novelA Steel Battlefield Floating above the Clouds (1)
| ← Ch.127 | Ch.129 → |
Part 1
The Amakusa girl Itsuwa puffed out her cheeks with a look of displeasure in her eyes.
When she had heard that Kamijou Touma was flying in on an Academy City supersonic passenger plane, she had noisily rushed around getting ready and then headed to the London airport to be his guide because she knew Japanese, but, when the plane arrived, Kamijou Touma wasn't there. There must have been some odd mix-up because she ended up with a cage containing a calico cat that was registered as a pet.
She had been thinking this was her chance and had even decided she would buy the Great Spirit Revealing Maid Set, so her disappointment at being sidestepped was quite something. She had returned to London's Japantown along with the cat cage and now she (a minor) was at the tea table gulping down the contents of a bottle. She even had dried squid prepared on a small dish.
That boy was supposed to have come to London as Index Librorum Prohibitorum's manager.
Some of Itsuwa's colleagues such as the short Kouyagi and the female Tsushima looked at Itsuwa and paled. The short Ushibuka received the greatest shock because he had been the one that had secretly hidden the potato shochu in the storage space below the kitchen floor.
"U-um, Itsuwa-san... ? I-it just seems there was a little bit of a mix-up, so you don't need to get so down about it..." said the married Nomozaki with a wide forced smile on his face while he held Ushibuka's arms behind his back.
Ushibuka was struggling and yelling, "She! She stole! She stole my Potato Baron!!"
In response, Itsuwa poured the liquid into a plain transparent cup and turned her gaze towards them with a blank look in her eyes and her head tilted to the side.
"Hic... I'm not... fheeling down... Dammit, thash's right, thash's right. Why am I... ?"
She continued mumbling incoherently while barely moving her lips. She sounded like she was angry.
"... Really... what the hell ish a potato baron... ? Thish alcohol has such annoying names... You can't tell if it'sh a potato or a sweet potato or what..."
"Then don't drink it! Don't steal my enjoyment!!" yelled Ushibuka with tears in his eyes.
That was when the old Isahaya came into the room with an excited look on his face and gave an announcement.
"H-hey!! It seems that boy didn't change his plans after all and is headed to London!!"
Itsuwa hurriedly stood up. When she did, the bottle was knocked over and the high class liquid spilled out onto the tea table.
"Hgyaaaaahhhh! My Potato Baron!!" shrieked Ushibuka and the female Tsushima chopped his neck with the side of her hand to quiet him, but Itsuwa wasn't paying them any heed.
That boy was coming to London?
At the airport, she had been told he wasn't on the plane, but had it really been a mix-up and had actually been onboard? If so... was it possible he would pay them a visit!?
A soft light started sparkling from all over Itsuwa's body, but her joyous expression suddenly stiffened.
She had realized just what a terrible sight she was.
Was she going to be seen in such a disgraceful way? Would she be seen drunk on potato shochu, every breath filled with the stench of alcohol, and dried squid legs stuck in the edge of her mouth?
"I-it would all be over!! If that happened, it would all be over!!"
She decided to at least do something about how she looked, so she ate all of the squid legs, popped a breath mint in her mouth, washed her face, and stretched her back. But all those things were exactly the types of things a drunk did, so her red face made her look like an old man at the horse races.
(N-no, just because he's coming to London doesn't mean he'll be coming directly to Japantown. Normally, he would stop by his hotel and then head to Buckingham Palace, so he won't be coming here right away! I need to focus on getting myself looking decent... !!)
Just when Itsuwa started thinking more optimistically, the old Isahaya shook his head with a gentle look on his face.
"No, Itsuwa. That boy is already on his way here."
Itsuwa's shoulders gave a large jump.
She thought while she wobbled on her feet.
(But why!? I can't imagine that he would come here by chance... !!)
But she did have an idea of why that boy would come by right away.
(Oh, that's right. I took his kitty at the airport... crap!! It wouldn't be surprising for him to stop by to pick up his pet cat!!)
Itsuwa was completely flustered and the sound of approaching footsteps reached her ears. Before she could do anything, she heard the sound of the door opening.
The sound of Isahaya yelling "He's here!!" rang in Itsuwa's ears.
The room was constructed as a Western-style room, but a Japanese sliding door was set up between the Western door and the rest of the room. A spiky haired silhouette could clearly be seen through the thin paper of the sliding door.
It seemed clear that he had come directly there.
(Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what-what-what do I do!?)
She was completely cornered.
Itsuwa's face was completely pale as the door slid to the side in front of her eyes. Itsuwa was sure that she was so drunk that the stench of alcohol was coming from every breath she took and even from every single one of her pores. Even the cat started to run away from her as if it were saying, "Young lady, that smell is simply unacceptable." Having reconfirmed what state she was in, Itsuwa's head was assaulted by absolute chaos.
(Waaaahhhh!!)
And then...
"Tah dah!! Spiky-haired Tatemiya Saiji is here-bghaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!?"
Immediately after her male colleague with black spiky hair revealed that he had been toying with her maiden heart, she didn't just overturn the tea table; she grabbed the tea table with one hand and mercilessly knocked Tatemiya away with it. The large man's body was knocked outside of the room and Isahaya, who had been Tatemiya's accomplice for the prank, paled.
Part 2
Sky Bus 365 was the spacious passenger plane Kamijou and Index had boarded after abandoning the cat. The passenger seats were divided into two floors and, while there were a large number of passengers, the space for each seat was rather large. Economy seats usually brought to mind something constrained like the seats in a movie theater, but that was not so for the Sky Bus 365. Even the cheapest seats had room enough to stretch out one's legs and a massage function.
There only real problem was...
"... I really thought there would have been at least one flight to London we could use, " Kamijou muttered.
The flights to London had been fully booked. Kamijou and Index were still headed to the UK, but this first flight was headed for Edinburgh, Scotland and they would get on a domestic flight to London from there. That plan was all thanks to the advice of the young woman at the service counter.
Incidentally, Scotland was in the north of the UK while London was in the south.
Kamijou and Index had been looking for a plane with 2 cancellations and the ticket of course cost money. In his attempt to keep them from using a taxi to flee the airport, Tsuchimikado had taken the contents of Kamijou's wallet, but, in a small bit of luck, he was able to pay for the tickets with his cell phone's wallet function.
(... But this wallet function is basically the same thing as a credit card. I hope I don't end up screaming when I see the bill... )
In contrast to Kamijou holding his head for a very working class reason, Index was extremely optimistic. She was engrossed in the irregular place known as an "airplane". She was wearing a plain dress instead of her safety pin-covered nun's habit because they wouldn't have let her on the plane with those dangerous objects all over her.
"T-Touma. This chair has a game in it!!"
"It has buttons on it, but it isn't a video game. In fact, even normal TVs have-... Wait! Get your hand away from there, Index! You've gotten into the pay-per-view channels!!"
"Beef or fish!! Beef or fish!!"
"Yes, I know you're looking forward to the in-flight meal, so sto-... Waah!! The new release movie channel is super expensive!!"
"What's this button? Wahyah!! A clear cup with a string on it came out!!"
"That's the emergency oxygen mask!!"
Index's actions must have sent out a very serious signal, because a blonde flight attendant with a nice body came running over. Index was still too focused on pushing all the buttons, so Kamijou was forced to bow in apology in her stead.
After having the basics of in-flight etiquette explained to her, Index looked over questioningly.
"So there are parts of the game that cost money and parts that don't?"
"I already told you: there are no games you can play on that screen. Having all those different buttons is just a trap for the pay-per-view channels. Here, look how much fun the free channel i-.. uuh!?"
"Touma. It just has a bunch of small numbers and is talking about something called stocks."
"Dammit. They purposefully show something boring to get you to look towards the pay-per-view channels."
Kamijou felt a bit dejected and he heard a middle-aged man on the TV talking about the world economy in a monotone voice. Apparently, the Eurotunnel bombing had thrown the market into chaos.
Index gently straightened up and spoke.
"By the way, Touma. When does the airplane food get here?"
"The in-flight meal? Hmm, well it's past dinner time, so the next one will probably be after 9, I guess. It looks like the people around us have already eaten and we don't get any late meals because of our cheap seats."
"... !!!???"
"Nooo! I know this must be a shock for you, but don't bite Kamijou-san's head in response, Index!! That's just how it works, so I can't do anything about it!!"
However, Kamijou was hungry himself because they had been gassed and brought to the airport by Tsuchimikado before they could eat dinner. He looked around to see if there was a shop within the airplane and he saw a sign for a free drink corner at the very front of the seating area.
Kamijou Touma spoke quietly.
"Index. I'm about to head out on a journey."
"T-to the Onigiri Kingdom!?"
"No, I'm not headed for such a wonderful land of grains, but I should be able to get us some coffee."
Kamijou stood up from his seat and headed for the free drink corner. Sky Bus 365 was an extremely large passenger plane and the seats were lined up divided into three pairs of two by the aisles. The seating area could seat over 500 people and was divided by walls between economy, business, and first classes. The seating area was also split into a first floor and a second floor which essentially doubled its capacity.
From what he could see, there were a lot of foreigners onboard. A lot of people were sleeping under blankets made from a gleaming material that was 3 mm thick and made by NASA. Most of those people were probably businessmen returning home after going to Academy City for their jobs.
Kamijou was in the farthest back section, the economy seats. The free drink corner was on a portion of the wall dividing economy from business.
(... Is that part of the terrorism countermeasures?)
Present day airplanes didn't let anyone bring plastic bottles or even toothpaste tubes on board to prevent people from bringing in liquid explosives. In exchange, the airline had set up a free drink corner to pacify the customers who felt their freedom had been taken away.
The drink corner had the kind of equipment that you would see at a family restaurant. It was the thing you put a paper cup under, pushed the button, and the drink came spraying out. But this one didn't have many options. It only had coffee, black tea, orange juice, and 4 of the world's most famous carbonated beverages. The coffee was just labeled as "coffee". If you were particular about where your coffee was made, its bitterness, or its acidity, then you were simply out of luck. There wasn't even an option for hot or iced.
(Well, anything's better than nothing, but this is still pretty rough for having missed dinner... Oh?)
Kamijou's eyes became fixed on one spot.
Right next to the paper cup tower was a bunch of what looked like square crackers. They were there so their slight saltiness could go with the tea, but one could fill his stomach if he ate a large number of them.
(Hehh... So airplanes these days even have these for free. Oh, they have butter, blueberries, and some other things to put on them. I had heard that business for overseas flights had been down due to the fuel expenses and so it had become a service war, but I never thought they'd even be going all out with things like this. I guess I'll take some. I hadn't really noticed how hungry I was before, but my stomach is at it its limits now that there's food right in front of me!!)
Kamijou started to reach over towards the crackers, but then he froze.
"..."
There was a small box next to the plate of crackers.
And there was a sign on the plate. It had something cutely written on it that looked like it had been handwritten by a flight attendant.
It was a price.
Part 3
Kamijou had decided not to go for the crackers, so he and Index rode the large Sky Bus 365 with empty stomachs until, 9 hours later, it landed at a French airport.
It seemed likely the plane was refueling because it wasn't a non-stop flight, but there was a different reason.
After a light electronic tone, a female voice made an announcement. The same announcement was made in English, Chinese, and various other languages until Japanese words reached Kamijou's ears.
"Due to the effects of the accidental Eurotunnel explosion this flight will be aiding in the transport of goods from France to Britain. We are sorry for the delay, but please wait until the luggage has been loaded."
After hearing the announcement, Kamijou operated the small TV built into the seat and spoke.
"Oh, that's right. They were saying on the news that they're taking everything by boat and plane because that huge tunnel can't be used."
"Touma, when will we leave?"
"In tough times, we have to help each other out."
The view outside the window was filled with darkness. Kamijou's internal clock was yelling, "I got on a plane just after sunset, and, 9 hours later, it's just after sunset? It doesn't add up!!" But that was the magic of jet-lag on a global scale.
He couldn't see it from his window, but a portion of the passenger plane's body must have been opened up as it had a number of forklifts load containers onboard.
"Touma. Is it time for the beef and the fish, yet?"
"You have to choose one or the other. When did you get the idea that you were going to eat both? Don't tell me you're planning on eating mine, too!"
"Nn!! That old man out there in work clothes is eating a sandwich!!"
"The airport workers must have it tough if they have to work while eating... Wait, Index! Why are you starting to act like a beast!? No matter how much you struggle, that sandwich isn't going to warp in here! Ow!!... Hm?"
As Kamijou struggled, his elbow hit something.
He looked over and saw something that hadn't been there before. A square portion of the inner wall by the window was cut as a separate piece and it was sitting open like a car's dashboard. Inside were more than 20 dangerous looking types of cables.
(Uh, oh. Did I end up opening something I shouldn't have?)
"..."
Kamijou thought for a second and then used his entire body to slam it shut.
The blonde flight attendant with a nice body must have heard their conversation, because she came walking down the aisle and spoke to them in polite Japanese.
"I am very sorry. We try our best to match the expectations of the passengers."
"D-d-don't worry. We're not going to demand a refund or anything, " denied Kamijou waving his hands around frantically.
He changed the subject in an attempt to keep her from noticing.
"You know, is it really worth it to transport daily necessities by plane?"
"Well, " the flight attendant seemed as if she were having trouble saying something."Of course, the items we are bringing in from other countries are mostly things that cannot be acquired within the UK. With the undersea railroad tunnel closed, the sea and air routes have to make up for it."
"Things you can't get in the UK, huh?"
"Even though Great Britain is an island country, most of its seafood is shipped in. And things like that go bad if they are slowly brought over on a ship, so a plane has to be used. Also, I believe the containers on this flight have... liquid foods like oatmeal in them."
"Liquid foods?"
"Yes. I do not know the name of the disease, but there are people who cannot eat normal food, so they need highly regulated food. Apparently, this food is only made in a facility in France that belongs to a certain food company."
"That sounds tough, " said Kamijou as he looked back out the window.
The containers being loaded on the plane were, of course, all necessary. The time spent loading them on would surely help some people in the UK.
"... Food..." whispered Index."... Food... Airplane food... In-flight meal... Beef... Beef or fish!!"
"Gwoh!! Index, I'm well aware your hunger is at its max because you didn't get any dinner, so please calm down!! It'll be time for the meal before long!!"
"How much longer is 'before long'!?"
"... About an hour?"
"!!!???"
"Y-you idiot!! Kamijou-san's head tastes of neither beef nor fish... Gah!!"
Index was taken over by her carnivore side and she attacked Kamijou. Kamijou felt sorry for the flight attendant when she ran off saying she would be right back.
He let out a scream as he was attacked.
"Hey, Index!! You're bothering all the other people in here!! And what kind of person demands to have their in-flight meal before everyone else!?"
"But my empty stomach has already gone past the limit three times over!! You need to understand that I'm at the point where I can't wait another second!!"
Before she had run off, the flight attendant had given Index a toy whistle (it was shaped like a ball and was probably a gift given for points gathered by buying tickets). Index distracted herself by squeezing it and making it whistle.
Kamijou and Index argued about various things, but, no matter how long they waited, the blonde-haired flight attendant with a nice body didn't come back.
A quizzical look came to Kamijou's face and he heard another announcement.
"... Sorry for the wait. The loading is complete. We are now preparing to take off. All passengers are to take their seats and fasten their seatbelts."
"Hm? Oh, the plane tilts diagonally when it takes off, so it would be dangerous to stand in the aisle. I'm sure they fasten down the cart that carries the in-flight meals, so they can't give us any food until we're in the air."
"..."
"Well, the plane will be stable in about 20 minutes, so just wait until then, okay? Wait, Index-san, why are you looking down?"
No response came.
He just heard a beast-like growl.
Kamijou felt incoming danger and thought with all his might.
(Please bring the in-flight meal as soon as possible!!)
But as a Level 0, he couldn't use telepathy.
He heard Index's teeth snapping together repeatedly.
Part 4
Sky Bus 365 took off safely.
The airplane leveled off and the seatbelt light turned off.
The large passenger plane began its pleasant in-air services again.
There was a man who was watching Kamijou and Index from a slight distance.
Actually, it would be more accurate to say he was staring at them dumbfounded.
The man was standing in the aisle.
He was not an economy class passenger like Kamijou or Index. To keep any unnecessary suspicion off of him, he had bought a business class ticket. He had gone to the bathrooms in the "wall" area separating business class and economy class and then continued on to the economy class as if he were returning to a seat there.
(What's going on?)
The man questioningly pulled out a notepad.
He had been told not to look at the notepad if he didn't have to. He was only supposed to recheck the notepad for something very important. The man felt the situation qualified and he quickly flipped through the pages covered in scattered words and numbers.
A seat number was written on one of the pages.
He checked it and confirmed that he had been right.
The seat the spiky-haired Asian was sitting in was supposed to be empty.
The man's comrade had bought the ticket for that seat with a false name.
"..."
The man pointed at the written seat number and could only come up with one answer.
(Shit. The seat was filled by someone waiting for a cancellation... !?)
Even if a seat was booked, it would be considered cancelled if the passenger didn't arrive by the boarding deadline. At that point, another customer could purchase the ticket. That must have been how that spiky-haired Asian had arrived in the seat that was supposed to be empty.
The man understood the situation.
However, he couldn't think of a way to fix it.
(What do I do... ?)
He would look suspicious if he continued to stand in the middle of the aisle, so he slowly started to walk and headed for the stairway further along. Sky Bus 365 had two stories. If he used the stairs to the other floor and then doubled back on that floor's aisle, there was less danger of someone getting suspicious because they kept seeing him go by.
He put the notepad back in his pocket, walked down the aisle, and walked past the spiky-haired Asian. As he did, his head rotated, keeping an eye on the Asian.
(What do I do? I can't carry out the plan without using that seat. )
Part 5
The in-flight meal didn't seem to be coming.
Even when the passenger plane had left the runway, flown into the sky, and leveled off, the flight attendant did not come back.
(Actually, is it even possible to get your in-flight meal early? Her colleagues and superiors aren't going to be mad at her for doing this for us, are they?)
"Nnn, I'm kind of worried. I think I'm going to go check on the flight attendant."
"I'm worried about the beef or fish, too!!"
"Things would get too complicated if you came, so stay here."
If the blonde flight attendant with a nice body was being scolded, he was planning on telling her not to worry about getting them the food early. If Index came in clearly starving and yelling her slogan of "Beef or fish!! Beef or fish!!", it would just make the situation a whole lot worse.
Kamijou got up from the window seat, stepped over Index's legs, and finally made his way out into the aisle. He was heading for the "wall" area dividing the economy class from the business class. The area had a number of facilities including the bathrooms, the free drink corner, the in-flight meal area, and a stairway to the other floor.
(Hmm. What am I going to do if she really is being scolded... ?)
He nervously headed down the aisle and entered the "wall" area. As usual, the lighting was much dimmer than in the passenger area.
He looked around, but didn't see the flight attendant anywhere.
(Huh? She isn't here?)
He had predicted that she was preparing the in-flight meal, so he had been sure she would be there, but it seemed he had been wrong.
He spotted a door to a small room that seemed to be the area for preparing the meals, but he wasn't sure if he should really be opening the door, so he stopped.
He put his ear to the door, but he didn't hear any sounds of someone working within.
(I probably shouldn't go around anymore searching for her... I don't really have a problem, so I guess I shouldn't be chasing after the flight attendant. )
Kamijou decided to return to Index and turned around.
"Kyaah!?"
He heard a high-pitched scream and felt something run into him. It seemed someone had been passing by next to him and he had knocked them to the ground.
Looking down, he saw the blonde flight attendant with a nice body.
She had been holding papers in both hands, but they had scattered everywhere when she had run into Kamijou. The A4 size papers had small lines of text on them that looked like they had been written in a word processor, but they were in a foreign language, so Kamijou didn't have a clue what they said.
And it wasn't really the time to be reading anyway.
"Wah! I'm sorry, are you oka-..."
Just before Kamijou could lower his head in apology, the flight attendant moved quickly. She gathered the scattered papers at tremendous speed while still collapsed on the ground.
She then spoke.
"D-did you see... ?"
Kamijou Touma gave an honest response.
"No, I didn't see up your skirt!!"
"?"
The woman with a nice body and a tight skirt stared at him blankly.
It seemed that wasn't what she had been worried about.
(??? Then what did she think I saw... ?)
Kamijou finally looked down at the papers she was holding.
But before he could look at the text, she hurriedly stood up.
"I-I'm very sorry. I will have the in-flight meal to you right away!!"
"Oh. Um..." Kamijou started to speak, but, before he could, the flight attendant apologized once more, bowed, and headed off somewhere.
(... What was that about... ?)
Kamijou stared after her in puzzlement.
He didn't have a perfect memory like Index, so he couldn't recall the contents of papers he had merely glanced at.
The only bit of the lines of letters from the alphabet he could remember was...
(What were those? Were they flight numbers?)
Part 6
Starting from the front, Sky Bus 365 was divided into first, business, and economy classes.
But there was, of course, another section farther forward than all of those.
That was the cockpit.
The front, the sides, and even the ceiling of the small area were covered with buttons and switches and there were 4 chairs on the floor. The front two were for those piloting the plane and the back two were for those on standby. At the time, the pilot and two copilots were in the cockpit leaving one chair open.
"The report from control has finished printing, " announced the blonde flight attendant.
She was speaking Japanese.
Normally, she was not someone who would enter the cockpit. It wasn't just a moral issue; it was part of the airline's regulations. The reason for the flight attendant being in the cockpit was simple.
They were in an emergency situation.
"So that's the emailed threat the airline received, " said a large man wearing a mostly white military uniform.
He was the pilot of the passenger plane.
His black hair was cut short and he had swarthy skin.
As the language he was speaking suggested, he was Japanese.
He was not speaking to the flight attendant.
He was speaking into his headset to the control center at the Academy City international airport.
"It's pretty bad, isn't it?" said the airport security officer.
The pilot gave a slight groan in response.
"Yes, it is. No one would go along with that."
"But that brings the danger that your plane will be attacked, " continued the security officer in a bitter voice.
"So the enemy is a French anti-England group..."
"Historically, France and England have been enemies at times and allies at times, but that group seems to be focusing only on the negative feelings." It wasn't clear how the Academy City airport security officer was getting his information, but he tended to be right."It also seems they think the Eurotunnel bombing was purposefully done by England and that only France was damaged by it. As such, they want to do the same type of damage to England."
"And so they're going to completely take out England's air routes, huh? What a ridiculous demand, " said the pilot in a low voice.
The Eurotunnel was no more than "an important land route" to France, but it was "the sole land route to other countries" for the UK. The pilot saw no reason England would have bombed the tunnel.
"The person who sent the email threat has been taken in by French authorities, but it seems someone else is going to carry out the attack. And the guy is refusing to speak in the questioning room, so it looks as if it will be difficult to get information through normal means."
"It could be a problem if that takes too long. It only takes between 40 minutes to an hour to get from Paris to Edinburgh, " the pilot spoke calmly as he gripped the yoke.
"If the terrorists are serious, it's highly likely they will make their move in that time."
"But will they really?" responded the pilot."They'd be bringing down the plane one of their comrades is on."
"Their primary goal is just as it was explained in the email. It's best to assume their man onboard prepared to commit suicide if their demands aren't met."
"..."
"Whether their demands are met or Sky Bus 365 is brought down, the damage they're after will be done. To them, either result is a success."
"... This is horrible. I want to just turn around and head back to the Paris airport."
"If you take a sharp turn like that, there is a risk the terrorist will notice and make his move. That said, you don't have the spare fuel needed to take a turn gradual enough he wouldn't notice.... It's thanks to the extra cargo you took on and the high price of oil. But I'm sure you're well aware of your situation."
"So we have to find the terrorists ourselves before he makes his move. God damn it, " muttered the pilot.
Sky Bus 365's passenger area was split into 2 floors. Very few passenger planes in the world were as big. It held more than 500 passengers. Checking each and every one would take longer than the hour they had. And detecting a criminal just from viewing people at a distance instead of questioning them was difficult even for police.
"... We're all amateurs here."
"You still have to do it. An Academy City teleportation-type esper may be able to, but no one from a police organization can enter that plane now."
The way the man from Academy City had brought up a teleporter as a concrete and usable method, brought nothing but bitterness to the pilot.
"Also... Well, I'm sure you know, but do your best not to let the passengers find out about this problem. A plane with nowhere to escape to becomes a living hell when chaos breaks out."
"I know that. I'm the one whose shoulders the lives of the passengers rest on. I'm not twisted enough to use the passengers as a shield."
When the pilot said that, a different channel cut into his headset.
It was a channel from within the plane.
"Emergency! Someone, most likely the terrorist, has made their move!!"
"!?"
The crewman's words caused the pilot's body to stiffen.
The report continued.
"One injured but conscious. The attack suddenly came from behind so the attacker wasn't seen. What do we do, sir!?"
Part 7
Index's hunger was at its max.
"In-flight meeeal! Iiiin-fliiiight meeeeaaaallll! Beeeef oooorrrr fiiiiissshhhh... !"
"... I feel a great pressure coming from the side. It's like there's a lion properly sitting in the seat next to me. What is Kamijou-san supposed to do?"
"Not only is the beef or fish not coming, but the bourgeois person next to us is munching on the crackers they make you pay for. My stomach is boiling."
"Yeah, but Tsuchimikado stole everything in my wallet, so I can't really do anything about it. All I have are British poun-..."
Kamijou had been scratching his head as he spoke, but he suddenly froze.
Index stared at him questioningly.
"... Wait a second. This plane is going from Academy City to the UK, so you might be able to pay with British money."
"... !!!???"
"No!! You're right to be angry, Index-san, but if you crush my skull with your jaws, you'll never get those crackers!!"
At the last second, Kamijou managed to control the beast's maw spread wide before his eyes.
Having barely managed to keep his life, he got up from his seat and headed for the free drink corner.
(... I've been wandering back and forth quite a bit, haven't I? I hope no one thinks I'm acting suspiciously. )
Kamijou was worrying needlessly because, as he walked down the aisle, he saw a lot of people walking down the aisle to stretch their legs after sitting for so long. The chairs had massage functionality, but this was economy class. The massage wouldn't relax one's entire body.
The free drink corner was located in the "wall" area dividing economy class and business class. Paper money from a number of countries had been put inside the transparent box next to the crackers. A small blackboard had the rates written for different currencies. It seemed British currency was acceptable.
(Let's see... I can get ten crackers for 3 pounds. Wait, how many yen is 3 pounds?)
Kamijou couldn't get a sense of the value of things based on foreign currency, so he just paid it without knowing if it was cheap or expensive.
After putting the money in the box, he grabbed a clear package of ten crackers.
"... Huh?"
He was about to turn and head back to Index when he suddenly stopped.
As well as the free drink corner, the "wall" area had bathrooms, a storage area for cleaning supplies, and a small room used to store and heat up the in-flight meals.
One of the doors was ajar.
It was the door to the food area that had been closed when Kamijou had been there before.
(... Is it really all right for an airplane door to be left open like that?)
The plane tilted greatly when taking off and landing and there was also occasional shaking from turbulence. If a door was left partially open, it could suddenly open or close which could smash someone's fingers or break the hinges. Kamijou only knew this from a documentary he had seen.
"I guess I should close it... right?" he casually muttered as he approached the door.
He decided that no one would get mad at him for just closing a door, but his eyebrows moved slightly just before he grabbed the doorknob.
He had seen what was on the other side of the door.
The room itself was small. It was just a space to heat up the in-flight meals, so it had a number of microwave ovens bolted to metal shelves.
That part wasn't the problem.
Something dark red was splattered on one of the microwave ovens fixed on the wall. The stain was about 15 cm across and 50 cm long. After thinking for a second, Kamijou decided that someone with dirty hands must have put their hand to the wall in order to stand up.
He wondered what the dark red substance was.
That area was for heating up the in-flight meals, so he thought it might have been some kind of sauce or stew.
"You saw it, didn't you?" said a sudden voice from directly behind him.
It was a female voice.
Kamijou spun around and found the blonde flight attendant with a nice body standing there.
She continued speaking with an apologetic look on her face.
"You saw the blood, didn't you?"
She had given him information he hadn't previously heard.
"So that's-, " he started to say, but he couldn't get the words out of his mouth.
He heard a loud impact.
It took him over a second to realize that it was the sound of his arm being twisted and his body being thrown to the floor.
The flight attendant was more or less straddling his face-down body. She brought her face to his ear and apologized quietly so only he could hear.
"(... I'm sorry. All crewmembers are trained in hand-to-hand combat so we can deal with any trouble that breaks out onboard without weapons. Although, we really only practice what's in the manual. )"
"Wh-what's going on... ?"
The flight attendant didn't say any more to Kamijou and instead used the hand not holding his arm to hit a switch on what looked like a radio.
"Sir, we have a situation, " she said in Japanese.
She spoke in a completely cold-headed and businesslike way.
"Before I could wipe away the blood, one of the passengers spotted it. I have determined that he has learned of the incident occurring on the plane. What should I do with him?"
Part 8
It seemed the blonde flight attendant with a nice body was waiting for someone while she held Kamijou down.
The blank time stretched on.
The flight attendant spoke.
"This is a terrorist attack..."
"You're a terrorist!?"
"N-no!!" she hurriedly denied."The airport control has passed on information that there is one onboard. If we don't give in to their demand, the terrorist will use a structural defect in this Sky Bus 365 to cause its landing to fail... In other words, to make it crash."
"... Seriously?"
"The blood you saw belonged to another crew member. She was suddenly attacked from behind. Most likely by the terrorist."
"You don't think I'm the terrorist, do you?"
Kamijou had a very bad feeling about the situation, but it seemed the flight attendant shook her head. However, he couldn't actually see her head because he was lying face down and she was straddling him.
"I hadn't thought of that... But I can't let this information get out to the other passengers. This may be a dangerous situation, but that information would cause a panic if it got out. People could get hurt and it could even provoke the terrorist into attacking."
She seemed at a loss as to what to do.
Most likely, she had only told him all that because she felt she had owed him for what she had done to him.
She may have completely sealed his movements with her self-defense techniques, but she still felt inferior.
"What are you going to do?"
"Well..."
Before she could continue, help arrived.
Help for her, not for Kamijou.
A large man wearing what looked like a white military uniform arrived. He was most likely the pilot.
The man looked down to where Kamijou was lying and spoke in Japanese.
"... We have to keep him separated from the other passengers."
"B-but can we really do that? It's true that we have a duty to ensure the safety of the passengers, but we don't have the right to confine them."
The one who was actually holding Kamijou down was the one hesitating.
The pilot, on the other hand, did not waver.
Slight distress flashed on his face, but it didn't look to be enough alter his opinion.
"Do you really think telling him not to say anything and then sending him back to his seat would be enough? He would surely panic and that would lead to a major panic amid the passengers.... I thought you understood this. You did follow your instructions to keep him restrained."
"..."
"We have no choice but to keep him back here until the situation is resolved. As thanks for his cooperation, we will refund him the cost of the flight. If he still makes a fuss, we'll just leave it to the airline's legal department."
"W-wait a second!!" Kamijou cut in. He was face down on the floor with one arm held behind his back, but he still spoke loudly."I heard there might be a terrorist onboard. If that's true, should you really be focusing on this!? Are you sure you can find the guy on your own? You need any extra bit of help you can get, right? So, let me-... !!"
Kamijou's words were cut off by the pilot clicking his tongue.
He glanced up at the flight attendant and then back down to Kamijou's face.
"... We're keeping you confined here so you won't do something like that."
"What?"
"Listen. There are over 500 passengers on this aircraft. The terrorist hiding among them has all of those lives in his grasp. In a situation like this, we can't have an amateur like you going around as he please causing trouble."
Kamijou got pissed at what he took as the pilot picking a fight with him, but the pilot continued with some cold words.
"Can you be entrusted with those 500 lives?"
"... !?"
"As the captain of this aircraft, that is my duty. As such, I will take the actions I determine will best protect the lives of everyone onboard even if it gets me fired in the end. Do not say you will help unless you are prepared to take on everything that entails. You cannot take on that responsibility, nor do you have to."
The pilot gestured to the flight attendant telling her to get off of Kamijou.
He wasn't having Kamijou released.
He was having him confined elsewhere.
"The in-flight meal heating area here is open, so throw him in there. If this becomes a major incident, all responsibility will lie with me."
Part 9
The door closed and Kamijou heard the sound of the lock clicking.
The room had nothing but the microwave ovens and the blood stain in it, so he sat down on one of the metal shelves.
When the pilot had left and the flight attendant was about to throw him into the small room, she had bowed slightly looking apologetic.
"I-I'm very sorry. We have to do this to prevent chaos from breaking out onboard."
She must have felt that he deserved an explanation of the situation that had led to him being left there.
Kamijou thought back on what the flight attendant had told him.
Apparently, the information that a terrorist was onboard was fairly accurate. The emailed threat the airline had received was as follows:
There is a structural defect in the Sky Bus 365 model of passenger aircraft. We have carried out a few tests and proven it. If you do not destroy the master recorder for the four major British airlines, the defect in the Sky Bus 365 headed from Academy City to Edinburgh will be used to bring it down.
"The master recorder?"
"It's a computer that provides centralized management for passengers' flight tickets and luggage tags. Without it, the airlines would grind to a halt. It's just too much information to deal with by hand."
It seemed the method the terrorists wanted them to use to destroy the master recorders was to infect them with the computer virus attached to the email.
"Apparently, if a master recorder is infected while connected to the network, its data will be completely destroyed and a log file of the destruction will be posted as a comment on the airline's blog. If the format of the log were analyzed, a dummy log could be made and the destruction of the master recorders could be faked. However, it seems the logs are encrypted, so the analysis would take a few days."
She kept saying things like "apparently" and "it seems", so Kamijou guessed that the flight attendant was inexperienced with that field.
"... What is this structural defect?"
"We don't know. But the flights mentioned in the email were investigated. They were all Sky Bus 365 models like this one. There was Flight 5991 from Paris to Moscow, Flight 4135 from Neath to New York, and Flight 7558 from Marseille to Beijing. All of them had a 15 second interval where the engines cut out midflight. The parts involved were all disassembled and examined, but no cause was found, so they are still used today."
Those three flights had been practice runs for the terrorists.
And this was the real deal.
Or at least, that was what the investigators had concluded.
"Then what about that blood? You said another crew member was attacked, right?"
"We don't know exactly why the terrorist did that. In fact, it isn't clear what the terrorist has to do to take advantage of this defect. But the attack may have been a necessary part of his plan."
Kamijou had interpreted the look on her face right before she closed the door as one of weariness.
"... So the terrorists are trying to completely close off the air routes to the UK, " muttered Kamijou while alone in the small room.
The airlines could go along with the demand and destroy the master recorders or they could refuse and have the Sky Bus 365 crash. Either outcome would be a major blow to the British airline industry.
And this was all on top of the sole land route, the Eurotunnel, being destroyed.
(So were the terrorists also involved with that... ?)
Kamijou thought for a bit and finally shook his head.
With so little information, an amateur like him wasn't going to come up with the truth.
He turned his thoughts to having been thrown in the small room.
(That really isn't how you should treat a customer. That said, taking on responsibility for 500 lives really is a bit much... )
Kamijou's shoulders relaxed.
He turned his thoughts in a positive direction.
(I hope the next time that door opens it's good news. )
Part 10
Starting from the front of the plane, the Sky Bus 365 was divided into first, business, and economy classes. It was further divided into 2 floors effectively creating 6 sections.
The stairs used to go between the first and second floors were located in the "wall" areas dividing the different classes. The "wall" areas were actually over 7 meters thick and had bathrooms, a free drink corner, and other small facilities located in them.
There was a certain hatch located in one of those "wall" areas.
It was a fire door connecting to the cargo hold.
The Sky Bus 365's cargo hold was a large area a floor below the passenger seating. There was no real need to connect the passenger area and the cargo hold, but having a passage allowed the crew to put out a fire if one were to break out in the cargo hold. That was the purpose behind the emergency hatch.
"..."
A man was standing in front of the hatch.
A small electronic tone rejected the man's action.
He had a card key in his hand.
He had gone out of his way to attack a flight attendant from behind in order to obtain that card key.
(... Damn. )
The man swiped the card key down through the card reader once more.
But, as he expected, he only got the same rejecting tone as before in response.
(Dammit. I can't do anything if I can't get this open... )
Something like a moan leaked from the man's throat.
He held a black cell phone in his hand. He had the necessary program on it. He just had to attach a cable to the connector on the bottom of the phone and load the necessary program to the Sky Bus 365 in order to complete the preparations to take advantage of the structural defect.
The place he was originally supposed to do that from was an economy class seat. His comrade had reserved the seat under a false name, but a spiky-haired Asian had taken the seat after his comrade's reservation had been cancelled.
He could always use his physical strength to dislodge the boy, but acting violently could make an enemy of around 100 passengers.
This was his only way now.
In order to carry out a backup plan he had in case things weren't going according to the main plan, he had to get that hatch open.
(Fuck, fuck, fuck!! I guess a flight attendant just doesn't have the authority to open the hatch. But everyone of pilot class who have higher authority levels are in the cockpit. If I was just going to charge in there, there was no need for all this roundabout shit with the structural defect. )
Not giving up, the man looked toward the exit from the "wall" area that led to the economy class aisle. If only that spiky-haired Asian hadn't been there, he wouldn't have had to go through any conspicuous actions like attacking a flight attendant.
(Dammit. This has gotten really bad if it's come to using what's in the cargo hold! If only that seat had been empty, this could have gone so well... !!)
"... Huh?"
He wasn't there.
Maybe he was using the bathroom, because the spiky-haired boy who had been sitting in that seat was gone. Also, the silver-haired green-eyed girl who seemed to have been with the boy was out of her seat and wandering down the aisle.
(This is my chance. )
This was his last chance to take out the Sky Bus 365 without using what was in the cargo hold.
The man took gloves out of his pocket. If he were to head straight down the aisle, he would run into the silver-haired girl, so he decided it would be best to use the stairs, go down the aisle on the other floor, and approach the seat from behind the girl.
Part 11
Kamijou Touma wasn't coming back.
Index had been waiting for the boy to return with the crackers, but she had finally been unable to withstand the hunger and stood up from her seat to go find him.
(Touma might be hogging all the delicious things to himself. )
However, Index's search had come to an end quickly. She had thought Kamijou had gone straight down the aisle and into the "wall" area. That wasn't very far away, but she couldn't find him.
"?"
Index looked quizzical and turned back the way she had come.
She then noticed something that made her pause.
Someone else was sitting in Kamijou Touma's seat.
It was a white man wearing a plain, colored suit. He looked to be in his early twenties and was reasonably tall. He had a newspaper covered in French text spread out in front of him, so Index couldn't see the lower half of his face making it difficult to get a grasp of what he looked like.
(Maybe he sat in the wrong seat. )
She had a perfect memory, so she knew she wasn't the one that was mistaken.
As such, she didn't hesitate to sit in her own seat and speak to the man next to her.
"That's Touma's seat."
The man with the newspaper's shoulders twitched at hearing her voice.
Looking closer, he was only holding the newspaper with one hand. When she looked at what his other hand was doing, she saw he was holding some kind of black cell phone. The newspaper also obstructed the view of his lap which had what Index thought might be parts of his phone. There was some kind of thin cable and something that looked like nail clippers.
"... Dammit. I can't even get 120 seconds?" he muttered in French.
Index stared at him in puzzlement and the man took action before she could say anything.
He placed the open newspaper on his legs and casually held his hand out towards her.
He was holding something in that hand.
It was pointed and sharp and he pressed it against Index's side making sure the other passengers couldn't see.
"Airport security mainly gets by with metal detectors, " the man said in French."So it's surprisingly easy to get something like a knife made of whittled animal bone past them. And it's enough to pierce an organ or cut an artery."
The man was making his move in order to keep the witness from moving.
(... This is really bad. The very first step didn't go right and nothing's gone as planned since!!)
The man was a step away from being checkmated.
If the girl next to him let out a scream, it was all over. He could kill the girl, but that could just make enemies of all 100 passengers in that economy class section. He was more afraid of getting wrapped in the panic that would cause than of someone attacking him out of a sense of justice. It wasn't something he could deal with using only a tiny knife.
"... What are you doing?" asked the girl.
The man had no real reason to answer her, but he did so anyway. He was speaking more to himself than to her.
"Loading a program. It's a program that lets me interfere with the emergency landing stabilizer using the data transmission of this cell phone."
"Emergency landing?"
The man ignored the frowning girl and reached over to the area of the wall just below the window next to his seat. He stretched out a round wire, slid it into a gap in the wall, and then moved it sideways. A straight line appeared on the wall almost as if he had cut it with a knife.
The man stuck his fingernail into that thin line and pulled it towards him. It opened up much like the top of a car's dashboard. More than 20 cables were inside.
"If they go along with our demand, I won't have to use this. In fact, I don't really want to have to..."
His voice trailed off.
The cable extending from the connector on the bottom of his phone was supposed to attach to the maintenance cable inside the wall, but it wasn't working. There were small cracks running through the connecter the two cables were supposed to use.
The sound of the two pieces of plastic scraping across each other was about to drive him crazy. He wrinkled his brow and occasionally clicked his tongue, but he met the same result no matter how many times he tried.
The cables wouldn't connect. He couldn't load the program.
"Oh, that's the thing Touma had open, " said the girl next to him, but the man wasn't listening.
"Shit!!" he yelled in French and the nearby passengers glanced in his direction.
He slammed the cover to the open area on the wall closed and quietly stared at the ceiling while still holding the bone knife against the girl.
(What do I do?)
He couldn't load the program from the economy class seat. He could no longer "negotiate" using the structural defect.
He truly couldn't use that method.
(... This is the worst case scenario. I wouldn't be exaggerating to say that almost half the purpose behind this plan is gone. The only way left is to rely on that... but I don't want to use it!!)
The man got his feelings under control
He could no longer use the economy class seat, so he had to find a way to open the hatch to the cargo hold. He had to think of a way to get a card key of someone at a higher level than a flight attendant in the remaining time.
And he still had another problem.
There was the girl sitting stiffly next to him.
If he let her go now, she would let those around know about the terrorist attack. He had to silence her somehow.
He had no choice in the matter.
He gulped loudly, put the tools and the phone that were on his lap in his pocket, and instructed the girl while hiding the knife behind the French newspaper.
"Stand up. If you resist at all, I'll stab you."
The plan was falling apart.
Not even the man currently in charge of it was able to control the situation anymore.
Part 12
Kamijou's head suddenly shot up while he was sitting in the in-flight meal heating space that had numerous microwave ovens lining the walls.
(... Footsteps?)
He had suddenly heard what sounded like them from the other side of the door.
And it wasn't just one set of footsteps.
It was at least two.
Kamijou wondered who they were and then a further noise reached his ears.
It sounded like a whistle.
(... Is that Index's?)
The blonde flight attendant with a nice body had given her a cheap ball-like toy because she was getting mad about the in-flight meal not arriving. It was probably a type of gift and it made a whistling sound when squeezed.
It didn't sound like it was being voluntarily squeezed. The sound came at defined intervals as if it were in someone's pocket and rubbing up against their body as they walked.
If the toy really was a prize given for collecting a certain number of airline points, Index wouldn't necessarily be the only person with one, but Kamijou still thought of the girl wearing the plain dress.
If it really was Index, who was with her? It was possible she had been captured by the blonde flight attendant with a nice body.
But then another idea suddenly floated to the top of Kamijou's mind.
The thought was like a splash of cold water to his optimistic view.
(Wait. Would the world really be that kind to us? This could be dangerous. )
He thought back to why he had been thrown into that room in the first place.
(No, that couldn't be... )
Kamijou rejected the idea, but then the two sets of footsteps stopped.
The whistling noise stopped as well.
He could hear the sound of a door opening.
They were in the "wall" area. No other passengers would be around.
And...
"Get in if you don't want me to stab you."
The voice was speaking French, so Kamijou couldn't understand it.
But the rough male voice clearly wasn't the voice of crewmember from the service industry.
(Fuck that!!)
| ← Ch. 127 | Ch. 129 → |