Chapter 3 - THE LANDING DIDN’T END ANYTHING
Flight 482 landed in Albuquerque forty-one minutes later.
Nobody cheered.
Maya was glad.
The airplane touching the runway felt too serious for applause.
Fire trucks followed them toward the gate as a precaution. Paramedics boarded for the first officer, who had developed severe abdominal pain and vomiting shortly before the control problem became apparent.
Captain Ellis remained aboard speaking with airline operations.
Claire returned Maya’s teddy bear after it slipped beneath a jumpseat during landing.
“You did well.”
Maya hugged Rocket against her.
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Sometimes noticing is doing something.”
Daniel heard.
“Please don’t encourage this.”
Claire looked at him.
“Encourage what?”
“A child believing she diagnosed an aircraft problem.”
Maya answered before Claire could.
“I didn’t diagnose it.”
Daniel turned.
Maya surprised herself by holding his gaze.
“I noticed it.”
Claire’s mouth moved slightly, almost a smile.
Daniel did not appreciate the distinction.
At the gate, passengers were asked to remain nearby while the airline arranged onward travel.
Maya called her mother.
Rachel Carter answered before the first ring finished.
“Maya?”
“I’m okay.”
Rachel began crying anyway.
News traveled fast when an aircraft diverted.
“Daniel said there was some problem.”
Maya looked toward her uncle.
He was standing twenty feet away talking urgently into his phone.
“Mom, Captain Ellis knew Dad.”
Silence.
“Not personally. He knew his work.”
Rachel did not answer.
“Mom?”
“What work?”
Maya frowned.
“The Left Ghost.”
Another silence.
Longer.
“Who told you that name?”
“Dad did.”
“No, today.”
“I told the captain.”
Rachel inhaled sharply.
“Maya, do not talk to anyone else about your father’s work.”
Maya sat straighter.
“Why?”
“Because you don’t know what was proprietary.”
It was exactly the kind of answer Daniel would give.
“Mom, Dad showed it to me at home.”
“That doesn’t mean you should discuss it.”
“Captain Ellis said Dad presented something like it publicly.”
Rachel went quiet again.
Maya stared at the terminal carpet.
“You knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That it was real.”
Rachel lowered her voice.
“Maya, you just went through an emergency landing. This is not the time.”
“Dad wasn’t making it up.”
“I never said he was.”
“Daniel did.”
Maya looked toward her uncle.
Daniel was watching her now.
He ended his call.
Rachel said, “Stay with Daniel. I’m getting the next flight to Albuquerque.”
“Mom—”
“We’ll talk when I get there.”
The call ended.
Maya sat holding the phone.
Daniel came over.
“What did she say?”
“She’s coming.”
“Good.”
“And she knew.”
Daniel stopped.
“About Dad’s scenario.”
Daniel sat beside her.
His voice became almost gentle.
“Maya, your father was sick for a long time.”
“Cancer doesn’t make somebody forget aerodynamics.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“No. But fear can make people fixate.”
“On what?”
“Problems that aren’t actually problems.”
Maya looked at him.
“Then why did the captain recognize it?”
Daniel had no quick answer.
That mattered.
An airline representative approached.
“Maya Carter?”
Daniel stood.
“I’m her uncle.”
“Captain Ellis would like to speak briefly with Maya and her parent or guardian when one arrives. Our safety department may also have some questions about what she observed.”
Daniel smiled.
“There’s no need.”
The representative looked confused.
“Excuse me?”
“She’s thirteen. Whatever she said was something she remembered from a simulator.”
“That is exactly why they want clarification.”
Daniel’s smile vanished.
“Her father’s materials were company property.”
Maya looked up.
There it was again.
Not grief.
Not concern.
Ownership.
The representative said, “This isn’t about intellectual property, sir. It’s about an operational event.”
Daniel’s phone rang.
He checked the screen and walked away quickly.
Maya saw the caller name before he turned it over.
Mark Ellison — Quality
Maya knew Mark.
He had worked beside her father for nine years.
Daniel had told her Mark left Carter Dynamics before Ethan became ill.
Yet Daniel was speaking to him now.
May you like
And the first words Maya heard were:
“Mark, they recognized Ethan’s scenario.”
