OFFICER JESS

The air in the security office was stale, thick with an indifferent kind of tension that only made everything worse. Laura and I sat across from a stone-

faced airport officer, his uniform too crisp, his gaze a mix of disinterest and irritation as he glanced between us and the stack of paperwork in front of him. He was chewing a pen cap like it was his lunch. I watched the sweat bead down his forehead just like it pooled around He flipped another page without looking up, a slow, almost mocking turn of his wrist. "I don't know what you're expecting here, ladies," he said, voice cold and impatient. "We're dealing with hundreds of flights. You'll have to be patient."

I grit my teeth, trying not to let my frustration show. Laura's hand was clenched around mine, her grip tight enough to cut off the blood supply to my fingers. "We were told they'd land

safely," I said, fighting to keep my voice steady. "But there's been no word from them, no confirmation. We need to know where they diverted."

The officer raised a brow, barely stifling an eye- roll as he glanced at the manager beside us, then back to his papers, scratching his pen lazily across the page as if humoring a couple of hysterical tourists. "If there was a diversion, we'd have heard by now," he drawled, clearly disinterested. "And if not... they're probably weather like this."

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"Minor delay?" Laura's voice trembled with a desperate edge, her face paling as she looked at the storm footage still playing on a screen over his shoulder. "Look at what the storm did outside-this wasn't minor. They were flying right into it!"

with all the energy of someone forced to listen to a tedious story for the tenth time. "Miss,

we have more official information. The

to keep my voice from breaking. "We're not going to relax

clearly annoyed now. "Like I said, we're busy. But..." He sighed again, picking up a list and running his finger

scanned a few pages, looking like it was the last place he wanted to be.

a few long seconds, he just shook his head, setting

barely a whisper. "Did you...did you

bored swipe of his hand. "If it were on that list, I'd have said so."

OFFICER

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the face, the reality settling over me like a stone in my stomach. He wasn't even pretending to

they might be?" I asked, barely holding it together. I could feel Laura beside me, her breathing quickening, panic written

are also a lot of islands with landing strips, and some of the pilots are very familiar with them." He gestured

It felt like my blood was boiling, the helpless anger clawing at me. But before I could snap, he finally pulled out his phone, dialing

Indonesian, casting us one last irritated look as

hand ice cold. She whispered, voice

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