She shook her head. ‘What?… Who? I… uh — ’ Her mouth wasflapping pointlessly.

‘There’s not much time.’ He looked at a wristwatch. ‘In about ninetyseconds a small explosive charge will detonate midway along the right side ofthe plane. The explosion will knock a hole through the fuselage, the plane will instantlydecompress and roll into a steep dive. Twenty seconds later the starboard wing will sheer off,filling the inside of the plane with aviation fuel, which will ignite.’ He sighed.‘The impact with the woodland below thirty-seven seconds later will kill those whohaven’t already been incinerated.’

Maddy felt the blood drain from her face.

‘I’m sorry,’ he added, ‘but I’m afraid no one will survivethis.’

‘Uh… this is… this is some kind of sick joke, right?’

‘No joke.’ He continued: ‘You alone have achoice. You can choose to live.’

He’s serious. And something about him told her hewasn’t on meds. She found herself gasping, instinctively reaching for her inhaler.‘N-ninety s-seconds? A bomb goes off?’

‘Less than that now.’

Not a whacko, then…

‘Oh God, it’s your b-bomb. What do you want fromus?’

‘No, it’s not mine, and I’m not a terrorist. I just happen to know thisplane will be destroyed by a device. A terrorist group will claim responsibility for ittomorrow morning.’

‘Is there t-time? Could w-we find the bomb and throw itoff?’ she asked, her voice raised in panic. She’d said the ‘b’ alittle too loud and it had carried forward. Several heads up the aisle turned quickly to lookback at her.

He shook his head. ‘Even if there was time, I can’t change events. I can’tchange history. This plane has to go down.’

‘Oh God,’ she whimpered.

‘The only thing I can do is take you off before it does.’

She looked up the plane. More heads were turning. She could hear a rising ripple of voicesand the word ‘bomb’ as a whispered tidal wave rolled from seat row to seatrow.