Stranger on a Plane

Mai walked up the aisle and took the window seat in the third row. She placed the wooden briefcase she was carrying on the floor and placed her feet evenly spaced on top of it. She sat with her hands folded in her lap, her line of sight just above the edge of the window. 

“Dad, when do we get to Grandma's?”

 “This airplane will get us from NYC to LA in about 3 hours.”

“Is this really the fastest airplane in the world?”

“It might be. Do you even care about seeing Grandma or do you want to just ride on the plane?”

“Of course I want to see Grandma, I haven’t seen her for four years. But this plane is the best.”

“This is our row, you want the middle or the aisle.”

“I wanted the window” 

“You'll be fine in the middle.”

The red haired boy bounced into the middle seat on his knees. He could see over Mai’s short dark hair and out the window. He bounced up and turned and looked around at the other passengers finding their seats. “Two, four, six, eight, rows, one, two, three, sets of three rows, nine seats in each row 72 seats.”

 The tall man, wearing a suit that shimmered and seemed to change colors between deep blue and burgundy, folded himself into the seat and slid his metallic briefcase into the compartment under his seat. “Turn around and sit properly. We’ll be taking off soon.” The boy bounced up and landed in the seat with his feet stretched out in front of him, barely touching the seat in front of him.

“There are 47 passengers that is 65% capacity.”

“Let’s get your seatbelt fastened.”  

The boy held his arms up in the air, twisting his body back and forth until he faced Mai. “Hi my name is Jace, what's yours?”

“My name is Mai.”

“I am nine. How old are you?”

“Jace, you don't ask ladies how old they are.”

“My age is classified.” Mai winked at the boy.

 “My name is Karl, my son is very energetic and loves math. Thanks for having a sense of humor.”

“You are welcome.”

“Please put your seats in the full upright position and fasten your seatbelts.” An automated voice sounded over the intercom and a red light lit up above the door to the cockpit. “Prepare for takeoff.” The plane rolled forward a few feet and took off almost vertical. The red light went off and the green one came on. Jace unfastened his seatbelt and leaned forward to look around Mai out the window. 

“Wow, we are really blowing through the clouds. How fast are we going?”

“The maximum speed of this aircraft is 1,289 km per hour.” Jace twisted in his seat.

“Look Dad, that lady looks like mom.” 

Karl looked up at the young woman walking past toward the back of the plane. He carefully pulled a picture part way out of the inner pocket of his jacket. “Yes she does, she looks like Sophia, your mom’s great grandma’s older sister that got on a plane for Barcelona in 2025 and never came back.” 

“Would you let me by, please?” Mai picked up her case and stood.

“Can I sit in your seat and look out the window while you're gone?”

“Yes you may.”

Jace pulled up his feet and cleared the space between the rows of seats. Karl stepped into the aisle and turned towards the back where the young woman had disappeared. He watched as Mai exited the main compartment of the plane, then settled back into his seat, placed his briefcase on the dropdown table. “I’m going to do a little work while you watch the clouds.”

The restroom door clicked behind the woman. Mai stood a half a meter from the door counting quietly. When she reached 50, she stepped forward and pressed her right index finger to the lock of the door until it clicked. The door opened and Mai walked in. The young woman stood with her back to the door bending over the sink washing her hands and face. Mia pushed the woman against the wall as she closed the door to the small restroom. 

“Do not make a sound.” Mai placed the briefcase on the sink and opened it. She pulled out a handheld device, pressed a button and the sound of running water filled the room. Mia pressed the woman's right to thumb on it. The device beeped. Mai looked at the screen. “Julia Valdez born March 11th 2000 in Lone Tree, South Dakota, researcher at the privately owned Bell Accelerator Lab. July 6, 2025 you boarded a plane at JFK destined for Barcelona and was never seen again until today September 26, 2115. You are charged with tampering with the time space continuum by traveling to the future. You must be eliminated.” The young woman stared at Mai open mouthed. Mai reached up and poked her left index finger into Julia’s right eye. Julia slumped against the wall. Mai spoke into it. “Target obtained elimination in progress.” An electronic voice answered “approximate time to completion?”

“Three minutes and 38 seconds.” Mia removed a rectangular device from the case and pressed it into Julia's abdomen. It emitted a humming noise and a red light started flashing rhythmically. Mai turned and pushed on a panel at the back of the toilet and the panel slid open. Mai pushed Julia's body into the narrow space and closed it. Then pushed another unseen button and a panel opened on the underside of the plane. The body fell from the plane and exploded seconds later. Mai turned back to her case and pushed the communication button again. “Target elimination complete, waiting for further instructions.”  

The digital voice spoke again, “You have done your job well.”

 “It would have been more efficient to complete the termination in a facility where harvesting the biological material would have been possible.”

“You did your job as instructed. Keep the communication device with you but put your clothes and face in the case and dispose of it. Stow yourself in the cupboard as previously instructed.”

“Yes sir.” Mai replied, then peeled the skin off of her head and turned it inside out and put it in the case, removed all of her clothing, and folded them into the case. She slipped the case into the same compartment she had put Julia's body in and released it into the atmosphere. She turned, took two steps to the other side of the small restroom; pushed another hidden button, a panel opened revealing a 60 centimeter cubed space. Mai attached the communication device to her chest, removed her head and sat on the shelf, pulled her legs in with knees touching her chest, placed her head between her feet, and touched another unseen button. She wrapped her arms around her knees and all systems shut down, as the compartment door closed.

Karl closed his laptop and returned it to the compartment under his seat, and moved over to the middle seat.  Jace turned toward his dad, “The towns look like streaks of light and dark, you think  you see a road but it blurs with the building next to it. It kinda makes me dizzy.”

“Just lean back and rest a while, we'll be there soon.”

“I can’t fall asleep, Mai is going to want her seat back.”

“I think that she has found another seat, you’ll be fine.”