Flight Plan

Veri woke up drenched in sweat. It was a hot dry day in the outskirts of Tehran and she had forgotten to leave her window open so that air could come in at night. She frowned and stood up to get ready for her pilot training. Today was the first time she was ready to apply for her piloting license.

A few years ago, a great dispute between Iran and Iraq had begun due to unsettled territory boundaries thus provoking a war. Iran was short of pilots, therefore only a few women were chosen for pilot training.

“Be careful Veri,” her father said, “women shouldn’t be doing such dangerous things.” Once again, Veri’s worried father reminded her of the risks becoming a force pilot during the war. But Veri didn’t believe in such things. Nodding her head, Veri kissed goodbye to her parents, grabbed her bag and left.

***

Veri’s training place was just 10 minutes away from her home. She was very anxious about her trial, as she had stayed up all night due to the heat. Yet she felt a rush of happiness all through her veins.

Aviation was a new concept for women in Iran and only a limited number of women were allowed to fly. She had to make this right. After suiting up and getting her safety equipment on, Veri and her best friend and colleague, Majta, hopped into the plane accompanied by their instructor.

The sky was clear and bright. Perfect for her test. Minutes after hovering through the sky, strange sounds were heard from above their heads, their commands started malfunctioning and they lost complete control of the plane.

They had entered a radiation zone, which was set up by Iraq’s government in order to take control of their planes. Forced to evacuate before the plane collapsed, Veri and Majta jumped with their parachutes to the sky, becoming the first women in the history of Iran to both parachute and pilot a plane.

Covered in radiation, Veri and Majta descended through the sky, hitting the ground hurt and sick. They had been exposed to large amounts of radiation and couldn’t move.

Veri and Majta were hospitalized for several days. Veri woke up after two weeks and Majta two days later than her. Both of them realized that their instructor failed to jump off the plane and passed away.

A few days later, Veri started noticing strange things happening to her. She felt a deep, strange power inside her, a sort of energy change. Majta, just like Veri, was experiencing abnormal emotional reactions. She showed signs of anger and desperation. She was not the same as before.

 

***

The months passed, and the seasons changed but Majta didn’t get any better. Her anger was getting worse every day and little could be done to help her improve. Veri realized, after a series of events that the experiences they had been feeling were because they had acquired special powers. She and Majta could manipulate objects just by using their minds and were stronger than ever.

However, Majta couldn’t control her powers as well as Veri could, thus the government decided to take action. She had become a threat to society and therefore, she had to be under control and supervision. Veri continued her duty to serve her country and was celebrated several times as a hero and a role model.

This didn’t feel fair to Majta because she couldn’t live a normal life or decide her own actions, while Veri was enjoying her powers and receiving all the attention. Majta started feeling envy and decided to escape and leave Iran.

***

For many years, Majta’s location was unknown; rumors said she was hiding in New York as disasters were happening constantly with no cause. Fires, meteor showers and river floods had increased exponentially. Since all attempts at looking for her had failed, Iran’s Special Forces along with the United States army decided to send Veri on a mission to find her, as she was the only one with the power to do so. “I must go alone,” Veri said, “my old friend has lost full control of herself, and I must be the one to stop her.” And just like that, Veri parted to New York using her powers to get on her way.

 

***

 

For many days, Veri and the government worked together. They analyzed the incidents that had happened in New York to find patterns that would eventually lead to Majta’s hiding spot and also created a poison that would take away Majta’s powers.

Meanwhile, Veri looked around everywhere but somehow her powers seemed useless. She started thinking she was going to fail in her pursuit.

***

New York’s streets were boiling, the sun was hitting hard, and Veri was walking towards Grand Station to head home. As she was passing through the main entrance she suddenly felt something inside her. Majta was close. She looked around the station but there was nothing. Then, Veri remembered the secret tunnels that were hidden underneath Grand Central Terminal. That had to be the place where Majta had been hiding. She entered the tunnels through track 16 and there she was. They stared into each other’s eyes. Everything else was paralyzed. It was a confrontation of mind versus mind.

Using their powers, Veri and Majta stared fighting. Golden antiques flew over their heads — you could hear yelling and screaming all the way to the top — and the earth shook and the ground trembled like never before. No one dared to come inside. The people were evacuated from the terminal. No trains passed for more than a week; no one knew when the combat would stop.

However, for Veri and Majta it just felt like minutes. Exhausted, Veri decided to try something else. Talking her way out, she convinced Majta that arrangements could be made so that she could continue using her powers and be free to go wherever she wanted, even though she knew this wasn’t true.

 

As Veri distracted her, the US army made their way inside the tunnels. As soon as Veri signaled them, Majta was injected a toxin created to counteract her powers. Slowly, Majta started to lose strength and she was taken prisoner. Veri knew this was the right thing to do even though it killed her inside.

***

Veri moved on with her life. She had married a wonderful man and had two daughters and five grandchildren. Although Veri enjoyed every minute of her new life, she still remembered the day she imprisoned Majta. Veri had moved to New York with her family, but she went back to Iran every now and then to pilot and remember her old days.

Sixty years later, Majta was allowed to walk out of her prison sentence. She had no more powers and she had used her time well in prison. She meditated and behaved as herself before everything happened.

After losing communication for several years, Majta got in touch with Veri and they reunited at Grand Central Terminal for the last time. They talked, had lunch, and when they were finished, each went their own direction, never seeing each other again.