novelA Steel Battlefield Floating above the Clouds (2)
| ← Ch.128 | Ch.130 → |
Kamijou was about to run towards the door yelling, but he would only provoke the criminal and probably wouldn't break down the door.
The door wasn't metal, but it didn't look like a simple tackle would break it. The lock was electronic, so using something like a wire wouldn't be any help either.
While he thought about all that, a movement was made on the other side of the door.
It seemed the man making the threat and the person he was threatening had entered a different nearby small room.
(Dammit!!)
Kamijou looked around the area and spotted an aluminum cart for the in-flight meals. It was something like a square baby carriage.
He roughly grabbed the cart's handle and turned it towards the door.
He didn't even have time to think about how much it would cost to pay for the repairs.
"Ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!" he yelled as he ran forward.
The cart struck the door.
With a loud crash, the front of the aluminum cart was smashed in. However, the door did not escape unscathed. The lock popped off and the door opened as if it had been kicked open. Losing to the momentum, Kamijou and the broken cart continued out into the passageway.
He let go of the cart and looked around.
The "wall" area had a number of small rooms in it, but only one had its door closed.
He grabbed the doorknob and flung the door open.
It was a storage closet for cleaning supplies. A number of mops and a plastic bucket were contained in the small space.
Someone with a familiar face was inside.
It was Index.
She was collapsed face up on the ground and a man Kamijou had never seen before was straddling her. The man had a rubber hose that must have been in the storage closet in his hands and had it wrapped around Index's thin neck.
(What is he doing?)
Faster than he could think, Kamijou's hands moved.
"?"
The man strangling Index must have been engrossed in his task because he didn't notice the danger until Kamijou had grabbed the back of his collar.
Kamijou grabbed the man's suit and forcefully spun his own body around.
The centrifugal force threw the man out of the storage closet. With a crash, he struck the wall without even hitting the ground first.
The oxygen was forced from the man's lungs and he slid to the ground.
Kamijou ignored that.
Odd shouts that not even he understood were pouring from his throat as he raised a leg and thrust it towards the man's ribs.
This time, the man managed to avoid the blow.
He rolled to the side.
Possibly as a measure to lighten the plane's weight due to the high cost of fuel, the inner walls were thin. The bottom of Kamijou's foot sunk into the wall.
That was when the man swung his arm.
Kamijou felt a hot sensation on the back of his calf.
When he looked down, he saw knife made of animal bone.
"..."
Kamijou did not clench his fists.
Instead he grabbed the aluminum bar that had been used as a handle on the broken in-flight meal cart that was sitting at an angle in the passageway.
Kamijou did not hesitate.
The man shrunk back from the obvious blunt weapon Kamijou held.
That was when footsteps reached Kamijou's ears
The flight attendants must have heard Kamijou breaking down the door.
At that point, it seemed the man decided what he had to do.
He put the blade into his pocket and used the nearby staircase to escape to the other floor. Kamijou wasn't sure if he should chase after the man, but he decided on heading towards Index who was lying limp in the storage closet.
"Index!!" he yelled into her ear and she moved slightly. There was a dark bruise around her neck, but she didn't seem to be in any real danger anymore.
Her small mouth moved slightly.
"What? Emergency landing... stabilizer... ?"
She spoke words that Kamijou wasn't used to hearing.
And they were words he would never have expected to hear from someone as bad with machines as Index.
That was when help finally came.
A flight attendant and a large man, the captain of the plane, appeared. Apparently, the terrorist took precedence over all else and he had left the piloting to the copilots.
They looked displeased when they saw the destroyed door to the in-flight meal heating room, but, when they saw Index collapsed on the ground and the cut on Kamijou's calf, they picked up on the fact that something bad had happened.
Kamijou explained what had happened and then asked them a question.
"What is the emergency landing stabilizer? It's possible Index heard the terrorist talking about it."
"... Do you know what a belly landing is?" responded the pilot slowly."You've probably heard it mentioned on the news at times. That's when a plane lands without deploying its wheels so that it slides along the runway creating showers of sparks. Do you know how dangerous that is?"
"Well... I guess with all those sparks, the fuel tanks could ignite."
"A passenger plane's fuel tanks are inside the main wings. They won't normally ignite from the belly of the plane scraping along the runway."
"Then... ?"
"It has to do with the engines. They hang down below the main wings. The Sky Bus 365 model is designed so the engines won't contact the ground during a belly landing, but the intense vibrations will still be transferred to within the engines. Inside the rotating engine, the already highly flammable jet fuel reacts with the air making something like a bomb. If unstable vibrations reach that area, there is a danger of it all detonating. The fire in the engine can travel down the fuel pipes and reach the tanks on the main wings causing it all to blow up." The pilot continued to explain the situation to Kamijou."That is why there is an emergency landing stabilizer in the Sky Bus 365. It automatically detects the shock of a belly landing using sensors and completely shuts down the engines. It also seals off the fuel pipes so a fire in the engines cannot reach the fuel tanks. The plane then heads down the runway purely on inertia and decelerates."
"It completely shuts down the engines... ?" Kamijou had a bad feeling deep in his chest and he expressed it in words."So if that device were to malfunction now..."
All of them fell silent.
The pilot gave a groan and spoke.
"... I more or less understand the situation now. And that includes that your friend there was injured. It's unfortunate that we weren't any help..."
"(Like hell you understand. )" Kamijou muttered under his breath.
The pilot didn't hear him and continued speaking.
"What's most important is that you weren't hurt any worse than you were. But now that passengers have been injured and not just a crewmember, we truly can't let anyone know about this. If they found out, the other 500 passengers would wish for safety and a panic would break out."
His calm manner of speaking further pissed Kamijou off.
Even if this wasn't his problem, Kamijou just couldn't stand having these things decided for him.
"It isn't fair to you two, but we'll have to continue to keep you confined elsewhere. I have a duty to protect the lives of the passengers and, if it's necessary, I will even-..."
The next thing Kamijou knew, his right hand was moving.
As his fist swung upwards he remembered that he still had the aluminum bar in his hand.
However, he was unable to stop his hand.
With a loud impact, the pilot's body was knocked backwards.
"... Fuck that, " Kamijou said in a low voice."What do you mean you're going to protect the lives of the passengers? It's because I went along with what you said that it ended up like this! Do you understand what happened!? How the hell can you act so self-important and then not show any regret when you fail!?"
The pilot started to say something while holding his nose, but Kamijou attacked with his blunt weapon again.
"My friend was attacked!! You say you'll protect the 500 passengers, but you already let one slip through your fingers!! Do you only see people as names on pieces of paperwork! This isn't the same as protecting complete strangers as a part of your job! I have a right to kick that bastard's ass. You can do whatever the hell you want, but I'm gonna do this my way!!"
Kamijou looked over at Index who was being held by the blonde flight attendant with a nice body and tossed the bar to the side.
(... Dammit. If I had been a little more on my toes. )
He then headed off into the staircase the man wearing a suit had disappeared into.
"... You piece of shit. I'm going to keep beating you until you pass out."
Kamijou's violent words were not like his usual self.
Kamijou was not the only one who wasn't himself.
"... Ow, " muttered the pilot who had suddenly been hit by the blunt weapon.
He caressed his nose with his fingers and stared off in the direction Kamijou had left in. He slowly moved a hand to the wall where a microphone was. The flight attendants used it to inform the passengers when to put on their seatbelts, but it could also be used to give orders only to the cockpit.
The pilot set it to the channel that only went to the cockpit and spoke in a low voice.
"Wash..."
That was the name of one of the 2 copilots.
"Leave the piloting to Richmond. Yes, that's right. It's an emergency. You unlock the box and bring Archery here."
The blonde flight attendant with a nice body looked at the pilot in shock after hearing that.
Archery was the sole weapon on the Sky Bus 365 that was prepared in the cockpit to prevent control of the yoke from being taken. Because of Japan's Swords and Firearms Control Law, it was a type of bowgun, but it was not constructed much like a bow and arrow nor did it function much like one. When the trigger was pulled, nitrogen gas propelled a metal arrow larger than 40 cm in length at high speed. It was on the level of a hunting rifle.
The pilot gave a snort of contempt at the flight attendant's dumbfounded gaze.
"... That boy won't listen to anyone's orders and he even laid a hand on the captain of this aircraft. He needs to be treated as a dangerous individual. Essentially, we have one more terrorist onboard. I have no intention of letting a kid who has no clue what he is doing run around on this ship."
The flight attendant shivered at his words.
Archery would be there soon.
Part 13
Kamijou arrived at the other floor via the stairs and looked around. As it was after sunset, the passenger areas were lit with soft lighting, but the "wall" area he was in was fairly dim.
The man in the suit was nowhere to be seen.
The business class seats were to the front and the economy class seats were to the back.
In both directions, passengers had newspapers spread out, headphones in their ears, were operating the small monitors, or were passing the time some other way.
(... Which way? Which way did he go?)
Kamijou decided to go back to the economy class seats. He knew what the man looked like, but he got the feeling that every one of the people sitting in the seats was camouflaged in some way.
Kamijou did not have a perfect memory like Index.
He felt like the image of the man's face was about to slip away despite having just seen him.
(If only I could find a way to unsettle him, he'd be easy to find... )
Kamijou clicked his tongue and then froze.
The terrorist wanted to negotiate with the British airlines regarding the destruction of the master recorders. That meant any major event would be a problem for him until the result of the negotiations was clear.
One such major event would be if the plane was about to crash.
(I see. )
Kamijou nodded and headed back to the "wall" area.
(I've found a way to unsettle him. )
A high-pitched buzzer reached the man's ears.
He had gone in the opposite direction than Kamijou and was sitting naturally in his own business class seat. There was nowhere to run in a passenger plane. The best way to escape a pursuer was to mix in with the other passengers.
Sitting there, the electronic tone sounded like it was piercing his chest.
It must have been an emergency alarm because the clear oxygen masks all came down automatically in front of each seat. At first, the passengers stared at them dumbfounded, but then a commotion spread as quickly as fire spreading across hair.
(What? What the hell is going on!?)
The man looked around while gripping his armrests.
(If the oxygen masks are coming out, it means the plane is in trouble... But I haven't loaded the necessary program yet. I haven't taken control of the Sky Bus 365's emergency landing stabilizer yet!!)
The high-pitched buzzer continued.
It may have been because of the passengers panicking around him, but he felt like the plane was shaking oddly.
What if some irregularity had occurred and the plane really was malfunctioning?
(This is bad. )
The man's... no, his group's objective was the destruction of the master recorders of the 4 major airlines in the UK. The airlines still hadn't responded. Even if his group didn't want it, if the Sky Bus 365 were to crash on its own...
The master recorders wouldn't be destroyed.
And not just that. The crash would be treated as a mere accident erasing the existence of the terrorist attack altogether.
(Shit, shit, shit! I have to do something!!)
The man stood up from his seat.
He had to do something about the situation, but he had no real way of doing so.
Meanwhile, the pilot was pissed.
He now had the Sky Bus 365's sole projectile weapon, Archery, and he grabbed the microphone on the wall while frowning in response to the high-pitched buzzer.
The line was connected only to the cockpit.
"What the hell is going on!? You didn't suddenly lower our altitude did you!?"
"N-no. The aircraft is balanced. This isn't an automatic alarm from one of the instruments. It's an alarm from one of the switches."
"Those damn terrorists!!" he yelled while holding Archery.
It seemed he had lost all sense that Kamijou Touma was a passenger and was thinking of him solely as a terrorist.
"If they're going to just do whatever they want with my aircraft, then I have an idea... Hey, Richmond!! Cut off that alarm! If we know it isn't a problem with the instruments, then hurry up and run the automatic announcement! The one that says it was a false alarm and there's nothing to worry about!!"
After yelling into it, the pilot threw the microphone to the floor and lifted up Archery. That Asian had taken the stairs to the other floor. Even thought it was large, the Sky Bus 365 was still a passenger plane, so he would be able to find the boy soon enough if he searched carefully.
"Dammit. I'll stop those fools even if I have to shoot their arms and legs to do it, " he spat out and headed for the staircase.
The voice of the copilot came from the tiny speaker on the microphone he had thrown to the floor.
"C-Captain!! Emergency!!"
The microphone was supposed to be held up near one's face, so the fact that the pilot could hear the copilot from the floor showed how loudly he was yelling.
"What? Did they do something else!?"
"I don't know!" yelled the copilot in response."J-just come back to the cockpit, please! I can't deal with this alone... Dammit. What's going on? What the hell is going on? Th-the fuel meter!! It's going down oddly! I think there might be a hole in the tank!!"
"Seriously... ?"
The pilot felt a cold tension wrap around his gut.
That wasn't something one could do just by hitting an alarm on the wall. Could it have something to do with the emergency landing stabilizer?
(... What the hell is going on?)
He was holding Archery in his hands and he could most likely kill an unarmed opponent with it. He was conflicted about whether he should go after the terrorists or return to the cockpit.
"Captain, what do I do!? We aren't going to make it to the airport at this rate! We may even need to prepare for an emergency landing on a highway!!"
"Dammit!!"
With that last report from the copilot, the pilot had made up his mind.
Instead of heading for the staircase, he headed full speed for the cockpit along with the copilot who had brought him Archery.
Part 14
There was a church known as St. George's Cathedral in the London Borough of Lambeth.
St. George was a well-known name, so a lot of schools, hospitals, parks, churches, and other facilities used it. There were numerous churches named St. George's Cathedral in London. This was just one of those.
A church at nighttime usually had a cold and solemn atmosphere created by the flickering light of candles and the moonlight tinted through the stained glass, but that was not so here. There were a number of monitors set up on the pulpit and the pews and square box-shaped pieces of communication equipment with cables spreading out from them were lying on the floor. All this equipment had been provided for them by the headquarters of the science side, Academy City, due to their cooperation. The light of LCD monitors and LEDs disturbed the soft darkness of the church.
A large number of nuns were attempting to operate those unfamiliar machines and running about in confusion while two figures sat calmly in a seat.
One of them was the head of the Anglican Church faction, Archbishop Laura Stewart.
The other was the head of the Knight faction, Knight Leader.
In contrast to Laura's soft expression, Knight Leader's was stern.
"In the end, the head of the Royal Family didn't show up. And I feel not having the three factions gather to have a discussion is setting a bad example."
"... Her Majesty the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family control the police, parliament, and a number of other related agencies and they are taking the needed effort to keep them running. She simply does not have time to come to a place like this."
Laura sighed in response to those words.
There was a clear relationship of power in the three factions of the United Kingdom.
The Royal Family faction had power over the Knight faction.
The Knight faction had power over the Anglican Church faction.
The Anglican Church faction had power over the Royal Family faction.
That was why each of them sent representatives to parliament in order to be able to declare their equivalence. If the Royal Family weakened, various things would get more difficult for Laura and the Church. She cursed the Queen internally wondering if she had purposefully run off.
Knight Leader did not realize Laura's concern and continued speaking.
"... What's important now is that the illusion you cast seems to have begun to take effect."
"Heh hehhn. It's true that completely taking remote control of a huge collection of science like a passenger plane is difficult, but using an illusion to show one false readout is simple."
"So you messed with the cockpit's fuel gauge, " Knight Leader said as he glanced over at a computer set up in the cathedral.
A number of LCD monitors and meters were surrounding their two chairs. It was a training simulator identical to the cockpit of the Sky Bus 365. Apparently, it was being used to "aim" the illusion.
"They must be panicking on board right now. The gauge is going down so fast they must think there's a hole in the fuel tank. They will think there is no way they can make it to the airport."
"I see. So they will make an emergency landing on a country highway without many buildings around instead of at the airport." Knight Leaders' eyebrows twitched slightly out of displeasure."It's true that the report said the terrorists themselves were not planning on bringing the plane down immediately, but we still don't know what the defect in the passenger plane they spoke of is. An emergency landing will be quite difficult. If something goes wrong, this could be very bad."
"Oh? Would you prefer to let it explode in a large city, in a residential area, on the runway of the international airport, or next to the control building for the airport? In the worst case, the number of victims could be many times the number of passengers."
"..."
Knight Leader remained silent for a brief period.
Laura grabbed a nun walking nearby with a report and asked her a question.
"What roads might they perform their emergency landing on?"
"They will most likely land in the area between Kendal and Carlisle on the highway leading to Scotland."
Laura snapped her fingers.
Knight Leader scowled.
"... What was that a signal for?"
"Blockading that area of the highway and all roads leading into it. We also need some equipment to help deal with the terrorist. I was thinking the Knights' Robin Hood would work well."
"So a schemer who deceives people with the church is trying to order around the Knights, the defenders of this country."
"I'd prefer it if you would accept the job when I'm willing to give you credit for it. According to the report, the terrorist isn't a magician and he doesn't seem to be carrying a gun or a bomb. If the plane manages to land safely, I doubt you'd even be able to control the over 500 people onboard. I'm handing you a nice easy job to help you get more experience."
"Ridiculous, " spat out Knight Leader."You can rush this if you want, but what are you going to do if the plane comes apart in midair?"
"In that case, we will recover Index Librorum Prohibitorum from onboard. There's always the spell used when we captured Lidvia Lorenzetti as she was trying to escape on the charter plane. Even if the plane explodes in midair, we can catch someone from the ground as long as its only one person."
"From the bottom of my heart, I believe that you should have an early death."
Part 15
The man felt the plane suddenly tilt.
The nose of the plane was tilted down which meant it was quickly lowering its altitude.
(An emergency landing? Not good!!)
The man was after the destruction of the master recorders. If the plane performed an emergency landing before the UK had decided whether to go along with their demands or not, the "negotiations" could not continue.
And traditionally a passenger plane that performed an emergency landing ended up being surrounded by the police. The man had heard rumors that the thin walls and windows used in planes weren't just a method of lowering the weight to use less fuel; they were also so that a large rifle could successfully fire through them and into the plane.
A British airport or highway was enemy territory.
If the plane landed at that point, it would ruin everything.
"Shit!!"
The man ran forward through the business class area. He thought of heading straight through first class and attacking the cockpit, but he stopped partway there. The cockpit door would be built the toughest to prevent terrorist attacks. It wasn't something he could break through without a plan.
As he did all this, the plane continued to lower its altitude.
The man felt the same odd floating sensation one felt when riding an elevator.
"I have to... I have to do something..." he mumbled to himself and entered the "wall" area between business class and first class. Just like the other "wall" area, there was a microphone on the wall for the flight attendants.
He grabbed it.
With his trembling hands, he switched it to the channel that contacted the cockpit directly and started yelling into it in French.
"Stop the emergency landing!! I'm going to bring this plane down right now!!"
"!?"
He heard someone's breath catch on the other side of the connection.
The person must not have known how to react to the sudden threat.
The man continued yelling.
"I have control of the Sky Bus 365's structural defect. I can bring it down at any time! If you don't want all 500 people onboard to die, then take us back up to the proper altitude!!"
That was a complete bluff. The economy class seat was unusable and he had to get the hatch to the cargo hold open in order to go with the backup plan. However, he did not hesitate to lie.
"I can't do that."
The man had not expected that response.
The strained voice on the other end of the line was responding clearly.
"For some reason, the fuel gauge is dropping rapidly. We're most likely leaking fuel. At this rate, we won't make it to the Edinburgh airport. We can't turn back for London either! Not to mention that the entire engine could explode if the fuel catches fire!!"
All of that didn't matter.
The man didn't care if the plane blew up.
To him, it only mattered that it ended as a terrorist attack.
"Dammit, I'll fucking kill all of you! Okay, you have 3 minutes. If you don't take us back to the proper altitude in 3 minutes, I'll start killing the passengers one by one!!"
"Do you understand the situation here!?"
The last response was almost a shriek and the man drowned it out with his own confused voice.
"You're the one that doesn't understand! I have the passenger's lives in my hands!! I have over 500 hostages. Even if I kill half of them, I'll still have plenty left!! Don't forget that!"
Having said what he had to say, the man put the microphone back on the wall as if he were striking the wall with it. He then sank down and sat on the floor.
He reached for the bone knife in his pocket.
Would they go back up or continue going down?
His teeth chattered as he put all his focus on the angle of the plane.
Part 16
Archbishop Laura Stewart frowned within St. George's Cathedral.
"... How very odd."
"What?" responded Knight Leader.
Laura wasn't looking at a monitor; she was looking at a whiteboard to the side. A map of the UK was stuck to it with a few round magnets, but a lone magnet was moving across the map.
"The passenger plane is raising its altitude. It looks as if they have cancelled the emergency landing."
"Did you order for the illusion to be removed?"
"No."
Laura started muttering as if to herself.
"I wouldn't remove the illusion until they had landed on the highway. And yet the long distance illusion lost its effect. This is..."
"Archbishop! Emergency!!" said a young Anglican nun who was running over."We have discovered large scale interference coming from the direction of Scotland. Our illusion was sealed by a third party!! The fuel gauge has gone back to normal!!"
"Interference... ?"
Laura's eyebrows twisted in displeasure for the first time that night.
(Who? And for what purpose... ?)
Obviously, this was magical interference. However, the terrorists were confirmed to be mere criminals with no connection to magic. It seemed unlikely that there would be any magicians helping them.
"From Scotland... The interference is coming from within the UK."
Knight Leader's expression turned to one much more easily understood than Laura's.
It was an expression of anger.
"When did French magicians get into the country? Or has a British magic cabal betrayed us? Either way, this is your mistake, Archbishop. I thought you were using the full power of the Anglican Church in order to avoid this kind of trouble before it happened."
"... I know that."
There was definitely a violent fury within Laura Stewart that was not shown in her expression. She spoke to express her emotion.
"There's something more to this than some delinquents who like flashy things."
Laura snapped her fingers.
Immediately thereafter, an orange point of light appeared behind her. It was the lit tip of a cigarette. Laura spoke to the magician who was holding the cigarette in his mouth.
"Just in case, I'd like for you to make preparations regarding the Sky Bus 365. What do you need?"
"Let's see, " said the red-haired priest quietly as he exhaled smoke."I'll need a means of transport. The Knights control the military forces, so could you have them contact the Air Force?"
Part 17
The man raised his head.
The plane's angle had changed. In the reverse of before, the nose was now angled up.
They were going back up to a higher altitude.
(I stopped... the emergency landing?)
The man looked around while breathing erratically.
They must have done something in the cockpit, because the high-pitched buzzer had stopped. Automatic announcements in different languages were informing the passengers that it had been a false alarm and not to worry.
(Did it all... work out?)
In the "wall" area between business class and first class, the man finally relaxed. The plan for the terrorist attack was still stalled, but he hadn't completely failed. If he could figure out a way to get the hatch to the cargo hold open, he could turn things around.
That was when...
"So there you are."
The man turned in shock towards the sudden voice.
The spiky-haired Asian was standing in the entrance to the business class area.
Kamijou Touma didn't completely understand the situation.
He had hit the emergency alarm, but he hadn't done anything to cause the plane's rapid descent. He assumed the pilots must have done something.
After causing enough chaos to unsettle the terrorist, Kamijou had looked around for someone taking any irregular actions.
And he had found him.
He was in the "wall" area between business class and first class.
The man had been holding a microphone and yelling towards the cockpit.
"..."
The man stared blankly at Kamijou's face for a few seconds.
He then reached for his pocket.
His bone knife was most likely there.
The carefully carved knife was sharp enough to sever an artery or pierce an organ and a metal detector wouldn't pick it up.
That was why Kamijou made his move before the man could get his hand out from his pocket.
He quickly moved in close to the man and used his palm to forcefully press against the man's elbow that was bent in order to retrieve the knife.
Seeing the movement of his own arm from the push, the man's body stiffened.
Kamijou spoke to the man not particularly caring whether he knew Japanese or not.
"Do you really want to be stabbed by your own blade?"
"!?"
A cold sweat came over the man and he spun his body in order to shake off Kamijou's arm. But before he could, Kamijou swung his own head back and then forcefully struck the man's forehead with it.
After a loud impact, the man staggered back.
Kamijou kneed the man in the gut to close the gap that had opened between them.
The man's body hovered in the air for a second before collapsing to the ground. Kamijou started in for another attack, but...
"..."
The man reached into his suit pocket and gave a slight smile.
"No complaints, right?"
Kamijou did not understand French, but he got from the tone that they were words of triumph.
Before Kamijou could move, the man pulled the knife from his pocket.
No matter how one thought about it, someone with a knife had an advantage over someone who was unarmed. Even if they struck each other at the same time, the man would only get punched while Kamijou would get stabbed in the gut and die.
... Or so it should have been.
The bone knife had broken in two at the base when Kamijou had kneed the man.
"... Seriously?"
The man stared at the base of the knife he was holding until he suddenly realized something and looked up.
He did so just in time to see Kamijou Touma slowly approaching with his fist clenched as hard as stone.
Kamijou spoke in Japanese knowing that the man probably couldn't understand him.
"No complaints, right?"
The sound of repeated blows could be heard.
On this occasion, Kamijou Touma did not feel that one punch was enough.
Part 18
The terrorist lay on the ground in a small room in the "wall" area between business class and first class having been tied up by Kamijou.
The rapid lowering of the fuel gauge seemed to have been a misreading by the pilots, so it didn't seem to be a problem. (The captain appeared to be in a bad mood and unwilling to speak to Kamijou, so the blonde flight attendant with a nice body had relayed that information to him. ) They had stopped the emergency landing, raised their altitude, and were headed to the Edinburgh airport as originally planned.
Kamijou was worried about Index because the man had strangled her, but she had a different outlook.
"Beef or fish! Beef or fish! If the problem is solved, then all that's left is to eat the airplane food!!"
"... Index-san. That's a rather peaceful comment for someone who was threatened with a knife and then strangled to the point of leaving a dark bruise."
Everything should have been going fine by that point.
However...
"..."
"What is it, Touma?"
Something didn't fit. He had this odd feeling like having lost a piece of a jigsaw puzzle before he could complete the picture.
"Why did that guy choose this time for his terrorist attack?"
"Well, it seems he was from an anti-England group, so didn't he just want to cause a problem in British airspace?"
The flight attendant had a suspicious look on her face. It may have been because she didn't want Kamijou moving around anymore. But Kamijou spoke as he thought.
"But it seemed he was afraid of the plane performing an emergency landing within the UK and bringing the negotiations to an end.... If he had hurried up and made his move, there would have been much more time for the negotiations. Then they could have done all sorts of things to disturb the UK into giving in."
"Either way, he's been captured. You don't have to worry about it."
During all this, the flight attendant was also trying to pacify Index who was still yelling "Beef or fish!!"
(Am I over thinking this? If he had hijacked the plane early on, the pilot could have landed the plane at an airport in whatever country they were above at the time. But... )
Kamijou slowly paced around as he thought.
(Hypothetically, if there were a reason he had to wait and act when he did, what could that reason be? If the plan was just to send the emailed threat to the British airlines and have them destroy the master recorders as instructed, there would be no reason it had to be done over British airspace. Wherever the plane crashed, it wouldn't have changed that a flight headed for the UK had been attacked. )
And it was clear this wasn't something the terrorists was making up on the fly. They had made sure to test their control of the emergency landing stabilizer by stopping the engines of other flights for 15 seconds.
If they had simulated their plan again and again, surely they would have come up with ways to deal with every situation they could think of. Would their plan really end because the man onboard couldn't use the emergency landing stabilizer?
There had to be something.
Was there some kind of secondary plan that acted as insurance?
(... There had to be a reason why he waited until the last hour of a 10 hour flight to make his move. )
The only special thing that had happened in that time was...
(Oh, I see. We stopped at the Paris airport and loaded on extra cargo!!)
Kamijou finally stopped pacing.
He spoke to Index and the flight attendant who both had puzzled looks on their faces.
"... There's another one."
"?"
"The cargo hold!! He waited until we had taken on the cargo at the Paris airport to make his move. Now why would he do that? It has to be because he was waiting for a partner to enter the Sky Bus 365 hidden in the cargo!!"
Index and the flight attendant looked startled at Kamijou's words.
"Someone who enters the plane as a normal passenger can't bring weapons aboard, but his partner got onboard with the containers. If a problem occurred and their first plan couldn't be carried out, he could just open the hatch that can only be opened from this side and move to the second plan."
"So the reason he didn't attack for the first 9 hours of the flight was that he was waiting to meet up with his partner in France? That's why he waited until the containers had been loaded before making his move?"
"If so, things could get bad if we don't do anything, " Kamijou said as he tapped the floor with the soles of his shoes."This person got into the cargo hold without going through a normal checkpoint. The guy in the cargo hold is most likely armed with guns or a bomb. Once he figures out their plan failed, he may use that firepower to take everyone down with them."
The passenger plane was flying at an altitude of 10, 000 meters, so the air was quite thin. It would be difficult for a human to breathe. Because of that, passenger planes artificially regulated the air pressure to make it more comfortable for humans. It was much like putting air in a balloon.
A bullet could easily open a hole in the body of the balloon-like plane. Once that happened, it was all over. The air would all move to escape the plane at once, so a small hole could still cause quite a bit of damage.
"... Is that the only entrance to the cargo hold?"
"Y-yes. A copilot-level or higher card key is needed to unlock it."
The flight attendant must not have known much about the cargo hold because her expression looked doubtful as she responded.
"A card key, huh?... It'll probably be difficult to get that pilot to help."
The pilot did have Archery, but Kamijou doubted he would lend him that projectile weapon. Kamijou had managed to restore his honor by defeating the terrorist, but he doubted the pilot had gotten over his personal feelings towards Kamijou.
The flight attendant then spoke.
"... The captain may not help, but I may be able to get a card key from one of the copilots."
"... Really?"
"Of course, there's no way I would be able to get Archery."
The flight attendant sounded apologetic about that, but Kamijou was just glad that he could get the hatch to the cargo hold open.
"Also, the cargo hold is divided into 3 blocks. The cargo taken on in France is all in the center block."
The odds were good the that terrorist would be there.
But there was only one entrance.
"... Immediately after the door is opened will be the most dangerous point."
"But there's no other way in, " the flight attendant said hesitantly.
"Wait. Could I use the ventilation ducts?"
"That won't work like it does in the movies. The ducts in the Sky Bus 365 are only 30 cm wide. There's simply no way a human could fit in there."
"No, that's not what I meant."
"?"
"What do you mean, Touma?"
Kamijou responded to the flight attendant and Index who were staring at him blankly.
"There were bottles of coffee and tea at the free drink corner, right? Get me those. If they're cold, reheat them in the microwave. I just need them to be really, really hot."
Part 19
A number of square containers were lined up in the cargo hold.
These containers were not the long ones that were loaded on tankers in harbors. They were dice-like cubes with 2 meter edges. Also, they were made of light aluminum instead of iron. The airline's logo was displayed on their silver surfaces.
One of those containers was sitting open and a man was leaning up against its side.
His name was Eiker Lugoni.
He was wearing the work uniform of Paris's international airport and had a new handgun in his hand. The bag at this feet contained grenades, plastic explosives, and other explosives. However, those explosives were only for the worst case scenario.
If possible, he didn't want to use any conventional weapons.
For this plan, Eiker and the others had received information and shelter from a number of other organizations that had been willing to cooperate. The deal had been to teach the organizations what they knew in exchange for help hijacking a plane without using any real weapons.
If they failed to use the emergency landing stabilizer for their new type of terrorism, they would end up being treated as a joke.
Yet there seemed to be no signs of the primary plan having succeeded.
Most likely, the "negotiations" using the Sky Bus 365 had failed. The UK wasn't going to go along with their demands now because they couldn't damage them anymore.
The time for the 2nd plan – the worst case scenario – was approaching.
(... I suppose it's about time. )
In the dim cargo hold, Eiker looked down at the watch on his thick wrist. The plane would be arriving in Edinburgh soon and there was still no sign of Musset, his partner who was supposed to be in the passenger area, having made his move. Whether he had lost his nerve or screwed it up somehow, it didn't feel like the plan was going well.
At the very least, Eiker wanted to take down that plane.
Using the explosives he had, he might be able to destroy the hatch, but he wasn't going to do anything so indirect.
Eiker decided to wait 5 more minutes, and, if nothing had happened, he would attack the cargo bay door. If a hole was opened in that outer wall, the power of the air rushing out would destroy the Sky Bus 365. Eiker and Musset would be treated as jokes for not getting the proper results, but it was better than not getting any results at all.
That was when he heard what sounded like a metal sheet being dented. And he didn't hear it just once. He heard it multiple times.
He looked around to find the source of the noise and finally looked up.
The noise was coming from there. There was a duct stretching across the ceiling. One of the metal sheets making up the duct was bent in multiple places as if something were moving down it bit by bit.
(... You've gotta be kidding me... Is this an attempt at a surprise attack?)
It was a common scene in movies, but the ducts in the Sky Bus 365 were simply too small and thin for a human to pass through. It was true that coming in through the sole entrance would be suicide, but getting trapped and unable to move in the narrow duct would be just as stupid.
Eiker pointed his handgun above his head.
He heard the denting noise once more.
He carefully aimed and fired repeatedly into the bent spot.
Perhaps to help with the high cost of fuel, the walls of the duct were extremely thin. The bullets easily opened finger-tip sized holes in the duct and a hot liquid spilled out.
That's right: A hot liquid.
But it was too hot to be human blood.
"Wha-... !?"
The stabbing pain felt as strong as if he had touched sulfuric acid. He could tell what the light red liquid was from the smell. It was tea. He was covered in the boiling liquid that was even then giving off steam.
Because of this, Eiker did not notice that Kamijou had entered the cargo hold matching the opening and closing of the hatch with the gunshots so as to hide the noise.
"Hey, terrorist. Do you know about thermal expansion?"
When objects were heated, their volume changed. An easy-to-understand example was the denting noise made when boiling water was poured into a stainless steel sink. Kamijou had poured the tea down the duct to distract Eiker.
"!!"
Eiker unhesitatingly turned his gun towards the voice that had spoken to him.
But before he could, Kamijou threw the contents of the bucket he was holding in both hands at Eiker as if he were putting out a fire in the kitchen.
The contents had been boiling coffee.
What happens to someone who has that poured over them needs no explanation.
"Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!"
Eiker screamed and writhed around and Kamijou smiled as he threw the empty bucket aside. He lightly kicked the handgun Eiker had dropped and it sank into the puddle of boiling coffee.
But Eiker did not stop there.
While still screaming, he grabbed Kamijou's collar with both hands and lifted him up. Kamijou had just enough time to shudder at the feeling of his feet floating in the air when Eiker slammed him to the floor. With a loud impact, a shock ran up Kamijou's back and the breath was knocked from his lungs.
"Gh... bh... !?"
Kamijou couldn't breathe, but he didn't have time to even have a proper coughing fit.
Eiker brought his hand to the back of his hip and pulled out a large knife.
"!!"
Eiker swung the knife down directly for Kamijou's face and Kamijou swung just his head forcefully to the side. A high-pitched noise resounded from just next to his ear. It seemed about half the knife had broken off when it struck the floor, but Eiker brought it down for a second strike regardless.
Kamijou reached his hand toward the ground.
He grabbed the broken portion of the blade with his fingers and stabbed into Eiker's thigh as he knelt over him.
Eiker let out another scream.
Eiker staggered to the side and Kamijou rolled in the opposite direction in an attempt to get some distance between them.
But he soon realized that had been a mistake.
Eiker was now kneeling on one knee next to the puddle of coffee. And sunk in the center of the puddle that was still giving off steam was the handgun Kamijou had kicked over there.
Eiker did not hesitate to grab it.
Handguns were made of many different substances, but the one Eiker had was made of stainless steel. This meant it was a good conductor of heat. As the gun was immersed in the boiling liquid, it would be extremely hot, but Eiker still grabbed it. His expression was one of rage.
"... I will bring down this plane." Eiker was covered in burns and he spoke to Kamijou in Japanese probably to match the language Kamijou had spoken to him in."The Eurotunnel explosion damaged France greatly. That's why we have to cause the same amount of damage to them. They took out the land route, so we'll take out the air route!!"
"There's no proof England did that."
There were a number of containers in the area. There might have been something Kamijou could use as a weapon in one of them, but Eiker wouldn't give him a chance to open them up and check.
"An island country like England had no reason to destroy their sole land route!! If they did that, they would only be damaging themselves. In fact, they're suffering because of it now!!"
"That isn't necessarily true, " said Eiker while the scorching handgun was more or less fusing his palm."At one point in the past, construction of the Eurotunnel was stopped due to military and political problems. That tunnel is an important land route between France and England, but there are still people who refuse to accept it and would sever the connection."
"..."
"As a sign of our friendship with England, we allowed joint management of the Eurotunnel. And yet they cut off that connection from their own side!!"
"... Do you have any proof of that?" asked Kamijou cautiously."Is either side really at fault here? Is there really any reason to fight over this!? A flight attendant told me what is in these containers. It's liquid foods for people who can't eat normal food. A French food company makes it and its being brought over to save people in England!! Isn't that the real connection between England and France? Most people in the world aren't part of crazy conspiracies like you are!!"
"It's true that not everyone in England is at fault, but there are idiots everywhere. I'm not going to let those idiots get away just because they hide among the innocent people."
As Eiker spoke, he gathered strength in the finger holding the handgun's trigger.
His senses must have numbed, because he was smiling.
"Whatever happens, you will die here, so it isn't a problem you need to worry about."
"... You're going to shoot that gun that was submerged in coffee?"
"Guns these days can still fire after being sunk in mud for half an hour. I highly doubt getting it a little wet is going to stop the bullet from firing. But I suppose a Japanese boy can't be blamed for not knowing anything about guns."
After speaking, Eiker immediately pulled the trigger.
Kamijou instinctually started to shut his eyes, but he just barely managed to keep them open.
And...
The gun made a clicking noise, but that was it. No bullet came shooting from the barrel.
This was not due to the safety being on nor was it due to being out of ammo.
Eiker stood dumbfounded pulled the trigger a second and third time while Kamijou clenched his right fist.
"Do you know about thermal expansion?"
"!?"
Instead of waiting for a response, Kamijou let his fist fly. A dull sensation spread from Eiker's face to the rest of his body. But he still did not collapse. Kamijou then clenched his left fist.
"It was just like with the duct before. When objects are heated, their volume changes!"
His left fist flew.
Eiker's head swung back from the impact.
"It's the same with the gun parts! One or two small parts warped while the gun was submerged in the boiling liquid!!"
Kamijou struck with his right fist again and this time Eiker was taken down.
Kamijou exhaled deeply.
Guns worked by detonating gunpowder which created a small blast that propelled the bullet. Guns would heat up if 100 or 200 shots were fired in a row, so they were made to withstand heat fairly well. But that could then become a weakness in places where the gun wouldn't heat up while being fired normally.
(... Really it was a bit of a gamble whether the gun would actually fail or not. You could almost say I was fortunate... No, I was well within the misfortune category by running into the terrorists in the first place. )
In any case, he concluded that, unless a third terrorist appeared out of nowhere, the Sky Bus 365 was safe.
Kamijou finally relaxed.
But then he heard a noise.
He looked over and saw Eiker quietly standing back up. At his feet was a bag. He was pulling a grenade from the bag.
"... !!"
Kamijou hurriedly moved to grab Eiker's arms, but Eiker was faster. With a huge smile on his face, he held the grenade in one hand and reached for the pin with the other.
At that rate, it was going to detonate.
Kamijou had nowhere to run in the confined space. It was most likely an anti-personnel grenade, but it would still damage the outer wall of the Sky Bus 365. If that happened, it was all over. The passenger plane would go down.
That was when Kamijou heard a sudden voice.
"I see you're as much of an amateur as ever. Your hesitation to kill puts those around you at risk."
Kamijou recognized the male voice.
Eiker frowned at the odd turn of events, but nothing was stopping him from pulling the pin.
And then...
Part 20
The pilot noticed a slight noise while he was in the cockpit gripping the yoke. He looked over at the radar and saw an odd dot. He then moved his gaze out the window and his shoulders jumped in surprise.
A large pitch black transport plane that must have had stealth functionality was flying very close nearby.
It was only about 10 meters away. It was much like an aerial refueling, but that was something that only worked with small fighter jets. With two large aircrafts each 80 meters long, it went beyond the realm of acrobatics and into the realm of suicide.
The blonde flight attendant with a nice body was shocked when she looked out the window while walking down a business class aisle. The back of a transport plane was opening and something was scattering out from it. She didn't know what the confetti-like objects being scattered at high altitude were, but she innocently thought it was a beautiful sight.
Index was in front of the hatch connecting to the cargo hold waiting for Kamijou to return. The commotion people were causing drew her eyes to a window and what she saw there astonished her. The knowledge she had from 103, 000 grimoires told her that the confetti-like objects were rune cards.
And then something unusual happened at the cargo hold wall near Eiker.
Something orange erupted from the wall. It was a sword. The sword made of flames pierced the outer wall of the passenger plane and arrived inside.
The flame sword singed Eiker's clothes, but it did not damage his flesh.
Then the controller of the sword drew it back regardless of whether the result would be good or bad.
Immediately afterwards, a large wind started blowing.
All the air in the cargo hold started moving towards the hole near Eiker.
Of course, the first one affected was Eiker.
Eiker's body was thrown against the wall almost like a violently slammed door. His abdomen was sucked into the hole. The Sky Bus 365 avoided being torn to pieces by the plug known as Eiker.
But...
"Gggggaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!?" Eiker screamed as his flesh continued to be sucked into the hole.
His flesh was almost literally being torn away.
Seeing this ridiculous scene, Kamijou heard only the flame magician's voice.
"The plane will be landing in Edinburgh in 10 minutes. Let's see if he can survive that long. Whether I like it or not, you bear the title of that girl's manager, so I'd like for you to show me your resolve."
Having said what he had to say, the transmitted voice suddenly cut off.
Kamijou stared blankly for a bit, but then he realized Eiker still had the grenade in his hand as he screamed. He was attempting to pull the pin while he was almost foaming at the mouth.
Kamijou knocked the grenade away with a hand and it rolled a good distance away amusingly easily.
Eiker had now lost his last piece of resistance and Kamijou spoke to him with a smile.
"Hang in there."
Part 21
The person behind it all saw the news on TV.
The Sky Bus 365 had landed in the Edinburgh airport in Scotland. According to the news, the plane had been in trouble at one point, but the passengers and crew worked together to resolve the problem. While watching that cheerful news, the person behind it all looked over various documents.
The piece of information this person was bothered by was the transport plane.
A single Royal Air Force transport plane had been borrowed to resolve the problem.
It had been a stealth transport plane that used technology borrowed from Academy City. It had an extremely small radar cross-section.
The person sighed.
(The country of England is at its limit. )
The person was discouraged by the fact that Academy City technology had been necessary to solve such a small problem. Could it really be turned into a strong country in that state? A war between the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church was just an empty dream.... At the very least, people who had to borrow the power of others to fight couldn't be the leaders.
The person behind it all turned off the TV, gathered up the documents, and put them in order while quietly thinking.
(It looks like we really do have to make our move. )
Between the lines 2
Hey.
This makes the second time you've saved me, doesn't it?
That's right. I thought I had safely escaped the land under control of the Russian Orthodox Church, but then they joined forces with the Roman Catholic Church. Thanks to that, the Russians managed to extend their reach to the Roman Catholic land of France. I was in quite a pinch. This kind of chase scene is tough for this old man's body to bear.
We had finally managed to reorganize the organization and change its name, but thanks to you the Astrological Surgery Brigade is quite popular.
Anyway, I'm going to at least thank you this time. Last time... well, we were a bit desperate just looking after ourselves and then you disappeared without a word. I regret not thanking you.
Yes, yes. As long as you rely on us, that's enough.
I suppose what you need is... a weapon.
But what kind of situation lead to you losing your weapon?... I probably shouldn't ask. Hey, don't glare at me like that. I just imagine it was something pretty bad.
Anyway, I've got a pretty nice collection of weapons. Now that we're free of the shackles of Russia, I've been going all over the world. I've been finding, gathering, and making a business out of weapons new and old from all over the world. I even have some of those monstrously sized ones you like so much, but they're pretty rare.
I can bring some out so you can test them out.
You say you'll end up destroying the weapon? Y'know, I'm not going to bring out some piece of crap when I'm trying to repay a debt. I'm going to show you my best, not something cheap. I'll show you some true swords. They go beyond having left their mark on history; they can still very well make new marks on history.
... Wait, don't go yet. Since my terrible introduction was so easily destroyed, I suppose this isn't my place. Just come here. I'll lead you to my number one weapon that I was reluctant to bring out until now.
Ahn? I'm not putting on airs of importance. This just isn't something I can bring out on my own. I could move it using heavy machinery, but it would just be faster for you to do it.
This way. This way.
Yes, yes. On the back there. Remove the ropes and the cloth.
Well?
I may be biased, but isn't it amazing?
It's the Holy Sword Ascalon.
Ha ha. Don't look so puzzled. I know, I know. In the real legend, there's no sword with that name. This is a spiritual item created by an artist at the end of the 16th century based on the legend of the holy sword. It was created on the idea of calculating out what precisely would be needed to slay the 50 foot long dragon from the legend if it had actually existed. This is a true monster-slaying weapon.
It's a mass of steel that weighs 200 kilograms and is 3. 5 meters long.
A certain author wrote that it was a one-handed falchion, but when a holy sword that could actually slay a dragon was created, it ended up being so ridiculously huge.
Take it. There's no one it suits better than you.
You must have it tough, too.
When you saved the "former" Astrological Surgery Brigade, it was supposed to have been nothing more than an irregular happening. You were never supposed to come into contact with us in the first place, and now you're asking us to supply you with a weapon. It looks to me like you're rushing to prepare for battle.
Well, I'm sure you'll go off to fight no matter what I say. And I won't try to stop you. But there's one thing I'd like to give you before you go. It's something I was given by a certain artisan who lives in England. Just like me, he seems to be someone who couldn't easily forget you after you suddenly disappeared. It seems you said to dispose of the plans, but that old man finished it in secret.
Ha ha. You don't have to scowl that much at the sight of it.
Even if there were various circumstances surrounding it, you were the one that hired him to make it, right?
It's your heraldry, after all.
| ← Ch. 128 | Ch. 130 → |