As she passed the console, she saw Teddy Rawley. He gave her a wave, but didn't approach her. He was busy; undoubtedly he'd heard that Flight Test was scheduled three days from now, and he would want to be sure the electrical test was performed correctly.

She waved to Teddy, but he had already turned away. Casey headed back to her office.

Outside, it was growing dark, the sky a deep blue. She walked back toward Administration, hearing the distant rush of take-offs from Burbank airport. On the way, she saw Amos Peters, shuffling toward his car, carrying a stack of papers under his arm. He looked back and saw her.

"Hey, Casey."

"Hi, Amos."

He dropped his papers with a thud on the roof of his car, bent to unlock the door. "I hear they're putting the screws to you."

"Yeah." She was not surprised he knew. The whole plant probably knew by now. It was one of the first things she had learned at Norton. Everyone knew everything, minutes after it happened.

"You going to do the interview?"

"I said I would."

"You going to say what they want you to say?"

She shrugged.

"Don't get high and mighty," he said. "These are television people. They're beneath pond scum on the evolutionary scale. Just lie. Hell with it"

"We'll see."

He sighed. "You're old enough to know how it works," he said. "You going home now?"

"Not for a while."

"I wouldn't be hanging around the plant at night Casey."

"Why not?"

"People are upset" Amos said. "Next few days, it'd be better to go home early. You know what I mean?"

"I'll bear it in mind."

"Do that Casey. I mean it"

He got in his car, and drove off.

Norma was gone. The QA office was deserted. The cleaning crews had already started in the back offices; she heard a tinny portable radio playing "Run Baby Run."

Casey went to the coffeemaker, poured a cup of cold coffee, and took it into her own office. She flicked on the lights, stared at the stack of papers waiting on her desk.

She sat down and tried not to be discouraged by the way things were going. She had twenty hours until the interview, and her leads were falling apart

Just lie. Hell with it.

She sighed. Maybe Amos was right

She stared at the papers, pushing aside the picture of John Chang and his smiling family. She didn't know what to do, except go through the papers. And check.

She again came to the charts of the flight plan. Again, they teased her. She remembered she had had an idea, just before Marder called her the night before. She had a feeling… but what was it?

Whatever it was, it was gone now. She set the flight plan aside, including the General Declaration (Outward/Inward) that had been filed with it which listed the crew:

John Zhen Chang, Captain 5/7/51 M

Leu Zan Ping, First Officer 3/11/59 M

Richard Yong, First Officer 9/9/61 M

Gerhard Reimann, First Officer 7/23/49 M

Thomas Chang, First Officer 6/29/70 M

Henri Marchand, Engineer 4/25/69 M

Robert Sheng, Engineer 6/13/62 M

Harriet Chang, Flight Attendant 5/12/77 F

Linda Ching, Flight Attendant 5/18/76 F

Nancy Morley, Flight Attendant 7/19/75 F

Kay Liang, Flight Attendant 6/4/67 F

John White, Flight Attendant 1/30/70 M

M. V. Chang, Flight Attendant 4/1/77 F

Sha Van Hao, Flight Attendant 3/13/73 F

Y. Jiao, Flight Attendant 11/18/76 F

Harriet King, Flight Attendant 10/10/75 F

B. Choi, Flight Attendant 11/18/76 F

Yee Chang, Flight Attendant 1/8/74 F

She paused, sipped the cold coffee. There was something odd about this list she thought. But she couldn't put her finger on it

She set the list aside.

Next a transcript of communications from Southern California Air Traffic Approach Control. As usual it was printed without punctuation, the transmission to 545 intermixed with transmissions to several other aircraft:

0543:12 UAH198 three six five ground thirty five thousand

0543:17 USA2585 on frequency again changed radios sorry about that

0543:15 ATAC one nine eight copy

0543:19 AAL001 fuel remaining four two zero one

0543:22 ATAC copy that two five eight five no problem we have you now

0543:23 TPA545 this is transpacific five four five we have an emergency

0543:26 ATAC affirmative zero zero one

0543:29 ATAC go ahead five four five

0543:31 TPA545 request priority clearance for emergency landing in los angeles

0543:32 AAL001 down to twenty nine thousand

0543:35 ATAC okay five four five understand you request priority clearance to land

0543:40 TPA545 affirmative

0543:41 ATAC say the nature of your emergency

0543:42 UAH 198 three two one ground thirty two thousand

0543:55 AALOOl holding two six nine

0544:05 TPA545 we have a passenger emergency we need ambulances on the ground i would say thirty or forty ambulances maybe more

0544:10 ATAC tpa five four five say again are you asking for forty ambulances

0544:27 UAH 198 turn one two four point niner

0544:35 TPA545 affirmative we encountered severe turbulence during flight we have injuries of passengers and flight crew

0544:48 ATAC copy one nine eight good day

0544:50 ATAC transpacific i copy your ground request for forty ambulances

0544:52 UAH198 thank you

Casey puzzled over the exchanges. Because they suggested very erratic behavior by the pilot.

For example, the Transpacific incident had occurred shortly after five in the morning. At that time, the plane was still in radio contact with Honolulu ARINC. With so many injuries, the captain could have reported an emergency to Honolulu.

But he hadn't done that.

Why not?

Instead, the pilot continued to Los Angeles. And he had waited until he was about to land before reporting an emergency.

Why had he waited so long?

And why would he say the incident had been caused by turbulence? He knew that wasn't true. The captain had told the stewardess the slats deployed. And she knew, from Ziegler's audio, that the slats had deployed. So why hadn't the pilot announced it? Why lie to approach control?

Everyone agreed John Chang was a good pilot. So what was the explanation for his behavior? Was he in shock? Even the best pilots sometimes behaved oddly in a crisis. But there seemed to be a pattern here-almost a plan. She looked ahead:

0544:59 ATAC do you need medical personnel too what is the nature of the injuries you are bringing in

0545:10 TPA545 i am not sure

0545:20 ATAC can you give us an estimate

0545:30 TPA545 i am sorry no an estimate is not possible

0545:32 AALOOl two one two niner clear

0545:35 ATAC is anyone unconscious

0545:40 TPA545 no i do not think so but two are dead

The captain seemed to report the fatalities as an afterthought. What was really going on?

0545:43 ATAC copy zero zero one

0545:51 ATAC tpa five four five what is the condition of your aircraft

0545:58 TPA545 we have damage to the passenger cabin minor damage only

Casey thought, Minor damage only? That cabin had sustained millions of dollars of damage. Hadn't the captain gone back to look for himself? Did he not know the extent of the damage? Why would he say what he did?

0546:12 ATAC what is the condition of the flight deck

0546:22 TPA545 flight deck is operational fdau is nominal

0546:31 ATAC copy that five four five what is the condition of your flight crew

0546:38 TPA545 captain and first officer in good condition

At that moment one of the first officers had been covered in blood. Again, did the pilot not know? She glanced at the rest of the transcript, then pushed it aside. She'd show it to Felix tomorrow, and get his opinion.