The Adventures of Starmonia

Chapter Four: Sabotage!

Cloudy glanced desperately up and down the hallway, hoping somebody would come to her rescue. But though she waited and waited for what seemed a long time, no one appeared.

“Fine,” Cloudy thought grimly. “I guess I’ll have to break down the door!”

She hunted around in her purse until she found a hairbrush. She shielded her face with one paw and smashed the glass, shattering it to pieces. She did it again and again until the entire door was lying in pieces at her feet. Carefully picking her way over the glass, she darted down the hallway, back to the lounge.

As she darted through the doorway, she ran into Springtime, who was just coming out of the lounge, a worried expression on her face. Both gasped and recoiled for a moment before they realized who the other was. “It’s you!” both exclaimed at the same time.

“Where have you been?” Springtime exclaimed, frantically hugging her daughter to herself. “We came back to the lounge and you and Arrow and Meta Knight were gone! We were just about to go look for you when you came running into me!”

Cloudy frowned at her. “What took you so long getting back from the restroom?” she demanded.

“We had to wait in a very long line,” Springtime explained. “I was starting to get worried about you and Arrow and went back to the lounge, but you both were gone and Meta Knight wasn’t around. So I freaked out and went back to the restroom and told your father, and we all came back to the lounge and combed every inch of it. Showerstorm thought you might have been hiding or something.”

“Why would I do that?” Cloudy asked sounding genuinely confused. “Besides, it was a complete waste of time to search for me. I wasn’t even in the lobby. I was in the phone booth in the hall parallel to the restrooms.”

“Why were you in a phone booth so long?” Springtime asked. “And who were you calling?”

“I was talking to Scazzarda about some strange guy who was sitting next to me,” Cloudy explained. “He left his luggage right over by the—” She pointed toward the couch, but then gave a sound gasp.

The suitcase had vanished!

“I don’t see any suitcase there,” Springtime said. “Are you sure he was in this lounge and not in a different one?”

“No, this is definitely the one he was in,” Cloudy said. She shifted her purse to her other shoulder. “Let’s ask the flight attendants if they saw anyone that describes the guy who sat next to me.”

The mother and daughter walked over to a flight attendant who stood nearby and Cloudy asked if he had seen anyone describing Sam Danson. The attendant shook his head.

“Some special reason you want to know?” he asked.

“Because someone locked me in the telephone booth and I think it was him!” Cloudy declared.

“What?!” Springtime gasped.

The attendant’s face grew dark. “You mean he locked you in the booth?”

“Yes. I mean no. I mean—I don’t know if it was him or not,” Cloudy said in frustration. “I never saw the guy.”

“Then what makes you say it’s him?” the attendant demanded. “You can’t just accuse someone of locking you up when you don’t even know who did it. I suggest you drop this crazy charge or else you’re gonna give this airport a bad name.”

Cloudy was getting annoyed with the attendant. “If you’re not watching whom you let come into your airport, I’d say you’re giving this place a bad name of your own accord! That guy is dangerous and he needs to be stopped from going on the flight!”

The attendant grew pale. “Wh-Why do you say he’s dangerous? Do you know him?”

“No, but the woman I was talking to on the phone—Scazzarda—knows him, I think.” She heard footsteps behind her and looked over her shoulder at Meta Knight, who had just joined them. Cloudy pointed to him. “She’s his mother.”

“Well,” the attendant said hesitantly, “I never saw anyone like you described, but then again, I wasn’t standing here very long either. I’ll ask around and let you know what I find.”

As soon as the flight attendant was gone, a young woman sitting on a chair nearby cleared her throat loudly. Cloudy looked over at her. “What is it?” the puppy asked.

“Ah, I think I know of whom you speak,” the woman said. She leaned over and whispered, “Are you looking for the man with the tattoos on his arm? The one who looks like he’s been in jail?”

“Yes,” Cloudy confirmed. “I was talking with him about twenty minutes ago. He said his name was Sam Danson.”

The woman snorted and clasped her hands in her lap. “Sam Danson—ha! A bunch of baloney! His name is Nathaniel Osen.”

“Nathaniel Osen?” Springtime repeated. “I never heard of him.”

“You know him then?” Cloudy asked the woman.

“Everyone knows him. He’s a dangerous criminal, he is,” the woman chattered on. “Broke into someone’s house once when he was twelve and stole some silver miniatures. Got put in juvenile detention for three years. When he was sixteen, he was let out and then stayed out o’ trouble for a while. But when he was twenty, he shot his girlfriend and was sentenced for nine years in prison. He’d be around thirty-seven or so now.”

“Where’d he go?”

The woman shrugged. “Dunno. Hurried out of that there nearby lounge and I never saw him after that.”

“But his suitcase is gone,” Cloudy protested. “And when he left, the suitcase was still there, so he must have come back and taken it.”

The woman shrugged again, an amused twinkle in her eye. “All I’m a-sayin’ is, he never came back. And I was sittin’ right here the whole time.”

“Thanks for the information,” Springtime said gratefully, then steered her daughter back to the lounge. The others looked up as they entered.

“The guy’s gone,” Springtime told them. “He never came back.”

“But that’s not possible,” Cloudy said. “He had to have come back for his suitcase. I know it was here when I left.” She walked over to the couch and began examining it, snuffing carefully around as the others looked on. After a minute, she looked up at them. “The suitcase was here,” she repeated, almost to herself.

Meanwhile, Sniper had wandered over to the lone lounge window and looked through it. He was admiring the view of the terminal when he happened to look down and see footprints in the soft earth below. “Hey, guys,” he called. “Come look at this.”

The group walked over to the window. “What’s the matter, Sniper?” Yodi asked.

“Nothing. I just saw these footprints,” he explained, and gestured to them. He scanned the entire terminal, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. There was no one around except for a few flight attendants.

“And look!” Cloudy exclaimed, pointing to two thin parallel lines beside the footprints. “Those look like they were made by the wheels of a suitcase!”

Springtime looked at her daughter. “Are you saying,” she said in amazement, “that he sneaked outside somehow, climbed in through the lounge window, brought his suitcase outside, and then ran off?”

“It’s not implausible,” Showerstorm said. “He could have made his escapade that way.”

“If he’s gone, no use trying to look for him,” Springtime sighed.

Cloudy scowled. “If I ever get my paws on that guy, he’s gonna pay for locking me in the booth. Which reminds me, I need to pay for the broken glass door on that thing.”

“Excuse me?” Springtime said.

Cloudy hurriedly explained the situation and Springtime said she would pay for the damage herself. “I’ll go do that real quick, and then all of you come meet me at Gate Twelve,” Springtime called.

“No, wait!” Cloudy exclaimed, her eyes wide. “We-We can’t! Miss Scazzarda warned me not to get on the flight with that guy! She said he was dangerous!”

“Oh, rubbish,” Springtime said. “He likely already left the airport. I doubt he’s gonna come on our flight. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.” Then she hurried off.

Ten minutes later, they were all huddled together at Gate Twelve and listened for their boarding group to be called. When it was, Springtime announced, “That’s out flight, people. Get your luggage together and follow me.”

Showerstorm again collected passports as well as boarding passes and presented them to the gate agent. When he had scrutinized them, he handed them back and said, “You’re good.”

“Stay together, children!” Showerstorm shouted as he scurried up the jetway and into the plane. They found their seats, stowed their luggage in the overhead compartments above their seats, then sat down and buckled up. Cloudy’s brother and Zach sat in one row with Showerstorm, and Springtime, Miriam, Nika, Eloise, and Star sat in a second row behind the boys. Meta Knight, Arrow, and Cloudy sat in a third row with some people they didn’t recognize.

Cloudy studied the others who boarded the plane. But although she looked and looked, she found no one who resembled Nathaniel Osen. Maybe he’s in disguise, she thought uneasily, shifting in her seat.

The pilot climbed into the cockpit and started the engines. The vibration buzzed in Cloudy’s ears and made her head feel funny.

“Here we go!” Miriam cried as the plane began taxiing across the terminal and rose off the ground. It went higher and higher into the sky until they were above the clouds. Cloudy, who was seated right next to the window, looked down and saw the trees and rivers far down below them. They seemed very tiny.

“Isn’t this fun?” Nika asked Eloise.

“Yes, it is,” Eloise agreed.

“I love flying!” Sniper cheered.

“Me too,” Sharkell added.

Cloudy didn’t say anything. She kept looking over her seat back for Nathaniel Osen, but didn’t see him. She looked over the seat in front of her to see if he was in front, but still didn’t spy him. Meta Knight, seated right next to Cloudy, noticed her looking around and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Uh, nothing,” Cloudy said quickly, sitting back in her seat. “Just exploring.” No use worrying him, she thought.

Meta Knight didn’t seem totally convinced, but decided to let the matter be. He looked away out the opposite window and sighed. Cloudy heard the sigh and turned to him. “Is something wrong?” she wondered.

“No.”

Cloudy shook her head. “Yes, there is,” she protested. “What is it?”

“It is nothing, Cloudy.”

“Meta Knight,” Cloudy said, softening her tone, “you can tell me anything. We’re friends, you know. If something’s bothering you, you can let me know.”

Meta Knight shook his head. “Nothing, Cloudy. It is nothing. I am just thinking. You need not worry about me.”

Cloudy frowned and looked out the window again, admiring the view from the air. As she did so, she had a dream.

But it wasn’t a real dream because she was not asleep, nor was it a hallucination. In her mind’s eye, she saw a huge gray jet, all of its passengers screaming in fear, careening toward a wide expanse of ocean and slamming into it, killing everyone on impact. The pilot had been knocked unconscious and thrown out of the plane, and the controls were take over by a red-eyed man with demonic tattoos on his arms and black hair. Right before the plane crashed, he jumped out of the cockpit and parachuted safely into the water, far, far away from the wreck, leaving its mangled victims behind.

“Oh!” Cloudy cried, shaking her head to clear away the horrible vision.

Meta Knight gave her a look of concern. “Is something wrong, Cloudburst?”

Cloudy stared at him, trying to deduce her odd dream. “Are you real?” she asked.

“What kind of question is that?” he asked.

In a whisper, Cloudy told him her weird vision. When she finished, all he said was, “I would not take that dream lightly. Dreams can come true, no matter how farfetched they seem.”

Meanwhile, Nika was playing a dress-up game on her phone. “Hey, Eloise, do you think I should dress my character in the blue denim or the red ski—”

She never finished the sentence, for at that moment, the plane rocked violently, causing Nika to jolt forward and the phone to fall from her hand. “Whoa!” Nika cried out in alarm.

Eloise steadied her sister and bent down to retrieve the phone, but it was out of her reach. Her seatbelt wouldn’t let her bend down any more than she was able to, so she unbuckled it.

“Eloise, buckle up,” Springtime said sternly.

“I have to get Nika’s phone,” Eloise said, bending forward to grab it. However, another violent rock sent Eloise flying out of her seat and onto the floor.

“Ouch!” Eloise cried.

“Eloise!” Nika gasped.

“Sit down and buckle up now!” Springtime commanded sharply, a tone of fear in her voice.

“But Nika’s phone!” Eloise insisted. She swooped down and grabbed it, then handed it to her twin. “Here, Nika.”

“Thanks.”

Another rock sent Eloise sprawling facefirst onto the floor. Angrily, the young girl scrambled to her feet and stood up straight, then yelled, “Hey, Mr. Pilot, can’t you control this dumb plane?!”

“Shut up and sit down!” Miriam hissed.

“We are experiencing some technical difficulties with the plane,” the pilot said calmly over the intercom. “I’m asking everyone to please be seated and have their seatbelts on.”

Elose, grumbling to herself, sat down and buckled up. “Honestly, pilots these days don’t have a clue about how to fly a plane! They think they can just jump into the cockpit and take over the controls. . .”

Another jolt startled everyone in the plane. Then Eloise heard something odd. It sounded like something was the matter with the engines.

“Hey, what’s happening?” Nika exclaimed.

Cloudy heard the commotion in the backseat and turned to look over her seat back. “What’s going on?” Arrow wondered.

“I think something’s wrong with the plane,” Cloudy replied.

Meta Knight suddenly shuddered. Cloudy, alarmed, turned to him. “What is it?” she asked.

Arrow’s eyes widened. “Uh-oh,” he muttered.

Cloudy was confused. What was Arrow referring to? The she knew what was wrong. She heard one engine conk out, then the other! They had no power!

“What happened?” a child asked.

“The engines stopped running!” a woman exclaimed.

“Oh, no!” a man shouted. “We’re going to crash!”

A few people screamed loudly and the quiet tenseness dissolved into extreme pandemonium and panic.

“Crash?!” Cloudy cried out, terrified now.

Arrow was scared too. “W-We’re gonna crash?” he exclaimed.

Springtime had heard her youngest daughter’s remark. “This is bad!” she said to the girls. “We’re going to crash!”

Miriam screamed. “No, we can’t!” she wailed. “I’m scared!”

The girls spread the news to Showerstorm and the boys. They were just as scared as the girls, but tried not to show it. “Maybe we can make it,” Showerstorm said quietly to his wife.

The pilot’s voice came again over the intercom. “Everyone keep your seatbelts on!” he called. “I’m going to see if we can make it down without crashing! Brace yourself for impact!”

The plane suddenly began its descent at full speed. The passengers’ faces showed pure terror and a little girl was crying. Cloudy held her breath, waiting for the landing.

Then the pilot shouted, “Oh, no! Something’s wrong with the landing gear! We can’t land! We’re going to crash!”

Meta Knight gasped and Nika and Eloise screamed fearfully, clinging to one another while Miriam cried. Cloudy was scared as well, but tried to remain calm. Panicking would do no good in a situation like this.

Over the general chaos in the passenger section, Cloudy heard the pilot exclaim, “Hey, who are you? Get out of the cockpit!”

“Sure, after you get out,” a familiar, cruel masculine voice said. Cloudy’s blood froze. That voice—why did it sound so familiar? She searched her memory for voices like that and came up with only one result—Nathaniel Osen.

He must have sneaked into the cockpit when all the passengers were distracted! she thought with dismay.

Then came the sound of a punch over the intercom and a grunt from the pilot, then silence. Cloudy wondered what was happening and peered out the window, trying to see toward the front of the plane, when she saw a figure falling from the plane and into the water below. It was the pilot!

“OH MY GOSH, THE PILOT JUST FELL INTO THE WATER!!!!” Cloudy shrieked at the top of her lungs.

Terrified screams of alarm and panic rose arose from the passengers. Suddenly, the plane made a nosedive right for the water!

“Oh, no!” Springtime cried.

“Help!!” screamed Miriam.

“Someone’s trying to kill us!” a woman shrieked.

“I’m gonna see who’s in that cockpit!” a man shouted, unbuckling his seatbelt.

“Stay where you are!” Cloudy screamed at him.

The plane approached the water at a fast speed and Cloudy’s ears were filled the screams and cries of all the passengers. Meta Knight shut his eyes and Arrow barked in alarm.

“Hold on!” Nika yelled, grasping her sister’s hands.

CRASH!!!

The plane slammed into the water hard and flipped. The sound of alarms ringing and people screaming and glass shattering filled Cloudy’s ears, and then everything went black before her eyes.