Helena nodded slowly. She had walked into the meeting expecting another financier to treat payroll as leverage. Hearing him separate workers' money from management's accountability changed her expression, though it did not make her trust him entirely. She had seen promises before. She wanted written terms, deadlines, and names attached to the promises.
The directors voted to establish the independent review. Susan was appointed to chair a special ethics committee, joined by Danielle and Martin, with authority to retain outside counsel and investigators. The board also approved immediate protections against retaliation for employees providing relevant testimony. Human resources was instructed to separate witness cooperation from individual discipline, so no employee would receive blanket immunity for harmful conduct and no employee would be punished for reporting a superior.
A third motion required a documented business justification and independent verification for any involuntary premium-cabin displacement not directly required by safety, accessibility law, or extraordinary operational necessity. Airline staff would be trained to distinguish a passenger who was dangerous from one who merely disagreed with a request. The board agreed that a senior executive's personal preference could not substitute for those criteria.
Nathan's seat remained empty. William looked at it once as the votes were recorded, then asked whether anyone had further objections. There were none. The absence of resistance made Ethan uneasy; it was easy for directors to agree when the cost remained theoretical. Their real test would arrive when investigators asked for information that embarrassed the board itself.
At the end of the meeting, Susan asked Ethan whether Summit Ridge would support the turnaround plan if the investigation confirmed systemic problems. He considered the question carefully. "If Northstar proves it can confront what it finds, yes, we're willing to continue reviewing the investment," he said. "But we will not substitute public apologies for actual controls, and we will not pretend the employees are responsible for the decisions of senior management."
William nodded. "Understood."
"I hope so," Ethan said. "Because if this ends as a publicity campaign, my money won't make your company healthy. It will just postpone the next version of today's mistake."
The meeting adjourned after dark. Ethan stepped into a quiet hallway with James and Maya still on the video call, reviewing documents. Outside the windows, aircraft lights moved like small stars across the black field of the airport. For the first time since leaving Flight 1876, Ethan felt the day begin to settle into something other than confrontation.
James handed him the board's written resolution. "They moved faster than I expected," he said.
"They had a reason to," Ethan replied.
"Does that make you trust them?"
"No. It makes me willing to watch what they do next."
At the elevator, William caught up with him. His jacket was unbuttoned, and the exhaustion on his face seemed genuine. "I owe you more than an apology," he said. "I owe the company an explanation for how Nathan accumulated so much authority without meaningful review."
"That's not a conversation you owe only me," Ethan answered. "Tell your workers. Tell the passengers who complained. Tell the people whose complaints were closed without anyone looking."