Chapter 8 - Grace Notices the Residue
Grace waited until the controller was speaking to Malachi before she looked again.
Not long.
Just enough.
The overturned cup sat wedged near the side of the center pedestal.
A pale ring marked the floor where liquid had dried or smeared thin.
One pilot’s hand rested near the armrest.
The other remained slumped slightly away.
Both breathing.
Neither responding.
Nothing about it looked like ordinary fatigue.
Nothing about the timing felt random.
Grace’s pulse hammered.
She was not a detective.
She was a flight attendant.
But she knew service flow.
She knew who had been offered drinks.
She knew what belonged in a cockpit and what did not.
She knew pilots did not both simply vanish from consciousness mid-Atlantic without every alarm in the universe feeling personal.
The controller’s voice cut through.
“Grace, status?”
She hesitated.
Malachi looked at her.
Do not say it, his eyes seemed to beg.
Or maybe that was her own fear.
She answered carefully.
“Both pilots still unresponsive. Malachi is maintaining control.”
“Understood.”
She did not mention the cup over open radio yet.
Not with passengers listening.
Not with Malachi fighting.
Not without knowing who else might hear and react.
She looked toward the doorway again.
Every passenger seemed frightened.
But fear was easy to wear honestly.
It was also easy to hide inside.
Her gaze sharpened.
Who had been near the cockpit?
Who had seen the service cart?
Who had watched the pilots?
Who had reason?
No answer came.
The aircraft dipped slightly.
Malachi corrected.
“Good,” the controller said. “That’s good, Malachi.”
Malachi’s lips trembled.
“Don’t say good unless it is.”
“It is.”
Grace wanted to believe him.
The flight attendant part of her wanted to reassure everyone.
The new, colder part of her understood reassurance could wait.
She stepped closer to Malachi and lowered her voice.
“Do not drink anything unless I hand it to you.”
His eyes widened.
“What?”
“Just hear me.”
He nodded once.
A child’s nod.
A pilot’s nod.
May you like
Both at the same time.
Read Chapter 9 👉 Because Grace did not reveal what she saw, but warning Malachi not to drink anything told him the emergency might not be only mechanical.
