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A Bit Too Close To Heaven

“No no no no NO!” I screamed, plunging my hand into the mass of cabling; the smell of frying electronics now overpowering the lingering scent of the shaped charge that had severed the control linkages. The terrorist was duct-taped to a seat in first class, with two air marshals watching him, so now we had time to worry about somehow landing safely.

“It’s fly-by-wire,” the flight engineer had said as she handed me a PCI card pulled from the now-useless cockpit. “Wire this into the junction box in the floor of the galley. I can configure a laptop to give us control; it won’t be pretty but we don’t have much time.”

There was enough fuel left for several more hours of flight, but the only thing keeping us straight and level was the natural stability of the aircraft.

“I need the isolator!” I yelled. “Voltage is wrong!”

I looked up the cabin and noticed a woman holding her children and praying. If this circuit board burned out… Well, we really might need god’s help before this was over.

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