Yes, he might well have carried out the order. The death sentence. The circumstances vividly resembled an execution suddenly interrupted by a reprieve, blessed news delivered in haste and handed over to the executioner. Shilin felt unwell, sick at heart. There was a painful tightness in his throat and chest. The pilot had never had any complaints about his health, and frequent physicals had never identified any problems. Now he was queasy, almost to the point of vomiting. What if that stranger so carelessly traversing the night sky really was a passenger plane that had gone off course? And he, a sniper pilot and an expert in aerial warfare, had destroyed it with an air-to-air missile and killed hundreds of people? All it took was to press the button.
Such thoughts could drive a man crazy.
