CHAPTER 2 — THE FLIGHT THAT WAS NEVER SCHEDULED
Maya didn’t walk toward Gate 12.
She shouldn’t have.
But something inside her refused to move backward. Instead, she followed the edge of the corridor, staying close to the glass walls overlooking the runway.
Outside, the aircraft sat still.
Too still.
Fuel trucks were parked nearby—but no one was servicing the plane anymore. Ground crew had stepped away in sudden formation, as if someone had given a silent command.
Then she saw it.
A black SUV stopped abruptly near the tarmac entrance. Doors opened. Men in plain uniforms stepped out—too calm, too synchronized, not like airport staff.
One of them looked up directly at the terminal windows.
Right at her.
Maya quickly ducked behind a structural column, heart pounding.
Her phone vibrated again.
She didn’t want to look.
But she did.
“You are inside a controlled evacuation zone.”
Her stomach dropped.
Evacuation?
She hadn’t heard any official alert.
Only fragments. Only broken announcements.
Then, from behind her, a voice:
“Miss… you need to come with us.”
Two airport security officers stood there. Not running. Not panicked. Calm.
Too calm.
One of them gently raised a hand. “You were flagged. You’re not safe here.”
Maya stepped back. “I didn’t do anything.”
The officer shook his head slightly.
“That’s the problem. You didn’t.”
A loud metallic echo thundered from the direction of Gate 12.
A door had just locked.
May you like
Manually.
From the inside.
