Adventure In An Aircraft

Chapter 4

The captain of the aircruiser drank coffee from her favorite mug, the mug that had the had the #1 BOSS printed on the mug while she sat on her chair as she turned to her right to look at the security cameras. A third of the cameras where inactive, probably from being cut off, though in one of the cameras that were functioning caught footage on one of the corridors, she glared at the tall muscular man walking by the corridor. Only the back of his head was seen when he walked by the corridor. Hmmm... I've never seen him in my aircraft before.
"He appears to be too muscular to be any of my workers." Vargas muttered before she pressed the button turn on the microphone. "Bonnie, Clyde, Electra, Ember, Henry, Hermina, please come into my office."

They arrived to her office in a matter of minutes. Bonnie and Clyde sat infornt of Vargas desk, facing their superior while the others sat on the couch. Vargas leaned in to unplug the microphone and the security camera that was hidden in sight within her office, before she sat erect, steepling her fingers. "The reason why I called you here is that someone is trying to sabotage the aircraft right under our noses."
"Who would do such a thing?" Hermina asked her.
"I'm not sure." The captain admitted.
"It's probably Johnny coming back for revenge. After all the times you demoted him and finally got him fired. I wouldn't be surprised if that creep came crawling back." Ember surmised with an irked expression.
"It's not him this time. If he was the one behind it, we would've caught him dead in his tracks by now." Vargas replied.
"It doesn't make any sense. If the man you saw was the one interfering with the security cameras. He could've taken control of the aircraft by now." Electra commented.
"You might be onto something. If that man is only here as a lookout, he could be here covering for someone else to gain time." Vargas looked at the wavy haired employee.
"Then who is he looking for?" Henry queried.
"The guy who's trying to hack the airship!" Electra retorted.
"I know that, but what I'm trying to say is. If the man the boss found is looking out for someone... then he must be expecting someone who works here in the airship. Think about it! There is only one way anyone qould be able to hack the airship's mainframe. They had to gain access to the control room but it order to do it they would need the key to the room to get in. The question is: who has the key?" Henry asked.
"Hate to break it to you, but you're looking at the problem in the wrong angle. The question is not “who has it?” it's how are they going to obtain it? There are a lot of ways those hackers can get in without the need of using a key. They could send someone as a decoy to get it and only the boss knows who has access." Electra countered, their captain was mildly impressed.
"Not bad, that's quite impressive I might add." The captain admitted as she kept a neutral expression.
"It is?!" Ember, Electra and Hermina queried in unison while Henry was more impressed with the way the three of them reacted in one accord than the fact that their superior openly complemented a plan.
"Yes, the only way that the hacker can't get access to the control room is to snatch the keys before they can get a hold of them." Vargas stated before Clyde whispered into Bonnie's ear.
“I think the boss has a few screws loose.” Bonnie looked at Clyde at the corner of her eye as she raised an eyebrow behind her sunglasses.
"If you made a copy of the keys, who did you gave them to?" Electra asked her.
"Simple! I gave the copy to the redhead. The problem is that I forgot her name." Vargas responded casually as if it was natural for her to forget names.
"WHAT?!" The employees shouted in unison, except Ember.
"Figures." The avid smoker grumbled.
"And you people thought being in charge of an aircruiser of over 600 passengers was an easy job." The boss mentioned in a dismissive tone.

Blair snatched Gail's key to the control room while the redhead was eating. "I'll be heading for my room if you need me." The purple haired girl hinted while her friend hummed in agreement while she was eating her lunch. She headed down the hallway while Gail ate on the table by herself.

"Would you mind getting to the point on what you really called us here for?" Ember questioned in a tone that made Electra scold her, or to be more precise, shout Ember's name angrily.
"Thanks for reminding me. Since that large man is on the loose somewhere. I suggest that you stay on your guard, starting with the power source. So Ember, you and your coworkers will be working overtime to check on the engines for damages. No one will get in or out unless I say otherwise." The captain steepled her fingers she pointed at Ember while she in turn gave an indifferent look.
"Fine, whatever." Ember clipped.
"Electra, you will get Mrs. Sinclair to lock the power grid and get your coworkers out as soon as possible, but not until you activate the power reserve. Tell them they get the day off." The boss instructed, to which Electra complied until she heard the last sentence.
"Yes, boss. Wait, what?!" But before she could do anything, Vargas was giving the order to Hermina.
"Hermina, tell Doug and the rest of the crew to watch out for a tall muscular man."
"Yes, ma'am." Hermina obliged.
"Henry, you and your coworkers from maintenance will be busy fixing the security cameras." The captain instructed.
"Aye, aye, captain." Henry gave an awkward salute.
"Good!" Vargas gave a nod. "And as for you two..." She pointed her aged index finger at the pilots. "You have to split up."
"What?!" The both said in unison.
"One of you has to go find her, she's gone AWOL and I can't find her anywhere." Vargas said, but within her mind she thought, “Out of the hundreds of workers I had over the years, she is the only one who is capable of getting out of my sight.” Vargas grabbed her mug. "And when I say one of you, I mean you Clyde." She said before drinking from her mug with one hand and pointing at him with the other.
"WHAT?! Why me?!" The pilot protested before his superior glared at him, balling her calloused hand around the mug handle.
"For two reasons: First, I don't trust you well enough for you to steer the airship on your own. And second... BECAUSE I SAID SO!!!"