Adelaide Air Traffic Control, Australia
"Qantas eighty-three, descend to two-five, turn right heading two-zero-zero, contact Melbourne Approach, one-three-five-point-two, good'day."
"Adelaide control, Qantas eighty-three, descend two-five, two-zero-zero on the heading, contact Melbourne one-three-five-point-two, roger."
The boards clacked as Alice removed the Qantas marker and threw it in the hole. There were four more aircraft in her control; more to come no doubt. New Year's Eve was always busy with flights trying to get in on time and release their human cargo to grab a drink at home, in a bar or in the airport lounge to ring in the new year.
"Adelaide Traffic, Speedbird one-six, crossing the marker at Tibooburra at three-five-zero, speed three hundred, request clearance to begin descent for a standard approach to Adelaide."
"Speedbird one-six, roger. Descend to two-eight-zero. Make your speed two-eighty, over."
"Descend two-eight-zero, speed two-eighty, Speedbird one-six."
"Hey Alice, could you have at look at your eastern area. I had a Virgin heavy heading east for Sydney that I can't see anymore. It may be just that black-spot we reported last week, but just to be sure."
Jim, Alice's neighbour at the Air Traffic Control centre moved back to his station, already calling other traffic while handing her the board for the plane. On her radar, Alice scanned the east sector, seeing nothing but a hazy line, running north-south across the edge of the screen. With the next sweep, the line seemed to move to the left - westwards - slightly. She slotted the board in her rack and pressed transmit.
"Virgin Heavy, Adelaide Control ... Virgin Heavy, Adelaide Control on one-eight-three-point-five, receive over?"
On the radio, nothing but static answered. The same for the next three attempts.
"Virgin Heavy, Adelaide Control transmitting blind, squawk seven-five-hundred if in distress, over."
"Hey Jim, try Virgin Heavy on one-two-one-point-five, see if he's on the distress frequency."
Behind her, Alice could feel the presence of Lionel Taylor, the control room supervisor, hovering but not interfering, for which she was thankful.
"Adelaide Control, Cathay five-two. I can see navigation lights to port, about twenty miles. Would that be your wayward Virgin, over?"
"Cathay five-two, negative. Believe that to be Speedbird one-six, a British Airways seven-four-seven at thirty miles, over."
"Roger Adelaide Control. Visibility very good here. Looked closer."
"Adelaide Control, Speedbird one-six. We're looking to the east now. No signs of any navigation lights. There's a strange haze though ... pretty striking, glowing golden from ground to er, well, as high I can make out. From north to south..."
"Speedbird one-six, confirm no sign of the Virgin seven-four-seven and you have a haze in sight, roger."
"Adelaide Control, this is Cathay five-two. We can see that haze too, now. Wow. Never seen anything like it before. I reckon it's moving west towards us. Speedbird's about to meet it I think. We can see a line on the ground running north-south. Hold on... hold on. Speedbird's disappeared, we can't see their navigation lights anymore."
"Roger Cathay. Speedbird one-six, Adelaide Control, over."
On her radar, Speedbird 16 had passed the hazy line moving across her screen.
"Speedbird one-six, come in, over..."
Only static sounded in her earphones.
"Cathay five-two, you're about to cross the line. Look for Speedbird on the other side, over."
"Roger Adelaide Control. We're really close now, it's coming towards us fast. The whole sky is glowing, really faint but like nothing I've ever seen. Here we go, it's coming really quick, must be move...."
"Cathay five-two, Adelaide Control...
Cathay five-two...
Cathay five-two..."
On her screen, Speedbird 16 began to fall fast, the rate of descent increasing to the extreme. A second later, the same thing happened to Cathay 52. Alice noticed the commotion to her right for the first time. Panic and confusion were bubbling around the eastern sector's controllers, Lionel shouting instructions and questions. It seemed contact had been lost with everything over the eastern half of Australia.
On her radar, the faint line continued to move west at around fifteen hundred kilometers an hour. It would reach Adelaide in twenty minutes.
"Cathay five-two?
Please?
Oh god..."
YOU ARE READING
Dateline
Science FictionA Novella. It is New Year's Eve, and the world is getting ready to celebrate. But this year, as midnight comes, so does an inexplicably terrifying fate. In a desperate attempt to survive, a group of strangers, brought together by luck and chance, f...
