“Yes, but…” said the interpreter, trying to capture the intonation of the captain, “it’s hard to explain. The tail of the plane also fell unusually. There seemed to be an invisible parachute tied to it. Um. Slowly,” the interpreter transmitted a tone of uncertainty.
“What?” there was an exclamation in the audience.
“Explain,” the Indian general asked.
“It was falling like a feather, slowly,” the Indian military man translated, and Captain Shah splashed his hands in a sign that he himself understood how strange it is. “We just thought there might be people there. We left the co-pilot next to the machine, went over a couple of hills, and then we saw this Frenchman and a young girl, apparently an American. Her name was Debby, yes, Debby, and the Frenchman’s name was Jean-Pierre.”
A chill ran through Bernard Bajolet’s body. His breath collapsed for a second. He quickly found himself and, after the second time, turned on his microphone.
“Please wait. Jean-Pierre Biro? That was his name? That’s my assistant.”
The whole room looked at Bernard Bajolet. He concentrated all his attention on the image of a distant conference room somewhere in India. There was silence again, and then Captain Shah nodded.
“Biro, yes.”
Monsieur Bajolet turned on the microphone again:
“Did he survive? He… Tell me where he is.”
Captain Shah nodded to the interpreter.
“Yes, they survived. The girl’s leg was damaged. It appeared to be a closed fracture. She could not move, she was in bad condition,” the interpreter paused, while the captain was thinking of what more could be added to this description.
“We got the data,” the general sitting next to Bernard Bajolet said quietly. “It apparently was an American citizen, Debby Glandfield. She was traveling from the United States to Japan. We’re looking for her relatives right now.”
“What about the man?” Bernard turned to Captain Shah.
“He was fine. There were a few bruises on his face, but he was fine. That’s why we were surprised. You see? The tail of the plane was falling very slowly.”
There were rustles and questions in the hall. Many people were looking at Monsieur Bajolet, discussing something. Others asked questions to the captain, but it all turned into unrelated chatter. The head of ESA took the situation into his own hands.