Chapter 113: Landing

The few people on the small plane felt both anguish and relief.

The relief came from the fact that a solution seemed possible. The anguish stemmed from Brian's words: until they landed safely, the ordeal was not over.

Their moods rose and fell, all their attention fixed on the captain's voice coming from the cockpit.

It was as if he were reporting the plane's current situation and operations to ground control, but in reality, he was instructing the person in the belly of the plane on how to control the aircraft. The captain described each of his maneuvers with extreme detail and calmness, constantly reporting the instrument readings.

Although Brian was responsible for interpreting the data, he would immediately warn Henry if the plane made any overly exaggerated movements.

Yet, from actual observation, they discovered that every adjustment Henry made was like the control of a precision instrument, matching Brian's earlier requests with perfect accuracy.

The captain had long since taken his hands off the rudder, handing full control of the plane to Henry, and was only responsible for operating other instruments and equipment.

After all, certain operations would be recorded in the black box. However, as long as the rudder did not fail, it would not be recorded. It was a case of acting the part completely, leaving no aspect unattended.

As the numbers on the altimeter continued to drop, everyone's mood grew increasingly tense.

When the altitude dropped to one thousand feet, Brian immediately shouted to everyone in the cabin: "Brace for impact! We could land at any moment."

But the imagined jolts and collisions did not occur. Everyone only felt the plane encounter some resistance, its speed rapidly decreasing. It was as if a moving vehicle were braking, until the plane came to a complete stop.

"We... is this a landing, or have we descended into hell without a single pang of pain?" Sam, holding the back of the front seat, lifted his head and looked around, asking.

A silence fell over the cabin. Everyone felt the plane had stopped, so they all raised their heads, staring at one another. But no one could give a definite answer, not even the two in the cockpit.

"Knock, knock, knock!" The sound of knocking on the cabin door shattered the silence like thunder. Mark and Sam, two younger veterans, suddenly tried to stand up, only to be restrained by their seatbelts, reminding them to unfasten them.

Fortunately, Brian was more composed and faster than the others. He reached the door at the rear of the plane from the cockpit first and opened it.

The voice from outside was so familiar. "Hey, welcome to Saudi Arabia. You bunch of motherfucking stowaways, ready to face the interrogation from the white-robed bearded men?"

Brian gave the other man a fierce hug, pounding his back as if trying to kill him. It was pure joy.

At that moment, several veterans in the cabin cheered loudly! Some even jumped up in excitement.

Henry continued, "As for the time now, I don't know what hour to call it; it's just night. As for the temperature outside, I don't know the degrees either. But desert nights are cold; if you want to come out, put on a jacket. If you catch a cold, this flight takes no responsibility."

Except for Brian, several veterans rushed out of the cabin to confirm they were truly standing on solid ground.

Even though it was a desert, Mark still knelt down excitedly to kiss the ground, then stood up with disgust, spitting out a mouthful of sand. This action naturally drew hearty laughter from everyone.

Sam returned to the cabin and patted the female flight attendant who had been drunk into unconsciousness. When she opened her drowsy eyes, he said to her, "Hey, sweetheart, wake up. We've landed."

"What! We've landed in hell!" The poor flight attendant fainted again from fright.

To say "landed" and "landed in hell" are completely different expressions in English. How this girl misheard it so badly is truly questionable. One can only say that alcohol harms people greatly.

Anyway, the flight attendant's embarrassment, while she was unaware of it, became everyone's amusement.

Brian was equally happy, but as the team leader, there were matters he had to address. Returning to the cockpit, he saw the captain wearing the same expression of relief after surviving a disaster.

He was perhaps the person who understood best the difficulty of those maneuvers just now. Perhaps at the moment the accident occurred, although everyone held pessimistic emotions, they still harbored a sliver of hope. Only he knew clearly that this time, they were doomed!

Flying at night, with insufficient fuel, surrounded by third-world countries. If they could still survive this, it would require a miracle!

And then the miracle actually happened...

Brian happily hugged the captain and said, "Luca, you have one last task to do."

"What?"

"Report to air traffic control and have them send a rescue team. Or do you want to walk out of this desert yourself?"

"Ha, won't you give me a chance to kiss the ground?"

"Just now, a fool kissed it for you, and the result was a mouthful of sand. I even regret working with him. Do you want to experience that too?"

"Forget it. I think I need a cup of hot coffee and a bed where I can stretch out my arms and legs. I'd better call people over sooner." Captain Luca put his headset back on and began to make the call.

Henry went to Lady He Ben's side, extending his hand in invitation: "Lady, have you ever seen the starry sky in the desert? I think this is probably the most beautiful part of this journey. It would be a pity not to see it. But you must add some clothing; it's cold out there."

"Oh, child. You wouldn't think I'd bring thick clothes on a trip to Africa in summer, would you?" Audrey teased.

"Then shall I get you a blanket?"

"Yes."

When Lady He Ben, draped in a cabin blanket, also came outside the plane, she finally realized what kind of marks the landing process, which felt completely smooth inside the cabin, had actually left behind.

It was too dark to see in the distance, but the yellow sand nearby had been plowed by the plane into a deep trench. In fact, this relatively straight runway was blown out by Henry in the belly of the plane. Otherwise, given the dune terrain, how could the plane have made an emergency landing so easily?

However, this deep trench would not last long; the yellow sand blowing in from all sides was already burying it.

The small plane lay flat and stable on the sand, showing no signs of impact. Anyone who didn't know better would think it had been lowered there by a crane from above.

Looking up, it was a crescent moon night with dim moonlight. In its place, starlight twinkled, filling the entire pitch-black night sky. And it wasn't just silvery-white starlight; there were red ones, blue ones. Although the colors were not deep, they still appeared colorful.

With the support of Mark and Sam, Lady He Ben also climbed onto the wing, found a spot to sit, and joined everyone in watching this hard-won starry sky.

A short while later, the Italian captain Luca also came out. He said to everyone, "I have already contacted air traffic control and reported the situation. A nearby US military base will send helicopters to pick us up. I have activated the emergency locator transmitter to guide the rescue team. They will arrive very soon."

(End of this chapter)