Then again.
“Twenty-four B?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“We’re trying to determine that.”
“Was there an equipment change?”
“No.”
“Was 2A out of service?”
“No.”
“Who has 2A?”
The analyst swallowed.
“A passenger who appears to have been cleared at the gate through manual reassignment.”
“Status?”
“High-tier frequent flyer. Personal acquaintance of one of the regional commercial directors.”
Richard’s face hardened.
“So someone moved the CEO of our technology provider out of the seat he bought.”
“Yes.”
“And lied in the system about why.”
“Yes.”
The room became quiet.
Richard looked at the red network display.
Then the passenger record.
“Get Thomas.”
Thomas Davies, chief executive of Transatlantic Air, joined the emergency video call from his home forty-five minutes later.
He had spent thirty years in aviation.
He understood crises.
Weather.
Labor disputes.
Maintenance events.
Airport closures.
This was different.
The company was not experiencing a system failure.
The system was functioning exactly as configured.
That was the terrifying part.
Thomas listened while Richard explained.
When he finished, the CEO removed his glasses.
“Let me understand.”
Nobody interrupted.
“Nexus Logistics is placing our ground-operation transactions under contract review because somebody at JFK manually changed Alexander Thorne’s confirmed first-class seat under a false operational code.”
“That appears to be the initiating event.”
“Appears?”
“Legal is reviewing the contract.”
Thomas stared at him.
“How many departures affected?”