Flight predicament

What should I say?

When disaster strikes, those who were in the same boat with him become strangely calm. This should be a good thing, but Henry finds it all incredibly bizarre.

Well, not entirely. At least the flight attendant sitting in her seat was nervously hugging herself, trembling. She couldn't face the whole situation as calmly as the others.

But she didn't act like a little girl, screaming hysterically and raising her voice to make everyone more tense. That was a good thing.

Henry looked at her. Perhaps noticing the gaze of others, the flight attendant suppressed her fear and returned a forced smile. It was heartbreaking to see.

Because the cockpit doors were still open, everyone could still hear the captain calmly reporting his situation to air traffic control. Most reassuringly, they hadn't yet heard the highest-level distress signal – Mayday.

Not long after, the colorful spray outside the window disappeared, and the vibration of the plane's engine noticeably decreased, though it did not completely disappear.

Brian emerged from the cockpit with a map, spreading it out in the corridor. His three companions followed behind.

They craned their necks to look.

Brian began by saying to Ms. Hepburn, "Two pieces of good news. The captain shut off the balance valves on both wing fuel tanks immediately upon discovering the leak. Although we couldn't adjust the fuel lines in the air, at least we have one engine that can still operate."

"There's always bad news, right?" Old Bernie chimed in at just the right moment.

"That's right," Brian said. "At the previous airport, the plane couldn't refuel. Plus, we lost more than half of the fuel, which means we couldn't fly very far before we had to land."

"Flying back to the United States in one go is definitely impossible. Even flying to Europe would be difficult. Considering that we will be flying at night soon, we must find an airport with night landing guidance equipment, preferably one of our allies."

"While the U.S. military base in Djibouti has runways for aircraft takeoff and landing, it lacks nighttime lighting. Therefore, our only remaining option is to fly north to the U.S. military base in Saudi Arabia. The facilities there are far superior to those in Djibouti."

Sam said, "Hey man, it sounds like we're saved. But why doesn't your expression say that?"

"The main problem is this country," Brian said, pointing to a region on the map marked the Republic of Yemen.

Mark said, "I remember that North and South Yemen only unified a month ago. They're friendly towards Western regimes, so they're still in their honeymoon period. Will they cause us trouble?"

Brian, in his deep, magnetic voice, delivered the bad news. "In fact, the Republic of Yemen has been established for less than a month. Although it is friendly towards the West, it is only more so than before."

"In fact, I doubt whether their government functions are fully operational. Although we issued an emergency code 7700, air traffic control was also helping us contact Yemen."

"But if they don't agree to let us into their airspace, then we'll have to go around the Gulf of Aden and through the Red Sea to get into Saudi Arabia. That extra long detour will be a major test for our remaining fuel reserves."

"What can we do?" Audrey Hepburn asked.

To the star's question, Brian could only reply helplessly, "Madam, we can only wait and see what the final result is. There's nothing we can do to help with what happens next."

Old Bernie, however, said hopefully, "There's still something we can do, isn't there?"

"Old man, what is it?" Mark asked hurriedly.

"Pray, kid. Pray that air traffic control will give Yemen a nod, and pray that we'll land at some airport before we run out of fuel."

Old Bernie's answer made several veterans make the sign of the cross, say "Amen," and then add "Madfuck!" The movements were so fluid that it seemed they had done it many times before.

Henry, who had no faith, didn't know who to pray to; in fact, given his Kryptonian abilities, it was a minor matter.

But the big star sitting next to her didn't think so. Although Audrey Hepburn knew Henry was indestructible, she didn't know he could fly!

So at this moment, although Hepburn's expression and voice remained elegant and calm, she held Henry's hand tightly and turned to look out the window at the gradually darkening sky, clearly showing that she was not entirely without tension.

Brian shooed everyone back to their seats, preventing them from wandering off. He was now secretly relieved that he had used up all the bullets he brought on the plane; otherwise, someone might have gone berserk with a gun.

However, he did manage to wake one person. Brian walked up to the flight attendant and said, "Madam, I'd like to request a whiskey for all of us. I think that's what you'd like as well."

"As for the captain, he needs to stay alert and fly the plane, so I think that's unnecessary. Don't you agree?"

"Okay---Okay. I'll be right there." As expected of a well-trained charter flight attendant, she suppressed her emotions, put on a welcoming smile, unbuckled her seatbelt, stood up, and said with a smile.

Back in his seat, Brian let out a long sigh, a profound sense of powerlessness washing over him. Even as a professionally trained soldier, there were things he was powerless to change. Sometimes he even wondered, after all he had done, who had he actually helped?

The atmosphere on the plane was incredibly tense; even the flight attendant's smile seemed forced when she served the whiskey. Henry tried to break the silence by asking, "Brian, do you have a family?"

Brian glanced at the person who asked the question but couldn't discern anything, only concluding that the other person was just making conversation. Even Audrey Hepburn would be interested in such a question, her eyes practically sparkling.

But he did need to say something to change his mood, so he replied, "I have a wife, Lena, who is pregnant. The baby will be born soon."

As he spoke, Brian took a photograph out of his bag and handed it over.

Henry took the photo; it showed a couple deeply in love, cheek to cheek, their smiles as bright as sunshine. "Wow!"

"What a beautiful woman!" she said, sharing the photo with the curious celebrity next to her.

Audrey flashed a smile just as sweet as in the photos, almost instantly changing the atmosphere on the plane. She said, "Yes, it's clear you two love each other."