New York to Hong Kong in Two Hours! the Future of Aviation

Book excerpt: A new superfast space plane that skirts the edge of space, inbound on a two-hour jaunt to Hong Kong, collides with a satellite. Metals groan as if in pain. The aircraft slowly overturns. Suddenly the emergency floor lights extinguish. All manner of objects bounce and sail though the cabin. In the darkness some debris strikes passengers. Screams of injury join shouts of terror. Various tourists claw at their restraints, freed, they fall away into darkness. Bounding travelers kick, and swing their arms; scratching the bodies of other sightseers. Indescribable howls fill the fuselage. Deafening, hysterical shrieks eject from every throat. One, clear, horrified voice rises above the others. "GOD! GOD. OH GOD." The terrified screamer could be male or female, extreme fear reshapes the shouter's larynx. This is the ultimate roller-coaster ride. The grinding metal begins to sound musical like the screech of an electric guitar. The space plane lurches into the vastness of the stellar realm. With fuel exhausted and onboard life-gases spewing from its hull, the space plane drifts and twists through space. The vacationer's eyes bulge as they await catastrophe. Passengers draw lots to determine who will be among those saved, but unlike the Titanic, in "New York to Hong Kong in Two Hours!" there are no deferrals for women and children.