Chapter 10 - Touchdown and Dawn
Fifty feet.
The runway lights blurred past the cockpit windows in streaks of gold and red. The crosswind slammed into the vertical stabilizer, threatening to kick the tail around.
Thirty feet.
Maya kicked the opposite rudder, centering the nose with the runway centerline just as the main landing gear crossed the threshold.
Ten feet.
She flared the aircraft smoothly.
*THUMP-THUMP.*
The tires kissed the rain-slicked runway with authority. Maya immediately reached up and hauled the reverse thrusters back to maximum power. The roar of the engines reversed, throwing her forward against the harness. She stood on the manual toe brakes with all her strength.
The heavy aircraft slowed: one hundred knots... sixty knots... thirty knots.
It rolled gently to a complete stop fifty yards before the end of the paved overrun.
Silence fell over the cockpit.
Outside, flashing blue and red lights from emergency vehicles surrounded the plane. Paramedics, fire trucks, and military police raced toward them across the tarmac.
Maya unclipped her harness. Her hands were shaking slightly from adrenaline, but her breath was calm.
She stood up, stepped past the restrained saboteur, and opened the cockpit door.
As she entered the forward cabin, nearly three hundred passengers rose to their feet. A deafening roar of applause and cheers swept down the aisle. Men and women were weeping with relief, hugging each other, reaching out to touch her arm as she walked past.
Maya didn't stop for the accolades. She walked straight down the aisle to row eight.
There, sitting upright, clutching his small blue blanket with wide, sleepy eyes, was Leo.
"Mommy?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. "Was that a bumpy flight?"
May you like
Maya knelt down, pulled her son into her arms, and buried her face in his hair, breathing in the scent of safety and home.
"Just a little turbulence, baby," Maya whispered, smiling through tears of relief. "We're safe now. We're home."
