Rick Mofina - Free Fall

“Cal, you’re a former investigator with the NTSB, a highly qualified expert. Tell us, could this technology somehow have been developed surreptitiously and used to take control of the Shikra and EastCloud planes?”

“Reese, first I want to stress that at this time we don’t know what happened in the cases of the Shikra and EastCloud flights. We’re not privy to all the evidence, data and facts. Only the people investigating are. And I can assure you that these investigations are meticulous and they take time. To be honest, to theorize about them, sitting here with no information at a desk in your studio, is a fool’s game.”

Reese smiled, acknowledging his point.

“Absolutely, but we’re free to address the implications of the type of technology promised by the president.”

“Let’s be clear,” Cal said. “The aim of the technology we’re talking about is the safe landing of a troubled plane by remote control.”

“Could it conceivably make a plane ‘hijack-proof’?” Reese asked.

“If we’re talking in-flight, then yes, I’d say it could,” Cal said.

“Could such technology be hacked?”

“No,” Cal said. “The design and the systems in aircraft make it impossible for a hacker to gain entry to the flight-management system to engage and control the aircraft. It’s just not possible.”

“But Cal,” Stuart said, “you can’t rule out all possibilities. If you could control a plane remotely from the ground, then your system is vulnerable to attack.”

The panel debated the subject until the show neared its end.

“I’m afraid we’re running out of time,” Reese said. “I’d like to close with you, Kate. You touched on this with your story. Why has this technology not been put into use? Let’s look at the Japanese airliner that disappeared over the Pacific a year ago, and the Argentine jetliner that crashed into the Andes. Some theories hold that they were hacked.”

“Well, in researching the story, we found a number of reasons why the system has not been installed.”

Kate explained that pilots had objected to it. In some cases, there were concerns that controllers couldn’t see all that pilots see in the cockpit, which could create a hazard. There were arguments that the skies were too crowded to make remote navigation safe.

“And there’s the fear that the system could be hacked?” Reese added.

“Yes, the fear that the system could be hacked was a major concern. However-” Kate looked directly to the camera “-while there are many conspiracy theories, claims and debates, there has yet to be a single confirmed case of a commercial aircraft being cyber hacked.”

“And that’s our time,” Reese said. “Thank you all for joining us. News is next.”

San Francisco, California

Veyda Hyde and Seth Hagen worked on their laptops at San Francisco International Airport while awaiting their return flight to Washington National.

Veyda suddenly seized her computer because their seats had shaken violently. Her first thought was: Earthquake . Wrong. The force was a boy who’d slammed his body into the seat beside her.

“Here! Mom! I wanna sit right here!” He smashed his fists repeatedly into the seat, causing Veyda’s to bounce.

“We made it just in time.” The boy’s mother sighed as she arrived, struggling with their bags. The preboarding area for Washington, DC, passengers was next to the gate for an Atlanta-bound flight. The mother was either oblivious or indifferent to her son’s behavior.

“Give me a cookie, now!” The boy jumped up and down, knocking over Veyda’s take-out coffee cup, which emptied around her feet. Aware of his crime, the boy met Veyda’s ice-cold glare, considered his situation, then pointed at her and said, “You made a mess!”

“No, you made a mess. Now, what do you say for being so rude?”

The boy’s eyes narrowed in defiance.

“Mom! That strange lady’s talking to me!”

“Oh, just look away, Billy. We’ll be leaving in a minute.”

The boy stuck out his tongue at Veyda, who glared back with such intensity the boy recoiled, retreating under his mother’s arm.

“Mom! That lady’s scaring me!”

The mother turned to Veyda, assessed her then pulled her son closer.

“Excuse me,” the woman said, “do you have a problem with my child?”

“Was your son deprived of oxygen at birth?”

The mother’s jaw dropped and Veyda stared at her for an uneasy moment, until the Atlanta flight was called.

“That’s us, Billy.” The mother stood. “Let’s get away from here.”

“I’ll pray for you,” Veyda said.

“What?” The mother stopped. “What did you say?”

“I’ll pray.” Veyda smiled. “That your plane doesn’t crash.”

Puzzled and unable to discern the full meaning of Veyda’s comment, the woman scowled and left with her cookie-eating offspring. Veyda shot the woman and her spawn a parting glare.

Some people shouldn’t be permitted to breed.

Veyda resumed her work, pleased that Seth had possessed the wisdom not to intervene. They’d come to the Bay Area to pick up a critical component they needed to complete the next phase of their operation, a highly advanced integrated circuit that was in the final stages of development. Seth knew people in Mountain View with access to one and had arranged to buy it. He’d concealed it in a small case that resembled a USB key, which he was now admiring.

“This will guarantee our success, babe,” he said before he zipped the key into a pocket of his carrying case.

Their return flight had been delayed, and they’d found a quiet corner in which to work. Seth was studying commercial air routes when Veyda nudged him to look at the TV suspended from the ceiling. It was tuned to CTNB’s Beyond the Headlines with Reese Baker.

“Look, it’s our reporter.” Veyda moved closer to the TV, but kept her distance from other people. “This could be it. Kate Page could make the revelation now, live on network news.”

Seth joined Veyda in watching, and the show began with footage of the Shikra and EastCloud incidents, after which Reese Baker introduced the subject and her panelists.

So this is Kate Page, Veyda thought. She’s pretty and she seems intelligent. She’d better do what’s expected of her.

Veyda and Seth focused on the panelists as they debated airline security, betraying a rudimentary understanding of what was and wasn’t reality.

They know so little.

The minutes rolled by and Veyda’s frustration evolved into anger.

When? When is she going to announce it? We selected her.

It soon became clear that Kate Page had missed every opportunity to acknowledge Zarathustra’s triumphant work.

Look at her, prattling on. Why does she refuse to recognize our achievements in the name of Zarathustra? We selected her. We communicated with her specifically because she was the best reporter. We handed her the story of a lifetime. Now she’s hogging the glory for herself.

Then Kate Page made her closing remarks.

“While there are many conspiracy theories, claims and debates, there has yet to be a single confirmed case of a commercial aircraft being cyber hacked.”

Zarathustra! Zarathustra! We gave you confirmation! Veyda gritted her teeth. “This is insulting!”

Seth hushed her.

“Who does she think she is, Seth? She’s done nothing extraordinary. We selected her to be part of history.”

He took her back to the corner out of earshot of other passengers.

“She’s nothing more than a lower-caste human,” Veyda said. “Straight out of Brave New World . A lowly Gamma girl. Who does she think she is? Does she know how dangerous it is to defy us?”