Free Blind Panic by Graham Masterton Page A

been holding up a hundred-pound barbell for an hour and had just been allowed to put it down. “I don’t think I could have managed it without this automatic landing gizmo.”
    “You’re right,” said Captain Sherman. “I certainly wouldn’t like to belittle what you just did, but without ALS you would have probably killed the lot of us.”
    “Oh,” said Tyler. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
    “No offense intended, Mr. Jones. Just being realistic.”
    Outside on the runway, on both sides of the aircraft, they had been joined by fire trucks and ambulances with flashing red lights. The cabin crew had opened the doors and deployedthe emergency chutes, and the first of the passengers were sliding down to the runway.
    A sandy-haired man in white shirtsleeves appeared in the cabin doorway, accompanied by the senior flight attendant. He smelled strongly of D&G aftershave. “Captain Sherman? My name’s George O’Donnell, assistant operations manager. The tower informed us about your vision difficulty.”
    Captain Sherman didn’t turn around. “It is not ‘vision difficulty,’ Mr. O’Donnell. I’ve been struck blind, somehow, and so has my crew. This gentleman very bravely assisted us to bring the bird down.”
    George O’Donnell reached across and shook Tyler’s hand. “It’s deeply appreciated, sir. Believe me, AMA will be showing you their gratitude.”
    “Don’t worry about that,” said Tyler. “All I want to do is get out of here.”
    “Well, we’d prefer it if you didn’t just yet. Not until all of the passengers have been deplaned. We don’t really want them to see the flight crew being assisted off the aircraft because they’ve gone blind. Who knows what kind of legal mess we’d have on our hands if that happened.”
    “With all respect, Mr. O’Donnell, I’m not blind, and I just want to get the hell off of this plane.”
    “I realize that, sir. But there are media people around, and we wouldn’t want you talking to them before we’ve had a full debriefing.”
    “You mean before you’d had the chance to make absolutely sure that this wasn’t AMA’s fault? Or if it was AMA’s fault, how you’re going to explain it away?”
    “There’s no need to take that attitude, sir. Like I say, we’re deeply grateful for what you’ve done. You’re a hero. But it’s my job to think about the airline’s reputation and to make sure that passengers continue to choose AMA with complete confidence.”
    He laid his hand on one of Captain Sherman’s epaulets and said, “We have a paramedics team waiting for you andyour crew outside, Captain. Just as soon as the passengers are clear, they’ll be taking you to the Doheny Eye Institute out at Lincoln Heights for a thorough checkup.”
    Tyler took off his headphones, unbuckled his seat belt, and stood up. “You can tell the captain and his crew to wait for the all-clear, Mr. O’Donnell, but I don’t work for you and I’m leaving now and going home.”
    He was at least four inches taller than George O’Donnell, and probably thirty pounds heavier. George O’Donnell lifted both hands and said, “Okay…have it your way. But I would still ask you please not to talk to the media. We don’t want to create any kind of hysteria, do we?”
    “ Hysteria? ” Tyler retorted. He was still shaking. “You weren’t on this plane when they told me that the pilot and his crew had gone blind. You don’t even know the meaning of the word ‘hysteria.’”
    George O’Donnell said, “Okay, let’s not have any trouble here,” and stepped out of his way. Tyler turned back to Captain Sherman and said, “I really hope you guys get your sight back, Captain. I’ll call the eye clinic tomorrow, find out how you’re doing.”
    “Thanks,” said Captain Sherman. “And thanks again for saving all of these people.”
    “That’s okay,” Tyler told him. “I wasn’t in a hurry to die, either.”
    He was just about to go back to coach class and