Marcus adjusted again.
The jet corrected left.
“Three hundred.”
They were nearly aligned.
Then a crosswind pushed the nose.
Foster’s voice rose.
“We’re drifting.”
“I see it.”
Marcus increased asymmetric thrust.
The aircraft turned.
“Two hundred.”
The centerline moved beneath them.
“Hundred.”
Marcus reduced power.
The aircraft dropped.
“Fifty.”
Marcus whispered something Zoe had heard him say before difficult things without ever knowing where he learned it.
“Bring me home.”
The main landing gear struck the runway.
The impact shook the aircraft from nose to tail.
Several overhead compartments burst open in the cabin.
People screamed.
Marcus kept his eyes forward.
The nose gear slammed down.
They were on the ground.
But the airplane was still moving at more than one hundred sixty knots.
Foster tried the brakes.
Nothing.
“Brake pressure gone.”
Marcus had already guessed.
“Reverse thrust?”
“Limited response.”
The end of the runway was rushing toward them.
Marcus keyed the radio.
“Shannon, we have no effective braking.”
The controller answered instantly.
“Flight 602, engineered arresting area available beyond the runway. Maintain centerline. Emergency crews are repositioning.”
Marcus looked ahead.
The runway seemed impossibly short.
“Can we steer with thrust all the way into it?” Foster asked.
“We’re about to find out.”
Marcus worked the throttles separately.
A little more power left.
A little less right.
The aircraft wandered toward the edge of the runway.
Marcus corrected.
It drifted back.
The speed was dropping, but not fast enough.
The cabin crew shouted brace commands repeatedly.
Passengers bent forward with their heads against the seats in front of them.
Colonel Whitmore closed his eyes.
Sarah gripped the jump seat straps.
Dr. Shaw held the captain firmly in position.
Marcus saw the arresting surface ahead.
“Here we go.”
The aircraft left the pavement.
The first wheels struck the engineered material, and the jet decelerated violently.
Marcus slammed against his restraint.
Foster’s shoulder struck the side of his seat.
Behind them came a roar of screams and crashing luggage.