Then a red light blinked on the panel. Noah saw it at the same time Jamie did. “Jamie…?” “Yeah, I see it,” Jamie said, already tapping through the system readouts. “Rudder actuator’s not responding. Manual override’s… failing.”

Noah pushed the pedals again—nothing. Just a slack, useless give beneath his feet.
“We’ve lost rudder control,” he said evenly, though the tautness in his jaw betrayed him.

Jamie’s posture stiffened. He leaned in, eyes darting across the panel, searching for any anomaly, any quick fix.
“We can’t land like this,” he said, voice low but urgent. “Even a mild crosswind could throw us sideways. Flip us before we touch the water.”

The rhythmic thrum of the engines suddenly felt louder, heavier, as if the seaplane itself understood the stakes.