Marianne Ellis stood beside her suite, waiting with her bag. "Don't forget my card," she said.
"It's in my briefcase. Thank you again."
"Get some rest. There'll be enough people trying to tell you what today meant tomorrow."
Gregory Barnes approached from the next row. He looked far more nervous than he had while recording Preston. "Mr. Phillips? I'm Gregory. I was sitting in 2B."
"I know. I saw you filming."
"I hope that was all right. I kept the full recording. I posted it, too. I should probably have asked you first, and I'm sorry I didn't have a way to do that during everything."
Darien considered the young man's face. The public exposure had not been Gregory's to authorize on Darien's behalf, and the consequences could not be undone. But the video had also prevented the crew's initial allegations from surviving unchallenged, and Gregory seemed to understand the complicated responsibility he had taken on.
"I would have preferred not to become the internet's afternoon entertainment," Darien said. "But I'm glad there's a record. Please make sure my legal team can obtain the complete original and the recording details."
"Absolutely. I've kept the original untouched."
"And Gregory?"
"Yes?"
"Don't let people turn the security worker into a villain. He was careful when others weren't. His name is Luis Vega."
Gregory nodded. "I'll make that clear."
They shook hands. The exchange lasted less than a minute, but it would become important when early reports described every security employee on the aircraft as having threatened Darien. The truth was more precise, and Darien had no interest in allowing public anger to erase the person who had acted responsibly.
As he stepped through the aircraft door, he saw Captain Miller standing near the forward galley. The pilot had come out to thank passengers for their patience, a common practice that felt awkward under the circumstances. He looked at Darien with the exhausted expression of a man who had rehearsed a conversation several times without knowing how to begin it.
"Mr. Phillips," Robert said. "I wanted to tell you once more that I regret what happened."
Darien stopped. "I appreciate that."
"I've given operations a complete report. I didn't leave out the part where I threatened to remove you without verifying the booking."
"Good."
Robert exhaled. "I thought I was backing up my crew."
"You can support a crew member and still ask whether the facts are correct," Darien replied. "Those things should reinforce each other, not compete."
Robert absorbed the comment without arguing. It was the first conversation of the day in which he did not feel compelled to defend his authority, and the absence of that defensive impulse made it easier to hear the point. He nodded once.
"I'll remember that," he said.
"I hope so, Captain."