Claire released her.

Thomas rubbed his cheek.

“Rafael discovered something inside Aerodyne.”

“The aircraft intrusion?” Claire asked.

“Bigger.”

“What?”

“A system called Paladin.”

Claire had never heard the name.

“What does it do?”

Thomas looked toward the cabin windows.

“It allows remote supervisory access to fleets.”

Claire stared.

“Civilian fleets?”

“Commercial aircraft, cargo aircraft, some military support platforms.”

“That’s impossible.”

“It was supposed to be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Paladin began as an emergency recovery concept. If terrorists took over an aircraft, authorized ground systems could theoretically lock out cockpit controls and guide the plane safely.”

Claire’s anger sharpened.

“Someone built a remote-control back door.”

“Yes.”

“In passenger aircraft.”

“Yes.”

“Without pilots knowing?”

“Some knew.”

“Regulators?”

“Some.”

Claire looked away.

She wanted to dismiss it as absurd.

But she had just fought her own aircraft.

“Rafael found unauthorized copies of the access architecture,” Thomas continued.

“Who had them?”

“He never told me.”

“Why?”

“He didn’t trust anyone.”

“Smart man.”

“He trusted Mercer.”

Claire’s expression darkened.

“Then he wasn’t that smart.”

Thomas nodded slightly.

“Fair.”

Elena spoke.

“What did Rafael leave in Madrid?”

“A hardware authentication key.”

“To Paladin?”

“Yes.”

Claire looked at Elena.

“So someone wants you because they think you have access.”

“I don’t.”

“They may not believe you.”

Elena swallowed.

“And Sophie?”

“Leverage.”

Claire’s eyes hardened.

Thomas noticed.

“That’s why I moved her.”

“Without telling her mother.”

“There wasn’t time.”

“There is always time to avoid kidnapping a child.”

Thomas accepted that.

Mara interrupted.

“Claire, cockpit.”

“What?”

“Captain Ross is awake. He says someone just transmitted on company frequency.”

Claire headed forward.

Thomas followed.

“No.”

“You need me.”

“I need fewer secrets.”

“I know Paladin.”

Claire stopped.

“Then you’re coming.”

Back in the cockpit, Daniel Ross sat in the jump seat wearing portable oxygen.

He looked terrible.

But conscious.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Claire said.

“It’s my airplane.”

“You keep saying that.”

“I’m emotionally attached.”

Thomas moved toward the displays.

Ross looked at him.

“Who’s this?”

“Complication.”

Thomas examined the navigation system.

“What transmission?”

Ross handed Claire a printed ACARS message.

It had arrived through the airline datalink.

FLIGHT 271: DIVERT TO KEFLAVIK. MEDICAL EMERGENCY PRIORITY. GROUND SUPPORT READY.

Claire looked at Thomas.

“Legitimate?”

“Could be.”

Ross said, “Airline dispatch confirmed it.”

“How?”

“Satellite voice.”

“Can we trust that?”

“No.”

“Can we verify through independent ATC?”

“Radio contact returned briefly.”

“Briefly?”

“Then dropped.”

Claire looked at the route.

Keflavik, Iceland.

North.

Close to Site 19 coordinates.

Too close.

Thomas shook his head.

“Don’t go.”

Ross looked offended.

“We have three medically compromised pilots and a possible system intrusion. Keflavik is a logical diversion.”

“It’s where they want us.”

Claire asked, “Where is Site 19?”

Thomas remained silent.

“Thomas.”

“It was a Nightglass test facility.”

Claire stared.

“I never knew that.”

“Pilots weren’t told.”

“What happened there?”

“After Ethan disappeared, the facility was shut down.”

“Location?”

Thomas pointed toward the map.

“About seventy miles from Keflavik.”

Ross cursed softly.

Claire pressed.

“Why would anyone want this airplane there?”

Thomas looked at her.

“Because Site 19 contains the original Paladin control hardware.”

Silence.

Elena, standing at the cockpit door, whispered, “Rafael’s key.”

Thomas nodded.

“It doesn’t just unlock Paladin.”

“What does it unlock?” Claire asked.

“The master control server.”

Claire felt the pieces align.

“They want Elena to access Site 19.”

“Yes.”

“And they want me to fly there.”

“Yes.”

“Why me?”

Thomas looked uncomfortable.

“What?”

“Paladin was originally tested against military pilots.”

Claire stared at him.

“So?”

“You were the only test pilot who consistently defeated it manually.”

Ross looked between them.

“They need her because she can fly around their system?”

Thomas shook his head.

“Not exactly.”

Claire already knew she would hate the answer.

“Say it.”

“They need you because the master system was trained on your flight profile.”

Claire said nothing.

Thomas continued.

“Your reactions. Your control inputs. Your decision patterns. Nightglass recorded everything.”

“You’re saying the system predicts me.”

“Yes.”

“And Ethan?”

Thomas’s face changed.

“What about him?”

“I spoke to him.”

Thomas stared.

“That’s impossible.”

“Apparently we’re having an impossible day.”

“What did he say?”

“He told me to fly north.”

Thomas backed away from the console.

“No.”

Claire saw genuine fear.

“You know something.”

“Claire, if you hear Ethan Cole on the radio again, do not answer.”

“Why?”

“Because Ethan is dead.”

“You’re very certain.”

“I saw his body.”

Claire’s breathing stopped.

“You what?”

“Three days after the Nightglass incident.”

“No body was recovered.”

“That was the official story.”

“Where?”

Thomas looked at the cockpit door.

Then at Elena.

Then at Ross.

“Site 19.”

Claire stepped toward him.

“You saw Ethan’s body at Site 19?”

“Yes.”

“Then who spoke to me?”

Thomas opened his mouth.

Before he could answer, every speaker in the aircraft came alive.

Not just the cockpit.

The entire cabin.

Ethan Cole’s voice filled Flight 271.

“Claire, Thomas Reed is lying to you.”

Thomas went pale.

Passengers began shouting.

Claire looked at him.

The voice continued.

“Ask him who was really inside the coffin.”

Thomas whispered, “Don’t.”

Claire turned slowly.

“What coffin?”

Then the cockpit door locked by itself.

The lights dimmed.

And someone seated in row 22 stood up holding a gun.

Chapter 5 - The Man in Row 22

The armed passenger raised the pistol and shouted:

“Nobody move!”

Claire saw him through the cockpit camera.

Thomas reached for the door release.

A warning flashed beside it:

ACCESS DENIED.

Then Claire noticed the gunman’s boarding pass on the floor.

The printed name was David Mercer.

No one in the cockpit spoke for three seconds.

The passenger in row 22 was too young to be Colonel David Mercer.

Maybe thirty.

Dark suit.

Shaved head.