasps and wrong assurances that this was not really very dangerous usually. It is spread by tsetse flies, not mosquitoes, they were mumbling.

"Now imagine this being engineered in a lab, spread by genetically made and engineered mosquitoes. I have the ability to let your people sleep forever, or I can give them the antidote".

"Who are you, and what is it that you want"? Someone asked.

"Five hundred million dollars deposited into Swiss Account #5774567456. Be aware that I know that the son of a prominent politician is also on this flight, along with bodyguards and half a dozen other prominent citizens of both countries. First class citizens of much importance to making society turn on it's biased wheels. You have two hours to make this happen, otherwise, you will find a plane filled with corpses somewhere far and mysterious. Remember, the longer you debate the issue, the greater the liklihood that your people may die". He took the headset off, not wanting to hear all the reasons why they did not negotiate with terrorists.

The leaders of the countries were immediately notified, meetings had been convened the moment the first communication had been received from Captain Gregory. No one wanted a diplomatic incident like this happening in their airspace or jurisdiction. Both sides quickly agreed to pay half of the amount of money demanded by the unknown hijackers. No one wanted this leaked to the Press either. The quicker it was resolved the better.

Senator Charles Watkins heard the ping on his phone. He punched the button hopefully. There on the screen, was the beautiful sight on a lot of millions of dollars. He made sure he was on airplane mode, didn't want any little hiccups ruining his plans now. He whooped and hollered jubilantly. Just as quickly the money disappeared and his other phone pinged. Ah, it's now transferred to the other secret account. All was well, he didn't believe that the smug bastards could pull this off, but they did. He could actually kiss them right now.

Charles had been a pilot in the Military, an exceptional pilot, received many medals and commendations. What did he have to show for it. He had lost both of his legs, and for what. So the fat cats can now sit back and boast about the sacrifices of people like him. The bionic legs he had now were great, worked even better than his own ever did. No one except himself, his family and the military folks knew that he had them. Now he wanted more, his country and the world owed him big time. He needed them to pay for his pain and misery. The people helping him were his military buddies and family members. They planned to invest big in robotics and bionic limbs for world distribution. Once they started, investors would be scrambling to get a piece of the pie, he already knew where to look. He just needed a bit of starting capital.

Charles scrambled the stealth mode fighter jet which he had 'borrowed' from the Navy base. He pulled in close to the jumbo jet, they had to be quick, by now everyone would be on the way to render assistance to the hijacked plane. The three people opened the door of the plane and jumped. Mina used the electronic device that they had rigged to close the door of the plane as it plunged downwards losing altitude and dislodging some items. The now magnetic suits they were wearing activated and they were pulled in very forcefully, adhering to the sides of the fighter jet like magnets to a large refrigerator. Mina squealed in delight, like a child wanting to say 'do that again'. The two men grunted on impact and shook their heads at her delight. The damned impact had hurt like hell.

The captain and co-pilot had been given the Antidote, they woke up just as the plane dropped down violently. Both staggered, holding onto anything they could to get back to the cockpit.

Captain Gregory strapped himself in and made sure that Kelvin was ok, the plane luckily, was still on auto pilot. He grabbed his headpiece and contacted the nearest air traffic control tower. He got an instant answer.

"The plane and passengers are unhurt. Give us a moment to confirm this before I make my report". The wheels of the various towers started turning rapidly.

Outside he found the briefcase with the antidote, it literally said antidote on the lid of the suitcase. Going back inside, they asked to identify any medical professional on the flight. Nurse Shania Bell was confirmed. Getting some direction from a doctor over the phone, they awkwardly administered the antidote to Shania. She awoke groggy with a mild headache, but was otherwise ok. With only enough antidote for the children, the flight crew and a few extra ones, nurse Shania tended to the care of the children. The now revived flight crew were getting refreshment ready for the coherent passengers.

Mina could not be found. The captain knew that she had betrayed him.

All was reported well. The plane was returning to the Us, which was closer than continuing on. The labs would quickly make enough antidote for the ones who were still unconscious. They prayed that they had enough time.

Elsewhere the jet had jettisoned its metallic passengers who had parachuted down.

The respective governments would agree to sweep the incident under the carpet. They didn't want anyone to know that they had negotiated with terrorists and taxpayer's money had been given away. After all, the passengers had no idea what the real truth was. They had been knocked out cold in only a minute.

Next day the headlines would read:

"FLIGHT 666 ABDUCTED BY ALIENS AND SUBJECTED TO INTENSE PROBING BEFORE BEING RETURNED TO EARTH".

Fortunately for Senator Watkins, a journalist had been on the plane, had seen the men in the silver suits and updated his computer before he had fallen asleep. He had seen the perfect opportunity for some 'sensational journalism'. The Senator had hoped for another miracle!

What they never bargained for, or maybe they just didn't care about, were the dozen or so infected mosquitoes that had escaped when the door of the plane momentarily opened. Most of them had already died, or had been sucked onto the fighter jet and its passengers. Now they were free to propagate with others of their kind and spread the sleeping sickness.

Was another Pandemic imminent?