Through the dim, red emergency lighting, I looked across the aisle.
Henderson was completely calm. He hadn't even reached for his oxygen mask. He was standing up, defying the violent G-forces of the dive, his hand reaching into his jacket to pull out a heavy, black master keycard.
He was heading for the cockpit.
If he gained access to the flight deck during a simulated emergency, he could force Marcus to land the plane at a private airfield under corporate control, where they could confiscate my files and make me disappear.
"No, you don't," I muttered, my voice lost in the roar of the alarms.
I unbuckled my seatbelt, the force of the descent nearly throwing me into the ceiling. I grabbed the armrests, dragging myself forward against the crushing gravity, my muscles screaming with exertion.
I reached the forward galley just as Henderson reached the cockpit door. He was swiping the black keycard against the security panel, his face set in a cold, determined mask.
"Henderson!" I shouted, my voice carrying the full, booming authority of a commanding officer. "Step away from that door!"
Henderson paused, turning his head slowly. A look of genuine surprise flickered in his cold eyes as he saw me standing upright, defying the dive that should have pinned an elderly woman to her seat.
"Captain Vance," Henderson said, his voice smooth and entirely unaffected by the chaos around us. "I suggest you return to your seat and put on your mask. We are experiencing a critical systems failure. You wouldn't want to get hurt."
"This isn't a failure, and you know it," I said, stepping closer, using the galley counter to stabilize myself as the plane shuddered violently. "You're using the remote telemetry override to simulate a runaway stabilizer trim. You're trying to force Marcus to execute an emergency descent."
Henderson let out a low, chilling chuckle. "You really are as good as they say, Evelyn. It's a shame you couldn't just stay retired. You had a beautiful legacy. Now, you're just a nuisance who is about to suffer a tragic, stress-induced medical emergency during a turbulent flight."
He reached out, his large, calloused hand grabbing my arm with a crushing grip. "Give me the drive, Evelyn. Give it to me, and maybe I’ll let the captain pull this plane out of the dive before we hit the dirt."
The pain in my arm was sharp, but I didn't flinch. I looked him dead in the eye, my face inches from his.
"You think you can threaten me on my own aircraft?" I whispered, my voice dripping with venom. "I have flown through storms that would have ripped this plane's wings off. You are nothing but a corporate parasite."
With a sudden, explosive movement, I reached into my cardigan pocket, pulled out my heavy brass key ring, and slammed it directly into the side of Henderson's neck, right where his carotid artery pulsed.
Henderson let out a choked gasp, his grip on my arm loosening as he stumbled backward, clutching his neck.
But before I could capitalize on his stumble, the cockpit door hissed open.
I expected to see Marcus, but instead, my heart sank into a cold, dark abyss of betrayal.
Standing in the doorway, holding a heavy metal fire extinguisher, was the co-pilot, a young, ambitious man named Todd whom I had never met. His knuckles were white, and his eyes were wild with a mixture of fear and determination.
Behind him, inside the cockpit, I could see Marcus. He was slumped forward over the control yoke, his arms hanging limply at his sides, a dark trickle of blood running down the back of his head.