The CEO pointed toward the open service panel.
“I have an international departure in less than two hours.”
“Yes.”
“My operations team assured me this aircraft was ready yesterday afternoon.”
The Single Dad said nothing.
“Yet I arrive and find panels open and a mechanic asleep beside it.”
Silence.
The CEO stepped closer.
“If you’re too tired to perform your job, you do not touch my aircraft.”
The Single Dad’s jaw tightened.
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
Her voice sharpened.
“People trust these machines with their lives.”
“I know.”
“Then act like it.”
His expression changed.
Tiny.
But she saw it.
“Say something.”
The Single Dad looked toward the aircraft.
Then back.
“You want the truth?”
“I usually do.”
He drew one slow breath.
“I wasn’t sleeping while I should’ve been working.”
The CEO folded her arms.
“Interesting distinction.”
“I finished around five twenty.”
She checked her watch.
“That was twenty-two minutes ago.”
“Yes.”
“And your scheduled shift?”
“Ended at six yesterday evening.”
The CEO’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
“You’ve been here all night?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Before he could answer, the Chief Engineer appeared from behind the jet.
He was walking fast.
Almost running.
He held a clipboard in one hand and several printed pages in the other.
His face was pale.
“Ma’am.”
The CEO did not turn fully.
“Not now.”
“It needs to be now.”
That tone stopped her.
The Chief Engineer reached them.
He looked at the Single Dad.
Then at the CEO.
“Did he tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
The engineer looked between them.
“About the fuel-feed line.”
The CEO’s eyes narrowed.
“What fuel-feed line?”
The Single Dad looked down.
The Chief Engineer stared at him.
“You didn’t tell her?”
The mechanic answered quietly.
“She was busy firing me.”
Everyone stopped breathing.
The CEO looked at the Single Dad.
Then toward the Chief Engineer.
“I haven’t technically completed that sentence.”
The Single Dad met her eyes.
“You were about to.”
She was.
That made the reply worse.
The Chief Engineer stepped closer.
“Ma’am, we found a defect.”
The CEO looked at the jet.
“What kind?”
The engineer hesitated.
The pause frightened her more than any immediate answer.
“Potentially catastrophic.”
Her expression went blank.
“Explain.”
The Chief Engineer handed her the first report.
She did not take it.
“Speak.”
He swallowed.
“At approximately eleven thirty last night, he detected intermittent pressure instability in the auxiliary feed system.”
The CEO looked toward the Single Dad.
The engineer continued.
“The aircraft had already passed standard ground testing.”
“So why was he still checking it?”