Cabin Pressure

Heneke had chosen the window seat to keep his mind occupied with the miniature world below. Long streaks of puffy white clouds attempted to hide the vast green pastures, but they soon withered away in the blazing hot sun. He could make out tiny specks moving at breakneck speeds on highways like ants if they ever decided to scurry along straight lines.

He signalled a nearby flight attendant and requested for some tonic water. The attendant smiled and made her way to the front. On either side of her, most of the passengers were on their screens and would occasionally spot several dozed off. The rays of the morning sun hitting them through the windows, but they lay undisturbed.

Monica had her back against the cabinets while tapping away on her phone and Jeremy was talking to her over a cup of coffee.

“What did I miss?”, she said.

“I was telling Monica about the trip we were planning to Havana”, Jeremy said while she opened a cabinet and poured a plastic cup with tonic water.

“And?”.

Jeremy didn’t reply. Monica lifted her eyes from her phone, waiting in anticipation as Jeremy slowly curled his upper lip smiled.

“It’s a green light on that!”, he finally said.

Marcus extinguished his cigarette and stepped out of the lavatory. Another gentleman was waiting and smiled at him as he stepped in. He adjusted his trench coat and walked towards his seat. He spotted the three flight attendants quietly regaling at the front and then one of them started walking towards him with a cup of tonic water.

He took his seat on the aisle side and picked up a magazine to read. He flipped through the pages to find his spot.

Delilah sat uncomfortably in her seat. She fixed her hair from time to time and looked out the window, praying for the drop in altitude to come sooner. They were all close toward their destination and it is always the last few miles that make her agitate.

“First time?”, the gentleman who was seated next to her asked. He had a gentle expression in his speech.

“Um.. No”, she replied, trying to produce a smile. “I usually find myself at unease during ascent and descent”.

“That’s understandable. My wife can relate”, he smiled.

“Do you travel a lot?”, she asked. Small talk helps, she thought.

“Quite. It’s my profession”, he replied and pocketed the magazine he was reading in the pouch.

“And what is your line of work, if you don’t mind me asking”. She hadn’t realized that her fear was replaced with curiosity, but the gentleman wasn’t smiling anymore. The warmth in his expression suddenly disappeared and he started feeling agitated, as if his personal space has just been invaded.

Marcus felt restless. He was staring at the woman’s eyes, and it revealed something sinister. I’m being spied.

He quickly excused himself and started moving along the aisle to find the perpetrator. The woman sat there dumbfounded, wondering whether she asked the wrong question. He skimmed through the cabin. Everyone was on their screens. They were all either watching a movie or playing a game. There were some that had just woken up from a deep slumber and then by a window seat sat a man that kept checking his time. He slowly started walking down that aisle and approached him from behind.

As he walked by him, he noticed that he was having a cup of tonic water and they briefly made eye contact. In that brief moment, he wanted to resist the urge to grab the seated mean but then he realized that the man was innocent. Before he could walk away, he felt a jolt and then he was soon rushing to meet the cabin floor.

Heneke looked stunned as he watched the man collapse to the floor and behind him was a flight attendant with a syringe in her hand. Other passengers were also looking, some trying to take a peek from further back. The attendant assured the passengers that everything is taken care of and motioned Heneke to follow her to the front. When they both reached the front quarters and out of sight of the passengers, Heneke removed his stunned expression and smiled.

“Did you take care of other attendants”, he asked her.

She nodded, handed him the syringe, and pointed at the lavatory.

“Good work. Now keep the passengers busy while I go have a word with the pilot”, Heneke said and made his way toward the cockpit while the flight attendant helped herself with a cup of tonic water and went toward the passengers.