Contents
After: Four
Overview
Allie’s parents arrive in Greenland as the FBI begins daily interviews about BA 238. Agents guide Allie toward a sanitized account, dismissing the dragon as St. Elmo’s fire and hinting at her past instability. A silent mustached observer appears and vanishes. Under pressure and half-drunk, Allie ends the session rather than recant.
Summary
Allie’s parents reach Greenland to support her after BA 238, but Allie feels she must steady them. Her father, Archibald Shiner, blusters about sitting in on FBI interviews with a lawyer; Allie, drinking to cope, persuades him to stand down so the process can proceed.
In interviews led by a calm agent Allie dubs Simon, with note‑taking partner Garfingle, Allie recounts the agreed story: she fled to London in distress, Van proposed on board, and her confrontation with Horation Matthews led to a struggle in which Frank Heck lost his gun and Horation was partially sucked out a window. The agents readily accept this portion.
Complications arise when Allie insists a dragon destroyed the F‑16 escort. A burly, mustached third man intermittently watches, unacknowledged by the agents. Simon counters with a St. Elmo’s fire explanation, shows a photo to suggest misperception, and asserts the F‑16s had been escorting from near takeoff due to militia threats.
When Allie resists, Simon shifts tactics, citing other passengers hospitalized for their safety and alluding to Allie’s teenage history and her father’s frailty to pressure her into compliance. Feeling targeted and the invisible “tattoo” of threat tightening around her, Allie halts the interview for the day as the mustached man laughs.
Who Appears
- Allison (Allie) ShinerSurvivor of BA 238; interviewed by FBI; pressured to deny the dragon; resists despite alcohol-fueled fatigue.
- SimonLead FBI interviewer; calm, persuasive; promotes a non-supernatural account and leverages Allie’s past to pressure her.
- GarfingleFBI partner taking notes; taciturn and skeptical; supports Simon’s narrative management.
- Mustached observerLarge, silent man who appears and leaves without acknowledgment; laughs at key moments; unnerves Allie.
- Archibald ShinerAllie’s father; ex-congressman; wants a lawyer present; blusters but relents at Allie’s request.
- Allie’s motherFormer Dallas Cowboys cheerleader; shaken but supportive; urges comfort over confrontation.