Chapter 58 Swiss Air Somewhere towards Grozny

Akiko woke up dazedly. Andalas was looking at her while grinning faintly.

"Since we missed Geneva, we're going to have a little picnic in Grozny." Andalas smiling mischievously at Akiko.

Akiko swore softly in Japanese. Once again they were faced with a dangerous situation. They had no idea what was the real story behind it. She was sure the whole plane had nothing to do with the Organization, the OWC, or any secret services. They might be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Andalas didn't want to leave everything to chances. He talked with Cecilia and Akiko through X-One.

I'm going to the rear entrance. I'm suspicious with one flight attendant. I think she knows what's going on. They seem to use the silent hijacking method, which basically to control the cockpit and direct the plane to the destination airport to then take all the passengers hostage. No weapons and no fuss at all.

Okay. What should I do? What can Akiko do?

Keep in touch with both Doctor Aslan and Cathy. Find out whether there has been news on the ground about the hijacking of this plane or a ransom demand.

Akiko, keep an eye on the cockpit. If one pilot gets out, get him!

Are you sure this is a hijacking and not us they are targeting?

No one knows we're on this plane. Even if they do, they wouldn't have time to send people on board. This is clearly hijacking. There are only two possible culprits. Either one of terrorist organizations or OWC themself.

Andalas closed Akiko's X-One and put it in his pocket. The man stood up and began to walk to the rear entrance pretending to have an indigestion issue.

Meanwhile, Akiko changed positions and occupied Andalas's seat in the aisle near the cockpit standing by in case one of the pilots got out. Akiko touched the hilt of her Kaiken. Hopefully I don't need this. I've taken too many lives with it.

Andalas walked along the aisle of the business class cabin. Most passengers were asleep. It was early in the morning. Nobody realized that they were flown to a place that was a long way from their destination.

The same thing with those in coach. It was quite full. The passengers were relaxed, sleeping, or watching movies. Had they known they were headed for Grozny, no one would be relaxed.

Andalas could not find the suspicious flight attendant and he had searched everywhere. Where in the world did she go?

When he returned to the main cabin, Andalas whispered to Akiko.

"Go check all restrooms. I couldn't find the flight attendant. She may pretend to be a passenger. Or hiding in one of the toilets."

Akiko nodded. Her slender body walked swiftly to the back. Her body was a bit stiff from sitting too long. This was an opportunity to go for a walk to loosen the muscles.

No clues in all first-class toilets. Akiko went on. No luck either with the business class toilets. The flight attendant didn't leave any trails. One more toilet to go.

It took a while for Akiko to check all toilets in the coach class. Both the upper and lower decks. Many passengers were going back and forth to use the toilets, so she had to wait patiently.

Akiko found something suspicious in the lower deck toilet. A set of flight attendant uniform in a plastic bag stowed in the drawer under the sink. Andalas was right. The flight attendant was now among the passengers. Probably she blended herself among the hundreds of coach passengers, making it harder to spot her.

Akiko returned upstairs and told Andalas everything. They discussed the next steps. It would be too risky for Andalas and Akiko to do the searching together.

Cecilia, Captain Shinji, and First mate Yoshido would be exposed to danger even though they were certain that this was a pure plane hijacking.

The news from Doctor Aslan was clear.

Cecilia, there has been a threat accompanied by a ransom demand to 10 countries whose citizens are the passengers of the plane you are on.

Andalas looked at his watch. It was 10.30 a.m. They should have landed in Geneva in the next hour. But the plane showed no signs of descending. Recent checks by Cathy revealed that the plane was circling on the outskirts of Russian airspace.

The plane would be landing in Grozny in no more than three hours. There was still time to find the flight attendant.

Andalas decided to search for the suspicious flight attendant himself. He would search through the crew list usually held by the purser of the flight.

Before Andalas combed the first-class cabin, he heard a loud noise up ahead. Followed by the sound of heavy objects falling. Andalas turned around. He saw Akiko put a chokehold on someone in the pilot's uniform who had walked out of the cockpit. Maybe he was about to go to the toilet, but got ambushed by Akiko.