It was just another day at the office for air traffic control officer, James Paul. His job had been a little hectic during the past few weeks because of the increasing terror attacks. But, today was relaxed as the flights flying that day were the new hi-tech Boeing 747’s. Completely computerised, they held the fort on their own. All he had to do was monitor their route so they wouldn’t crash with any other plane.

“Sir! Sir!” Samantha from airport services ran in shouting, making him shift his monotonous gaze from the monitor to her tall figure. “I just got this SMS. It’s from Mr. Thomas, your colleague. Here, look,”

‘James, flight XY974 to Rio de Janeiro has been hijacked, help!’

“Tring! Tring!” the phone rang. “It’s from Mr.Thomas.” Samantha said, “Pick it up!” snapped James.

“Everybody, stay where you are. Don’t move!” a gruff voice announced from the phone, it continued “does control tower know about this?”

“No!” a voice replied, “good.” and the line went dead.

“He might have cut it to avoid suspicion,” said Samantha. “Well, do the higher authorities know about this?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, tell them. But don’t create a ruckus. We don’t want the hijackers to know they are discovered.” He said as she hurried off. A plan had begun to form in his mind.

Aboard flight XY974 there was such an eerie calm that the atmosphere itself cried ‘Alarm!’.  All the passengers knew the hijackers meant business and were scared out of their wits to even feel fear. At a window seat sat Mr.Thomas uttering a silent prayer that his cry for help had reached its destination. He had just left for his vacation when this had happened, and the first person who entered his thoughts was James, but calling him was a problem as he always kept his cell off at work. That was when he thought of Sam.

James watched as the senior-most officer at the airport, Mr.Carter rushed i  followed by Sam. “So, What’s the problem?” he demaneded. “Well sir, we just got an SMS followed by a call from a colleague on flight XY974 informing us that it has been hijacked. The SMS might have been a hoax but the call confirmed it. It’s headed to Rio de Janeiro. What should we do?” finished James.