- Calm down. - whispered Mari. The girl cuddled up to her. Mari felt that the girl was trembling, like a transformer for three thousand volts. Suddenly she cried piercingly:

- And who are you !?

Mari said in English something that could be translated:

- A horse in the coat!

Mari led the girl along the aisles feeling like an SS woman who caught a partisan who had to be hung for the act.

- The captain is dead, the co-pilot seems to be dead too. Most of flight attendants were killed. There are victims among the passengers, - Colonel reported to the controller's office- three terrorists are killed.

He could hear from headphones something mad. Somewhere far off flew the F-16 fighter. Colonel realized that at that time there was deciding the fate of the flight and he dripped with cold sweat.

He gave the microphone to the stewardess.

- Mari, we can be shot down. Did you see a famous guy on to the left?

They passed the ranks of the economy class, and really found an elderly senator, probably from New Hampshire. He, in advance, left the business class where the horror began, and disappeared among people. He first pretended not to understand the question, but to speed up the process Dux seized with death grip senator's elbow, and Mari could raise a stiffened senator’s smile. Everybody quickly returned to the cockpit.

- You see, the senator Greg.

Colonel asked to turn on the speakerphone.

- We have the wounded and the dead.

- Ask Russians if they can lend the Jumbo?

Dux felt relieved. Recently, the senator was often shown on TV. If it wasn’t for that, the CIA agents would immediately shoot down the plane. Especially it has smack of the Russians.

- They say that they can.

Suddenly, a flight attendant, who was in a near-unconscious condition, grabbed the sleeve of Mari and yelled:

- I need go to the toilet!

She pushed Mari and convulsively grabbed the handle of the toilet cabin. The co-pilot fell out of there. Having hugged him, she lost unconscious. Mari saw as the Senator’s jaw dropped in astonishment. To his respect, he continued negotiations with the controller's office in unwavering voice.

- We will lend you in the reserve aerodrome.

- How much time do we have left? – Colonel asked by the senator.

- Forty minutes left. Check the sensors. We will instruct you.

*

Suddenly Colonel’s hair stood on end. The second dead pilot stood up. He became unnaturally rolling his eyes on the ceiling, and stopped at Dux with intent mad look and stared straight at Mari’s eyes. She was struck dumb with horror.

- Lieutenant, - he said quietly, - are you okay?

It was scary. With the naked eye it was clear that all movements of the co-pilot were incompatible with life. Right out of the spine there was sticking out a long silver thread, which twisted like a snake, getting into the pilot’s back.

- Is it just that very case - breathed Dux. – probably, I dreamt. Colonel did not even have time to pull out a gun, lying in the pocket of his trousers. The stewardess was literally torn to pieces. The senator wanted to jump out of the window on the ground. Mari screamed as loud as ever, running to the business class at an incredible speed. Colonel realized that he was confronted with something really extraordinary. For a long terrible time, Dux had prepared a gun and had found that he had five cartridges left.

*

Then he also had five cartridges left, when a bear suddenly jumped out from the forest . The boy was nine years old. That year, it was September, there was some disturbance in nature, bears walked in the village, hid behind the village toilets and frightened people at night. The boy asked grandfather Potryasok, who usually mumbled and shook his head, for the old revolver with five bullets. A huge bear was running to him at forty kilometers per hour. Being shocked, the boy shot and killed the bear and when the locals skinned the animal, they were surprised that all the bullets were right in the eye.

In the village, many people hunted squirrels. In the store office they took only the skins of killed animals straight in the eye, for the goods not to be spoiled. After that, for his accuracy, the boy was taken to trade and his uncle Potryasok presented the boy a personal revolver he had got from his ancestor since the civil war.

*

With a superhuman force, like a wounded animal, the werewolf rushed to Colonel, hardly touched him. But it was too late. All the bullets were straight in the werewolf’s eye. By inertia the last broke a half of the panel, hurt the senator with his claws and calmed down. There was a painful silence in the plane. Screeching from pain, the senator was squeaking and the portable radio transmitter was broadcasting something in an unintelligible metallic voice.

- Talk to people. Don’t whining. We have twenty minutes left.

Dux, being slightly stunned, went looking for Mari. He found the Elshtains in the economy class. For some time the three were sitting in silence.

- Tell me – having turned to Thomas, croaked Colonel - what is it?

He pulled out of his pocket something like a syringe and gave him. Thomas began examining the device with a genuine interest:

- And was there something else?

- A silver thread.

Colonel remembered in horror as that snake was digging its fangs into the back of lieutenant. Thomas thought for a long time:

- They seemed to create a concentrated well-run “time fountain”.

Wordily and clearly Thomas explained how that strange long thread can return human’s life.

- It’s a load of rubbish - thought Colonel.

- And if they come to life again? - he cried loud into the ears of the Elshteins.

- Theoretically, it is possible - Thomas frowned.

- Maybe to throw everybody? - Mari asked him.

- I got it. Come on, it's time to land. Can you help?

- Do you know how?

- We will learn at the same time.

The trio moved toward the cockpit. Some of the passengers looked at them with horror, some with inevitably, and others with hope.

- Thomas, you have to look attentively at the dead. If they move, throw them in the hatch.

Colonel noticed that Thomas’ hands were slightly trembling, but he did not pretend.

- A fighter - he thought.

Dux’ mood quickly improved.

"A real life is a takeoff and landing," - he smiled.

*

- I can allow landing only you.

- Are you kidding?

- Yeah, actually I understand only forty percent of what they say in English. Do everything by the instruction. So come on. Do not worry and obey the senator.

The autopilot has been successfully coping with the Boeing. The self-styled crew saw that the white arrow which was shaking on the figure of two hundred before, now slowly started down to a hundred and twenty. Obviously it was nodes. Mentally Colonel imagined as the manager calls a lot of his bosses, as they, drinking hot coffee, decide how to help them. The plane began descending. They were giving a lot of instructions on the radio. Mari listened attentively to their voices, set the slats in motion, using the buttons, toggle switches and rods which were thrust in front of the control rod.

- You are talented and beautiful! - said Colonel.

Mari read attentively a long instruction of the aircraft data on a special plate. She, by herself, found the handle of the chassis mechanism, which was on the right of the center console on the front dashboard, above the left knee of the co- pilot.

It was a drive! The plane shuddered and creaked, buttons showed a successful chassis emission. The autopilot made the plane land. The weather was beautiful and sunny. Colonel sadly remembered the last time he flew from New York a few years ago. The weather was also gorgeous and he stared at the greatest city of his dreams.