Rick Mofina - Free Fall

“I think so.”

London, England

The graceful curved-glass facade of the St. Rose’s Gate Hotel reflected the sky and a jetliner lifting off when Kate’s taxi stopped at the entrance.

St. Rose’s was among the new airport hotels clustered around Heathrow. The front driveway was hectic with shuttles, taxis and buses for travelers coming and going. Kate scanned the parking lot, relieved she didn’t see any news vehicles.

I need this to work. This is my only shot.

Betty had told her that engineers from Shikra Airlines and experts from Kuwait’s Aviation Safety Department, the ASD, who were part of the investigation into the crash, were staying at St. Rose’s. Betty, apologetic for taking so long to get back to Kate, had arranged for one of ASD’s investigators to meet Kate privately.

His name is Talal Nasser. He’s a friend of mine, Betty had said. I had to set this up. That’s why it took so long to get back to you.

Thanks, Betty. You’re a lifesaver.

I owe you big-time for helping me, Kate. Good luck.

The reception area opened to an inner atrium overlooking a courtyard garden and waterfall. The Kuwaitis were gathered in one of the hotel’s fifty meeting rooms, but Betty had instructed Kate to be alone at the bar in the Seven Seas Lounge at 3:00 p.m. to wait for Nasser. Betty had sent him a picture of Kate and he would find her.

Kate was fifteen minutes early. She ordered a Coke and checked her phone for new messages. She had two. The first was from Chuck in New York, where it was midmorning.

How’s it going?

I’ve got a possible lead.

Good, keep us posted.

The second message was from Reeka.

Have you got anything for today for me to list on the story schedule?

Give me a break, Reeka .

Shaking her head, Kate bit her bottom lip as she typed.

Not yet but I’m working on it.

Kate began reading the latest online reports on the crash. Not much new had surfaced in the British press, and nothing from the Associated Press, Reuters or Bloomberg had linked it to EastCloud.

Kate went back to the warning message.

Your story’s good, but it’s wrong. What happened to that jet will happen again. I know because I made it happen and unless you announce my triumph, we’ll make it happen again. This time it’ll be worse. Watch the skies. We are Zarathustra, Lord of the Heavens.

Again, Kate began weighing the factors of the EastCloud flight and the tragedy at Heathrow when a man approached her at the bar. She guessed him to be in his late forties. He had a neatly trimmed beard that accentuated his dark eyes. He was above-average height and wore a well-cut suit that flattered his build. He had a leather-bound binder tucked under one arm.

“Excuse me, are you Kate Page?”

“Yes, I’m Kate Page.”

“Talal Nasser. We have a mutual friend who suggested I talk with you.”

“Yes. Thank you for meeting with me.”

“Perhaps we’d be more comfortable over there.” He nodded to a booth that had just become available. Kate reached into her bag to pay her tab. “I’ve taken care of it,” Nasser said.

“Thank you.”

A moment after they were seated a server appeared.

“Would you like another drink?” Nasser asked.

“Sure.” Then to the server, “I’ll have another Coke, please.”

Nasser ordered water. When they were alone they exchanged business cards. He studied Kate’s briefly before slipping it inside his pocket.

“I’m here as a courtesy to Betty,” he said. “My father’s one of Kuwait’s more progressive businessmen. She wrote a nice story on him, and my family considers her a very good friend.”

“I understand.” Kate glanced at his card. “You’re a lead technician with the ASD?”

“That’s correct, and in meeting with you, I’m violating the protocol for air-accident investigation. Therefore you must never use my name or any information that might identify me. This is strictly confidential.”

“Agreed.”

Nasser glanced at his watch.

“I’m afraid I have little time. We’re meeting at AAIB headquarters with the NTSB and other officials, so we should come to the point.”

“May I take notes?”

Nasser nodded.

“What do you suspect is the cause?”

“We’re too early into the investigation to know. The crew is in stable condition in the hospital. The AAIB recovered the flight data recorder yesterday.”

“Did you listen to it?”

Nasser nodded.

“Does it give you an indication?”

“It might point to a systems issue or it could be a human factor. It’s too soon.”

“Are you aware of a recent incident with EastCloud Flight Forty-nine Ninety from Buffalo to New York City?”

“Yes.”

“It was a Richlon-Titan aircraft with the same fly-by-wire system as the Shikra Blue Wing.”

“We’re aware.”

“Will you be looking for a link?”

He hesitated for a moment, rubbing his chin in concentration.

Kate remained silent, waiting for him to answer.

“I shouldn’t tell you this,” he said.

Tell me, Kate thought. Tell me .

Nasser looked as if he was reappraising her.

“Betty spoke highly of you. She said you could be trusted to be responsible with sensitive information.”

Kate nodded, inviting him to continue.

“You’re aware,” he said, “that the International Civil Aviation Organization encourages countries to share risk advisories and information about threats?”

“Yes, I picked that up in my research.”

“Recently, there was a threat against an aircraft.”

“You’re talking about the threat I received at Newslead?”

“We’ve been advised of that, through the ICAO and the NTSB, but no, I’m talking about a threat that came to us.”

“What?”

“Our embassy here in London received an anonymous email suggesting unspecified harm to an aircraft.”

Kate froze. This was huge.

“Was the Shikra flight targeted?” she asked. “Were there any demands? Can you share a copy?”

“Hold on, please.”

“Was it from Zarathustra? Do you have the details?”

“No, I didn’t see it. I was only briefed on it.”

“Was it sent before or after the crash?”

“I believe it was after. But I’m not clear on that.”

“Can you get a copy and share it with me?”

“I don’t think that’s possible.” He glanced at his watch. “I know it was with Kuwaiti security, who were assessing its credibility with British authorities and the FBI.”

“Do they have any suspects?”

“No, we’ve not heard anything like that.”

“Isn’t the airline industry concerned? Shouldn’t you be taking some sort of action or warning the public?”

“We take these matters most seriously-safety is our top priority. But allow me to give you some context. I’m told that the email we received was vague, with no specific details. This kind of threat is not uncommon. Whenever we have details in these matters, such as an implied action against a specific flight, or information that could make a threat more credible, then we take immediate action by alerting the public and investigating. If needed, we’ll ground a fleet or halt operations, but that’s a major undertaking.”

“But you cannot rule out the possibility that the two emails are linked and that someone may have caused the problems to both flights?”

“That’s a dangerous, hypothetical leap, Ms. Page.”

“But you can’t rule it out, can you?”

“No, at this stage, nothing can be ruled out.” Nasser leaned forward. “I shared this information with you as background with context. I’m being forthright out of respect for our mutual friend who assured me you could be trusted to handle information with the appropriate sensitivity.”