'There was these, like, switches, that he ... ' Puggy made a hand motion, flipping up imaginary switches.
'Then what happened?' asked Greer. 'Did anything happen when he did that?'
'Lights,' said Puggy. 'Little numbers.'
Greer glanced at Seitz and Baker, who were both listening. Seitz's face was blank. Baker looked sick.
Greer looked back at Puggy. 'When did this happen?' he asked. 'How long ago did he turn it on?'
Puggy thought about it.
'It's been a while now,' he said.
07:43
Monica's legs ached from crouching in the tiny space allotted for legroom in front of the seat. She was trying to think, but it was hard with the horrendous roar of wind and engines coming through the open door.
Twice, very carefully, she'd moved her head just enough to look around the seat in front of her toward the front of the plane. Both times, Snake was facing forward. Once she'd heard him say something to the pilot, but she couldn't make out what it was.
From time to time, she made eye contact with Matt, crouching across the aisle. She tried to look confident, but she definitely didn't feel confident. She had no plan. The only thing she'd thought of was to jump Snake from behind, but he'd almost certainly fire his gun, and there were passengers—Monica didn't know how many—in front of him. And of course the pilots. If he shot them, everybody would die. On the other hand, if she didn't try to grab him, he might kill everybody anyway. He was definitely crazy.
Monica looked over at Matt, gave him another confident expression. He stared back. He was clearly scared.
Monica thought, He's right.
06:22
Greer was standing at the edge of the main concourse traffic, next to an abandoned airline counter, talking into his special phone. Seitz and Baker were next to him. A few feet away were Eliot, who had his arm around Anna, and Puggy, who was holding hands with Nina.
'Still nothing from the pilot?' Greer said to the phone. 'OK, and his location is ... OK. How about Homestead? They're ... right, OK, good.' Greer looked at his watch. 'Right, that's affirmative.'
'I don't understand,' Anna said to Baker. 'Why aren't you going out to the plane? Why aren't there police out there?'
'Mrs. Herk,' said Baker, 'the plane took off.'
'Oh my God,' she said, putting her hand to her face. Eliot hugged her tight, imagining how awful he'd feel if Matt were in that plane.
'But they're tracking it,' said Baker. 'They have it on radar. That's what he's talking to them about now.'
'So what happens?' asked Eliot. 'When the plane lands, they arrest him?'
Baker looked at Seitz.
Seitz said, 'They'll do whatever it takes.'
05:55
The noise was driving Snake crazy. He decided to try to close the door. Facing the cockpit, he walked backward slowly toward the rear of the plane.
05:45
Baker pulled Seitz aside, close to where Greer was talking on the special phone.
'What do you mean, 'Whatever it takes'?' asked Baker.
'Just what I said.'
Baker stared at Seitz. A few feet away, Greer was saying, 'Has that been cleared? Can I talk to ... Sorry, I didn't realize. Yes, sir. I understand, sir. Yes, sir, they've acquired it.'
'Who's acquired what?' Baker asked Seitz.
'Keep it down,' said Seitz, nodding toward Anna.
'It's fighter jets, isn't it?' said Baker, his voice low. 'From Homestead. You're gonna shoot this plane down, aren't you?'
Seitz said, 'Whatever it takes.'
05:12
Snake was backing slowly toward the rear of the plane, keeping his eye on the pilot. He was now even with the third row from the last. And now he was even with the second from the last. One more step, and he'd be right next to Monica and Matt; he'd see them for sure. Monica saw she was going to have no choice.
04:52
'We got no choice,' said Greer. Baker was right in his face. They were talking quietly, so Anna and Eliot couldn't hear.
'There are innocent people on that plane,' said Baker. 'This woman's daughter is on there.'
'With a nuclear weapon that's gonna go off,' said Greer. 'If it goes off in Freeport, many innocent people die,
