The Langoliers Page #4

This is American Pride 29, heavy.

Repeat, American Pride Flight 29,

heavy. Do you read me? Over.

Nothing anywhere.

Not on the ground or in the air.

It's like the entire country

has suddenly ceased to exist.

I don't suppose you ever read

science fiction, do you?

Well, I was crazy about it

as a kid. You?

Yeah, until I was 18 or so.

I've been sitting here running

all these old stories through my head.

You know, time warps, space warps,

alien raiding parties.

I mean, we really don't know if there's

anything left down there, do we?

Not with all this cloud cover.

No, we don't.

No, and it might hold all the way

to Bangor.

With Air Traffic Control

out of commission,

there's no way of knowing.

Suppose you just took us down

for a little look-see?

No, too dangerous.

With no ATC

and no other planes to talk to.

You can laugh at me if you want.

I'm not laughing, matey.

I'm far from laughing.

Well...

...suppose we have slipped...

...into another dimension,

like in a science fiction story.

How do we know

what's down there?

I mean, this Earth could have

the Rockies in upstate New York.

Well, we seem to have the sky

pretty much to ourselves.

Up here, that's true. Down there...

...who knows?

And "who knows" is a very

dicey situation for an airline pilot.

- So for now we just go on?

- Right.

- And wait.

- Right again.

Well, you're the skipper.

That's three in a row.

What do you see?

The sun's up, but that's about it.

What about the ground?

I can't see it,

it's all clouds down there.

Perhaps it's just as well.

Maybe.

Feeling better?

A little.

I don't mean to pry but...

What? You can ask me

what you want.

Why did you lie about

why you were going to Boston?

How did you know I lied?

I could hear it in your voice.

I can hear lots of things.

Maybe because I'm blind.

I don't know.

But I know you don't lie.

Otherwise, I wouldn't

have heard the difference.

I'm going...

No, I was going to meet someone.

A man named Darren Crosby.

How did you come to know him?

Well, that's the embarrassing part.

And that's why I lied.

I've never actually met him before.

We started corresponding

through a personal ad in a magazine

and I liked him.

I mean, I liked what he wrote

and what he looked like in his picture.

So I agreed to fly

to Boston to meet him.

That's strange, isn't it?

To fly all the way across the country

to see someone

you've never even met before.

Yeah.

But I just realised it didn't have

anything to do with Mr. Crosby.

It was really about me.

I didn't wanna play it safe anymore.

I was trying to break out

of the confines of my life

and have an adventure.

Now I guess I got more

of an adventure than I bargained for.

You're very pretty, Laurel.

I'm sure you'll find

what you're looking for.

Do you think we're gonna be

all right?

I think so.

I hope so.

I'm kind of scared what might be

under those clouds.

But then I was scared anyway

about Boston.

My mother all at once decided

how it would be a great idea

if I went to spend a couple of weeks

with my Aunt Shawna.

I think the idea was for me

to get off the plane

and then Shawna

pulls a string on me.

What string?

Do not pass go,

do not collect $200,

go directly to the nearest rehab

and stay there until you've dried out.

Everything just seemed

so weird before

that this just seems like

more of the same.

This is really happening, isn't it?

I mean, I'm not just imagining it, am I?

No, it's real enough, all right.

Do you need a rehab, Bethany?

I don't know.

I guess I might.

I used to just think

it was party time, you know?

All the booze and drugs I could get,

but now, I don't know.

But getting shipped off

just makes me feel like a pig

in a slaughterhouse chute.

I'm sorry.

Yeah.

I'm sorry too, but I guess this is

the wrong time to worry about it, huh?

Well...

...I think it's time to fish or cut bait.

Hello, ladies and gentlemen.

This is Captain Engle speaking.

We are currently

over the Atlantic Ocean

about 30 miles off the Maine coast.

I'll be commencing our initial descent

into the Bangor area very soon.

I want you all to make sure

your seat belts are snug and secure.

I'm beginning our descent now.

I want you all to be calm.

My board up here is green across

and all procedures

on the flight deck remain routine.

Well, that's very comforting, that is.

You should have been

a politician, mate.

Well, I doubt they're feeling

very comfortable right now.

I know I'm not.

Thirty thousand feet,

still descending.

I don't mind telling you, Brian,

I'm scared stiff.

Part of me wants to grab you

and make you take us back up again.

Well, it wouldn't do any good.

- We can't stay up here forever.

- I realise that.

But I'm still afraid

of what's under these clouds.

Or not under them.

Well, we'll find out together.

I figure we might as well

all be together on this one.

Would you mind stopping that?

It's driving me crazy.

Well, at least we'll be able

to get some chow when we land.

- You know something, Dinah?

- What?

I really don't wanna go down there.

I mean, I really don't.

Well, if it'll make you feel any better,

- you're not the only one.

- I'm scared.

I mean,

very scared.

I think I'm gonna pass out.

- It's going to be all right.

- I hope so.

This is just ordinary turbulence,

folks.

Most of you have been

through this before,

so just remain calm.

What's wrong?

Is there something wrong?

- Are we gonna crash?

- No, I don't think so, sweetie.

I hope not.

Is it gonna be all right?

Is it really gonna be all right?

I hope so, honey, I hope so.

God help us all.

Look, maybe this wasn't

such a good idea, Brian.

Maybe we should climb back up again

and think about it, eh?

Not enough time

and not enough fuel.

Hang on. Going in.

Bethany? Bethany?

Bethany, are you all right?

- Oh, God, what the hell was that?

- Bethany.

There's a drink trolley loose up front.

It probably rolled into

the galley wall or something.

It's all right, Dinah.

Please, I don't wanna die.

- I just don't want to die.

- It's okay.

You better quit it right now,

you worm,

or I'm gonna take what's left

of that magazine

and stuff it right down your throat.

Try it, you little jackass.

Three thousand feet?

- How low is this ceiling, Brian?

- I don't know.

- Lower than I'd hoped, that's for sure.

- That makes me feel a lot better.

I'll take us down to 500 feet,

if we haven't broken

through the cloud cover,

I'll take us back up

and we'll fly to Portland.

Maybe you should take us

that way now.

No, the weather down there is almost

always worse than the weather here.

This is starting to look

like a bad decision, mate.

We haven't struck out yet.

But we are running out of room,

aren't we? I mean, 2,000 feet.

Somewhere underneath

this greyness,

the ground's rushing up to meet us,

isn't it?

Yeah, it is, but we still got...

There we go. We're coming through.

It's all right. It's all right.

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