Chapter 17 - The Final Approach
Warning lights filled the cockpit.
The right engine had ingested storm debris.
The aircraft tilted.
Loose equipment slid across the cargo deck.
Grace secured Everett’s cot.
Nash protected the rescued boy and his mother.
Ben anchored the evidence case to Grace’s harness.
The pilot shouted for everyone to brace.
The runway appeared through sheets of rain.
Emergency vehicles lined both sides.
The damaged engine coughed.
The aircraft dropped too quickly.
Grace looked toward the nursing residents.
Several were too weak to brace themselves.
She and Nash moved down the cargo bay, securing straps and using their bodies to shield the most fragile passengers.
Preston remained beside his father.
Everett looked at him.
“If we don’t land…”
“We will.”
“If we don’t, tell them everything.”
“I already started.”
“Everything, Charles.”
Preston nodded.
The landing gear struck the runway violently.
The aircraft bounced.
One wheel collapsed.
The cargo bay filled with metal grinding and screams.
The plane slid sideways.
Grace’s harness snapped tight against the floor ring.
The black case slammed into her chest.
The aircraft finally stopped near the runway edge.
For several seconds, no one moved.
Then alarms began.
Fuel leaked from the damaged wing.
Grace released her restraint.
“Evacuate!”
The cargo ramp jammed halfway.
Ben and Nash forced it down manually.
Rescue crews rushed forward.
Passengers were carried out in order of medical need.
Preston remained with Everett until the medic transferred him.
Grace exited last with the evidence case attached to her body.
Rain struck her face.
Across the runway, a black government vehicle waited near the emergency command post.
An elderly man stepped out beneath an umbrella.
Admiral Warren.
He had arrived before the aircraft.
May you like
He looked directly at the case.
👉 Warren had not come to help the survivors—he had come to make one final demand.
