"Mr. Washington?" Vance asked, his voice cracking slightly.
"Good morning, Richard," I said smoothly. "I apologize for the delay. I'm trying to get to a two o'clock board meeting in Manhattan. Unfortunately, your lead flight attendant refused to honor my boarding pass for seat 1A, and instead manually assigned it to her friend."
"He's lying!" Sarah yelled. "He's a hacker! He brought down the plane!"
"I didn't hack anything," I corrected, looking directly at Vance. "I accessed my own administrative dashboard. The aircraft is grounded because the automated FAA failsafe engaged. The system recognized that the person occupying seat 1A did not clear the TSA checkpoint under that reservation. It locked the departure out of federal compliance."
Vance turned slowly, looking at the woman sitting in the luxury leather seat. "Ma'am," he said to Karen Whitmore. "May I see your boarding pass, please?"
Karen bristled, crossing her arms tightly over her Chanel skirt. "I don't have to show you anything. I am a premier passenger, and I demand this flight take off immediately."
"She doesn't have a first-class pass," David spoke up from the corner. The gate agent stepped forward, holding out his scanner so Vance could see the glowing screen. "Mr. Vance, I ran the diagnostic. Sarah Mitchell used her employee override at seven-ten this morning. She pulled Karen Whitmore from seat 22B and forced her into 1A. When Mr. Washington boarded with the actual ticket, Sarah refused to check the manifest and ordered him to the back of the plane."
Vance stared at the digital logs on the scanner. The irrefutable proof was right there in glowing green and white text. He looked at the puddle of coffee soaking into the carpet. He looked at my wet, stained jeans. Finally, he looked at Sarah Mitchell.
The lead flight attendant was shaking, her back pressed hard against the bulkhead. "Richard, please," she stammered, dropping the hostile act entirely, reverting to a desperate whisper. "It was just a favor. It was just an empty seat. I didn't think anyone would care. He—he didn't look like he belonged up here. I just wanted to help Karen out."
"You didn't think anyone would care?" Vance repeated, his voice eerily quiet. He stepped closer to her, his professional demeanor hardening into absolute ice. "You committed wire fraud on a federal manifest. You bypassed TSA seating protocols. You grounded a seventy-million-dollar aircraft, delayed two hundred passengers, and threatened a federal security contractor with arrest because you decided he didn't look rich enough for your taste."
Sarah opened her mouth, but no sound came out. The realization of her ruin had finally hit her.
Vance reached forward and swiftly unclipped the metal flight wings from Sarah's navy lapel. He took her employee badge from her lanyard.
"Sarah Mitchell, you are relieved of duty, effective immediately," Vance stated, loud enough for the police officers and the entire front cabin to hear. "Your employment with this airline is terminated. I will be forwarding this manifest log to the Federal Aviation Administration for criminal review."
Sarah gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Tears streamed down her face, ruining her perfect makeup. "No. No, please. My pension. You can't do this."
"Officer Davies," Vance said, ignoring her tears completely. "Please escort this former employee off the aircraft and revoke her security credentials at the terminal exit."
One of the police officers stepped forward, gently but firmly grasping Sarah by the elbow. "Let's go, ma'am. Walk."
Sarah didn't look at me as she was marched out the door. Her shoulders were hunched, her previous authority completely shattered. She disappeared down the jet bridge, leaving behind a heavy, stunned silence in the cabin.