"Where are your
"At the office. Want me to come to you?"
"No," Casey said. "It's after six. You're done for today."
"But - "
"See you tomorrow, Bob."
She hung up.
On the way out of Hangar 5, she saw the electrical crews rigging TPA 545 for the CET that night. The entire aircraft had been raised ten feet into the air, and now rested on heavy blue metal fixtures beneath each wing, and fore and aft on the fuselage. The crews had then slung black safety webbing beneath the underside of the aircraft, some twenty feet above the ground. All along the fuselage, doors and accessory panels were open, and electricians standing on the webbing were running cables from the junction boxes back to the main CET test console, a six-foot square box that was placed in the center of the floor to one side of the aircraft.
The Cycle Electrical Test, as it was known, consisted of sending electrical impulses to all parts of the aircraft's electrical system. In rapid succession, every component was tested - everything from cabin lights to reading lights, cockpit display panels, engine ignition, and landing-gear wheels. The full test cycle ran two hours. It would be repeated a dozen times, throughout the night
As she passed the console, she saw Teddy Rawley. He gave her a wave, but didn't approach her. He was busy; undoubtedly he'd heard that Flight Test was scheduled three days from now, and he would want to be sure the electrical test was performed correctly.
She waved to Teddy, but he had already turned away. Casey headed back to her office.
Outside, it was growing dark, the sky a deep blue. She walked back toward Administration, hearing the distant rush of take-offs from Burbank airport. On the way, she saw Amos Peters, shuffling toward his car, carrying a stack of papers under his arm. He looked back and saw her.
"Hey, Casey."
"Hi, Amos."
He dropped his papers with a thud on the roof of his car, bent to unlock the door. "I hear they're putting the screws to you."
"Yeah." She was not surprised he knew. The whole plant probably knew by now. It was one of the first things she had learned at Norton. Everyone knew everything, minutes after it happened.
"You going to do the interview?"
"I said I would."
"You going to say what they want you to say?"
She shrugged.
"Don't get high and mighty," he said. "These are television people. They're beneath pond scum on the evolutionary scale. Just lie. Hell with it"
"We'll see."
He sighed. "You're old enough to know how it works," he said. "You going home now?"
"Not for a while."
"I wouldn't be hanging around the plant at night Casey."
"Why not?"
"People are upset" Amos said. "Next few days, it'd be better to go home early. You know what I mean?"
"I'll bear it in mind."
"Do that Casey. I mean it"
He got in his car, and drove off.
QA
7:20 P.M.
Norma was gone. The QA office was deserted. The cleaning crews had already started in the back offices; she heard a tinny portable radio playing "Run Baby Run."
Casey went to the coffeemaker, poured a cup of cold coffee, and took it into her own office. She flicked on the lights, stared at the stack of papers waiting on her desk.
She sat down and tried not to be discouraged by the way things were going. She had twenty hours until the interview, and her leads were falling apart
Just lie. Hell with it.
She sighed. Maybe Amos was right
She stared at the papers, pushing aside the picture of John Chang and his smiling family. She didn't know what to do, except go through the papers. And check.
She again came to the charts of the flight plan. Again, they teased her. She remembered she had had an idea, just before Marder called her the night before. She had a feeling ... but what was it?
Whatever it was, it was gone now. She set the flight plan aside, including the General Declaration (Outward/Inward) that had been filed with it which listed the crew:
John Zhen Chang, Captain 5/7/51 M
Leu Zan Ping, First Officer 3/11/59 M
Richard Yong, First Officer 9/9/61 M
Gerhard Reimann, First Officer 7/23/49 M
Thomas Chang, First Officer 6/29/70 M
Henri Marchand, Engineer 4/25/69 M
Robert Sheng, Engineer 6/13/62 M
Harriet Chang, Flight Attendant 5/12/77 F
Linda Ching, Flight Attendant 5/18/76 F
Nancy Morley, Flight Attendant 7/19/75 F
Kay Liang, Flight Attendant 6/4/67 F
John White, Flight Attendant 1/30/70 M
M. V. Chang, Flight Attendant 4/1/77 F
Sha Van Hao, Flight Attendant 3/13/73 F
Y. Jiao, Flight Attendant 11/18/76 F
Harriet King, Flight Attendant 10/10/75 F
B. Choi, Flight Attendant 11/18/76 F
Yee Chang, Flight Attendant 1/8/74 F
She paused, sipped the cold coffee. There was something odd about this list she thought. But she couldn't put her finger on it
She set the list aside.
Next a transcript of communications from Southern California Air Traffic Approach Control. As usual it was printed without punctuation, the transmission to 545 intermixed with transmissions to several other aircraft:
0543:12 UAH198 three six five ground thirty five thousand
0543:17 USA2585 on frequency again changed radios sorry about that
0543:15 ATAC one nine eight copy
0543:19 AAL001 fuel remaining four two zero one
0543:22 ATAC copy that two five eight five no problem we have you now