Gerald and the engineer looked at each other.
"She's a child—" Gerald started.
"I know what I'm doing." She didn't say it loudly; she said it the way she said things when she needed them to land cleanly. "I know this aircraft system. I've run this simulation. Right now the autopilot is trying to correct for the trim fault, and it's using the wrong reference because the captain's weight created a false input. I need to disengage autopilot, manually correct the trim, and then reestablish a stable attitude. I can do this, but I need 30 seconds, and I need him out of this seat."
From the cabin doorway, Danielle's voice: "Zariah..."
"Aunt Danielle." She didn't look back. "I need you to go back and keep the passengers calm. Right now, that's the most important thing you can do. Can you do that?"
A pause. Then, from the doorway, Mr. Callaway's voice: "You're seriously going to let a kid—"
"Sir," Danielle's voice cut across his, harder than Zariah had ever heard it. "If you have a pilot's license, now would be the time to say so. Otherwise, step back."
Silence from Callaway.
"Move him," Danielle said, and she looked at Gerald with an expression that settled the question.
The engineer helped Gerald shift the first officer back in the seat, arms clear of the controls. The man was breathing; both pilots were breathing, but neither was responsive. Whatever had taken them down had done it fast.
Zariah sat in the right seat. She pulled the lap belt across and secured it with the automatic motion of someone who'd done it a thousand times in practice and was now doing it for real. She put both hands on the side stick—the right-seat control input on this aircraft type—and felt the resistance in it. The autopilot was still active, and it was not happy.
"Give me the autopilot disconnect," she said to the engineer.
"You sure? If I disengage it manually, you'll be taking on a compromised trim state."
"That's fine. I know what it'll feel like. What I can't do is fight the autopilot and the trim fault at the same time. I need it off."
He reached to the panel. "Disengaging."