standing at the cockpit door when Nick reached the top of the ladder and eased his end of the stretcher inside.
"I want to put her in first class," Nick said, "with this end of the stretcher raised so her head is up. Can I do that?"
"No problem. Secure the stretcher by looping a couple of seatbelts through the head-frame. Do you see where?"
"Yes." And to Albert and Bethany: "Come on up. You're doing fine."
In the cabin lights, the blood smeared on Dinah's cheeks and chin stood out starkly against her yellow-white skin. Her eyes were closed; her lids were a delicate shade of lavender. Under the belt (in which Nick had punched a new hole, high above the others), the makeshift compress was dark red. Brian could hear her breathing. It sounded like a straw dragging wind at the bottom of an almost empty glass.
"It's bad, isn't it?" Brian asked in a low voice.
"Well, it's her lung and not her heart, and she's not filling up anywhere near as fast as I was afraid she might... but it's bad, yes."
"Will she live until we get back?"
"How in hell should I know?" Nick shouted at him suddenly. "I'm a soldier, not a bloody sawbones!"
The others froze, looking at him with cautious eyes. Laurel felt her skin prickle again.
"I'm sorry," Nick muttered. "Time travel plays the very devil with one's nerves, doesn't it? I'm very sorry."
"No need to apologize," Laurel said, and touched his arm. "We're all under strain."
He gave her a tired smile and touched her hair. "You're a sweetheart, Laurel, and no mistake. Come on - let's strap her in and see what we can do about getting the hell out of here."
2
Five minutes later Dinah's stretcher had been secured in an inclined position to a pair of first-class seats, her head up, her feet down. The rest of the passengers were gathered in a tight little knot around Brian in the first-class serving area.
"We need to refuel the plane," Brian said. "I'm going to start the other engine now and pull over as close as I can to that 727-400 at the jetway." He pointed to the Delta plane, which was just a gray lump in the dark. "Because our aircraft sits higher, I'll be able to lay our right wing right over the Delta's left wing. While I do that, four of you are going to bring over a hose cart - there's one sitting by the other jetway. I saw it before it got dark."
"Maybe we better wake Sleeping Beauty at the back of the plane and get him to lend a hand," Bob said.
Brian thought it over briefly and then shook his head. "The last thing we need right now is another scared, disoriented passenger on our hands - and one with a killer hangover to boot. And we won't need him - two strong men can push a hose cart in a pinch. I've seen it done. Just check the transmission lever to make sure it's in neutral. It wants to end up directly beneath the overlapping wings. Got it?"
They all nodded. Brian looked them over and decided that Rudy and Bethany were still too blown from wrestling the stretcher to be of much help. "Nick, Bob, and Albert. You push. Laurel, you steer. Okay?"
They nodded.
"Go on and do it, then. Bethany? Mr Warwick? Go down with them. Pull the ladder away from the plane, and when I've got the plane repositioned, place it next to the overlapping wings. The wings, not the door. Got it?"
They nodded. Looking around at them, Brian saw that their eyes looked clear and bright for the first time since they had landed. Of course, he thought. They have something to do now. And so do I, thank God.
3
As they approached the hose cart sitting off to the left of the unoccupied jetway, Laurel realized she could actually see it. "My God," she said. "It's coming daylight again already. How long has it been since it got dark?"
"Less than forty minutes, by my watch," Bob said, "but I have a feeling that my watch doesn't keep very accurate time when we're outside the plane. I've also got a feeling time doesn't matter much here, anyway."
"What's going to happen to Mr Toomy?" Laurel asked.
They had reached the cart. It was a small vehicle with a tank on the back, an open-air cab, and thick black hoses coiled on either side. Nick put an