Jordan DeLinko is a fictional character appearing in Nathaniel J. Nelson's 2017 supernatural thriller Quantum Flight 888. Appearing only in the novel's flashback sequences, he is the father of Delilah Arain and the progenitor of her emotional hangups.
Biography[]
Jordan DeLinko was born and raised in Canada. Growing up as a fundamentalist Christian, he became a missionary in his adult life, taking a trip to Pakistan when he was thirty-one. While there, he met Marika Arain, an eighteen-year-old Pakistani woman subject to violence and molestation by her father and other men in her city. After Marika agreed to convert to Christianity, Jordan brought her back to Canada, where they were married.
Jordan and Marika lived in Amherst, Nova Scotia, where Jordan became a central part of the town's Christian community. In 1993 or 1994, they had their first and only child: Esther DeLinko. Though Marika secretly disagreed with Jordan's lifestyle, Esther was raised to have unfailing faith in Christianity.
The day of Esther's high school graduation in 2012, Jordan discovered via a phone message from Elijah Wells (the son of their liberal pastor) that Esther had slept with him; he rebuked his daughter, calling her a whore and likening her to the Biblical Delilah, considered by modern Christians to be the epitome of promiscuity. This prompted Esther to run away from home in her parents' minivan and assume the name Delilah, as well as taking her mother's maiden name.
Delilah and Jordan had no contact for a year, with him apparently respecting her desire to get away. When Marika died in 2013, Jordan sent Delilah a message over Facebook informing her of her mother's death.
The next time Jordan saw his daughter in person was at Delilah's wedding to Truman Hardy sometime between 2016 and 2026. The wedding was held in Amherst Parish Church, and – thanks to the psychological trauma Delilah faced aboard Flight 888 – Jordan was able to make up with his daughter and walk her down the aisle. He died in the years preceding.
Other versions of Jordan[]
Jordan appeared to Delilah aboard Flight 888, as Caleb Poore's powers spiraled out of control and the passengers began hallucinating. He continued shaming her for sleeping with Elijah Wells, and for breaking her vow of chastity. Later, within Delilah's fantasy world, Jordan appeared as the king of Last Chance Island, where he shamed her and forced her to sit behind his throne, chained up and mocked by his guests, all men from her life. She eventually confronted him as she was never able to confront her real father, admitting that she had done nothing wrong.