Chapter 8 - The Captain’s Call
With forty-five minutes left in our flight time, the interphone chimed sharply.
I picked up the handset from the galley wall.
“Clara, could you step up to the flight deck for a moment?” Captain Thomas’s voice came over the line, sounding surprisingly relaxed.
“On my way, Captain.”
I walked up the short forward corridor, tapped twice on the reinforced cockpit door, and stepped inside. The instrument panels glowed with hundreds of tiny green and amber data lights, casting a futuristic technological sheen across the cramped space. Captain Thomas and his first officer were both smiling.
“Sit down for a second, Clara,” Captain Thomas said, gesturing to the jumpseat behind the pilot’s chair.
I took a seat, crossing my hands in my lap. “Is everything alright with the arrival clearance into Seattle?”
“Clearance is locked in; we’re touching down right on schedule,” the captain laughed softly. “That’s not why I called you up here. Jonathan Sterling just sent an internal memo through our satellite comms directly to the regional VP of Operations.”
My pulse spiked slightly. “An internal memo about the incident?”
“Not just an incident,” the first officer chimed in, grinning broadly. “An executive directive. Sterling made it clear that your intervention saved the airline from a catastrophic PR nightmare. But he didn't stop there.”
Captain Thomas handed me a printed tablet screen displaying the text of the corporate memo.
My eyes scanned the bullet points:
Immediate termination of Linda Vance for gross misconduct and harassment of a VIP minor.
Mandatory empathy and de-escalation training across all domestic cabin crews.
Appointment of Clara Evans as Lead Customer Experience Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest region, effective next month.
I stared at the screen, stunned into absolute silence. Regional coordinator? That wasn't just a promotion; it was a complete career trajectory shift, moving me from the galley floor into executive management where I could actually change how flight crews were trained and treated.
May you like
“He’s serious,” I breathed, handing the tablet back.
“Dead serious,” Captain Thomas nodded. “When a billionaire tells you he wants to fix a broken system, you don't argue with him. You hand him the wrench.”
