Wings of Payback

That night, I called Uncle Peter.

He was working the night shift, and I could hear the swishing sound of wipers in the background.

"Uncle Peter, have you eaten?"

"Yeah. Why are you calling all of a sudden?"

"Nothing. I was just asking."

He chuckled and didn't probe further.

Before he ended the call, he reminded me, "The day after tomorrow is your mom's death anniversary. Don't forget."

"I know."

That night, I opened up the safe.

There was a brown paper bag inside, and the tape sealing the opening had turned yellow.

There were two documents in the paper bag.

The first document was a weather assessment report signed and submitted by Zachary 20 years ago. The remarks column stated, "Not suitable for takeoff."

The second document was from the same day. It was the hourly weather observation record by the National Meteorological Department's Southon Observation Center.

"Visibility: more than six miles. Cloud ceiling: above two miles. Wind speed: five knots."

The sky was clear.

I had spent seven years getting my hands on these two documents.

One of them was retrieved from the Federal Aviation Authority, and the other one was from the National Meteorological Department.

They had never been placed side by side for a comparison.

Today, at 6:00 pm, the secretary of Zach Airways' board of directors called the Federal Aviation Administration's disciplinary inspection team.

They had filed a complaint against me, the chief examiner, for abusing my power over personal affairs.

I had been waiting for the call for a long time.

…

The next morning, Mike Zeller from the disciplinary inspection team called me. "Ethan, do you know that Zach Airways has filed a complaint against you?"

"Yeah."

"They said you didn't provide a valid written reason for denying Yasmin Sullivan's promotion."

"The reason will be posted through the system today. I'll make sure to write it properly."

"There's one more thing. Zachary is coming this afternoon."

Holding the phone, I didn't say a word.

"Do you want to leave the office for a moment?" Mike kept his voice down.

"It's fine."

…

At 2:20 pm, a black Maybach stopped in front of the Federal Aviation Administration building.

I stood in front of the window on the third floor and watched Zachary get out of the car.

It had been 20 years.

He seemed older than he did in the photo. His sideburns had turned gray, but he was still standing upright.

He wore a navy blue coat with perfect cutting. The way he walked reminded me of Uncle Peter's words.

"Your dad is really skillful, and he's also a tough guy. It's just that he's being tough for the wrong reason."

Instead of coming to me, he went straight to the office to meet the director, Henry Stone.

The door remained closed for 40 minutes.

When they came out of the office, Henry walked to the end of the corridor with Zachary.

Then, his secretary said, "Mr. Lowe, let's meet in Room 307."

When I pushed the door open, Zachary was sitting across from the long table.

Next to Jason was Wynnie Sullivan.

She was in her 40s, and she wore a pearl necklace.

I recognized her. Her photo was posted on the forum 20 years ago.

She stood beside a Cessna with a bright smile, carrying a little girl in a pink dress.

That little girl was Yasmin Sullivan.

"Have a seat." Zachary looked at me, his voice calm, as if he were looking at his subordinate.

I sat down across from him.

"Mr. Lowe, I've reviewed Yasmin's file, and there aren't any issues. Why did you reject her application for a captain upgrade?"

"I'm suspicious of her flight hours."

"Suspicious?" Zachary frowned. "The crew signed and confirmed every flight she handled. The data is complete, and she has passed the airline's internal assessment."

"The internal assessment is for the airline to decide, but I make the final decision for the Federal Aviation Administration assessment," I declared.