Flight Of Fate

Chapter One - Crash And Burn

Kira smiled at the elderly couple in front of her as she side-stepped around them. She swerved round a group of teenagers who were laughing heartily over something on one of their cell phones. Hoards of people were dotted around; either in groups or standing solitary. A constant low murmer of noise filled the vast space as they conversed. The airport was crowded, with travellers and their baggage spread out as far as the eye could see.

She adjusted her bag to a more comfortable position on her shoulder as she approached the check-in desk, where an immaculately made up assistant beamed a smile in her direction.

"Good morning, ma'am. My name is Alex," she chirped. "May I see your ticket?"

"Of course," she replied, slid it out of her pocket and pushed it across the gleaming desk.

Alex checked the details off against the computer screen set slightly to her side. "Everything's in order, ma'am," she informed her. "If you need anything at all, please ask any staff member. Here is your boarding pass, and I hope you have a very pleasant flight." Another smile accompanied her words, and Kira silently concluded that even the sun would seem dim in comparison.

"Thankyou, Alex," she said with a smile of her own. She took the pass and folded it to fit it in her pocket.

"Have a nice day," the assistant said in a sing-song voice as she turned to leave.

"You too." Her eyebrows lifted briefly as she walked across the highly polished floor, wondering how on earth the woman could work an eight hour day with her smile plastered on to such a degree. Sure, customer service and all that, but her expression could have put the Joker to shame.

She climbed the steps to the upper level which housed a comfortable-looking coffee shop. Like the rest of the airport, it was packed. She had to climb over several small mountains of luggage as she made her way to the serving counter, and requested a black coffee. Within a couple of minutes, she was squashed into a seat next to the window, where she had an amazing view of the various aircraft landing. Eventually she became rather bored, and turned her gaze to assess her surroundings.

Music played from the sound system in the corner of the coffee shop. Passengers of all races and ages congregated throughout the area. Cell phones chirped. Messages beeped. Laptops pinged. Slices of conversation drifted past her ears. A child was crying hysterically down on the lower floor. An elderly woman slowly made her way towards the check-in desk leaning heavily on her tripod walker. Somebody went past the coffee shop handing out flyers. A mother emerged out of the perfume store with two youngsters trailing after her, the bag over her arm chock-full of what was no doubt highly expensive perfume. A burst of rambunctious laughter from a group of young men made her jump slightly. Attendants drifted through the crowds as they picked up dropped garbage and tidied around the passengers. The lines at the check-in desk grew more each time she glanced down.

Heaving a sigh, she took a sip of her coffee and took her book out of her shoulder bag. She turned to the third chapter and blocked out the chaos around her as she settled back to where she'd left off the previous night. The author had managed to intrigue her as he'd written about a serial killer rampaging around the streets of Chicago, leaving a trail of gruesome slaughter in his wake. Not knowing who the murderer was, Kira had already mentally chalked up a few guesses.

An hour later, she blinked and lifted her gaze from the pages as an overly-cheerful announcement echoed over the tannoy system, calling all passengers for flight Charlie Tango 3957 to proceed to Gate thirteen. Several clusters of people around her rose from their seats and began collecting their belongings.

She folded the page in her book and slid it back into her bag as she rose to her feet. Murmering a soft apology to the man beside her, she stepped around him and walked out of the coffee shop and along towards gate thirteen. Other passengers streamed around her along the way as they all turned along the long walkway heading along to the departure gate.