The Rescue Pilot

“How come you have so many candles?” she asked him just before he opened the door.

“I’ve got even more in my hangar. An errant order got me a lifetime’s supply, and the restocking fee was huge beyond belief.”

That brought a smile to her lips and lifted her spirits a bit. It seemed that life happened to everyone.

“They make great gifts,” he said quietly, a note of humor in his voice. “Well, they did until people started running when they saw me coming.”

Everything in the cabin seemed fine. Rory bent over her sister, touching her cheeks, finding them cool but not too cool. She waited a moment, until she felt the flutter of her sister’s breath. All was good for now.

The wind’s buffeting made the plane creak a bit, but quietly now, not as loudly as earlier. Rory guessed that meant they were getting buried.

“I need some coffee,” Chase said. “And since it’s cooling down in here, we need to burn a couple of extra candles anyway.”

“Oxygen?”

He pointed to the door. “I think enough can get in through that hole the lock left, but if it starts to feel at all stuffy, let me know. The candle seems to be burning normally though, which is a good sign.”

Maybe the only sign they’d have, Rory thought. If the candle flames dimmed, they’d know they were in trouble. Like canaries in a coal mine. And a darned good reason to keep watches.