Free Code Black by Philip S. Donlay

her had somehow released a floodgate of memories. Be very careful , Donovan warned himself.
    “I’m going to take his mask off,” Audrey said as she searched the medical kit. Moments later, she found what she wanted and broke the capsule in two. She slipped off the oxygen mask and held the smelling salts under the captain’s nose until the man’s head jerked and twisted to the side. She reached across him and waved the vial once again. His eyes fluttered open and he immediately flailed at the offending odor.
    “Can you hear me?” Audrey questioned as she gazed at the man’s face.
    “What the…where are we?” The captain’s words came out thickly as he shook his head to escape the pungent odor.
    Audrey and Donovan watched as the captain struggled to pull himself out of the black hole he’d been in. Audrey leaned over him, trying to gauge his recovery.
    Suddenly, the man jerked upright as if scalded by boiling water. His expression filled with terror. “What in the—oh shit!”
    “Stop him! Get him off!” Donovan yelled as he fought to override the dangerous inputs. “Get him off the controls!”
    Audrey reached in and fought to pull the captain’s hands free. She lost her leverage as the airplane banked hard to the left, then climbed. She still held the capsule in her hand and forced it back under his nose. He twisted his head violently and swung an elbow toward her ribs. Audrey avoided the blow, found her balance, and used all her strength to slap him hard across the face. She’d aimed for the bandage she’d so carefully affixed to his forehead and the effect was immediate. The man cried out in pain as he released his grip, then cradled his head in his hands, rocking back and forth as he moaned.
    “Captain. Listen to me. The airplane is under control.” Audrey spoke reassuringly. “You’ve been out for a little while. Take a few deep breaths, but don’t touch anything.” Her voice softened. “Sorry I hit you. How do you feel? Look at me.” She put her hand around his and squeezed. “Do you know where you are? Do you remember what happened?”
    The captain let out another moan as his eyes tried to fix on the person in front of him. His voice was weak but clear. “God, my head hurts.” His fingers went to his head and he touched the bandage. “What in the hell happened?”
    “We were hit by another plane.” Donovan leaned forward to assess the man’s condition.
    “Where’s Jeff?” He asked, his voice stronger this time. “Where’s my first officer?”
    Audrey averted her eyes for a moment, looking behind her to where the copilot’s body was still laying on the floor. “He didn’t survive.”
    Confusion clouded the captain’s face. “Jeff’s dead?” He turned toward Donovan, his voice filled with bewilderment. “A midair? You saw it happen?”
    “I saw the plane only a few seconds before it hit us. It looked like a military plane, maybe a KC-135. It came from our two o’clock position.” Donovan pointed out the right window to indicate the angle. “It was in and out of the clouds. Didn’t you get a warning from Center, or a TCAS alert?”
    “Nothing. Last thing I can recall was—” he paused and fought through the pain as he searched his clouded memory. “I remember now. I was attempting to talk to Air Traffic Control, but we weren’t getting an answer. That’s all I remember. I never saw a thing.”
    “What’s TCAS?” Audrey asked.
    “It’s a system that allows two airplanes to talk to each other electronically,” Donovan explained. “It’s a system designed to prevent midair collisions. Normally, there should have been multiple warnings up here in the cockpit that there was another airplane. It should have also given them the correct resolution to the conflict, told them to either climb or dive.”
    “You said the other plane was military?” the captain asked, as he struggled to piece together the information.
    Donovan nodded. “From where I was sitting, it