The final form asked whether the assembly met all approved specifications. Mason selected no. He attached his evidence, entered the component location, and requested that the test be stopped until qualified replacements could be installed and the affected inventory reviewed. Then he fastened a red hold tag beside the bracket and informed Grant Ellis of the finding. Grant stared at the screen long enough for Mason to see the fear gathering in his face.
"How many did they use?" Grant asked.
"I don't know," Mason said. "That's part of the problem."
Grant rubbed both hands over his face. "You understand what this does to the schedule. People have been promised bonuses tied to that demonstration. If we stop now, we're going to have a hundred angry people on this floor."
"They deserve to be angry at whoever mixed uncertified hardware into the supply system," Mason answered. "They don't deserve to be told the assembly is safe when nobody has evidence it is."
Grant looked toward the visitor corridor, where a crew was hanging a giant company banner. Then he made a call upstairs. Within fifteen minutes, people with executive badges were walking toward the inspection bay faster than Mason had ever seen them move during a routine safety review.
Cassandra entered the bay as if the space had been prepared specifically for her appearance. Preston Halbrook walked at her right shoulder with a tablet pressed against his side, while Gideon Klein from supply chain followed a step behind, already looking for someone less senior to blame. Dr. Laurel Bennett, the A-47's lead engineer, came with them carrying a binder that she had been reading as they walked. Two visiting liaisons and a photographer appeared in the aisle, drawn by the sudden movement toward the aircraft.
Cassandra stopped in front of the red tag and studied it with visible disgust. "Who authorized a production hold?" she asked. Grant began an explanation about questionable material identification, but Cassandra cut him off and demanded the name of the person responsible. Mason stepped forward. He had no desire to place Grant between himself and a decision he had made.
"I did," Mason said. "The bracket contains a substitute fastener without the required qualification or traceability. The batch documents show the substitution was not approved through engineering. Until we know what else has been affected, this unit shouldn't enter qualification testing."
Cassandra turned toward him, recognizing the uniform before she recognized the face. "You're the inspector," she said, with the slight emphasis people used when they wanted a title to sound smaller. Mason gave his name and offered the folder. She left his hand hanging between them, then asked for the price of the suspicious component.
"Approximately a dollar for the commercial version," he answered. "The approved one is about forty-three dollars. The difference is not just cost. One comes with the required documented material performance. The other does not."
"A dollar," Cassandra repeated, allowing the word to travel through the group. "We have an entire aircraft waiting for a test that represents years of work, and you want to shut it down over a dollar?" Preston gave a thin smile. Gideon shifted his weight and kept his eyes on the floor.