Chapter 55: Landing

The few people on the small passenger plane felt a mix of agony and relief.

The relief came from the fact that there seemed to be a way to solve the problem. The agony was, just as Brian had said, as long as they hadn't landed safely, the matter wasn't over.

Their moods fluctuated like this, with all their focus concentrated on the captain's voice coming from the cockpit.

It was as if he were telling ground air traffic control about the plane's current situation and operations. In reality, he was telling the person in the belly of the plane how to control it. The captain stated each of his operational steps in extreme detail and calmness, reporting the data on the instruments at any time.

Although Brian was responsible for interpreting the data, he would immediately warn Henry if he made the plane perform movements that were too exaggerated.

But from actual observation, it was discovered that every adjustment Henry made was like being controlled by a precision instrument, accurately matching the requirements previously put forward by Brian.

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

After all, in the black box records, certain operations would be recorded. But as long as the rudder did not fail, it would not be recorded. It could be said that they were doing the whole act, paying attention to every aspect.

As the numbers reported by the altimeter kept decreasing, everyone's mood became tense accordingly.

When the altitude was down to one thousand feet, Brian immediately shouted to everyone in the cabin: "Brace for impact, we might land at any time."

But the bumps and collisions they imagined did not happen. Everyone just felt as if the plane had encountered some resistance, and its speed was slowing down rapidly. It was just like a moving vehicle hitting the brakes, until the plane came to a complete stop.

"We... is this us having landed, or have we gone to hell without any pain?" Supporting himself on the back of the front seat, Sam lifted his head, which had been bowed, and looked around, asking.

There was a silence in the cabin. Everyone felt the plane come to a stop, so they all lifted their heads one after another, looking at each other. But no one could give an accurate result, and the two in the cockpit were the same.

"Knock, knock, knock!" The knocking on the cabin door cut through the silence like a thunderclap. Mark and Sam, the two younger veteran soldiers, suddenly wanted to stand up, but their stomachs were strained by the seat belts, and only then did they remember to unbuckle them.

Fortunately, Brian was relatively normal, and his movements were faster than others. He was the first to come from the cockpit to the cabin door at the tail of the plane and opened it.

The voice from outside the door was so familiar. "Hey, welcome to Saudi. You bunch of motherf***ing stowaways, are you ready to face the interrogation of the white-robed, bearded men?"

Brian gave the other person a fierce hug and even punched him on the back a few times as if he were trying to beat him to death. This was purely out of extreme happiness.

At this time, the few veteran soldiers in the cabin also cheered loudly! Some were even jumping with excitement.

Henry continued: "The time now, I don't know what to count it as, anyway it's night. And the temperature outside now, I don't know how many degrees either. But the desert night is very cold, if you want to go out, you have to add a jacket. If you catch a cold, this flight will not be responsible."

Except for Brian, several veteran soldiers rushed out of the cabin, confirming that they were truly standing on solid ground.

Even though it was a desert, Mark still excitedly knelt on the ground and kissed it, then stood up in disgust, spitting out a mouthful of sand. Such an action, of course, made everyone burst into laughter.

Sam returned to the cabin and patted the female flight attendant who had been drunk to the point of being unconscious. After she opened her sleepy eyes, he said to her: "Hey, babe, wake up. We've arrived."

"What! We've arrived in hell." The poor flight attendant scared herself into a faint again.

It is said that 'arrived' and 'arrived in hell' are completely different expressions in English. How this babe heard it wrong to that point really makes one suspicious. It can only be said that alcohol is harmful.

Anyway, the flight attendant's embarrassing state, when she herself didn't know it, became everyone's amusement.

Brian was equally happy, but as the team leader, there were some things he still had to account for. Returning to the cockpit, he saw the captain also wearing an expression of having survived a disaster and letting out a sigh of relief.

He was perhaps the one among everyone who knew the difficulty of those operations just now. Perhaps at the moment the accident happened, although everyone held a pessimistic mood, they still couldn't help but hold a glimmer of hope. Only he knew clearly that this time, they were dead for sure!

Flying at night, insufficient fuel, and surrounded by third-world countries. If they could still survive this, only a miracle could happen!

And then a miracle really happened...

Brian happily hugged the captain and said: "Lu Ka, you still have one last job to do."

"What?"

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

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

"A fool just helped you kiss it, and the result was a mouthful of sand. I even regret finding him to work together. Do you want to experience it too?"

"Forget it, I think I need a cup of hot coffee now, and a bed where I can stretch my hands and feet. I'd better call people over sooner." Captain Lu Ka put on his headset again and started calling.

Henry came to the side of Audrey Hepburn and reached out to invite her: "My 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 outside."

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

"Then shall I get you a blanket?"

"Okay."

When Audrey Hepburn, wrapped in a blanket from the cabin, also came outside the plane, she realized what kind of traces the landing process, which felt without a hint of discomfort in the cabin, had actually left behind.

It was too dark in the distance to see, but the yellow sand nearby had been plowed into a deep trench by the plane. Actually, this was a relatively straight runway blown out by Henry, who was in the belly of the plane. Otherwise, with the sand dune terrain, it wouldn't have been so easy for the plane to make an emergency landing.

However, this deep trench didn't look like it would last long; the yellow sand blowing from all around was burying it.

And the small passenger plane was lying flat and steady on the sand, looking like there were no signs of impact. If someone didn't know, they would think it had been placed here from above by a crane.

Looking up, it was a night with a crescent moon, and the moonlight was dim. Replacing it was the twinkling starlight, hanging all over the pitch-black night sky. And it wasn't just silver-white starlight; there were red ones, blue ones, and although the coloring wasn't deep, it still looked colorful.

With the support of Mark and Sam, Audrey Hepburn also climbed onto the wing, found a spot to sit down, and accompanied everyone to watch this hard-won starry sky.

Before long, the Italian captain Lu Ka also walked out. He said to everyone: "I have already made contact with air traffic control and reported the current situation. The nearby US military base will send helicopters to pick us up, and I have turned on the rescue beacon to guide the rescue team. They will be here soon."