Chapter 7 - THE PLANE THEY REFUSE TO GROUND
David called his chief engineer before the video screen finished fading.
“Pull every safety advisory we sent Mesa in the last year.”
A confused voice answered from Johnson Aerotech headquarters.
“All of them?”
“Every warning involving thermal control, avionics cooling, data relay, sensor masking, anything tied to Mesa’s fleet.”
“That’s going to be—”
“Now.”
He ended the call.
Lena shut the gate-office door.
“We need to assume internal systems are compromised.”
David nodded toward the isolated computer.
“Can it read the drive without connecting?”
“Yes, but not decrypt it.”
“Image it.”
She inserted the device again.
A progress bar appeared.
1%.
Catherine stood by the window with Malik.
On the ramp, mechanics had gathered around Flight 227.
One man held a clipboard.
Another pointed at the belly of the aircraft.
Then Grant Mercer joined them.
“What is he doing?” Catherine asked.
Lena zoomed the gate camera.
Mercer took the clipboard.
Signed something.
Handed it back.
Catherine’s mouth fell open.
“He’s trying to get a maintenance release.”
David walked to the glass.
The mechanic shook his head.
Mercer leaned closer.
The mechanic shook it again.
Then a third man arrived in a white shirt and captain’s bars.
Not Flight 227’s captain.
A management pilot.
David’s phone rang.
Unknown corporate number.
He answered.
“David Johnson.”
“Elliot Vance.”
The voice was smooth enough to belong in a boardroom.
“Finally,” David said.
“I’m told you’ve created quite a situation at Gate 14.”
“Your people created it.”
“I’d like to resolve it.”
“Ground Flight 227.”
A pause.
“We have no verified mechanical basis to do that.”
“Your raw avionics temperature is over one hundred degrees and the primary display is masking it.”
Another pause.
Shorter this time.
David caught it.
“You already knew.”
“David, telemetry anomalies happen. You know that better than anyone.”
Catherine looked at him.
She heard it too.
Telemetry.
David had never said that word to anyone outside the cockpit.
“You just called it telemetry.”
Vance said nothing.
“I told Mercer there was a temperature discrepancy. I told the captain there was cached data. I did not tell you telemetry was involved.”
Vance exhaled.
“Let’s not play games.”
“Then stop lying.”
The copy bar hit 31%.
Vance’s voice softened.
“Your son had an unpleasant experience. I’m prepared to address that publicly and privately.”
David’s eyes narrowed.
“How?”
“Catherine Ward will be terminated for mishandling an unaccompanied minor. Mesa will issue a formal apology. Your family will receive compensation. More importantly, I’m prepared to expand Johnson Aerotech’s fleet integration contract by thirty percent.”
Catherine turned from the window.
Her face went blank.
Vance continued.
“That’s significant business, David.”
“You want me to take the contract, let you fire the flight attendant, and forget the drive.”
“I want us to stop turning an operational misunderstanding into a spectacle.”
David looked at Catherine.
She did not ask him for help.
She just stood there while her employer offered to erase her.
“What happens to Flight 227?” David asked.
Silence.
“Elliot?”
“The aircraft will operate according to normal safety procedures.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“David.”
“What happens to Flight 227?”
Vance’s voice lost some polish.
“You need to think about your son.”
“I am.”
“No, you’re thinking about winning.”
The progress bar hit 67%.
Outside, the mechanic finally signed the release.
Mercer smiled.
Catherine hit the glass with the heel of her hand.
“No.”
David watched a ground worker reconnect the jet bridge to finish boarding.
Vance spoke again.
“Get your son off that airplane and walk away.”
David’s grip tightened around the phone.
“Because you’re worried about him?”
Another pause.
Then Vance’s voice dropped.
“Because I’m not asking twice.”
May you like
The line went dead.
