Chapter 1

When they woke up, the jet had already landed. Everyone was groggy but, at first, thought it was just them. It had been a long flight. One flight attendant, Simone, was lying on the floor in the food preparation area and another, Manous, was strapped into one of the jump seats close by. Manous looked over to see Simone groaning her way to consciousness. Her skirt was high on her hips. Manous cock was peeking out off his trousers. That wasn't normal. Though he and Simone had enjoyed one another, they never, ever did anything on the plane.

Therefore, he knew something was wrong. He unbuckled his belt, stood, and zipped up. He said, "Simone, get up. The engines are off. Check the passengers. I will check the flight deck." He saw her nod slowly and he moved to the front. As he arrived at the door, it opened. The copilot, Eve Thompson, was there and said, "Manous, what happened?"

Manous stopped as if struck. He said, "What do you mean? You landed us."

She said, "No, we didn't. Something or someone did but where? What happened?"

Manous moved toward the front gently pushing her back into the flight center and said, "I think we need to talk and then talk to the passengers." He was the head flight attendant so carried some authority on the plane. He moved inside closing the door behind him. He stopped suddenly when he saw outside the cockpit windows. What he saw shocked him. He wasn't prepared for the sight of trees immediately in front of the nose of the jet.

Captain Jeffries said, "Manous, I'm glad you're here. As you can see, we could not have landed here, yet here we are. We don't know where here is either. Our GPS is not functioning and the radio receives nothing but static. According to our instruments, the landing gear is down and locked and we are have used the fuel we would have expected to use for our trip.

"I had turned the plane over to Eve and was going to catch a few winks. She was watching the instruments while the autopilot ran the plane. Everything seemed normal."

Eve said, "Everything was normal. The next thing I knew, I woke up and we were here. The autopilot indicates it was turned off as if we had arrived in the Chicago area and were preparing for our landing. What could have happened to us? Why were we made unconscious? What could have done that? How did we land?"

Manous said, "Captain, it's all a mystery. We have flown together for years. This is wholly without precedent.

"However, I must see to the passengers. What should I say?"

Captain Jeffries said, "Tell them that there is a problem and everyone should stay seated while we attempt to understand the situation. Ask everyone with a cell phone or computer to try to make a connection with anyone outside the plane."

"Yes, Sir. I go now."

"Good. We'll try to figure out something. Oh, Manous, find out if there are any military on the flight."

"You think there might be a problem?"

"I don't know but they could be helpful in maintaining order while we try to sort things out. Medical folks wouldn't hurt either."

"Yes, Sir."

As he left the flight deck, Eve said, "Ted, have you any idea what to do?"

"Not really. I think we will have to exit the plane and check things out. We know that we don't know where we are, we don't know how we got here, and we don't know how we will get back." He paused and then added, "Or even if we can."

They continued to check their instruments and look around from the cockpit hoping to see or find something that made sense and would explain things. They found nothing helpful.

Eve looked out and down to see the ground. All she could see were various plants, some of which she thought that she recognized. She saw a few small animals but didn't identify them. Nothing looked out of the ordinary except for the plane being right in the middle of the area. It looked like they hadn't landed on any plants. She began to think it looked like the plants seemed to have grown around the plane. It was starting to confuse and trouble her and she looked back to the interior. She said, "Ted, this couldn't have just happened. It looks like earth down there and that the plants grew around the plane but how? Do you have any wild guesses?" The Captain and his Second Officer were friends and, when in private, used their first names when talking to one another.

He said, "Eve, it makes no sense but, if I were going to take a wild guess, I would say that we had been here a while but we don't seem to have aged. Our instruments and my watch don't show the time to be different that if we had just pulled up at the gate. It's just that there's no gate." He heard Manous' voice over the sound system and said, "Turn it up. Let's listen."

" ... am Manous Berg. I am the Senior Flight Attendant. I will tell you what we know. I have talked with Captain Jeffries, our pilot.

"First, we don't know where we are or how we got here. Our GPS systems are not receiving signals and the radio only receives static. I have checked my cell phone and have no signal. If anyone has a signal on a cell phone or a computer from outside the plane, let me know.

"I hope I haven't scared you too badly but we would rather you know the truth. Personally, I'm scared. I ask you to bear with us. We will tell you anything and everything we know as soon as we know it. I ask you do the same. At this time, we cannot take off. Even if we did, we don't know where we are and might have serious trouble finding a place to set this plane down.

"The rest of the attendants are looking into our food situation and we will tell you what we have and what we think soon.

"Does anyone have any questions?"

Manous looked over the crowd and say a few hands raised. He knew that the questions wouldn't help but called on a man not far from where he stood. "Sir, what is your question?"

"My name is Alfred Edwards. I have an important meeting in two hours. I need to leave the plane and catch my limo."

'I understand, Sir. Do you see anything from your window that suggests we are at an airport other than our presence in this plane?

"People, look out the windows. We are not at an airport. Our GPS doesn't work. Our phones don't work. Your phones won't work. Our radio only receives static. If you haven't been able to guess, we are lost and we don't know where the hell we are.

"Does anyone have any useful questions?" This time, it was quiet. "Thank you." He paused, "I have a couple of other things. If any of you are medical persons, please let a flight attendant know. If we need medical help, it would be nice to know who can provide assistance. Also, if you are or were military, let the flight attendants know also. We may need persons who can look around outside for us. They will need to be able to take care of themselves and others in strange conditions. Thank you."

He turned and walked back to the flight deck as a lot of buzzing talk came from the passengers. As he entered the flight deck, Captain Jeffries said, "Very well said. We have checked some more. We are picking up zero signals and I don't expect that any passengers will either. Interestingly, the plants don't look too different from what you might expect in the Chicago area.

"Manous, we have two hundred thirty-nine passengers on board. I don't think this situation will go away quickly. Pick a medical person, a military person, and about five others who look calm and bring them forward. We need to talk and we can't talk to everyone and get any real feedback."

"Captain."

"Yes, Eve."

"Look!" The other two looked with her. To the right of the plane about fifty feet beyond the wingtip was a large animal that looked like a bear! No one said a word as they all watched the bear walk from further out, under the wing, and then forward from under the wing around the front of the plane and eventually out of sight.

Chapter 2 »