Chapter 4 - Malcolm VanceMalcolm Vance arrived at the airport wearing a dark blue suit and the same calm expression Sarah remembered.
He saw her in NTSB hallway.
For one moment both became twelve years younger.
“Captain Mitchell.”
“Nobody calls me that.”
“Sarah.”
“General Vance.”
“Colonel when you knew me.”
“You've collected titles.”
He smiled.
“I heard what you did yesterday.”
Sarah said nothing.
“You saved a lot of people.”
“We're not discussing that.”
His smile faded.
“You never liked praise.”
“I opened Nathan’s letter.”
That stopped him.
A tiny pause.
Then:
“I don't know what you mean.”
Sarah almost laughed.
“You taught me to watch hesitation.”
Vance looked toward conference room.
“This is not appropriate location.”
“Good. Then investigators can hear too.”
Dana Morales entered.
“Mr. Vance, we were looking for you.”
Vance recovered.
“Of course.”
He walked inside voluntarily.
Sarah was not allowed to attend interview.
Good.
She waited with Eli.
He arrived in civilian clothes.
At thirty-four he looked enough like Nathan to hurt.
Same dark eyes.
Different posture.
They stood six feet apart.
Finally Eli said:
“I used to hate your call sign.”
Sarah looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because after Nathan died everyone whispered it.”
“Night Fury?”
“They said you were brilliant. Untouchable.”
“I wasn't.”
“I know now.”
Sarah stared through glass.
“What did your drive contain?”
“Investigators got it open.”
“And?”
“Test logs.”
Her heart tightened.
“Nathan documented repeated failures connected to Vector assemblies.”
“How many?”
“At least four events before his.”
Sarah inhaled slowly.
“Were they in the official report?”
“Not all.”
“Vance.”
Eli nodded.
“His name is on routing.”
Then Dana emerged.
She looked serious.
“Sarah, Eli, you need to hear this together.”
They entered.
A digital timeline covered screen.
Nathan filed safety report.
It went to Vance.
Vance forwarded part to Vector.
Vector responded that observed behavior remained within design limits.
Vance marked issue resolved.
Nathan reopened.
Two days before his accident, he sent supporting flight data.
That file never reached independent safety office.
Someone removed routing.
“Can you prove Vance did it?” Sarah asked.
“Not yet.”
Good.
No premature conclusion.
Dana continued.
Then Flight 229.
Its suspect commercial component was officially made by AeroMotion.
Serial trace showed internal subassembly originated from an old Vector production line.
“How?”
“Re-certified surplus.”
Sarah frowned.
“For civilian use?”
“Possibly through a chain of resellers.”
Eli whispered:
“So the same supplier.”
Dana nodded.
“Potentially the same design family.”
Not identical.
Important.
“Who approved recertification?” Sarah asked.
Dana changed slide.
Aegis Aeronautical Compliance Division
Signed:
Malcolm Vance.
Sarah felt twelve years collapse.
Vance had once been responsible for Nathan’s safety report.
Now he was tied to the paperwork that placed suspect hardware into Flight 229.
Sarah looked at Dana.
“Does he know you found this?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He requested counsel.”
Sarah almost smiled.
Not guilt.
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But fear.
Finally, Vance was no longer the person controlling the report.
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