CHAPTER 21

There Is a Time . . .

Wednesday, October 26, 11:35 a.m. . . .

Jim Barton could not remember another time when he had been this nervous.

For the past four hours, the new SMA plane had been airborne, on its maiden flight. Getting the plane off the ground for the first time was a milestone, a tremendous achievement, for the company and for Barton. But another even more crucial milestone remained: they had to land the new plane. If they failed to achieve that one, no one would remember anything else about this day.

Earlier that morning, before the takeoff, Barton had been almost this nervous. He’d rubbed his sweating palms on the sides of his pants and peered distrustingly at the hulking form of the new state-of-the-art air cargo carrier ...

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