land.
They were perhaps still a mile out to sea when a cloud bank seemed to come from nowhere. As he stared at it in horror, Ben heard Alec's voice in his head. ' Amazing thing, nature. Always got a surprise up its sleeve .'
'You can say that again,' Ben murmured.
'What?' Danny asked.
'Nothing,' Ben replied as the plane was suddenly plunged into the cloud. Instantly he lost all visual contact with the horizon and, not having any instruments to tell him if he was level or not, he found himself flying blind, without even a few metres' visibility.
'Hold it steady, Ben,' he told himself. 'Just hold it steady.'
His breath came in deep, long lungfuls. The turbulence increased in the cloud, making it even harder to keep the plane straight, if indeed it was straight. It was horrible, flying without any sense of what was in front of him. Ben half expected to crash into some unseen obstacle at any moment. When finally he came below the cloud line, he realized he was at an angle and veering away from land. He straightened up and tried not to think too much about what was about to happen.
It was raining now and the sky above them was black. The winds had increased again – Ben could feel them knocking the plane around. It was worse now that he had reduced his speed. More and more he felt like a speck of dust at the mercy of some incredibly powerful forces. The sea below them was grey and rough, and it was a relief when they finally flew over land. As the plane continued to lose altitude, Ben felt a momentary flash of relief that the land ahead appeared to be unpopulated.
He shuddered to think what sort of devastation he would cause if he crash-landed in the middle of an urban sprawl. But as soon as that thought flew through his mind, it disappeared. He had other things to worry about, after all . . . Hurtling onwards through the sheeting rain, Ben thought he could see greenery down below. And then, a long way in the distance, he thought he could make out a long, straight road running at right angles to the direction of the plane.
'We need to try and land there,' he barked at Danny – quite why, he wasn't sure, as nobody else was helping him fly this thing. He yanked the control stick to the left. The plane veered in that direction, shuddering as it did so. Ben prayed that there wouldn't be much traffic on the road. Surely people would be taking cover from the elements, he prayed. A hurricane was hitting the mainland of Florida – he hoped most people would think it wasn't a very good time to go out for a drive.
He straightened up. They couldn't be more than a hundred metres from the ground, but now that he had a closer point of reference, Ben realized just how much the plane was shaking. The road ahead did indeed seem empty. On either side of it was what looked like swamp land and with each passing second it looked more and more likely that that was where they were going to land. Ben struggled to keep the line of the road in the middle of his sight – a task made doubly difficult by the winds and the fact that one engine was down. He was holding his breath and his muscles were burning from the strain of keeping the plane straight.
They couldn't have been more than seventy-five metres up now, but as Ben fixed his eyes on the ground ahead, one thing became perfectly clear to him.
They were going too fast.
Much too fast.
Danny must have realized it too. 'This isn't going to work, is it, Ben?' he asked, his voice strangely expressionless.
Ben glanced momentarily towards him. Danny was looking straight ahead. His face was calm. He looked like he was preparing himself for something.
Preparing himself for the end.
Ben snapped his gaze back to the landing strip. Danny was right. It wasn't going to work. He took another deep breath and prepared for the plane to hit the ground.
Miami International Airport had been all but evacuated.
At the control tower, the last
They were perhaps still a mile out to sea when a cloud bank seemed to come from nowhere. As he stared at it in horror, Ben heard Alec's voice in his head. ' Amazing thing, nature. Always got a surprise up its sleeve .'
'You can say that again,' Ben murmured.
'What?' Danny asked.
'Nothing,' Ben replied as the plane was suddenly plunged into the cloud. Instantly he lost all visual contact with the horizon and, not having any instruments to tell him if he was level or not, he found himself flying blind, without even a few metres' visibility.
'Hold it steady, Ben,' he told himself. 'Just hold it steady.'
His breath came in deep, long lungfuls. The turbulence increased in the cloud, making it even harder to keep the plane straight, if indeed it was straight. It was horrible, flying without any sense of what was in front of him. Ben half expected to crash into some unseen obstacle at any moment. When finally he came below the cloud line, he realized he was at an angle and veering away from land. He straightened up and tried not to think too much about what was about to happen.
It was raining now and the sky above them was black. The winds had increased again – Ben could feel them knocking the plane around. It was worse now that he had reduced his speed. More and more he felt like a speck of dust at the mercy of some incredibly powerful forces. The sea below them was grey and rough, and it was a relief when they finally flew over land. As the plane continued to lose altitude, Ben felt a momentary flash of relief that the land ahead appeared to be unpopulated.
He shuddered to think what sort of devastation he would cause if he crash-landed in the middle of an urban sprawl. But as soon as that thought flew through his mind, it disappeared. He had other things to worry about, after all . . . Hurtling onwards through the sheeting rain, Ben thought he could see greenery down below. And then, a long way in the distance, he thought he could make out a long, straight road running at right angles to the direction of the plane.
'We need to try and land there,' he barked at Danny – quite why, he wasn't sure, as nobody else was helping him fly this thing. He yanked the control stick to the left. The plane veered in that direction, shuddering as it did so. Ben prayed that there wouldn't be much traffic on the road. Surely people would be taking cover from the elements, he prayed. A hurricane was hitting the mainland of Florida – he hoped most people would think it wasn't a very good time to go out for a drive.
He straightened up. They couldn't be more than a hundred metres from the ground, but now that he had a closer point of reference, Ben realized just how much the plane was shaking. The road ahead did indeed seem empty. On either side of it was what looked like swamp land and with each passing second it looked more and more likely that that was where they were going to land. Ben struggled to keep the line of the road in the middle of his sight – a task made doubly difficult by the winds and the fact that one engine was down. He was holding his breath and his muscles were burning from the strain of keeping the plane straight.
They couldn't have been more than seventy-five metres up now, but as Ben fixed his eyes on the ground ahead, one thing became perfectly clear to him.
They were going too fast.
Much too fast.
Danny must have realized it too. 'This isn't going to work, is it, Ben?' he asked, his voice strangely expressionless.
Ben glanced momentarily towards him. Danny was looking straight ahead. His face was calm. He looked like he was preparing himself for something.
Preparing himself for the end.
Ben snapped his gaze back to the landing strip. Danny was right. It wasn't going to work. He took another deep breath and prepared for the plane to hit the ground.
Miami International Airport had been all but evacuated.
At the control tower, the last
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