Page 126 (1/2)

Soo area The electrical display see the walls and ceiling see down Dark spots appeared in the shiht There was one last, brilliant burp of radiance The interior lights blinked on

A second later, Zavala's voice came over the speaker with a welcome announcement:

"The instruments and controls are back on," he reported

Austin removed his arm from around Karla's shoulders and went over to check the control panel He orried that the surge of static electricity that had put on such a draht have burned out the switches To his relief, everything was in order

Karla had noticed a change in the light coate She pressed her nose against the Plexiglas and called the others over Austin peered out aand saw that they were through the overcast Blue ocean was visible through the vaporous tatters of low-lying clouds A flickering brilliance froht his eye Instead of the underside of the cloud cover, he saw an aurora of swirling whites, blues and purple that formed a luminous canopy The very heavens see stor simultaneous bolts

The plane had h the electrical barrier in one piece, but they weren't out of the woods yet Although the electrical assault was fading, the farther they dropped below the clouds, the plane was being buffeted by gut-wrenching turbulence Power-packed winds slammed into the 747 from every direction Despite its massive size, the plane pitched and yawed like a kite on a string

The buffeting was only a softening up The plane was slausts The cargo space reverberated with loud bangs as the winds ha a road full of deep potholes Just as it see would pop every rivet in the plane, the blows became less violent and less frequent Then they stopped completely

"Are you all right back there?" Zavala said

"We're fine, but you need a new set of shock absorbers"

"I need a new set of teeth," Zavala said

"Tell the pilot that was a nice save Are the wings still attached?"

"He says thanks, and who needs wings anyhow?"

"That's reassuring Can you see the ship?"

"Not yet Still a few clouds" There was a pause, and when Zavala's voice came back on Austin could hear the excitement in it "Look to the port side, Kurt Around nine o'clock"

Austin looked out theand saw the liner below The ship looked like a toy boat in the ocean There was no wake, which confirht show the plane had encountered The ship was stationary, and the electroun