Chapter 3 Summary

Tony arrives at Talon Air, where he checks in, reviews the maintenance report on his Piper, and prepares for a short business flight to St. Louis. After completing his pre-flight inspection, he takes off under clear skies and settles in at cruising altitude. While retrieving his iPad, Tony discovers a mysterious slip of paper hidden in his case. The note warns him that “GenaSeed has killed many who tried to stop them” and cautions him about his associations. Startled, Tony recalls briefly leaving his case unattended during a meeting with a GenaSeed representative and wonders who could have slipped it inside.

Before he can puzzle it out, his plane shudders and the engines begin sputtering. Though the instruments initially show normal readings, the Piper rapidly loses altitude. Tony runs through possible causes—fuel issues, clogged injectors, magneto failure—but the engines suddenly recover, only to fail again as he attempts to land at Yeager Airport in Charleston. Fighting to maintain altitude, Tony uses every ounce of his piloting skill to coax the Piper toward the runway, narrowly avoiding a crash into the hillside. With the stall alarm blaring, he forces a hard landing, bouncing once before skidding safely onto the runway.

Emergency vehicles rush to his aid, and Tony, though shaken, emerges unharmed. The Piper, however, is disabled and towed to maintenance. Grateful to be alive, Tony exchanges introductions with Eugene, one of the responders, before heading to file his emergency landing report. Resigned, he acknowledges that his trip to meet with GenaSeed will have to wait.