The Dark Trinity (Book 1): Shuffle Read Online Free PDF Page A

hurling
through the large window.
    He didn't have a chance, the fan embedded into the center of
his body lengthwise, from pelvis all the way to the top of his head. The
inertia thrust his lifeless body backwards twenty feet, stopping at the
people-mover. Melissa screamed as her father's body twitched reflexively.
     
    ****************
     
    "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph." Blake mumbled as he
watched the British Airways flight tear itself apart as it moved down the
runway. The ATCT was in a tense state when Delta348 had gone down. Now that
Charlie729 was gone, along with a good part of the terminal, the ATCT was in
full-blown panic. Phones continued to ring off the hook. Controllers spoke into
the receivers; shouting orders and seeking information around both plane
crashes.
    "Sir, I have distress calls coming in from at least a
dozen other inbound contacts," Neil said, with a nervous quiver.
    "What are the nature of the emergencies?" Blake
asked. A tightness in his chest wrapped around his torso like a vice. I
better not have a goddamn heart attack three days from retirement, he
thought.
    “Unknown, sir. But more maydays are coming in by the minute.
Tim's already logged seven since Charlie729 went down."
    "Have we heard back yet from the FAA?"
    "No, sir. We've been having trouble getting through. It
looks like there have been several other emergencies at other airports around
the country," Neil replied.
    "Sir, we have inbound craft on a collision vector!"
a junior controller yelled from the far side of the control room.
    "I want everybody to divert all inbound traffic to
Worcester, Manchester, or Providence ASAP," Blake commanded. "We need
to get as many birds clear as we can before we lose more."
    No sooner had Blake barked the command, a fireball flared
about a hundred yards west of the tower and about three hundred feet above the
Earth.
    "Sir, we have collision! I repeat, we have
collision!" the newbie yelled.
    "No shit, Sherlock. Neil, get the fucking FAA on the
phone! I don't care how many dicks you have to suck, you get them on the line!
Tim, make the call to FEMA, we need emergency aid on-site yesterday!"
Blake issued the orders while fixing his gaze on the burning, falling wreckage
of the two planes that had hit each other. Another noise caught his attention.
He turned and stared down runway 33R to see a 747 belly-flop onto the asphalt,
the landing gears never making it out of the gear bays. Sparks flew as the jet
scraped along, igniting the engines, blowing the wings clear off. A gust of
fire billowed out behind the craft, but the body of the plane remained intact.
It screeched to a halt a mere fifty feet from the tarmac, flames burning where
the wings used to be.
    Another explosion rocked the tower, as a smaller 737 seemed
to have just dropped from the sky, landing close to the ATCT. Acrid smoke from
the burning jet fuel rose up and blew towards the tower, enveloping it in a
blanket of darkness, obscuring all view of the runways.
    "I need answers people and I need them now!" Blake
demanded. His patience was out and his nerve was wavering. This couldn't be
happening. But it was. It was real. Not a dream. Not a nightmare.
    Neil approached Blake and placed his hand upon his shoulder.
"Sir, you're gonna want to take a look at this."
    They walked over to Neil's station, the radar screen
depicting a frightening scene. Blips on the screen moving and then
disappearing. "Sir, I've been taking a look at the aircraft that have
crashed, as well as those that have issued distress calls," Neil
explained. "It turns out that every flight is an international flight; all
coming into the country."
    "You're sayin' that there isn't a single domestic on the
list?" Blake could taste the bile in his stomach rise into his throat. Could
this be a terrorist attack?
    "Affirmative, sir. All in-bound flights in distress
originated from Heathrow, Frankfurt, Dublin, and Charles de Gaulle." Neil
was trying to remain calm, but it was obvious that he was